It's Pitchur Gallery time! I think I have at least four most posts featuring these fun souvenir photos.
In my totally unscientific opinion, this Conestoga wagon scene was most popular with Knott's Berry Farm guests. Perhaps 1/3 of my Pitchur Gallery collection shows folks crossing the harsh plains on their oxen-drawn wagon. In this one, a mother and her daughter pose, but the daughter blinked! Or is it blunked?
Here's the daughter again, not blinking, and looking very cute as she rides a bucking bronco with savoir-faire that makes all the other cowgirls jealous.
What did I tell you? Another Conestoga wagon! The cloth covering has finally been redone, I guess the old one wore out after years of harsh sun, flaming arrows, and Draculas. I believe this fun photo is from the early-to-mid 1960s, while the one with the mother and daughter is likely from the 1950s.
Stay tuned for more Pitchur Gallery photos!
Major, if I were you, I would take a Sharpie and draw eyeballs on the eyelids of ol' Blinking Gal.
ReplyDeleteDavid W successfully put smiles on those frowning kids a while back—so maybe he can add eyeballs to our cute Blinking Gal??
ReplyDeleteI continue to be completely creeped out by these "Olde Tyme" pictures- especially "blinkee" in the "Yee Haw" scenario. That horse looks very horrifyingly realistic...please take me back to fiberglass horsies in the Friendly Indian Village on the Rivers of America.
ReplyDeleteWall Drug has a bucking bronco like the one in the photo. It also has a T Rex in a cage that goes off every so often. Great photo ops, both. Tourists in our town often ask witty questions like "When's the next stage?" and "We thought the only airport was in Billings." Ya gotta love em. We had a giant elk up town once, but it blew over in a snow storm. Good times. Thanks Major, and yippy kayea.
ReplyDeleteThese are a lot of fun, for sure. Thanks Major!
ReplyDeleteMy Dad had a picture of my Mom on a bucking bronco much like this picture, probably taken in the late 1930's or early 40's. I don't know where it was taken. The bronco is a little worse for wear, pretty moth-eaten.
Mom said it was as close as she would get to a horse.
JG
Major-
ReplyDeleteLook out Dale Evans-!!
Thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic! I’ll do it! I’m sure it will increase the collector value tenfold.
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, if David W has the time, that would be great! I would give it a go, but I’m away from my computer all day today.
Bu, hmm, I don’t find these “fun photos” to be creepy, though I don’t like the idea of a horse being killed just to be stuffed for that particular scene. However, supposedly horses were being slaughtered for things like dog food, so… yeah. A fiberglass horse would probably be more expensive to start, but would last forever (they had to replace the Knott’s horses every few years).
Jonathan, I sure have heard a lot about Wall Drug, I wonder if it is still a fun place today? A friend of mine went to a fun roadside stop somewhere in Central California, but I can’t remember the name of it. I’d never heard of it before, and it had all kinds of fun attractions, like a shooting game with an animatronic crow that heckles you. Did they just dispose of the giant elk just because he tipped over? They need to use some guy wires or something. Put him back! I love him and I haven’t ever seen him.
JG, oh man, I wish you could find that photo of your mom! It sounds charming. I admit to being tentative around horses, they are big, and have those chompers to bite fingers, and they can kick!
Nanook, Dale Evans never rested, she was like a ninja assassin. Try to mug her, and you’d find yourself flying through the air.
Lou and Sue, now that I look again, that girl on the bucking bronco kind of looks like Lorraine (Lea Thompson) in "Back to the Future". Am I crazy?
ReplyDeleteAnother fine Pitchur post. Ah, the heartbreak of a blink in the days before digital cameras. Maybe she just got tired on the long trek west. She does have a Lorraine look, Major. Her cropped pants are nice. I like how the older crowd frequently chose the wagon, and we get to see a lot of very well-dressed pioneers. Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great bronco shot. Had the real experience once myself....stayed on BTW. On a serious note, they continue to be 'processed' for dog food (sadly) shipped to Canada and Mexico. We save them where we can and place them in rescues and sanctuaries around the country. 24 draft horses over the past 12 months. It's become a personal mission.
ReplyDeleteWe will now return the channel back to more fun comments. KS
Major, yes, I do see the resemblance. I bet this gal was a classy beauty, when she was a little older.
ReplyDeleteKS, God bless you for rescuing those beautiful creatures!! I have heard what happens when some of them aren’t rescued. Too horrible to discuss here. I agree, now back to fun GDB!
Major, if i still have that photo, i think i know where it is. I will hunt around and send if i can find it.
ReplyDeleteJG
Kathy!, now I’m not 100% certain that the girl’s eyes are closed… she might just be looking down? Hard to be sure. I probably have Lorraine on the brain because I watched “Back to the Future” for the 20th time (it’s on Netflix) last night!
ReplyDeleteKS, good for you for hanging on! I have never been on a fully bucking bronco, but my family went horseback riding in the Sierras when I was a kid, and my horse kept trying to get me off his back! It was scary. He also kept biting the horse in front of me. Dumb horse. Wow, amazing that you have saved 24 draft horses, that is a wonderful thing!
Lou and Sue, I think the girl is awfully pretty in the photos, but you’re right, give her a few years and I’ll bet she was a real knockout.
JG, THANKS! I know everybody here would love to see it.
Hey Major- Nice "pitchurs" today. Did you get my email? I sent it around noon. I will resend it...
ReplyDelete-DW
Always enjoy a side trip to the Pitchur Gallery.
ReplyDeleteJonathan, I wandered through Wall Drug with my oldest when he was four. He didn't say anything, but he was absolutely terrified of that T-rex. We had to time our movement through the arcade so we didn't hit the entrance row when it was trying to "escape."
JG, I hope you find that picture. And an inverted Jenny and a Detective Comics #27.