Monday, September 13, 2021

Flower Market, October 1962

I have a group of photos from 1962, many of them featuring this lady in Disneyland. I was going to say "enjoying Disneyland", but she is rarely smiling in the pictures, oddly. Presumably her husband loved her enough to want photos of his honey, but in this first picture, she looks supremely annoyed. "Can't a girl look at some fabric flowers in peace?". But she's wearing one of those hats with an ostrich plume, which hints at a sense of fun that is not otherwise apparent. Maybe she just has "camera anxiety". (NUN ALERT! REMAIN CALM!)



"Can't you smile for the camera?". "I AM SMILING!". Wonder what she's got in that large shopping bag? There are two identically-dressed girls for Melissa (and a smaller one with the same headband - triplets born years apart?). One of the girls is carrying something that looks like a tackle box, but I assume it's some sort of purse. (DOUBLE NUN ALERT!)


Happy Birthday to our friend Stu29573! Knowing that Stu especially loves the old Moonliner, Sue B. found an amazing photo (circa 1963) from the Disneyland Hotel Miniature Golf Course. I thought I'd seen the mini-golf version of the Moonliner, but once Sue sent this picture, I realized that I probably haven't seen a picture of it before. Look at it! It's adorably odd, which is what makes it great. (Thanks, Lou and Sue!).



31 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
I did become a bit concerned when you pointed out the nun... but only a single nun. Thankfully, her companion revealed herself in the second image. Whew... we definitely dodged a bullet there-!

Miss. Frownie pants seems to be sporting a Kodak Brownie Starflash camera slung around her neck - quite a popular camera back then. And the gal next to her appears to be holding a Cine-Kodak Reliant 8mm movie camera. I notice a pinned-on label on the light blue cash machine, for 'Willmark Service System, Inc.' I remember seeing those metal tags on many a cash register, etc. They had offices all across America.

Gotta love the twins - and the three, matching headbands. (It would be funny if that twin was actually toting a real tackle box thru Disneyland-!)

That shot of the DL Hotel Miniature Golf Course is a real beauty. I golfed there on more than one occasion - I wish I remembered more about it. I guess a player was supposed to aim the ball for the center 'rocket booster'-? Wow. Thanks to Lou & Sue for this great addition.

And happy birthday to Stu29573. Hopefully it will be filled with a series of "holes in one"-!

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

Happy Birthday Stu29573! Hope it's a good one.

The DL Hotel Miniature Golf Course shot is wonderful! Thanks, Lou, Sue & Major.

Chuck said...

Happy birthday, Stu!

That almost looks like that girl is carrying a cash box. I guess you do what you have to do when you lose your motel room key.

That mini-golf hole is wonderfully bizarre, with a way-off-model Moonliner, three Batman villain-sized artillery shells, and what looks like is supposed to be a lunar crater for the hole.

Bu said...

For some reason I thought there were a few iterations of the Mini Golf Course. It looks like there is a Matterhorn in the background, but that may be the MINI Matterhorn (?) I PINED to go to this mini golf and was constantly told "no". I have memories of the course...but not actually picking up one of those sticks and putting away. Grumpy lady with feather hat, twins with weird box (very "Shining" if you ask me) and nuns...well...there ya have it: "Disneyland". Disneyland in the dictionary was once "a feeling or place of incongruity". If that is the case, I am at Disneyland every day :) That flower market had to be a huge expense for very little take. Those flowers baking in the sun got very faded very quickly. From a publicity perspective, I am SURE they MORE than made up for what the merchandise didn't bring them. Sometimes, it's not the immediate $$ that makes sense. I saw a couple of new photos of piles of plush Mickeys and Goofy's and whatnot...to the ceiling...oh yah...that's what I want a picture of. They weren't even stacked nicely- but I suppose guests these days don't even know the difference. Bring back mini golf and fake flowers please!

TokyoMagic! said...

In the first pic, that lady with the gray hair is telling the nun, "Oh, I just LOVED you in The Sound of Music! (the 1959 original Broadway production, of course).

Yep, the mini golf pic is pretty terrific. That little wooden structure where you would pay and get your clubs and balls, remained standing (boarded up) for many years, even after the mini golf course was long gone.

Thank you Lou, Sue and the Major, too, and a very happy birthday, to our Stu!

Melissa said...

Double your pleasure
Double your nuns
What’s in the twin’s strongbox
I think it’s a gun

Stefano said...

Birthday greetings to you, Stu!

Nuns, twins, and a grumpy lady right out of The Far Side comic strip.
If things seem weird, it's because this is the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Grouchy just can't let the outside world go.

Those golf course missiles are ready and aimed, painted Commie Red to ensure they hit their targets.

As a kid I walked around the golf course after it had closed for the day; water was still trickling down the Matterhorn and a real bird was chirping
away at the top, a dazzling mix of scales.

DrGoat said...

Happy Birthday Stu. Hope your day goes just the way you want it to.
That is one nifty cash register Nanook. Very futuristic. Love that industrial color.
One of those nuns resembles A nun from my sister's short-lived stay at St. Cyril's (not Mr. Toad's horse) Catholic school. We called her sister Mary Birdcage. She was a stern one.
Thanks for the photo of the mini golf course Sue. Don't have any memory of it but I'm sure we did a round or two back then.
Thanks Major. Good stuff.

JG said...

I can hear Gandalf saying “Nun shall pass!”, or maybe that’s the Black Knight.

Mom had that camera too, thanks Nanook, for the ID.

Photo 1 is best because Marilyn Monroe is in it.

I never played this miniature golf, but I vaguely remember one over by Melodyland. Is that a real memory, or a bit of beef?

I do love that Moonliner. Looks like the design was subbed out to the Golf Course Prop fabricators and not closely vetted. Happy birthday, Stu!

Thank you, Major.

JG

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday Stu!

I wonder if you had to putt around the rocket boosters/missiles, or if they each held pipes that dropped your ball on different parts of the green.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes, guys!
Yep, that is the weirdest "Moonliner" I've ever seen, lol! It looks like a scuba tank with stuff stuck on it! I'm also not sure why they would have missiles laying about like that, but, hey why not?
Thanks, Major!

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, as TokyoMagic! pointed out, they do tend to travel in pairs. Double the trouble! Kodak Brownie Starflash, what a name. A combination of antique and futuristic. It’s pretty incredible just how pervasive Kodak products were in those days. And they let it all slip away. Seeing that “tackle box” made me realize (not for the first time) that I’m glad that I’ve never had to carry a satchel or bag around all day. Even when I go hiking, I have to bring a backpack because I want my hands free. I love that shot of the Dl Hotel Mini Golf Course, and am hoping that Sue finds more.

K. Martinez, the rocket looks like it was cobbled together from pieces of things that already existed. What could the body of the rocket have been? Just like the original Moonliner, I’ll bet this one wound up in a scrapyard.

Chuck, the saleslady at the Flower Market turned her back for five seconds, and that little girl knew what to do! I’ll bet that cash box has at least forty or fifty bucks in it. And that’s 1962 bucks!

Bu, perhaps the Mini Golf Course did change as the years went by, I have no idea. They did have their own miniature Matterhorn, as well as a Skull Rock. I forget what else! “A feeling or place of incongruity”, that’s pretty random. It probably wouldn’t be MY definition of “Disneyland”! I never thought about the flowers fading in the sun, but it makes sense, those cheap dyes couldn’t have been very hardy. I do get the feeling that Walt just liked having the Flower Market there, and that it wasn’t about the incredible profits that could be gleaned from the sale of artificial blossoms.

TokyoMagic!, maybe nuns got tired of being stereotyped. “I don’t sing, and I don’t play the guitar! In fact I’m a very unpleasant person!”. I wonder if they didn’t tear down the “club house” in case they thought of another use for it. You’d think they could have stored random junk inside at any rate. Still, interesting that it remained there for a long time.

Melissa, those twins DO look pretty desperate. Maybe they were actually 35 years old. One was named “Mabel”, and the other was “Lorraine”.

Stefano, ha ha, she DOES look like a Far Side lady. Except that she needs some cat’s-eye glasses. I was thinking that if you had to get your golf ball into one of those three missiles, that would be pretty tricky. And even then, the ball would have to go up that little hill to get into the hole. That thing had to be a par 3 at least. Your description of walking the golf course sounds pretty neat!

DrGoat, I do like that old cash register. Not as fancy as some, but I’ll bet there are collectors who would love to have it. I’m always thinking about “collector value”! Catholic school, oh man. I’m glad I went to regular public schools, not that those were necessarily a utopian dream. Sister Mary Birdcage, ha ha. Reminds me of a teacher that nobody liked, “Birdie” Crawford. She would cut a boy’s hair if she thought it was too long! And trust me, she was no Vidal Sassoon.

JG, I wonder if those nuns were armed with rulers, just in case they needed to rap on somebody’s knuckles? That’s my main thought when I hear about nuns. They just love to hit knuckles with rulers. Maybe some of them were nice?? I’m sorry you’ve never played miniature golf, it’s a silly game, but it can be fun if you are with the right people. I’m still trying to guess what that body of the rocket might have been made from, but so far nothing is coming to me.

Andrew, I’m sure you’re right, each “missile” probably dropped the ball in a different place. Sometimes I would play mini golf and I just didn’t care, I’d just hit the ball hard and cross my fingers.

Stu29573, glad you checked in today! Sue had the great idea of sharing this photo for you, and of course Lou actually took the photo, so they get 99% of the credit. Hope you have a great day!

Nanook said...

Major-
The “Moon Rocket” had a Par 3. Only “Matterhorn Bobsled” and “Alice in Wonderland” had Par 4’s. Here’s a list of the course ‘holes’, in order: Main Street; Fantasyland; Sleeping Beauty’s Castle; Dwarf’s Mine; Matterhorn Bobsled; Tomorrowland; Moon Rocket; Octopus Lair; Autopia; Adventureland; Painted Desert; Frontierland; Skull Rock; Tom Sawyer’s Island; Monstro; Mr. Smee; Alice in Wonderland; and Mickey’s Lagoon. (I presume Octopus Lair is related to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea).

A movie buff friend of mine always used to comment about how ‘a pair of nuns’ would often be placed in the background action of many films – occasionally, with a pair of sailors-! So, it’s kinda been a running joke seemingly forever. One of the Herbie Ryman’s concept drawings for New Orleans Square also features, rather prominently, a pair of nuns. Although not equipped with a ruler, Seattle’s own Archie McPhee offers a ‘Punching Nun Puppet’… “Just press the levers inside her habit and she’ll punch like a heavyweight champ. Floats like a butterfly, stings like an abbey.” I think that says it all.

I too attended public schools. The closest I came to witnessing an ‘in-classroom’ haircut involved the allowable height above one’s knee where the hem of a dress could reside. (I never knew just what exactly that all-important number was), but on one particular day the teacher felt one of her [female] charges was in violation of school policy. So, out came the meter stick (well, it was a Physics class, after all) and evidently the skirt didn’t ‘measure up’; so off to the Girls’ VP went this poor student. Can you imagine that sort of scenario taking place these times-? I think not.

DrGoat said...

Major, I think I told you my mother yanked my sister out of catholic school 2 weeks after she started due to a "disagreement" between my mom and sister Mary Birdcage. We both went to public school, thank goodness.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Major, she does have cat-eye glasses in the 2nd picture.

"Lou and Sue" said...

Happy Birthday, Stu! With a little creativity, you could make your hot water heater look exactly like this Moonliner!

Anonymous said...

Sue, do you mean your water heater doesn't look like a Moonliner?

JG

"Lou and Sue" said...

Nope, JG, but my broken refrigerator may soon resemble one—as I’d like to blast it off to the moon!

Chuck said...

I witnessed a public school teacher break a ruler over a kid’s head in 1978. I also saw her throw an eraser across the room at someone on multiple occasions. Lots of yelling, too. Third grade was rough.

When I was a high school sophomore in a different school district in a different state, I saw a girl sent home from first period by our female TV class teacher for wearing knee-length skorts. Her offense? They fit the school’’s definition of “shorts,” which were strictly forbidden since they were considered “a distraction to learning.” Amazingly, miniskirts were somehow allowed under this policy.

JG said...

I had a public school teacher in fourth grade who would pull students hair, pretty hard too, but stopped short of cutting it.

Principal had a paddle too, but I don't remember anyone having it used on them.

Chuck, I am all in favor of distractions to learning. I remember cheerleaders wearing their uniforms to class, while this was a distraction, it was also learning.

JG

Melissa said...

I've been trying to add a Happy Birthday to Stu message all day, but the Internet's been a-fightin' me!

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I actually have a score card with map from the old miniature golf course, but heaven only knows where it is. It has the general layout, and of course the names of the holes and the par number. But you did a lot of research and I appreciate it! It seems a little odd that the Octopus Lair won out over so many other Disney properties. How about a Chernabog hole, with the giant demon glowering at each golfer? I think I’ve heard about how nuns were frequently used as background elements in movies. And it’s become almost an inside joke for folks with photos from the 1964 World’s Fair to find nuns in their pictures… although I have many NYWF slides, and only a couple that feature nuns. And I am glad that those teachers were controlling the length of dresses, what if a boy had seen a bare knee??

DrGoat, I think your mom made the right decision! I need to see a feature length movie about the life and times of Sister Mary Birdcage.

Lou and Sue, OH YEAH!

Lou and Sue, yes, I was thinking it looked like a septic tank, ha ha.

JG, there’s a merchandising opportunity for Disney if I ever saw one.

Lou and Sue, I guess you’ve been having to dine at gourmet restaurants for every meal since your fridge died?

Chuck, whoa, breaking a ruler over a kid’s head would never fly these days. That teacher needed a decaffeinated coffee, a vacation, and/or a rubber room. School rules can really be dumb… just like actual laws!

JG, in our grade school, kids in wood shop would try to outdo each other by making the most evil, pain-inducing paddles, theoretically so as to impress teachers. At the time I thought, “You DO realize that these will be used on kids - maybe even you??”. And I remember girls in the ‘70s wearing outfits that just about made my brain melt.

Melissa, I blame society.

TokyoMagic! said...

JG, in answer to your question about the miniature golf course over by Melodyland, yes....it was across the street from the entrance to the DL parking lot. It was on the corner of Harbor. Blvd. and Freeman way (now Disney Way). It was a "Golf 'n' Stuff" location, with the little king on the sign, swinging a golf club kind of erratically. I'm not sure, but I think it was there up until the time of the demolition/construction for the "Anaheim Resort" and DCA.

Here's a vintage postcard of it:

http://www.synthetrix.com/apc/172.html

TokyoMagic! said...


Here's another vintage postcard, showing the sign at the corner. You can see the little king/mascot on the sign. The photo was taken in the middle of the intersection of Freeman Way and Harbor Blvd. If you turned right, you would drive past Melodyland. If you turned left, you'd end up driving into the DL parking lot. I think most people did not notice the mini golf across the street, because they were paying more attention to DL as they drove by.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/568649890447977357/



Melissa said...

Chuck, I also remember a lot of erasers getting thrown at kids. You could get a lot of yellow chalk dust in your hair that way. I had one math teacher who would start throwing the chalk when he ran out of erasers.

Chuck said...

Major, funny thing about that teacher…she retired in 1979 at the end of my fourth grade year. When she showed up one day as a substitute for our fifth grade class, we were all worried we were in for a rough time, but she was as nice and pleasant as could be, had a sense of humor, and remembered all of our names. I think we were all wondering, “Who are you, and what have you done with Mrs. Houser?” Now that I am older, I realize that it was probably a lot less stressful than having to deal with us every day, and that had everything to do with her mood.

TM!, those golf course pictures triggered a random memory that we drove past Castle Park in 1976 while it was under construction. It looked like it was going to be amazing with that big castle in the middle of the course. I remember driving by again in 1993 as an adult and the memory triggering. My wife and I went at least once before we got our Disneyland annual passes. Fun course.

JG, yeah, cheerleader outfits somehow met the policy as well, even though those skirts were sometimes so short that you could see their overbriefs even when they weren’t jumping and kicking. But clamdiggers that went past the knee were verboten because they were shorts. I wonder how they would have reacted if I had worn knee britches and hose? And I’m pretty sure I would have been sent home had I shown up wearing a kilt - men do not wear skirts!

Chuck said...

Melissa, I had a Geometry teacher in high school who was a bit dour. I remember one class where he had his back to us, writing on the chalkboard (there were three fully-stocked chalkboards in the classroom, but he only used the one in front, behind his desk and lectern), when students started grabbing chalk and erasers from the side boards and throwing them across the room at each other. It started out as a game of catch with gentle tosses, but it ended up getting more and more aggressive as he “game” went on.

Finally, one guy just flung an eraser as hard as he could at another kid who was sitting across the room next to the opposite chalkboard. The target ducked and the eraser hit the chalkboard with a loud smack and huge cloud of chalk dust just as the teacher turned around. He had this stunned look on his face, and I thought for sure we were going to have the Riot Act read to us, but he suddenly let out this huge guffaw, turned back around and continued with his lecture. He was my hero from that point forward.

Dean Finder said...

I remember a high school friend of mine so infuriating a teacher one morning that the teacher hit him with his briefcase, and the handle broke off. And then the teacher was even angrier for having a broken briefcase now. If you knew the kid, you would conclude that the teacher was probably justified.
It was the 1990s, but a shop class, so the standards for student interactions were a bit looser.

"Lou and Sue" said...

There were a couple of really rowdy boys in my 6th grade class. We had a wonderful (new, young, lady) teacher, but those boys really pushed her, at times. They were the class clowns (one I had mentioned on a past post—who would eat lots of the sugar cubes that were meant for the castle display we were all working on). One day that teacher grabbed both of those boys by their hair and slammed their heads together. They were fine and sat down, all-embarrassed, afterwards. That same teacher had long sharp nails and would also grab the earlobes of any kids who were acting up—she’d pinch and twist them and they’d go wherever she pulled them. Different times. Everyone loved that teacher— but once she had enough, boy, she was tough!

JG said...

Tokyo, THANK YOU for those links! I am sure I played mini golf there on a church trip. We did something at Melodyland too, but can’t remember what…

Chuck, you are right, skirts might even have been shorter in my day, I wonder if I still have my old yearbooks…

Chuck, Dean, Sue, someday I’ll tell you the story of what I did to be sent to the Principal’s office by a substitute teacher and how the AP didn’t believe it since I was such a good kid. Heh, fooled him.

JG

TokyoMagic! said...

Chuck, did you know that Castle Park has the carousel, which used to be located at Knott's Lagoon? The park also has the old Tijuana Taxi ride from Knott's Fiesta Village.

I guess I should add my teacher-throwing and teacher-smacking experiences. I had a male sixth grade teacher who would throw erasers over the heads of the students. And he threw them so hard and so fast, that they would make a loud noise when they hit the wall in the back of the classroom. You could also feel the "wind" from them sometimes as they sailed past you.

Then I had a seventh grade social studies class, which was held in the "shop class" room, with the "shop class" teacher. He had a metal yard stick, that he would hold onto during class, and then smack it down on the metal tables, right in front of whoever was talking or misbehaving in class. The metal against metal sound would make the entire class jump.

I also had an eighth grade teacher who had long finger nails. She would sneak up behind students and grab their shoulders, digging in with her sharp talons.

Where did these teachers get off doing those kind of things? My mom was a teacher, and she never had to resort to that kind of behavior.