Parkland USA
I happened to have some scans of vintage slides from beautiful places around the U.S.A., so why not share them today?
First up is this pretty photo from the 1950s featuring the Grand Tetons of Wyoming. What's that charming little building? Why, it's the Chapel of the Transfiguration, which sits on a rise just within the southern entrance of Grand Teton National Park. A large window behind its altar frames the magnificent beauty of the Teton Mountain Range. It was built in 1925 and is still a functioning Episcopal church.
This next one is undated, but perhaps early '50s (or earlier?). It is labeled "Morning singalong", and shows the uniformed staff of the Bryce Canyon Lodge serenading new arrivals; I tried to find some history about this apparent tradition, but had no luck. I wonder what they are singing? "Yes, We Have No Bananas"?
Here's a second photo from the same lot. I wish the sky was bluer, but you can't have everything. Bryce Canyon Lodge can still be visited today, but I could never survive because their website clearly states that there are no televisions in the rooms. What about my stories?? For some history, Wikipedia says Bryce Canyon Lodge is a lodging facility in Bryce Canyon National Park... built between 1924 and 1925 using local materials. Designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, the lodge is an excellent example of National Park Service rustic design, and the only remaining completely original structure that Underwood designed for Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
Speaking of Bryce Canyon National Park, there it is! More from Wikipedia: The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which despite its name, is not a canyon, but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Bryce is distinctive due to geological structures called hoodoos, formed by frost weathering and stream erosion of the river and lake bed sedimentary rocks. The red, orange, and white colors of the rocks provide spectacular views for park visitors. Bryce Canyon National Park is much smaller, and sits at a much higher elevation than nearby Zion National Park.
I hope you have enjoyed your visit to these National Parks!
EXTRA! EXTRA! Here's another photo of a Hoodoo:
18 comments:
That image of Hoodoo is the Kook-Kook-Kookiest, Kick-Kick-Kickiest!!
Major-
What... the skies aren't blue enough fer ya'-?? Com'on, now-!
In the last shot, down front is a 1950 Chrysler Windsor, perhaps in 'Newport Blue'. Above it is a 1956 Pontiac Safari station wagon, possibly in 'Sandalwood Tan' & 'Nimbus Gray'. And the last car is a 1954 Oldsmobile 88, possibly in 'Willow Green' & white.
THanks, Major.
The Tetons really are quite spectacular in that first pic, aren't they.
In the 2nd image, the kid on the left has enough cloth in his dungarees to equip a two-masted schooner with a full compliment of sails. Shortly after this photo was snapped a strong gust of wind came up and carried the kid away, never to be seen again. Some speculate that he ended up in Munchkinland.
I had to Google that last (extra) image. I had no idea it was Charles Nelson Reilly. I've heard of Lidsville but never watched it. I guess I'd outgrown shows like that by the time it made its appearance.
Thanks for the scenic splendor today, Major.
Coincidentally, Charles Nelson Reilly was just on TV, five minutes ago, along with Fannie Flag and Debralee Scott. Of course, they were also _______ed by the other "regulars" of Match Game '76.
Those are some beautiful pictures, Major! Hoodoos and Tetons....possibly another good name for a band?
Happy National Research Administrators Day!
I could really use a trip to a national park right now. How did you know, Major?
Coincidentally, I was just discussing Lidsville and Charles Nelson Reilly with my brother-in-law last night.
TM!, so many choices…
Chuck, ha, ha! "Joined" is the word that was originally on my mind.
TM!, that was the obvious answer, but I also thought of “heckled,” “vacuumed,” and “puréed” as viable options.
I visited Bryce Canyon once as a boy, but I don’t recall much about it, just looking out from the parking lot rail. Lots of orange rock.
Underwood is also the designer of the Awahnee Hotel in Yosemite, which looks like log construction, but is really all concrete. The hotel was operated until recently by a vendor who was permitted to copyright the historic name and then refused to release it when their contract expired. The Park Service was forced to rename the historic hotel as a result of the bad contract.
The same exact thing just happened with Cliff House in San Francisco, which just closed during the plague shutdown. The vendor copyrighted the name and refused to release it when they closed. The Park Service needs better lawyers.
At least we still have the buildings.
Thanks Major, good stuff today.
JG
Mike Cozart, I was a little worried that the photo of Hoodoo would freak people out.
Nanook, I prefer the weird orange skies (the result of nearby brush fires) that make it look like it’s always the apocalypse. Love that 1954 Oldsmobile, though I admit it’s primarily due to the colors.
JB, it’s true, those are some roomy pants. They look surprisingly like the baggy pants that became popular in the hip-hop world! Maybe that kid knew the man who was beat-boxing yesterday. I’m surprised you didn’t know that Hoodoo was CNR, one of America’s greatest actors. I watched “Lidsville”, but even as a kid I knew it was weird.
TokyoMagic!, I don’t know who Debralee Scott is (was). What about Brett Somers, or Elaine Joyce? Also, speaking of band names, remember the Hoodoo Gurus?
Chuck, I thought today felt special and somehow extra festive, and now that I know that it’s National Research Administrator’s Day, I know why. I’ll have to find my colorful pocket protector. I want to go to a National Park too. My buddy keeps telling me that I HAVE to go to Yellowstone. But I won’t go because I heard that teenagers might be there.
TokyoMagic!, don’t you, by law, have to use the word “whoopie”, somehow?
Chuck, I guess my brain is much more juvenile and prone to naughty innuendo.
JG, my first awareness of Bryce Canyon is from my Talking Viewmaster set about the Natural Wonders of America. At the time I was fascinated by those weird rock formations. I don’t get why they let some stupid vendor have the copyright to a name like that. What a dumb decision! Just expect the worst from people and you will never be disappointed. The Park Service needs better lawyers, and also normal, functioning brains.
A bit of good news I hadn’t heard - the Ahwahnee Hotel dispute was settled and the name restored in 2019. This would have made my day if I hadn’t already scored an early ‘70s-vintage Cedar Point souvenir plate at a local thrift store for $5.30 this morning. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket…
Bryce Canyon, The Harvey Girls, Debralee Scott (RIP), and Lidsville. All makes sense to me. Those ladies in their uniforms and white shoes DO take me back to "The Harvey Girls"- what a great movie. I have seen very little of the natural wonders of the US- there is a big country out there, probably should put it on my bucket list. I do love old historic hotels like the Ahwahnee- I have at least been there- and the Shining Hotel in Colorado...that was interesting but did not see any ghosts or "activity". Charles Nelson Riley was one of a kind...and Lidsville was quite a show. I too thought it was weird, but enjoyable, as a kid. "Lidsville"...well...it all looks like Sid and Marty had quite a few "lids" around the office. Their sister show "The Bugaloos" I loved too...and Benita Bizarre (Martha Raye)...beyond over the top. Wow...I hope to have that sort of energy at ANY point in my life. Disney connection to all of these Kroft shows was Mouseketeer Sharon...who was inside "big head" costumes doing her thing. She was in basically all of those shows. I saw her on the Space Mountain stage during "Mousekedays" in the late 70's. Still singing and dancing up a storm, with a few other Mouseketeers. She was a great hoofer.
@ JG-
I have differing info about both the Ahwahnee Hotel and the Cliff House. Yes, the hotel was renamed The Majestic Yosemite Hotel back in 2016, due to a "legal dispute" between the US government and the outgoing concessionaire - Delaware North - who claimed rights to the trademarked name. But the name was restored in 2019.
As for the Cliff House, the current operators have been doing so for 47-½ years - four years before it became part of the NPS - and if one is to believe the essential 'dropping of the ball' on the part of the NPS in renewing the [then current] operating contract prior to its expiration on June 30, 2018, rather than one year and six month extensions, well... This is really a mess, as by now all the "Entire contents of San Francisco landmark restaurant The Cliff House to be offered at auction by Rabin Worldwide on March 4 and March 5, 2021."
Yes, both situations make one wonder just what's going on at the NPS. Unfortunately, it sounds like 'business as usual' as long as humans are involved.
Chuck and Nanook, that’s good to hear about the Ahwahnee, I had missed that bit of news. I’ve been there many times for events & visits, hated to see it happen, glad it was reversed.
Re Cliff House, I also heard it had been burgled while closed and many artifacts stolen. Since San Francisco has decriminalized most B&E, it’s not clear if this will even be investigated, much less punished.
Also heard that a new vendor was in the works. Still hope for a family favorite and a good place to stop on the way home.
JG
I commend to you "Traveltalks", a series of one-reel color travelogues produced from the late 30s until sometime after WWII. They're available on disc from Warner Archive, show up Saturday mornings on TCM, and float about the Internet. During the war years especially they highlighted American beauty spots like these.
A lot of cartoons parodied them with narration that usually closed with "And as the sun slowly sinks into the west, we bid a reluctant farewell ..."
Chuck, I am glad to hear about the Ahwahnee Hotel! And congrats on your Cedar Point plate, very cool.
Bu, I’ve never seen “The Harvey Girls” movie, though I am aware of it. I used to collect old postcards, and it was always fun to find an old card from the 1930s with the Fred Harvey mark on the back. Maybe it’s just as well that you didn’t see any ghosts in the “Shining Hotel”! All of those Sid and Marty Krofft shows are so strange, but in an endearing way. I loved Sigmund the Seasick Sea Serpent when I was a kid... Never saw “The Bugaloos”! I knew that Sharon Baird had worked on those shows, good to know that she found success after the MMC.
Nanook, Delaware North sounds like it is run by the same people who wanted to copyright the name “Hollywood” for the city in Florida. Because that’s what everyone thinks of when they think of “Hollywood”! I’ve never been inside the Cliff House so I have no idea if it is a beautifully preserved historic landmark, or if it is all relatively recent stuff that they are going to auction off. Still, it’s a d**k move on the current operators.
JG, I’ve only seen the Ahwahnee in photos, even though I’ve been to Yosemite several times. Not sure how I missed it. Wish I’d stayed there when I was a kid in the ‘70s, I’m sure it’s just not the same experience now. B&E has been decriminalized in San Francisco? What an odd thing to do. Some fun if your house has been robbed.
DBenson, I’ve seen a few of the Traveltalk films on YouTube (no idea if they’re still there), but you’re right, I can’t help thinking of those cartoons that parody them! A fascinating look at the world as it was in the 1930s - and how people viewed folks from other countries.
Interesting info regarding the Cliff House. Very little of the original famous Cliff House exists today. Also it’s interesting about the contents being auctioned off ..... thus isn’t the first time. Walt Disney Productions purchased a great deal of furniture and antique props for Walt Disney World and Disneyland from a Cliff House auction in the late 1960’s - early 70’s. One of the items was a 1870’s baby stroller designed with a wooden horse appearing to be pulling it ... it had been a prop used in the film GONE WITH WIND ... Disney used it at the Parade opening of WDW in the “Main Street USA ”section and was also used in America on parade and other victorian or Main Street related parade segments. I wonder what be some of the stroller today? The stroller when on display at The Cliff House was indeed the prop from the film ... but it had a dubious history as to whether it was an actual 1870 antique or made for the 1939 film as a prop based on a 1870 design.
The BIG victorian restaurant near the entrance to the unbuilt Discovery Bay IN WED documents is sometimes called THE CLIFF HOUSE and sometimes called THE POWER HOUSE. I wonder if Disney has a legal problem using the Cliff House name ? I know Disney paid to get Rights to the DISCOVERY BAY name that was copywrited by a marina housing development in Northern California.
Major, google car break ins in San Francisco.
JG
The Hoodoo looks like the Dreamfinder's Grandpa.
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