Hooray for 1964! Why? No particular reason, but without it we would have no 1965. Think about it.
I am particularly taken with this wonderful (and "POSTCARD WORTHY") photo featuring the Disneyland Band seated at the bow of the Mark Twain, resplendent in their white, red, and gold uniforms as they play some song from yesteryear, including popular Disney songs. Vesey Walker himself leads the band, just as he had done since the park's opening in 1955. We can see a few people on the deck above enjoying themselves, don't you wish you were with them? Pay no attention to the French spy to the right.
Also from '64 (but not quite as postcard worthy) comes this photo of the yellow Monorail, waitin' at the station above the queue area for the Submarine Voyage.
Major-
ReplyDelete"Postcard worthy"-! I should say so. Lovely.
Thanks, Major.
Check out the woman on the 2nd deck of the Twain, 2nd from the right. She sure is mad about something. Probably that she couldn’t sit on her favorite chair on the bow. Because of the durn band.
ReplyDeleteAlso the guy in the monorail is about to moon us. Someone call Disney security.
That man in the Monorail (second window from the left) had just finished mooning the crowd below. We missed it by only seconds!
ReplyDeleteArgh! Today, Budblade beat me to it by two minutes! Maybe I need to "refresh" the comments before I click "publish."
ReplyDeleteI guess I always thought of the earlier monorails as having windows that open, but here you can see they are really "removable" rather that "openable." The safety rail must have seemed odd to riders on cold days when the windows were all in place.
ReplyDeleteOur mooner seems to have gotten his hand entangled in the safety rail. Serves him right, the cheeky beggar!
You're right, Major - that guy is definitely up to something. Vesey Walker is looking right at him, and the right-most woman on the second deck is crouching behind the railing to get a better look at him.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Postcards. The Monorail looks great framed by the vegetation. Desktop worthy.
ReplyDeleteBudblade spotted Natasha, and I think that Jacques, aka Boris, is in for a surprise. You thought that tuba was only a tuba but it's not. Straight from Disney security anti-spy research lab. Shoots Mooseberries with deadly accuracy.
Can't help but notice the steel bottom of the Twain.
Neato photos Major. Thanks.
DrGoat (and Budblade), the plot is thickening, as I think Boris is actually sitting to our left, behind the band. He's even looking away, so that we can't get a good look at him...
ReplyDeleteI just noticed something new, that still modern-looking logo for General Dynamics next to the Submarine sign. With all this talk of spying, I remember how, as described in her biography, Shelley Winters confabbed with Sean Connery in 1958 about some Disney Studio project that had a top secret aura about it (Connery was filming "Darby O'Gill" at the time). They never got to the bottom of it, but apparently it was GD advising on the Submarine Voyage construction, and with the cold war and all it was thought best to keep this under wraps.
ReplyDeleteThere IS a guy mooning on the monorail...he’s to the far right...but a bush is conveniently hiding his assets.
ReplyDeleteDidn't notice the General Dynamics logo until you pointed it out Stefano. Good eye.
ReplyDeleteGood catch Sue. But I think that might be Fearless Leader. Can't be certain but I'll bet there's a monocle on the other side of his face. Plus the second trumpeter from the right, front row, looks like he's ready for anything with his one-handed trumpeting.
Nanook, I really could see that first one printed on a standard-sized postcard! The kind that was made in the late 1950s through the 1960s.
ReplyDeleteBudblade, maybe the woman is mad because the band wouldn’t play “Freebird”? It’s what she always wanted to hear, even though it wouldn’t be written for another nine years. There’s nothing more humiliating than being mooned from a Monorail!
TokyoMagic!, it’s surprising how many butts we see through windows in photos of the Monorail at the station; I guess there was no way to get out of your seat without pointing your rear-end at people. And you should always refresh the blog every 11 seconds.
Chuck, the Monorail has every center window removed, I do wonder if they could change the configuration for hotter or colder days? And I wonder how the windows were held in? Gum?
Andrew, that man is taking photos for the Resistance. And also to show his houseguests at parties. He keeps speaking into his lapel, which is why Vesey is looking at him.
DrGoat, I like that our photographer went to the trouble of artistically framing the Monorail with those junipers (or whatever they are). If only he/she had a stereo camera! Whenever I see a tuba I have the urge to toss things into the large bell, like a carnival game. Maybe a few Mooseberries? The hull of the Mark Twain was built at an actual shipyard, so it’s no surprise that it is metal instead of wood.
Lou and Sue, Boris is doing such a good job of hiding that I don’t see him!
Stefano, I’m not sure when General Dynamics ended their sponsorship of the Submarine Voyage, but I’m always glad to see the logo on that sign. Interesting story about Shelly Winters and Sean Connery; I wonder how they knew about General Dynamics and the fact that they were involved in a ride at Disneyland?
Lou and Sue, maybe he’s just proud of his Spiderman Underoos?
DrGoat, Fearless Leader was tired of Boris and Natasha’s screwups, if you want something done right, do it yourself! I don’t trust those hippies with their dark glasses (in the band), they’re probably working with FL.
I've always said Disneyland was a hotbed of espionage during the cold war. In addition to Boris and Natasha, we can see a young Vladimir Putin on the left. "I do not see Moose and Squirrel." Boris is wondering if the band knows any Rachmaninoff. Natasha is picturing Vlad without his shirt on, and the band is playing the theme from Goldfinger. Thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteCome for the pictures, stay for the comments!
ReplyDeleteI'm a little ashamed that all I could see was the band, the Mark Twain, and the Monorail.
Really funny stuff today, everyone. Now I wish I could watch Rocky and Bullwinkle, the old, good, silly ones, not the modern garbage version.
I wonder if Mark Twain ever pressed his steel bottom against a Monorail window?
Chuck, I always thought the older monorail trains had permanently open windows. Once when I was very young, we visited over the Thanksgiving holiday and it rained, the Monorails were closed and the one parked at the station was covered with a big tarp like a car cover. I assumed it was because the windows couldn't be closed.
Three cheers for General Dynamics and Sean Connery, and an additional three for the Major.
JG
That first photo is really fun. Some of those band members are so cool in their shades. I thought they were all wearing crisp, white tennies at first, but I guess they're white dress shoes. I also thought that was the Queen up top right, wearing a giant crown. Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeletePostcardworthy indeed! I’m not convinced that spy is from France; there’s no baguette sticking out of his trench coat.
ReplyDelete“Boris, moose and squirrel disguised as mouse and duck! Is diabolical plot!”
ReplyDeleteGood Gravy JG. I didn't know there was a modern version of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Shame! There are plenty of the old, priceless versions on Youtube. I bought the complete (I think) show back in the 80s, on VHS of course. I still have my latest VHS player (bought in '95 or around there), so I occasionally will stick in cassette and enjoy to my hearts content.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I think your mouse and duck theory is plausible in the extreme. I should have guessed.
Jonathan, maybe those spies were sent by Krushchev himself! He never forgave the US for not letting him see Disneyland. Natasha doesn’t need to picture Vladimir without his shirt on, there are plenty of photos!
ReplyDeleteJG, hmmm, I wonder if Rocky and Bullwinkle might show up on any of the streaming services? If so, you can bet it will be one of the ones that I don’t have. I loved “Fractured Fairytales” too. Mark Twain… steel bottom… Monorail. JG, you have written the most interesting sentence in the history of GDB! I do kind of wonder what the park did about Monorails if the windows were always open and it rained. Plastic bags?
Kathy! it does sort of look like the band members are wearing tennis shoes, but you’re right, they are probably white dress shoes of some kind. Although I do think I see some big white laces? That’s not the Queen, it’s the Queen Mum!
Melissa, he’s a GOOD spy, that’s why there’s no baguette!
Melissa, I wonder what mascots would be at a Russian “Disneyland”? Sturdy peasant women? Men carrying hammers? Bears, I guess?
Dr. Goat, thanks for the tip about Youtube. I will go there and check for Moose and Squirrel. I envy you your tape collection. I don't recall where I have seen the new version, probably in some hotel with cable.
ReplyDelete"mouse and duck", of course, it's all clear to me now.
I think that spy is Belgian, not French, they are always being mistaken for Frenchmen, at least Poirot says so.
Major, thank you for the recognition, I do try to contribute worthwhile content.
The cover I recall was a gray vinyl-looking material, but that was well over 50 years ago. I think someone posted the other day that the original train barn only had room for one train and the other was parked at the station overnight or on down-time. Now, I think the barn is big enough to contain all the trains out of the weather.
JG
With all this talk about the Cold War, and spies, I keep thinking about the 2012 book "Bombshell" - a sort of historical fiction, and thriller comedy, revolving-around Nikita Khrushchev's visit to the U.S. in 1959, and of course, Marilyn Monroe-! It in, "Monroe overhears the details of an assassination plot designed to spark an atomic holocaust and devastate both superpowers. When the Secret Service refuses to believe her, Marilyn risks everything to whisk Khrushchev away to safety—in The Happiest Place On Earth".
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a fun read, as truth rubs elbows with fiction.
Major, it couldn't have been gum - that was prohibited on property.
ReplyDeleteJG, I never saw the Mark I or II monorails and don't really remember looking at the windows on the Mark IIIs as a kid (like normal people, I looked through them; what the heck was I thinking??!!). Your youthful memory makes perfect sense. Any idea what year that was?
A memory just jogged, that when my sister and I were really little, Dad’s nicknames for us were “Sherman” and “Peabody.”
ReplyDeleteJG, yes, I also did not know that there were complete episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle on YouTube. It seems like only a matter of time before they are removed by whoever own that IP. And I didn’t know there was a new version either. Are they any good at all? I have a fondness for Belgians ever since I built a diorama of Brussels for fourth or fifth grade. Stork on the roof and everything. In spite of California’s months of dry weather, we sometimes have torrential rains, they must have made some sort of special cover (like the vinyl one you mentioned) - until they built the new roundhouse of course.
ReplyDeleteNanook, I have never heard of “Bombshell”. I’m surprised it hasn’t been made into a movie, or a TV miniseries. I have to admit that I am amused at the thought of Marilyn Monroe become embroiled in political skullduggery.
Chuck, hmmm, you make a good point. And Gorilla Glue hadn’t been invented yet. Maybe Scotch tape? And I sure don’t have any vivid memories of the old Monorails or how they were stored when it rained!
Melissa, NICE! Which one were you? And why?
To all of you readers who do NOT go back a day or three to read the previous posts for later-added comments, I recommend that you see yesterday's. Melissa, I LOVE your poetry!
ReplyDeleteI was Peabody. I don’t know why; my body wasn’t any more pea-like than my sister’s.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sue!
ReplyDeleteChuck and Major, my memory of the covered monorail in the rain has to be 1967 or 68 since it was Thanksgiving and we visited with my Grandfather, he passed in 1969. I think it was 1968. There was a lot of wind, my Dad said this was the Santa Ana and that was when I learned that term. We were unhappy because a lot of attractions closed for the storm, including the monorail.
ReplyDeleteIt stood out to me because of him, and the winter visit, we rarely visited Disneyland in the winter when I was young. I don’t know why we went then on that visit except it was a long weekend for school. This is all pretty vague, I was not yet 10.
JG, I'm wondering if maybe that was 1968. That was the year the fourth train was added, and although the current "roundhouse" built in 1965-66 has four stalls, the video at this site seems to suggest that they keep the tug indoors on one of the tracks, and the tracks don't seem to be any longer than one five-car train length. That would mean they still had to store one outdoors, and at keeping it covered at the Hotel station makes sense. Granted, this is a present-day look at operations with only three trains and may not represent exactly how they did things 50 years ago, but it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteI was startled to realize this video is the first time I've seen the Mark VII trains in motion (my last visit was just days before they started operating). While they are nice-looking trains, they look a bit odd to me sliding through the Park. I miss my bubble domes.
Chuck, thanks for that link. I am going to study those videos more closely. I had no idea there was film of the roundhouse.
ReplyDeleteJG