Main Street, October 5, 1984
Hooray, it's time for more photos from Lou and Sue! That's Lou Perry and Sue B., for you newbies. For today's selection, we (me and the Queen of England) have six photos from Main Street U.S.A., circa 1984. I think you'll agree that they are pretty nice!
I always love a good shot of a busy Main Street. Lou was facing south toward Main Street Station, and the Elgin Clock Shop and the Arcade can be seen, with the Emporium just beyond that. The air looks hazy, I can only assume that the smog was pretty nasty that day.
Happy Birthday, Donald Duck! I have a bag full of crushed tortilla chips for you, extra stale, just the way you like them. I wonder if that wonderful light fixture is a genuine antique from Philadelphia or some such place?
Oh my gosh, the duck of the hour himself, Donald! At 50 years old he still has the smooth feathers and bright eyes of a much younger duck. His secret? He drinks a glass of red wine every night, and eats a chunk of beeswax. You can't argue with results.
Here's another great shot of bustling Main Street, with the Cinema to the right. After that, the Market House, with a sign that reads "Canned Fruits & Vegetables", which must mean that Del Monte was the sponsor at the moment.
Here's a balustrade above one of the Emporium's doors, with a nice "early American" gilded eagle. I think that eagle was there from the early days, but when I look on Google Image Search, it doesn't appear to be there now. Which seems odd.
And finally, a nice detail of the roof of the Emporium with its oculus windows. I think I've read that the park's switchboard operator was up there, and she could look out the window to see the clock on Main Street Station when she needed to record the time.
Many thanks as always to Lou and Sue!
31 comments:
Major-
I heard that a diet high in grapes and oats is what keeps Donald's feathers and eyes looking so 'youthful'. (Those, and the occasional 'nip' of which you refer).
Thanks as always to Lou & Sue.
I remember this period of Disneyland well. This was also the last year the MAIN STREET CINEMA showed vintage silent films (1928 Steam boat Willie was an exception).... and in 1985 would switch to exclusively Mickey Mouse’s earliest films only. Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland did the same format change - but for a short time Tokyo Disneyland included Donald’s first film THE WISE LITTLE HEN. Today Disneyland is home to the last surviving Main St. Cinema.
I have a pre 1982 version of that Main Street Cinema curved attraction broadside and it takes 25 cents or an A coupon - why its 25 cents and not 10 cents I don’t know. I’ve been unable to display the “poster” because it’s in very very thick heavy canvas.
Above the "early American" gilded eagle's right wing (our left), am I seeing someone looking out through the lace curtains? Were there offices or storage rooms up there?
In the last photo, I see one of the black "fence(?) finials" is missing (on the right). How does that happen?? Heavy crows??
I noticed that my dad didn't include Donald's trouser-less bottoms. That's too bad, because he does have cute tail feathers. He really is a cute character!
Speaking of cute, if you haven't already done so, you need to look at our Andrew's current post on his blog (Bayern Kurve Blog). Oh my goodness(!), the two frowning-and-smiling-comparison photos of 2- or 3-year-old Andrew are ADORABLE. Here are shortcuts to the two photos:
CLICK HERE for the 1st photo.
CLICK HERE for the 2nd photo.
Or head over to Andrew's blog, to see the entire post.
I'll check back later. Thanks, Major!
Even though I know it never existed together in real life, I do love the evocative architecture of Main Street. These people have their mind set on reaching their first attraction of the day, but of course Lou is stopping to smell the roses.
I included those pictures of the windmill (a traditional picture spot for us) just for you, Sue. You are too kind. :-)
Sue: I see the spot in the window you are referring to ..... but in all probability you are seeing something reflected from Town Square or the opposite corner angled section of Disney Showcase building ( magic shop / preview of coming attractions ) .
There is a very narrow catwalk - service space that runs along the emporium upper windows ... it’s more of a crawl space really. Behind that is the actual high inner ceiling of the Emporium - Crystal Arcade- New Century Timepieces. Inside the access corridor you would see that a persons knees would really be at those windows level . Also many of the windows have plywood hinged boxes on the interior side of the windows - each box has a small victorian type lamp that can be lit at night to make it appear there light be apartments of upper offices with occupants inside. Most of the currents and shades are staple gunned to the inside and do not function.
In the late 80’s the Emporium had a major renovation and several access panels were installed into the opposite walls of the window wall side because fake upper animated vignettes were added to be seen by guests inside on the lower floor making the Emporium appear to have a real second floor with “departments “ the animated scenes included a MILLINERY dept with a lady hat maker reaching towards a pet parrot on its perch trying to pluck a feather for the hat she is working on ..... a restless boy being fitted for a new sailor suit while the tailor tries to take measurements the boys mother looks in very irritated .... there was also a accounting - clerk scene with a exhausted clerk wearing a visor who has dozed off at work. There were other vignettes representing other fake emporium departments that had no animation . And to be clear the animated people were NOT audio animatronic , but simple motor movements like the kind of motion the Disney Animated Film Emporium windows used on the sidewalk level.
In the time leading up to Disneyland’s 50th the Emporium was complete remodeled again and the upper animated displays were removed - I believe only two of the open spaces remain but smaller and with minimal decoration.
Incidentally the second floor levels behind any spaces where guests are in the lower level is used as merchandise back stock storage and offices. This is true with most of the other Main Street building interiors .
Those animated store scenes sound so cool; wish I could have seen them.
So weird to see people walking around smoking on Main St.!
Photos of Main Street by Lou never disappoint. Lots of 80's clothes and hair here. Like watching "Murder She Wrote".
Finally, one post where I know exactly what I was doing that day, even if I wasn't at Disneyland. I was busy getting ready to get married the next day.
Thanks Lou, Sue and Major.
JG
Thanks Major and Sue. Another Main Street fan here.
The look of the crowd brings back memories. 1984 was the year I started going to Disneyland as a dad with young kids.
Mike, thanks for the great info!
Gotta love Mr. Duck. I have a unique Donald Duck item to share with y'all sometime.
"I'm walkin' right down the middle of Main Street USA..." Come on, everybody sing!
Main Street is the perfect "jumping off point." From the comforting familiarity of the stree, you go on to experience wonderful exotic adventures!
Great pics as always from L&S!
Nanook, grapes and oats? That’s MY secret! And now everyone knows! Thanks a lot!
Mike Cozart, hmmm that curved poster on extra-heavy canvas is an interesting conundrum. I mean, I would probably just hang it on one of the many large marble columns in my home, but you might have a more modern design. Could the poster be removed from the heavy canvas by a conservator? Maybe too risky, and too expensive. I miss the days when the Main Street Cinema showed films other than Mickey Mouse shorts - I wonder if there would be any rights issues, assuming the copyright hasn’t expired on some of those very old films?
Lou and Sue, that “person” looking out the window is the ghost of a cast member who ate too many churros. Some say that late at night you can hear her moaning and burping. Sorry to scare you with this chilling tale! That finial was probably taken by… you guessed it… teenagers! Always sassing me and snapping their gum. In MY day we respected our elders. Well, not really, but we would have if we weren’t so busy snapping our gum. Hey, look at little Andrew - he’s glowering in the first one.
Andrew, I think it’s safe to say that Disneyland’s Main Street is a fanciful, Hollywood version of a “typical small town Main Street”. Driving through the Midwest, you’ll see lots of Main Streets, and they bear some resemblance to the one at Disneyland, but have a lot more dark brick, and most have seen better days.
Mike Cozart, didn’t you see what I wrote to Sue? It’s the famous Emporium Ghost! I haven’t noticed many of Disneyland’s upstairs windows with lights in them at night (I actually have looked!), though that doesn’t mean that they NEVER did it. In fact I thought it was weird that ALL of the upstairs lights seemed to be off. I think I have a photo or two of the Emporium at WDW with at least one or two “fake apartment” interiors visible. Wow, I have never heard or read about those animated vignettes! That’s very neat, I wish there was lots more info about them (with pictures, ha ha). I love little touches like that, and wish that there were more in Disneyland’s upper windows (like the famous will o’ the wisp that moves from window to window in the Haunted Mansion - or used to anyway).
Melissa, I AGREE, I need to know more about those animated scenes. Todd James Pierce needs to investigate.
JG, WOW, very eat that these photos are from the eve of your wedding!
Grant, 1984 was still a great time to take kids to the park, even though Fantasyland had been changed drastically. I’d happily take a time machine to those days. Oh man, now I am curious about your Donald Duck item!
Stu29573, I have to admit that I have sometimes walked down the middle of Main Street - the park gets so crowded that it is almost a necessity. I remember being amazed that there were people sitting and waiting for a parade that would not happen for hours - must have been annual passholders.
Thanks, Mike, for answering my question! (And, thank you too, Major, for answering my question.)
JG, since my dad sometimes took pictures over a few days, some may show up with your actual wedding date. Let's hope so!
I have a unique Donald Duck item to share with y'all sometime.
Grant, you really should send Major a photo now, while you still know where it is, and you remember. You know how it is at our age. ;o)
Walking down the middle of Main Street is all fun and games until you get your crutch tip caught in the streetcar tracks.
Melissa, I hope you're not speaking from experience!!
I've said it before, the 80's were a good time. Good looking trash receptacles too.
Smoking does look weird in old photos. A lot of smoking in the old black and white photos of my parents and their friends. And none of those sissy filters either. Good old Lucky Strikes.
Mike, thanks for the info, but the plywood hinged boxes and staple guns are already in the rarely visited archive in my brain of the real world. I try not to go there very often.
Andrew, excellent vertical placement of the windmill, and I can see that sparkle in your smile. That's 2 of the 3 signs of a future Jr. Gorilla.
Nanook, I think encounters with his erstwhile nephews also helps Donald stay young and fit.
I forgot! Thanks Lou & Sue and thank you Major. Great pics by Lou.
I'm sure I've babbled about it before, but I remember watching the complete show on each of the screens: the first reel of "Hunchback of Notre Dame"; a Keystone comedy involving Chester Conklin and biplanes; Will Rogers in a parody of "The Covered Wagon" (it ended with the pioneers ambushed by real estate agents); and so on, with one screen devoted to intermission slides ("Don't Spit on the Floor! Remember the Johnstown Flood!").
There was a time it was hard for most kids to see silent films. In the 60s-70s it was occasional showings on what was then Educational Television; 8mm home reels from Blackhawk Films; and those nifty Robert Youngson compilations ("When Comedy Was King"). College students and 16mm collectors got to see a bit more.
VHS made it possible and affordable to see a lot more. DVD made it possible and affordable to fill a shelf with the silents of Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, and a host of others (not to mention vintage talkies and cartoons). TCM still plays silents, usually on Sunday evenings.
I'd say home video killed the original Main Street Cinema (along with the Mickey Mouse Club Theater in Fantasyland, then one of the few places you could see classic Disney shorts outside of B&W "Mickey Mouse Club" reruns). That, and the fact the original target demographic -- parents and grandparents who actually remembered silent flicks -- had passed on. I suspect a lot of what the old Main Street Cinema showed was already public domain, or at least very cheap, so rights wouldn't be that big an issue.
It's nice that the Disneyland version gives vintage Mickey a presence in the park. Beyond merchandise, that is.
Shag hairdo's and halter tops! What a decade! I have absolutely no recollection of the "Celebration of Donald, 1984!" When I did that 30th anniversary guidebook photo I saw in an old Disneyland Line that all of us volunteers apparently got a Happy Birthday Donald Duck button for our troubles. I wonder where that is? I do remember meeting "Ducky" Nash at the Market House- I saw him a few times at various events- but only met him once. It was strangely other worldly to hear him speak Donald Duck talk as this very small little old man. The kids around us were wiggly and squirming and giggling...the parents were as well. He loved to work his audience. I worked at the Emporium very briefly, and will concur that the only second floor was on the Jungle side of the building...for back stock knick knacks and things...and I think there was an office of sorts up there too. Working at the Emporium at closing was enough stress to power an entire city..."please do not send me back"- I wasn't built for that type of pressure. God bless those employees! PBX was actually above the Mad Hatter- not behind the oculus of the Emporium. You can see the clock of the train station from the PBX window, and I think the operators name was "Dottie". "Disneyland, this is Dottie."( I remember her saying). I had the dubious distinction of being the recorded voice on the information line before you got to a real person. The recording (made in the PBX office: home of Dottie) was changed every week to satisfy the hours changes. I had to chuckle when guests told me that the recording said that the park closed at Midnight and not at 7:00 so "I want a refund!" Me: "That is actually me on the recording...." it kind of ended there...I'm sure many people know that a lot of Main St. inspiration came from Ft. Collins: childhood home of Harper Goff. Legendary stories note Marceline MO as the inspiration, Dave Smith confirmed with me that it was mostly Fort Collins- no matter...Main Street is a very magical place no matter where the ideas came from. I am a huge Harper Goff fan!
As always, great photos, Lou!
All this talk about the upper windows of the Emporium reminded me of a really weird dream I had 23 years ago. I was riding an Omnimover-based ride that took you through the upper levels of the east side of the Main Street structures (opposite the Emporium). The cars faced the windows and you looked past the curtains out onto the people walking down Main Street. The track was also slightly elevated, so you had to look downwards out the windows, preventing you from seeing outside the Park.
It was warm and stuffy, and I remember a lot of dust and a few dead moths on the windowsills. I apparently rode it in the afternoon, because sunlight was streaming in from the other side of the street, although not so low that it was in your eyes and it hadn't reached the "Golden Hour" yet. There was no soundtrack or narration - you just heard muffled sounds of music and people outside.
It definitely was no E-ticket attraction, but it was still pretty cool to see Main Street that way.
The Main Street Cinema (Drum Poster it’s technically called) is actually not a poster mounted to canvas - its silkscreened onto the canvas . They are then applied almost like wallpaper. The 70’s version is on a very heavy canvas - about as thick as the original painted haunted mansion stretching portraits are. The later style Main Street cinema sign is also on canvas ( and maybe that’s really not the word for the material) but much thinner and lighter - it too is screen printed. The later design is still used today but about 5- 8 years ago they now print it digitally - but it looks very good almost like the screen print.
At one time all upper floors to Disneyland structures featured some level of “prop lighting” for night time . During the energy crises much of this would be discontinued - New Orleans Square was the first . Main Street USA had the upper window lighting up until the installation of LIGHT MAGIC PARADE ..... sadly all the facades of Main streets main facing facades were ruined with tacky fiber-optics and windows with projection and other parade lighting equipment. During this time many of you may remember how the main street buildings looked fuzzy or hairy during the day - it was he translucent fiber optic filaments lining the windows , rooflines and awnings - it was awful .
But prior to that parade many of the upper windows still featured their upper lighting effects - At one point they were on timers so many would turn off completely ( the occupant went to bed or went home) and others turned on. The base of the inner window boxes that lit up might feature a flower vase next to the light and the outside facing box might feature wall paper if the curtains were in a permanent open position.
These are details lost now i guess . I member in the early 2000’s some of the Adventureland structures had merchandise and operational offices that managers were accidentally leaving window shades open at night and in the evening bright MEGO glow fluorescent office lighting beamed out of the period windows out into adventureland!!
Directly above the Riverbelle Terrace entry was a meeting room called the BEAR COUNTRY ROOM - all the pictures on the wall were black and white press type photos of Bear Country and one end was a bear country jamboree attraction poster - I guess at one point in the 70’s there was no office space for bear country the managers office was located in Frontierland ! It’s funny to think in the 70’s and 80’s Tokyo Disneyland planning offices were above pirates of the Caribbean , chef offices and food storage above French Market , Bear Country offices in Frontierland , GOODYEAR offices behind Plaza Inn , Lowery’s offices behind Mineral Hall ... and entertainment and parade offices in half of the upper floor of America Sings . And jack Wagoner’s park side recording studio above Circle-Vision!!
Wow Chuck. That dream must have really made an impression on you to remember it that long. It sounds a bit melancholy.
PS Bu and Mike, Thanks for the info and stories. One of the reasons I visit at least 4 or 5 times a day is to catch all the good stories and information.
CHUCK: your dream is so weird : one of my earliest memories of Disneyland must have been a dream memory. My grandfather “steering “ the DoomBuggy thru the haunted mansion , and going past a upper window and being able to see the people in line down below !!!
DrGoat, I think part of why it stuck in my mind (aside from the sheer weirdness of it) was that I was deployed to Bosnia at the time and a bit homesick. I'd been transferred out of California to South Carolina two years before, and I missed going to Disneyland with my wife every other Friday evening as young married APHs. I was also the team lead, and that can be a lonely position.
There was a married couple on the that team I'd been stationed with in California, and they were both Disneyland fans. I remember telling them about the dream, which started us speculating on just what was up there on the second and third floor on Main Street. Then to cheer me up and get my mind off Disneyland, they loaned me their paperback copy of Return of the King. That was just the medicine I needed.
Looking back, I can see elements of a lot of memories coming together in the dream. There's the warm feeling of being at Disneyland, and the Omnimover system seemed to make sense and nod to some of my favorite rides. Oddly enough, the rest of the upstairs spaces in the dream were probably inspired by my grandmother's house.
There is a mother-in-law's apartment over the garage that is connected to the rest of the house, and after my great aunt passed away all of her things and most of the furniture was distributed among family members. For many years (actually, until my stuff was moved in while I was in college), the rooms were vacant, and my sister and I would wander around and play in them when we would visit. The windows were always closed and there was no central air, so it was warm and stuffy. Everything was just a bit dusty, and being on the second floor gave us a different view of the mature, wooded neighborhood and big backyard. I think it just all came together in my subconscious.
Mike, that sounds like one cool dream. I have a memory from my first trip to Disneyland (I was two and a half) that I was certain for many years was a dream or just badly jumbled. I was sitting in a train car across from my other grandparents and facing forward towards the train's direction of travel. I looked out the left-hand window through some bars and saw the castle in the distance on a hill.
I didn't visit Disneyland from the time I was 7 to the time I was 25, so by the time I was about to graduate from college I had convinced myself that it was a false memory or dream. You can't see the castle from the train, and even if you could, the train goes clockwise, not counterclockwise, so there's no way I could have looked out the left-side window while facing forward and seen the castle, which isn't on a hill, either.
Then I took my wife to Disneyland on Christmas Eve, 1993, and rode Casey, Jr. in either the "Monkeys" or "Wild Animals" car. I looked out of the cage we were riding in over towards Cinderella's Castle on its hill, and suddenly there was the view from my memory. At two and a half, I just didn't understand it was a miniature castle.
Enjoyed everyone's FUN, and informative, comments - and dream segments! I think Major should interpret. Never boring, here!
Thank for for the kind words that I will definitely pass on to my dad.
^ Thank you for the kind words...
My Disneyland/WDW dreams are usually of being in the parks all alone late at night, but all the lights are on and everything is running. In real life that would be a lot of fun, but in the dreams it’s usually kind of scary.
What in the world! I responded to a ton of comments, and I guess my response never published!! It vanished into the ether. Now I have to retype them all. Arg!
Lou and Sue, I am always happy to answer questions! ;-) I am guessing that Grant’s “unique Donald Duck item” is a rare pair of pants (never worn, of course)!
Melissa, it sounds like a Buster Keaton routine, only the streetcar is coming at you at 3 miles an hour!
Lou and Sue, I’ll bet Melissa really experienced that… it is too specific to be a joke.
DrGoat, when I think about my childhood, we had to sit near smokers on airplanes, in restaurants, everywhere. I’d go to my grandma’s house after she and “the girls” had their weekly bridge game, and I could hardly breathe due to the thick smoke. And yet most of those old gals lived into their 90s. I wish I had a plywood hinged box and staple gun in my brain like you do! Those nephews of Donald’s, if anything I’d think that they would make him prematurely old.
DBenson, wow, that is some commitment, to sit through all of those films in that tiny theater!
And the fact that you remember what they were is impressive too. I think my first real exposure to silent films was at Shakey’s Pizza! My family would go for dinner, sing old fashioned songs (with lyrics projected on a screen), and watch old Ben Turpin and Charlie Chaplin films. Later, I took some film appreciation classes (mostly an excuse to watch great movies) and saw many more silent classics. I’m sure that home video helped to kill the Main Street Cinema’s original offerings, but I really feel like it was a matter of new generations having a lack of interest (as you alluded to).
Bu, I’m surprised you don’t remember Donald’s 30th birthday, it was such a big deal. I had a friend who worked at the park at the time, and she brought me some pinback buttons and some other items - I wonder where I put them! I wish I’d met Ducky Nash, though I did meet a good number of great Disney animators over the years - Marc Davis, Frank and Ollie, Ward Kimball, and more. I’m sure that many of those storage (and other “back stage”) areas of the park are pretty dull, but I would still love to see them! I did know that Fort Collins was the inspiration for Main Street, and I am also a big fan of Harper Goff’s work!
Chuck, that’s a very cool dream, you describe it vividly, I can almost see it in my imagination. I love vivid, trippy dreams that are so real that you remember them as if they really happened. I’ve had a number of them in my life, though they are rare. Recalling details such as smells, sounds, even the particular kind of light - really neat.
Mike Cozart, I still can’t help wondering if a conservator couldn’t unbend your Main Street Cinema poster, but I realize that it would be a pricey thing to try, and also that you don’t want to risk harming it. I think I missed all of the decorations for “Light Magic”, though I certainly read about them. Poor Main Street! I assume all of that damage has since been repaired and is no longer visible. The light towers that they added to the Small World plaza area were ugly in my opinion, but as far as I know they are still there, so they must have been useful. Thank you for all of your great info - I originally wrote a much longer reply to your comment, but it got lost, and I just don’t have the patience to retype the whole thing!
DrGoat, rereading Chuck’s description of his dream, I can see why you thought it was melancholy, but my first read through just interpreted it as sort of warm and sleepy!
DrGoat, for sure, even I get so much out of revisiting throughout the day.
Mike Cozart, I know I have had Disneyland dreams in the past, but I guess none of them have “stuck” to today! Much to my disappointment.
Chuck, I can see why, in your situation, your subconscious brain took you to Disneyland! I can’t imagine being that far from everything that is familiar. Very nice that the other couple lent you “Return of the King”, but what about the other two books?! I’m sure you’d read them long ago, but still… I wouldn’t want to start book 3 without having the first two books to pave the way! On the other hand, if I was in Bosnia, maybe I WOULD. The “mother in-law’s apartment” sounds potentially spooky! I never thought about the fact that you can’t see the castle from the train. But I guess it’s true! I love that you realized what your dream was referring to, just by happenstance, when you were aboard the Casey Jr.!
Lou and Sue, I think everybody here is crazy! ;-) That includes me, of course. If I didn’t have to retype all of my comments, I would take the time to interpret all the dreams, but now I’ve spent almost an hour (yes, it can take me a long time), and need a nap. I haven’t heard an update on Lou for a while, I hope all is well with him.
Melissa, an empty amusement park is a classic Scooby Doo scenario!
Major, I’ve had comments disappear, too, many times. (The blog eats them!) Then I started ‘highlighting and copying’ all my comments, as I was preparing them, so that I could just ‘paste’ them back in, if they disappeared. Doing that has saved me many times and made me less grumpy.
My dad is OK, but has been a bit on the quiet side, the last couple times I’ve been with him (he seemed a bit confused). I plan to spend a lot of time with him this Saturday, and am hoping to get him to talk more. Up until recently, he would talk nonstop and laugh and joke with me (Disneyland and GDB being our favorite topics of discussion)...so we’ll see...
Major, they actually loaned me The Fellowship of the Ring, not Return of the King. Not sure why I typed the wrong book name. It was probably because I'd been reading an article earlier in the day about the Oscars over the past 40 years that had mentioned Return of the King by name.
Lou and Sue, I think everybody here is crazy! ;-) That includes me, of course.
To quote Kermit the Frog: “Me, not crazy? I hired all the others!”
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