Thursday, September 02, 2021

Sue Goes to Disneyland! May 1964

Here are three more slide scans, courtesy of Sue B., from photos taken by her Aunt Adeline during a 1964 birthday trip to the park.

I normally think of May as being almost entirely warm and sunny in SoCal, but as you can see, it was overcast, and (judging by Sue's babushka!) a little chilly too. Lotos of long sleeves and sweaters in the background. Maybe the possibility of rain was in the forecast.


Mickey AND Goofy - it's like running into Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gable at the same time! Which one is which? You decide! Mickey is in his classic "Hiya, folks!" pose, while Goofy apparently got distracted by a squirrel. Notice the "Hotel Disneyland" in the distance.

Sue offered another random memory from this trip: I recall being awake late one night while everyone else was trying to sleep, and I kept talking and talking, in the dark (probably because I had eaten a bunch of sugar cubes at one of the Disneyland restaurants, per my recent discussion with Marlene).


Here's a bonus slide, with folks on shore admiring the beautiful Columbia sailing ship as it passed by. Babushkas aplenty! I love the blue sky with towering, fluffy clouds, so pretty.


 THANK YOU, Sue B. and her Aunt Adeline!

15 comments:

"Lou and Sue" said...

Side note: This trip was with my mom and her two friends—Marlene and Carol (they were sisters). My California relatives met up with us at Disneyland. Marlene and I spent a lot of time together over the past few years and she filled me in on what she remembered about this trip (like what I mentioned above)—and lots of other things from my childhood. I especially now treasure my time and conversations with her—as she passed away last November.

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue, I've said it before, but you were an A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E child!

Major, maybe it was "Babushka Day At Disneyland"?

Thanks Adeline, Sue, and Major, too.

Nanook said...

@ TM!-
Babushka and Hat Day, judging from the last image.

Thanks, Sue.

Bu said...

Lot of scarves! wow...scarf-tastic. Guys still wear those hats in NYC, but I don't see them too many other places. Hats became "fashion" at some point in time. It looks like these guys are using them to keep warm. The scarves I don't understand...is it a hair-do thing? "don't mess up my hair", or is it a warm thing? Don't know and I'm not sure if I've seen so many scarves since the QE2 (the person, not the ship) look-alike contest of 1995. Disneyland Hotel, or Hotel Disneyland? or is it Hotl Disneyland when the "e" went out? I worked at the Queen Mary when Disney took it over and that hotel was ALWAYS Hotl Queen Mary. Talk about a maintenance nightmare! The Wrathers ran that place into the ground. Looks like Lou got two iconic poses out of Mickey. I am super surprised that they are not SURROUNDED by people...there must have been a lot of distraction at that moment in time. I forgot how pretty the bow of the Columbia is. The below decks I LOVED- more detailed stuff to look at! I think it was a "D" ticket, which usually was Peoplemover a few times for me, so I rarely saw it...and I suppose others rarely saw it as it was only brought out on really busy days. I like that Walt was very intentional about making sure EVERYONE got to see something they enjoyed. My sister was certainly never interested in any of the "guy rides" like non-ending hours on Tom Sawyers Island and whatnot. My dad was only interested in the Tahitian Terrace Show-Ladies and the Monorail bar at the Hotl Disneyland! And there was me...staring endlessly at Main Street windows, the Sleeping Beauty walkthrough, and the Columbia below decks.

Anonymous said...

These pictures set up a temporal quandary. Did they just enter the park, or was it time to leave? I choose to believe the "enter" option!

It does kind of look like they built Disneyland in Flushing Meadows doesn't it? How trippy would that be???

There would have been throngs of people around Mickey and Goofy, but Sue's security people kept them back for the pictures. You know how it goes with celebs.

I wish there was someone I could ask about my trip to Disneyland, but my grandparents passed away 20+ years ago, and my mom always just says she doesn't remember.

Great pics, Sue!

JG said...

There’s that cute kid again!

The ladies scarf thing must have been of that time. I remember Mom wearing them like these photos, but my wife & daughter do not. Same with men’s hats. Dad never wore them except working, but I have a couple, one summer, one winter.

Sue, thank you for sharing these. So good that you had time with your moms friend to recall details.

Only two trash cans today, but I am sure there are dozens more just out of sight.

JG

K. Martinez said...

Sue, you always have the most beautiful smile. Your pic with Mickey is wonderful too.

Thank you for sharing, Sue and Adeline!

DrGoat said...

What K. said. Thanks for sharing these Sue. Just about the cutest thing you'd ever want to see. Lou did us all a favor.
Thanks Major.

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, since I’d mentioned Marlene and Carol in an earlier post featuring photos from this visit, I figured I didn’t need to mention all of the details again… but perhaps I should have. I know you told me about Marlene’s passing, she sounds like she was a wonderful person.

TokyoMagic!, I’ve discovered that there isn’t a “National Babushka Day”! There’s a “National Donut Day”, a “National Hot Dog Day”, and so on. We need to take action!

Nanook, did you know that January 15th is National Hat Day?

Bu, jeez, I’m amazed anyone wears fedoras like that anywhere! I’ve visited NYC in the winter and don’t remember seeing the hats, but I was probably standing there looking at the tall buildings (with indoor outhouses!) with my mouth open. I’m sure the babushkas serve a double duty, they probably do preserve a hairdo, and I’m sure they also keep out the worst of the cold. Does Queen Elizabeth wear a lot of scarves? Are you sure you’re not thinking of Johnny Depp? I think that anybody who owned the Queen Mary realized that it would take more money that the attraction could ever recoup to properly maintain that old ship. Jeez, was the “below decks” actually a “D” ticket? Seems kind of extreme… I liked it, but not THAT much. Who can blame your dad for loving the Tahitian Terrace? I’d love it myself if I could go.

Stu29573, I can only guess that Sue and Co. were just arriving, but that dark cloudy sky makes it hard to be sure. I don’t know if they had characters out front later in the afternoon. It really is weird to think of a Disneyland-type park in New York, but then again, Freedomland USA (intended to be real competition for Disneyland) was built in the Bronx, and it only limped along for four years. Sue’s handlers were 250 pound MMA fighters, but Aunt Adeline was always careful to keep them out of frame. I have the same problem in recalling my earliest trips to the park… my mom just doesn’t remember.

JG, I think even my mom wore a scarf like that when the weather called for it. She had kind of a tall hairdo… not quite a “beehive”, but it was getting there. A bee quonset hut. I pretty much only wear a hat if I am hiking, I don’t need more sun on my face.

K. Martinez, Sue really does look like such a happy kid! It’s probably her natural disposition, plus good upbringing.

DrGoat, there’s more cute Sue pix to come!

"Lou and Sue" said...

World Babushka Day is August 11. See HERE!

International Babushka Day is June 24.

Who knew that babushkas would be so loved?! I guess they do remind us of our moms and grandmas. My mom wore one on windy or rainy days to protect her hair-do. I wore one (only as a little kid) when it was cool and windy, because I'd sometimes get earaches.

I'm guessing these pictures were taken when we arrived, as I do remember the characters would usually be standing around to greet everyone at the start of the day - at both Disneyland and Disney World - in their early years.

Thanks for the sweet comments. Of course I'm smiling(!) - I'm at Disneyland!

Anonymous said...

Now THAT is one cute kid! My mom always seemed to wear a scarf during inclement or windy days...and, in my younger years the size of Sue, insisted on me wearing ear muffs when it was cold!

As for fedoras, that went out of style by mid 60s. Mom always mentioned that President Kennedy didn't wear one and the rest of the world followed. But now at retirement age...and thinning hair...I seem to like baseball caps!

I recall the many days that Columbia was docked and, for a time, it would be open for a D ticket to walk on board and below deck. May be mistaken, but it was also later open without a ticket being required.

When Columbia was operating around the river the entire ship was open without the need for an additional ticket to go below deck. KS

Melissa said...

There may be s lot of babushkas, but there’s only one ba-SUE-shka! And only one little Sue adorable enough to wear it! It does look like a blustery day, with all those jackets and sweaters.

”The scarves I don't understand...is it a hair-do thing? "don't mess up my hair", or is it a warm thing?”

A little from column A and a little from column B. Grandma kept a blue-and-brown checked one in the glove box of her convertible, to protect her hairdo when she drove with the top down. It was also handier to keep one folded up in your purse than a hat, in case the day turned chilly. My Grade 2 teacher used to keep a couple on hand for girls who hadn’t brought a hat when it got cold during recess.

I remember one episode of Mad Men where they were writing an ad for Aqua Net hairspray; the premise was that it held your hair in place so well that you didn’t need to wear a scarf while riding in a convertible.

Marlene and Donna sound like a lot of fun. I know I have very fond memories of my mother’s gal pals. It was like having extra aunts but without all the family baggage.

Major Pepperidge said...

Lou and Sue, sure, we have World Babushka Day, and International Babushka Day, but what about NATIONAL Babushka Day? Good point about cold air and earaches, even now if I hike on a cold windy day, my ears hurt. I would bet money that the photos were taken when you arrived, by late afternoon the characters would probably not be outside the gates anymore.

KS, Weirdly I always envied the kids who had ear muffs. I never owned a pair! Even when we lived in areas that had frosty winters. Since I am now trying to avoid too much exposure to sunlight when I go out, I wear a wide-brimmed hat, but now I need one with a stiffer brim, since the one I have now seems to “pop up” whenever there’s a breeze. Such a dumb thing! I am quite sure that when I saw the “below decks” area, it was during a cruise on the river, no ticket required.

Melissa, as a guy I’d rather get one of those hats with the ear flaps. They’ve gone from uncool to “cool”, somehow! Yes, ladies driving convertibles probably liked keeping their hair “did”. How nice of your teacher to have some spares for girls who didn’t come prepared. Aqua Net, I knew girls in the ‘80s who went through many cans of that stuff to maintain their new wave hairdos. I remember one girl laying on her back on her bed, with her head hangin off the side, so that she could be sure to spray her hair when it was in PEAK poofiness.

Chuck said...

Sue, these pictures are adorable! Period.

Major, hiking on a cold, windy day? You mean like when it drops into the ‘60s there? ;-)

MIKE COZART said...

Gerber has it’s baby but Gorillas Don’t Blog has 1960’s SUE!!!!! ( available in sugar cube fed & without)