Cascade Peak and Welcome Lutherans
Here are two pretty nice photos for your happy Friday! Let's begin with this undated (but probably late 1950s) look at Cascade Peak, as seen through the Columbia's tangle of rigging. Those ropes all make sense to an old salt! If only this was a stereo view, I'm sure the 3D effect would be impressive.
Cascade Peak had gravitational anomalies that resulted in waterfalls gushing from the upper slopes, seemingly against all logic. That's right, gravitational anomalies!
You know me, I always love being able to see the bighorn sheep. There's one now! It wasn't long before they flew north for cooler climates. Ain't nature amazing?
Disneyland welcomes Lutheran Schools Students! Guests could tell which ones were Lutherans because they gave off an unearthly glow. Growing up, my folks took us to Episcopal churches, but my Dad was a Lutheran. It was always such a strange experience to go to the Lutheran church when we visited my grandparents; I guess that, as a kid, one gets used to the routine, and any change in that routine is jarring. We Episcopalians never got to go to Disneyland, not even through our youth group. Maybe we had a bad reputation. Oddly, when I walk into a church nowadays, I start to smolder - but I'm sure it's nothing.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
28 comments:
Now that you mention it, where is that water supposed to be coming from, up there on Cascade Peak? Just how many bighorn sheep are actually up there, and just how much water have they been drinking?
If I had any photoshopping ability, I would cut that kid out, who is standing just to the left of the Native American statue (last pic). Then I would "place" him about a quarter of the way up on that lamppost. I would maybe even give him a raincoat and an umbrella!
I can relate to your church service experience, Major. I grew up Methodist (which is essentially Reformed Episcopalian) like my mom but my dad had grown up Lutheran, so when we visited my parents' hometown and went to church with my paternal grandparents, everything seemed weird. Ironically, my wife and I later attended Lutheran churches at two different assignments, and although we're back to a Methodist church now, I still miss that form of worship. I think part of that is that I miss my grandparents.
TM!, it's even harder to explain the waterfalls after the removal of those hard-drinking sheep.
Major, they certainly could have held Lutheran Schools Days more than once. Here's some information on ones held in October 1965:
Disney News (Spring 1966): [caption] Camelback Inn Trip Won by Two Families
Two Southern California families recently enjoyed a fun-filled weekend at Phoenix' fabulous Camelback Inn as participants in two Disneyland special events.
Mr. and Mrs. Ken Williams and their three sons, Kevin, Klinton and Ken, won their exciting trip at Lutheran Schools Day at Disneyland, held last October. Young Ken attends Prince of Peace Lutheran School in Costa Mesa.
...Both families were flown to Phoenix on the Walt Disney Productions' plane, and enjoyed the many sights of the Phoenix area, as well as their luxurious stay at the Camelback Inn.
Nice pictures! Why are so many people in the second picture holding hands? Were they afraid that they would get lost on the bustling Main Street USA? Thanks for the photos!
Since I grew up going to a Catholic school, Disneyland had Catholic School Day on a different day. I guess they didn't want a rumble and you know those nuns carry a yardstick hidden in their robes. I wouldn't worry about smouldering when you get close to a church, but if your eyes start to glow, I'm running away, fast.
Right up front- Gravitational Anomalies is a great band name. I'm going to check if it's taken.
Nice scans Major
Nice pics! Love all the rigging. And the last pic is a winner. Luther would be proud.
My sister, who is 5 years older than me, went to a St. Cyril's Catholic school for 2 months. One of the nun's (my sister used to call her Sister Mary Birdcage) whacked my sister with a ruler. She told Mom went she got home. The next day my mother went in with my sister, read the riot act to the nun in question, and my pulled my sister out of the school. We went to public school from then on.
Andrew, Still working on the picture hunt. With a little push from Sue, I found my avatar in the first pic. Very clever. Wish we had a few more million like you. You're outstanding.
Thanks Major. You seem to have attracted a really fine group of people.
It feels like a Sunday for some reason.
Is anyone else wondering why the Main Street clock has no face? Maybe Andrew can fix that.
I miss the old Main Street where each building was somewhat self contained and not full of plush, mugs and hats. Party line phones, pickle barrels, glass blowers and all that could even captivate a 10 year old back then. Did anyone ever get one of those fully rigged glass sailing ships home in one piece?
I think I'll listen to the Main Street music this morning.
Have a great weekend everyone, and thanks, Major
Zach
PS...Major, 52 comments in the last post is pretty impressive. Do you know which of your posts got the most comments? Just curious.
An unusual perspective on Cascade Peak, and a sheep to boot. All that's missing is a view of the fire bell.
I wonder if the sheep mechanism was hydraulically powered?
Major, those gravitational anomalies are called "pumps".
Great view of Main Street when it could pass for a real town, instead of a box of crayons.
I admit, I am too thick to get any of Andrew's elaborate jokes yesterday. Andrew, thanks for your hard work anyway, lots of great pictures in your collection, even if I can't understand their message.
I was asked once by a Scout what was Lutheran, I told him Catholic-lite. After childhood in the Baptist vein, I migrated to the Lutheran Church, where my ancestors started, so we made full circle, I guess.
Thank you, Major, and all the Junior Gorillas. You are a good group.
Best for the holiday weekend.
JG
TokyoMagic!, I suppose that it is possible (though unlikely) that some sort of rushing underground spring could issue from near the top of the peak! Bighorn sheep are famous for copious amounts of pee, however. That’s why nobody likes them. If I was home today, I’d Photoshop that kid onto the lamppost… but I’m away until 10:00 PM at least.
Chuck, gosh, Episcopalians seem so laid-back, Methodists are “reformed”?? Maybe that means that Episcopalians are TOO laid-back. One of my main memories of the Lutheran services at my Grandparent’s church is that at Communion they had tiny individual glasses of the sacramental wine; I was too young to participate, but in later years, when everyone drank from a common goblet, I was all in on the individual glasses.
Jason Schultz, I am not surprised that they did “Lutheran Schools” days more than once. Interesting that the trip in your example flew winners to Phoenix of all places. Why not Oxnard?? But they did get their trip to Disneyland. And they got to fly in the Walt Disney Productions plane! Thanks Jason.
Divajones48, by golly you are right, there ARE a lot of hand-holders! No idea why!
MRaymond, did you get to go to the park on one of those Catholic School Days? I would steer clear of nuns, not only are they famous for using rulers as lethal weapons, but they just weird me out! I do like finding photos of nuns in the park, however, so that is inconsistent of me. So far, no glowing eyes, but there’s always a first time!
zach, it’s true, that is a great name! Funny, I just wrote a blog post (you won’t see it for months) where I found another great band name - the “Tubular Balloons”!
DrGoat, your mom sounds awesome! Good for her. I wouldn’t be OK with somebody hitting my child with a ruler. Well, in most cases, anyway. In my regular public school, we had a teacher who would cut a boy’s hair if she decided it was too long. Right there in the classroom! And believe me, she did a horrible job of it. She got in hot water over that one too. I still remember her name, “Birdie Crawford”! I’m glad you found your “tribute” from Andrew, and am still jealous that he came up with such a great idea.
zach, I assume that the clock face is just blown-out by the bright light (or by my over-adjusting). I think many Disneyland fans are sick of the “sameness” of the merchandise in every store. To think that back in the day, some stores sold stuff that was ONLY available there!
DrGoat, 52 comments is definitely near the top, and it might be the most; but I don’t know for sure! I think one post got 56 comments, but my memory might be fooling me.
JG, I only remember one photo that clearly showed the fire bell, and don’t remember where it was on Cascade Peak. It might just be hidden behind a rope. No idea about how the sheep moved about. I made the crack about “gravitational anomalies” because I went to the Mystery Spot in San Jose, and they said that such anomalies are responsible for the crazy illusions. My younger brother said, “Do you really think there are gravitational anomalies?”. Um, NO I don’t! JG, I’ll have to email you about the hidden secrets in Andrew’s pictures, including one that was a tribute to you!
Wow, 52 comments yesterday! I am impressed as well, Goat. Soon Major will be sporting sunglasses and be surrounded by an entourage. Large former NFL linemen wearing suits and ear pieces, to hold back the crowds of adoring Episcopalian fans. Fun fact, he is also big with Zoroastrians. My mom was, as she put it, sent to the nuns for her education, including college. We attended, an Episcopal church, which explains my devotion to The Maj, as his fans now refer to him. Thanks Maj. The crowd cheers, as his personal Monorail, painted Pepperidge Pink, leaves the station.
Lots of great summer dresses and pretty sun hats on those seafarin’ folk.
I was raised Methodist but went to Baptist parochial elementary school, so we were kind of involved in that church, too. It made for an interesting mix because the Methodists were real easygoing and the Baptists were all fire and brimstone and Chick tracts and stuff. But neither of them ever took us to Disneyland!
Melissa, we went to a Methodist church for a while, and I was amazed to learn that our pastor drank whiskey and smoked cigars (both only occasionally), as I was taught these habits produced an express ticket to the Hot Place, as it was called.
Major, I was pretty busy yesterday, so I just skimmed Andrew's work then. I went back this morning and spent a little more time and found my portrait, and those of others. What a kind thing to do for the funny holiday. He certainly knows my favorite spot. Thanks for your offer to explain it to me, very kind.
Just proves GDB is populated with fine folks.
JG
Major, the fire bell was on the northerly face, about 1100 in plan, over the wide waterfall.
Jason, I remember seeing those contests, and at the time could not figure out why the prize for a Disneyland event would be a trip to Phoenix. It must have made sense to someone. Maybe that was what was donated as the prize. Was it a promotional for the Phoenix resort?
JG
Major-
I don't know the exact construction schedule as the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train metamorphosed into the Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland, but as The Rainbow Caverns Mine Train didn't close until October 11, 1959, it seems a bit unlikely the image was from "late 1950's". (I think 'cascade peaks' take longer to construct than a few weeks, but...)
@ JG-
Yes, that wonderful fire bell (or, "fire sprinkler water motor gong") is positioned a little farther "around the bend".
Thanks, Major.
How many comments did we reach on that “Windy” post? I’m still laughing about that one! (Am at work, and too busy to search.)
I like that we can see Castle Rock over there in the first photo. I wonder what the lady to our left bought in the second one, it's in a pretty big but flat bag. Another nice set of pictures, Major.
^
My comment is directed to Andrew (who is a whiz at getting us answers) or Chuck (who has lots of free time at work, I think). ;o)
@Major, yes we went to the Catholic school days every year, we got a day off from class to attend. My mom was a smart cookie and noticed that the ticket books issued during the special events weren't dated for the event. She would order extra books at the reduced price so we could go again during the summer.
I was looking for a picture of "nuns having fun" but I can't find it.
My eyes went straight to the Main Street Cinema marquee. Slow burn master Edgar Kennedy died in 1948, still busy in features and his own line of short subjects. The two-reelers began in 1931 and were arguably one of the first sitcoms, with Kennedy up against a permanent family of wife, mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Since a lot of his talkies would have been common TV fare by then (especially his appearances with Laurel and Hardy and the Little Rascals), wondering if anybody was surprised to see him in silents on Main Street.
Jonathan, even I was surprised. It’s funny, I honestly never know what will stimulate comments and conversation; when I posted those Royal Street Bachelor photos about a week ago, I never thought that those pictures would get 31comments. And then I’ll post photos that I think are extra nice, and maybe there will be 20 comments! It’s impossible to predict. I wish I had an entourage, but I think I’d rather have it populated with beautiful babes. Maybe not so threatening, but a lot more fun to be around! “Pepperidge Pink”, hmmmm…
Melissa, oh boy, those Chick tracts are nuts. I like to look at them for a laugh! I’m glad I wasn’t brought up in a strict religious household; my folks were pretty laid-back about it.
JG, my sister married a Catholic man, and I expected their wedding to be very dry and “by the book”, but their priest looked like he had once starred in cowboy movies. He was really tall and was just kind of cool, and wore cowboy boots of course. I liked him! Much to my surprise. I’m glad you found your tribute!
JG, thanks for the reminder regarding the fire bell. Still a strange detail; are there other fire bells hidden around the park? Why couldn’t that one have been better disguised? That being said, I’m sure a tiny percentage of people ever noticed it.
Nanook, you are so right! I wasn’t thinking it through. As far as I know, “Nature’s Wonderland” debuted in 1960, so these can’t be from the 1950’s. D’oh!
Lou and Sue, I can’t remember what the photos were for the “Windy” post. Was it one of the bands performing in Tomorrowland?
Kathy!, aha, you’re right! There’s Castle Rock… and I almost think that we can see a tiny bit of a yellow Mine Train just to the left of the Rock. What do you think?
Lou and Sue, ha ha, I’m much too busy watching cooking videos on YouTube!
MRaymond, nice! I never did any sort of field trip to Disneyland, even when I lived with 15 miles of it. And your mom WAS a smart cookie, what a good idea! I love it when people game the system like that! Look at the post from February 19th, there’s a nun in that one!
DBenson, I thought that Edgar Kennedy did some voice work for Disney, but I guess I was mistaken (after doing a minute of research). I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Edgar in a movie, sadly! Meanwhile, as a die-hard “monster kid”, I would have wanted to see Lon Chaney in “Phantom of the Opera”, still one of the coolest and most hideous makeup jobs ever.
OK, since Chuck is apparently working (and slacking off on GDB), and Andrew is apparently playing video games, I got out of work early and looked back at all the comments from the last 5 months:
The March 4, 2021 post had 53 comments. It's a tie to yesterday's, at this moment.
The "Windy" post was January 16, 2021, and had 29 comments.
I think there was a post with 60 comments, sometime in the past year, but I didn't go back far enough, yet, to confirm...
@ JC Shannon-
'Pepperidge Pink' - I'd go-ahead and trademark that color, pronto-! (That sounds a likely candidate for a new KitchenAid color - maybe even a "Color of the Year", especially if KA knew it was referring to The Major-!!)
Major-
Yeah - The Western Mine Train Thru Nature's Wonderland opened on May 28, 1960 - the official Grand Opening date being June 12th of that year. (Oh... for that illusive time machine-!)
Major, I’m surprised that the water gong fire bell wasn’t painted red, tbh. Fire departments want them to be very obvious so people would report them going off. Usually there would be signs etc. also.
The Cascade Peak bell was probably allowed to be painted brown because of some kind of waiver with the park in general, as we speculated about the elusive fire hydrants.
I’m sure there are/were other water gongs in other out-of-the-way places, maybe even backstage, that don’t show in photos. They are mostly outdated tech now, replaced by paddle flow switches in the fire line that trigger automatic phone notification to the local fire Dept. Might even be illegal now, requiring mandatory replacement.
Also, I’m sure Pepperidge Pink would be a subtle and tasteful pale shade, much like the Castle towers on Opening Day.
JG
JG, "Great view of Main Street when it could pass for a real town, instead of a box of crayons." That explains why my boss salivates at recent photos - he's a Marine.
Sue, believe it or not, GDB is blocked on my work network, and we can't have cell phones beyond the lobby. Not that it would have made much of a difference before now; I got my first smart phone two weeks ago. Thanks for picking up my slack.
A young Methodist minister of ours when we lived in SoCal (he was 26 - six months older than me at the time) had grown up as a rather rowdy "PK" (Preacher's Kid). He was ejected from the Park twice during Methodist Day in consecutive years - once for getting out of the boat in it's a small world and once for violating treaty terms on Tom Sawyer Island.
Chuck, you could run out to your car on breaks and at lunch time. ;o)
Edgar Kennedy's friend and Hal Roach stablemate Billy Gilbert had a Disney connection. Besides his film appearances -- usually with a thick German accent -- he had a sneezing schtick he'd do on radio, which got him the part of Sneezy in "Snow White". Years later he did an entirely different voice for Willie the Giant in "Mickey and the Beanstalk", and the story men found an excuse for him to sneeze there as well.
There are a lot of slow burn reactions in Disney's and other studios' cartoons -- Animators studied him, just as they studied all the live action comedians. Watch for frustrated characters slapping hands over their faces and pulling down. Not to be confused with Oliver Hardy's takes, where he'd look directly into the camera and invite us to share his mood.
Post a Comment