Three Never-posted Slides
I have a folder of scans of slides that I am pretty sure I never scanned before. So they are "new old stock", in a way. All of today's photos feature Sleeping Beauty Castle and its surroundings.
First up is this postcard-worthy view of the castle (from July, 1963), artfully composed with some trees in the foreground, as well as those flowers for a splash of bright color. I like the little family standing near the moat, taking it all in.
The next two are from August of 1958. While there isn't a lot going on in them, they are kind of interesting just because they show an area that is not normally seen; there's a winding path leading to a small bridge, continuing (I believe) to an arched passageway through the castle that leads to the courtyard beyond.
The photographer liked the scene so much, he used two precious frames of film! I have to admit that it is pretty, with all of the flowers and greenery.
29 comments:
Major, that first image is one of the nicest castle pics we've seen on GDB. And yes, that family admiring the view really adds interest to the photo.
In the 2nd and 3rd images, isn't this where Snow White's Grotto is/will be? I guess I assumed it was there from opening day. Maybe that berm in the background is where Ms. White will stand? Or is that the foothills (from yesterday's post) of the future Matterhorn?
Really nice scans today, Major. Crisp, clear, and colorful.
Major-
And there's even a black swan in the 2nd image.
Thanks, Major.
I've never seen Snow White's Grotto without Snow White's Grotto. It was still pretty either way. Lots of good sized trees in there too. I like how there are no barriers and fencing- it helps the forced perspective of the Castle and makes it look bigger. The family looks like a "ad" family...right down to the mouse ears on one of the kids. Nice to see a swan in there- that was such a nice touch, now gone. I don't see a dent, but possibly it's one of the spires that are hidden by greenery. Good to see the Castle AS designed! Is that Tinkerbells wire in photo #1, I'm not sure how that would be possible (?)
In that first pic, the little boy is in the planter and heading down to the water....maybe to wrangle himself a swan.
JB, the Snow White Grotto and wishing well, were added in 1961.
Compare and contrast the way the family is dressed vs. the couple approaching from the right. Also note the rust stain in the castle "crease" immediately above the girl's head. I wonder what piece of oxidizing iron created that?
Note the grated hole in the base of the castle wall in the second picture. The garderobes have to drain somewhere. "Hard facts" and all.
Never noticed the downspout in the turret in the center of the second photo, probably because I have never walked through that archway in that direction. I don't know why it's there, unless...do you suppose Albert Hammond was lying to us?
Alas, no dent today, but darn good pics anyway! Fun fact: the entire castle was originally made out of cream cheese! Quickly seeing the error of this decision, Disney shellacked the entire structure a week after opening day. Then on the night of 19 through 20 December 1955, the whole structure was torn down and replaced with Legos. Now you know!
By the way, what if we are robots and the authentication box is just making sure we haven't become aware of it yet?
Very pretty pictures! Thank you, Major!
Chuck, it pours, man, it pours.
Great pics, great year. '63 was a good year to be 13. I wish I could remember more of our trips back then.
The photographer must have been smitten with the bucolic nature of that spot. Love that last image. Interesting to see it without Snow White's Grotto. Perfect jump right pics.
Thanks Major.
That's jump right in pics. You might get away with it without being seen in these pics.
The Castle is a fascinating design, always something new to see!
Chuck, that rust stain looks to me like an outflow from a drain, maybe condensate from air conditioning or a water heater. I’m sure that is no longer visible.
I have always wondered what the Grotto looked like BSW (Before Snow White), beautiful little bit of “found” space. When doing site design, I used to call these little areas SLOIP, Space Left Over In Planning. Sometimes you could find a use right away, other times, the use found the Space; phone booths, drinking fountains, bike racks, transformers, fire water service, gas meters, trash cans, or a magnificent display of marble sculpture and fountains like a miniature Villa d’Este.
Major, thank you, very grateful for these historic photos.
JG
JB, I really do think that it’s the family standing there regarding the scene that makes that first photo so good! And I believe your are correct, that area to the right of the path is where the Snow White Grotto and Wishing Well would go in 1961.
Nanook, he’s seen us too! Run!!
Bu, that actually is a surprisingly pretty area, considering that it was “empty space”, essentially. Beautifully landscaped space, at any rate. Notice the “mini berm” that separated the main part of Fantasyland from the Plaza. You’re right, that photo does resemble an ad, maybe for INA Insurance. Or C&H Sugar? I’m sure by 1963, Tinker Bell was doing her thing, so I do think that the wire is hers.
TokyoMagic!, little did we all know that there was big money to be made as a professional swan wrangler. The boy grew up living in a mansion!
Chuck, hmmm, that rusty streak is a mystery… you’d think that the outer walls of the castle would be almost entirely made of concrete (or fiberglass). Maybe an errant piece of rebar was peeking through? My neighbor says “rebarb”, which always makes me smile. “Garderobes”, huh?!? Good eye on the downspout, it took me a moment to find it even after you pointed it out. Albert Hammond… I’ve made enough “hits of the ‘70s” compilations for my mom to know who that is! I always think of the band “Paper Lace” and their hit when I think about Albert Hammond’s song; maybe those two songs were together when I taped some music onto my crummy hand-held tape recorder.
Stu29573, as Shakespeare once said, “Some days are dentless”. Hamlet, I think. Yum, cream cheese. I have a friend who thinks cream cheese is disgusting, I may have to stop being this person’s friend. I feel good about Legos being used, those things really lock together.
Stu29573, I thought that we were living in a simulation anyway, so anything is possible.
Lou and Sue, you’re welcome!
DrGoat, I’m with you, I barely remember my trips to the park when I was a kid, other than vague flashes, and the occasional vivid memory (such as getting lost!). Glad you enjoyed these!
DrGoat, ha ha, I am imagining “popping” into a 1963 scene, much to the surprise of the people nearby.
JG, hmmm, I don’t think of the Castle as being air-conditioned, at least back then, but maybe it was, for the walkthrough added in 1957. I wonder if Walt always had a plan for that Grotto space, but just had to wait until he had the money? There’s the story about receiving those sculptures from Italy, but the Disney History Institute discovered that they were ordered by John Hench, and were not a surprise gift, as the legend went.
JG, I think your drain theory holds water (yeah, I did that on purpose). It appears to be just below the floor level of the drawbridge passageway, so it could be from a utility at ground floor or maybe even drainage from the passageway itself. If they hose that area off every night, they need some way to keep that from being a shallow pond when the first guests storm the castle in the morning.
On the second photo, I just noticed a bathtub ring-like darker area along the wall at floor level (five courses of “stone” up from the moat when compared to the castle front photo). It almost looks like some sort of mold. I’m wondering if that has something to do with temperatures or humidity at floor level on the other side of or even inside the wall.
@ Chuck-
[If we’re talking about the same thing], isn’t that “discoloration” actually ivy vines, or the remains thereof—? (Or maybe it’s just the remnants from the Great Anaheim Flood of ‘56-?)
Major, I understand that Paper Lace song drives Chicagoans nuts because it talks about the "East Side of Chicago," which would put the action in Lake Michigan. I have always like the song.
Nanook, this is to the left of the ivy that's to the left of the downspout tower, but since there are some tendrils starting to head in that direction, maybe that's just some sort of residue left after removing ivy from that area. If so, I still think it's interesting that it followed the level of the floor on the other side of the wall. Maybe it was attracted to that spot because it had a more regular temperature than the "stone" below?"
Chuck, maybe the discoloration was deliberately painted on to make the castle look 'natural' and weathered. Except, the towers don't seem to have the discoloration, so... never mind.
I'm sure Nanook is right about it being the remnants of the Great '56 Flood. Who can forget that one!?
Chuck, even with the drain idea, I wonder why the mark is so rusty? Unless they used a cast-iron drain pipe, which is certainly possible. That’s why my plumbing is made of platinum. Interesting thought about that “ring” on the side wall… it’s awfully pronounced after only 3 years. I sure don’t have a better theory than yours!
Nanook, I was thinking that maybe I could make out the very fine tendrils left behind by ivy, but I just wasn’t sure.
Chuck, so there isn’t an “East Side” of Chicago? Los Angeles goes all the way to the Pacific Ocean, but there’s still a “West Side”. I’m asking out of ignorance, because I don’t know that much about Chicago (despite having been born there!). It does look like ivy has been removed on that area of the wall, but why? They’ve left plenty of ivy on other parts of the castle walls.
JB (my darn fingers always want to type “JG” out of habit), your theory isn’t unreasonable, but I don’t think Walt wanted his castle to look weathered, in this case. He didn’t even want his Haunted Mansion to look weathered!
Despite being born, living (for a few years), and working, in Chicago, I never thought about whether or not there’s an east side...there IS a neighborhood in Chicago called the Eastside neighborhood, and there’s East Chicago, Indiana (close to Chicago)—but, technically, no east side to Chicago.
By the way, some trivia: Chicago is an Indian word that means “wild onion.”
No other city or town in the world is named just “Chicago” (excluding the towns of West Chicago, East Chicago, etc.).
Sue, I'll never hear the word Chicago again without thinking of onions....on hot dogs. Tucson is a native derived name, and a semi-popular SUV. There's definitely east, west, north and south sides of town. We do have some pretty outrageous Sonoran hot dogs. They seem to all have bacon on them.
Going back to Saturday's post, my parents wouldn't think of driving past Solvang back then without 6 or 8 cans of split pea soup stowed on board.
Lou and Sue, I was hoping you’d chime in about this subject, since you would know! Chuck was right, there really is no East Side. Hmmmm! I did know that “Chicago” meant “wild onion”, but never thought about how it was a unique name.
DrGoat, yum, a nice Chicago ‘dog. With that weird neon green relish that I love so much! I’m sure that many of our cities that are derived from native languages are unique, since they wouldn’t have made their way across the pond. Sonoran hot dogs, sign me up (especially with the bacon!). Canned Split Pea Andersen’s soup, maybe that’s the only way I’ll ever get to try it.
I had a music teacher once who would always say, ”Sehr schön, sehr schön” (very pretty) whenever she heard something she liked. Looking at these pictures, I immediately thought, ”Sehr schön, sehr schön.”
We can add that streak on the Castle wall to the book of minutia. It's probably not rust, but it looks to still be there for the most part.
Chuck, I'll give your memory a pass this time (but only this time) for not noticing that downspout. It's blocked by a tree. ;-)
Thanks, Andrew. Virtually “walking” through Disneyland, you’re right - it is blocked by a tree. And now that I’m making the “walk,” the view reminds me that I have been through that tunnel in that direction before (although not often).
That streak in the modern photo/sure looks like water drainage to me. The rust streak in the 1963 photo may be due to water with a high iron or other mineral content rather than a rusting pipe. That is a fun new detail. I’m now seeing it in other vintage photos like this undated one from 1959-61 (no Tinkerbell wire), but it’s not yet visible in 1956.
OK, a close viewing of Daveland photos seems to show the rust stain making its appearance between January and July of 1960. I’m going to guessi that’s when that unobtrusive drain hole or leak made its first appearance, possibly in conjunction with some sort of climate control system. It’s still visible through at least August of 1968 but gone by March of 1972. A streak reappears by May of 2015, although it’s no longer rust-colored.
Melissa, did your teacher always speak German??
Andrew, it’s the tears of guests who realize how much money they’ve spent so far. Great research!
Chuck, I will fully admit that my attention has certainly been directed at pretty much anything BUT that downspout, but that’s what makes it a fun discovery. Maybe Anaheim water has a high iron content, since a recent Daveland post mentions that the water in the drinking fountains tastes like “blood and dirt”. Yum!
Chuck, we’ve got dented castle turrents, we have Fudgey the Whale, we have trash cans, and now we have a rust stain. What more could anybody want or need??
Major-
SpaghettiOs®
Here's a fairly recent pic (from shyguy's World. 2018, I think) of the castle showing The Stain. Here, the stain is verdigris/oxidized copper colored and is clearly emanating from that small hole in the wall:
https://www.shyguysworld.com/Turnstile-Tribune/Disneyland/Fantasyland/Sleeping-Beauty-Castle/Sleeping-Beauty-Castle-6.jpg
Hahahaha, Nanook!
And THESE go nicely with today's photos!
Chuck and Andrew, that might be a roof overflow, which are usually cast iron pipe, but I think it’s some kind of drainage from equipment since it appears continuous. Refrigeration and HVAC condensate is often slightly acidic.
I think the dark streak on the East wall is water damage since it is at the floor line where the framed wall meets concrete foundation. Probably fixed long ago.
Major, a garderobe was the privy that dumped out through the wall into the moat. About as attractive as it sounds.
Major, some special laboratory plumbing is made of Pyrex glass to resist vile chemicals. Also special pipe is often used in restaurant and soda fountain drains because soda pop is corrosive.
JG
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