Main Street Station and Main Street, March 1977
Here's a good pair of photos from March, 1977; it seems ridiculous to say, but Star Wars would be released just two months after these pictures were taken, and the world changed. The entertainment world, and to a degree, our American culture changed. Not that anybody had an inkling in March!
This first picture shows Main Street Station from an odd angle - why didn't the photographer wait to get closer, or try to get the train station more centered? It's like an afterthought. A fun detail is the two posters on the wall in the lower right; one for "The Wonderful World of Disney", with Jiminy Cricket. The other is for the beloved film, "Freaky Friday", which came out in December of 1976.
Here's a better look at the poster. I looked to see where "Freaky Friday" ranked on the 1976 box office, but it appears on the 1977 list (makes sense I suppose). It did pretty well, making over $25 million. But "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo" ($28 million), "The Rescuers" (just over $29 million), and "Pete's Dragon" ($36 million) all made more money. Not as much as "Star Wars", though (over $195 million)!
Next is this lovely view of Main Street USA. It doesn't look much different from the way it did in 1955. The trees have lost most of their leaves, betraying the fact that it was winter. Imagine what else you could have gone to do that day; "Adventure Thru Inner Space"; "Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland"; "Swiss Family Treehouse"; "Submarine Voyage"; Keelboats; the Peoplemover; and much, much more.
18 comments:
Sorry Major; this Disneyland visit is March 1977. The mine train thru nature’s wonderland was permanently closed by January 2, 1977.
Interesting angle on shot #1. I love the old "DISNEYLAND" letters above the turnstiles...I don't remember ever seeing them in person- I think they were out when they re-did the Main Gate (?), but they look old school, with the old school "Disneyland Colors" of that Gold and Blue- if anyone knows the specific color names, give a shout. Looks like Elgin had the clock shop given the station clock- I always wondered if they actually switched out the clock works inside to the sponsors (?) Probably not. My Grandfather ran Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire when Star Wars was being made. Unfortunately, none of us grandkids even knew what he did for a living until long after he retired. I remember him coming to LA on "business" many times, but I had no idea it was "THE" business...alas, I have no Star Wars trinkets. I do have an original "Freaky Friday" script however. God knows why I had to have that script- I got it in the early '80's. What a weird kid I was. It's not signed or anything- just in it's WDP yellow jacket. Pic 3 has a shop in there that I haven't remembered since my working days "Rings and Things"- a favorite jewelry store for the ladies of Disneyland. I think later it became the Disneyana shop when it moved from it's cute little store-in-a-store in the Emporium complex- and then started selling no-so-antique, however collectable, merchandise. There is also a sweeper in that last pic with the regulation dust pan. There is a very specific noise of "scraping" the ground with the dust pan, and sweepers did amazing twirls with the broom and sweeps behind them- very elaborate. My stint as a sweeper was for a NY minute. I can say to all the young lads, if you want to meet people: be a sweeper- it was like moths to a flame. I see that the gent has a jaunty hat with a black bill. I've never seen that before. In the distance you can see the Skyway buckets- that was such a calm in a sea of chaos and frenzy down below. The Japanese elms make more sense without leaves. You can really see the size. I understand now why they replaced them with something more in-scale. Everyone booed when the Hallmark shop went bye bye to be replaced by "Disney Clothiers". "Where are we going to buy cards!!!?!!!" I swear that was an employee shop that just happened to be on-stage. We all were delighted when Carefree Corner became "Card Corner" with Gibson...then we had our card shop back.
I would like to know why Ruth Buzzi and Kaye Ballard are not credited on that "Freaky Friday" poster!
Greatest. Disney Film. Ever.
Well....maybe after "The Happiest Millionaire" and "Million Dollar Duck."
FYI....according to the December 1978 issue of New West Magazine, "The Rescuers" out-grossed "Star Wars" in Paris, and it was Germany's largest grossing film of all time.
The French love Jerry Lewis, but maybe they weren't so crazy about R2-D2 and C-3PO?
@ TM!-
Why stop with Ruth Buzzi and Kaye Ballard-? I'm still upset Jack Sheldon, Fritz Feld, Marvin Kaplan and Al Molinaro didn't make the cut-!
The framing of that first photo reminds me about the first picture on a roll of film. You load the film then click off a few frames to make sure the film grabbed the gears. Mostly, I got pictures of my feet.
Nanook, in that case....let us not forget, Jimmy Van Patten and Charlene Tilton!
MRaymond, you’re right, photo 1 has that feeling, “is it ready to go?” The wood scrollwork is a beautiful detail.
I am pretty sure I never saw any of the films mentioned. By 76, I was past Disney films, I guess. I sure remember Star Wars, though.
Photo 2 is that favored vantage where we can count the trash cans. I believe at least seven are visible here, in part.
Charlie Chaplin is playing in the Theater. Dave DeCaro had a nice pic of Charlie a couple of days back.
You are right, Major, Star Wars did change everything about entertainment, even being responsible for bringing back Star Trek. Disney should buy Star Trek and redo Tomorrowland into Federation World and the IP Wars would be settled.
It’s a sad litany of lost attractions that you cite, and none were replaced by anything remotely better, IMHO.
Have a good day, everyone.
JG
Mike Cozart, oh yeah, you’re right!
Bu, I don’t personally remember those letters either, but then again, as a kid I would have been so excited that I’m sure my goal was to get my ticket book and get in ASAP. I doubt they swapped out the clockworks over Main Street Station, though they might have made an entirely new clock face (can’t have Timex getting the glory when they aren’t paying anymore). Wow, amazing that you didn’t know that your grandfather ran Elstree Studios - but then again, I barely had a clue what my grandpa did either. It was only after he died that I really knew, and was old enough to ask questions. Too late. I think “Freaky Friday” is fairly well-regarded as far as Disney films from that era go, but… I’ve never seen it! Never saw the remake either. Bu, I don’t know if you know that our friend Huck Caton was a sweeper, he has nothing but good things to say about his experiences doing that job. Good eye on the white hat with the black visor, not sure I’ve ever noticed that either. I didn’t know that Gibson returned as a Disneyland lessee with the “Card Corner” - Hallmark replaced them originally back in 1960 (I believe).
TokyoMagic!, Ruth Buzzi is sort of America’s Dame Judi Dench when you think about it. Kaye Ballard - I never liked that show “The Mothers In-Law”, so I didn’t have a fondness for her. Kind of like Lucy!
TokyoMagic!, yes, that fact about “The Rescuers” outgrossing “Star Wars” in France is something Disney loved to mention. George Lucas cried all the way to the bank!
Nanook, Disneyland should have a Jack Sheldon animatronic. Just put in anywhere!
MRaymond, yes, you’re right, photo #1 definitely has that “not paying attention” look to it. I think I mostly got pictures of my feet too!
TokyoMagic!, wow, Charlene Tilton? Really? She was quite the thing a few years later.
JG, well I did see “The Rescuers”, and later “The Black Cauldron”, in theaters - I made an exception for animated films, but otherwise Disney movies were way beneath me by that point. I saw Star Wars at a theater in Woodland Hills that is long gone. I’m sure the abundance of trash cans helped keep Disneyland tidy, though obviously the sweepers were still necessary. I don’t get the folks who think it’s OK to just drop stuff on the ground. I can’t say I want Star Trek at Disneyland any more than I wanted Star Wars to be there. I like Star Trek just fine! Enjoy your Monday, hope it’s a vacation day for you!
These are great "You are there" pictures! Oh, to actually be there...then...
Interesting (at least to me) trick I used to do with 35mm film. If you laid the canister in the camera, and put the film sprockets in the gears and tucked the narrow film tab just bairly into the takeup reel, you could easily get 3 or (rarely) even 4 extra shots off of a roll! It was cool to, therefore, get film in rolls of 15, 27, and 39 shots! ;-)
I agree Stu...brings back memories of trying to 'push' a little more out of the film canister. Always was happy to find when I could fully advance the film beyond the promised number of shots for at least an extra picture. That Main Street pic made me recall times when,after a shift, I'd change back to street clothes to do some shopping as Bu mentioned...cards, glassware and such, when there was non-Disney merchandise. Made getting gifts so easy. Plus I had a Disney credit card. Many times, I'd sit on the porch of the China Closet (I think that was the store) and watch the guests go by. It was a great spot to 'people watch'. KS
I LOVE Freaky Friday. The film was actually very popular and a production team was gathered to start a sequel based on the book’s sequel “A Billion for Boris” ..... but Jodie Foster finished her existing Disney productions and left the studio to do more adult type roles. Barbara Harris was booked with a Broadway run and then a Movie version of the play Executive Suite. The actor who played Boris and at started a tv series .... I think it was about lawyers .... Since three of the films original main actors were not available , Disney Studios passed on the sequel’s production. ...... “the things that might have been”
I love Barbara Harris - a somewhat unsung great comedian. I saw a very young version of her on a Alfred Hitchcock Presents a few weeks ago and it was odd to see her playing a very non-comedy part .... and was was EVIL.
I’m out of town right now .... but I can probably find out what color that blue is on the Disneyland entry oval signs when I return. It’s most likely a Fitch or Plochere color system selection.
There are actually two sweepers in the second shot.
The older gentleman in the foreground is “Dutch” Hiatt who usually opened Tom Sawyer Island but perhaps the island was down for rehab that week (or he simply opted for an opening shift on Main Street that day). Dutch was older than nearly everyone in Custodial and, owing to the sparseness of hair on his head, was allowed to wear a cap issued by wardrobe to avoid getting sunburned. He kept a few different ones in his locker and, it would seem, felt this particular chapeau was appropriate when working Main Street.
Wardrobe didn’t start issuing (optional) “official” plain white baseball caps to sweepers (and Janitorial busboys) until the summer of 1980 (although some people wore their own non-logoed ball caps from home before that momentous event).
Farther down the street in front of the GAF Photo Salon (ugh) is the Main Street day foreman, Gary Quale. Honest.
That’s all I know.
~Huck
Interesting comments today!
JG, I look for and usually count the trash cans, too!
My dad always tried to squeeze in pictures at the end of a roll, too. I had sent the Major one where it looks like there’s a fire on Main Street—but it’s just a bright flash that I’m guessing was from the end of the roll. As I’m now going through and looking at his boxes of slides, I’m finding lots of 1/2 pictures on his “last” slides too.
Thanks, Major!
Huck: Dutch Hiatt...sounds really familiar...but I am thinking he had a wife that worked in the park too. I am amazed that you can tell from that little sliver who that is...congrats! I see that to the left of Gary is a candy maker from the Candy Palace... I think...they had that kind of red/pink stripe shirt that wasn't tucked in. I do recognize him from the back, but don't remember the name. They used to sell me bulk chocolate (Callebaut) that I would use at home to make my own things. So nice that they would do that for employees. Those pecan "nuttles" and the English Toffee were my downfall, and nothing has compared since.
Stu29573, that’s a pretty sweet trick! You’d think that everybody would know about it. I guess you’d need to be careful about those first and last photos, you don’t want to take a photo of something important, taking the chance that they might not turn out OK.
KS, I’m sure there were instances in which I got one or two additional photos out of a roll of film, but as I said to Stu, sometimes they wound up cut off or got slight exposure to light or some other issue. I’m sure a smart person could really make it work for them! I’m sure that you were able to get some cool stuff on Main Street back in the day - did you get an employee discount?
Mike Cozart, I’ve somehow actually heard of “A Billion for Boris”, I wonder if my younger sister read it? I wonder what Jodie Foster thinks of her Disney days? Were they fun? Was she already so smart that she wished she was doing movies that were more serious? I don’t know if she’s ever talked about it. I mostly remember Barbara Harris from the Hitchcock movie “Family Plot”. Somehow I would not be surprised if you could come up with the official color name for that blue!
Huck, wow, amazing! I love that you can ID that sweeper! “Dutch” Hiatt, I suppose he might no longer be with us at this point. I’m kind of surprised that hats were not standard issue for sweepers, some summer days could really be brutal. I’m glad that they eventually gave those guys some protection. Aha, I finally see the other sweeper! I would have never noticed him. How in the world can you tell who it is??
Lou and Sue, yeah, I have some photos that are orange/red for half or 1/3, and always assumed that they are from the end of a roll. It just makes sense that somebody who used a lot of film would try to get the most out of each roll. Thanks Sue!
@ TM!-
I'm unwilling to tread that far down into the land of 'B-Listers'-!
Sure did Major! KS
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