I have a set of vintage color snapshots from 1965, all scanned and ready to go! Some are better than others of course, but in general they are pretty good. A solid "B" (or maybe a B-?).
The first batch of scans involves the classic Casey Jones Jr. Circus Train, specifically at the load area - not far from where the Storybook Land Canal Boats loaded. I see our little family sitting right up front. Seems like a good idea, right? WRONG! My first experience on Casey found me and my date sitting in that same seat, only to find that the hot fumes from the train blasted our faces for the entire ride. Lesson learned.
Another train arrives at the station; we get a view of the Skyway Chalet, where the original round gondolas can still be seen - they would be replaced with the larger rectangular gondolas sometime that same year.
This fellow looks like he would go on to work at NASA's Mission Control. "All systems nominal - GO!". He was clearly feeling sassy this particular day, he wore his playful skinny tie (if you looked closely, it was actually Navy blue, and not black!). Who cares if people gave him funny looks?
"I'd love to get a clear shot of that neat castle, but my wife and kids keep getting in the frame!"
A fine chain was all that protected guests from being flung out of the train as Casey tore along the track at 5 miles an hour. Look, that one boy is wearing Fidel Castro's hat!
Stay tuned for more snapshots from 1965.
Major-
ReplyDeleteOnce again, it's glasses that take center stage in these images. That, and the lovely white 'bow' in the gal's hair in the last image.
And remember... "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link". It's doubtful a mere chain could maintain order with today's populace.
Thanks, Major.
Major, In the first pic, is that a white peacock feather in that lady's hat? (you can see the 'eye' at the end of the feather, unless that's just part of a background tree showing through?) I thought they used ostrich feathers.
ReplyDeleteI think the NASA guy is actually a young Drew Carey, just after he got out of the Marines... or maybe not.
Thanks for the snapshots, Major. We don't see that many close-ups of Casey Jr.
- Jubilant Bob (Cratchit. After witnessing the wondrous change in his boss, Mr. Scrooge on Christmas Day.)
J. Bob, that does look like a young Drew Carey! "Yes, a fabulous and fun ride on the Casey Jr. Circus Train could be yours......if the coupon is right."
ReplyDelete- (Tiny) Tim Magic!
Not only does he have his hat, that kid also has Castro’s cigar, clamped firmly in his mouth and obscured by the scrollwork on that train car. He’s smiling because he also managed to covertly nab Castro’s beloved Slinky before being extracted by a CIA team on an Intermountain Airways C-46 aircraft.
ReplyDeleteOur steely-eyed missile man looks like a refugee from Tomorrowland. Maybe he was banished to the back corner of the Park for losing his slide rule. Those things are expensive, and replacement batteries are impossible to find.
Major, I sat in that exact same place behind Casey’s power car once. The noise was so loud I couldn’t hear the spiel of the canal boat skippers and the exhaust so thick I couldn’t enjoy my stogie. I hope the lesson you learned was “never sit with your date.” That way, you’ll never get blamed for anything that goes wrong, or if you do, you’ll be far enough away not to be annoyed by their constant reminders that this is all your fault. Just be sure you sit out of drink-throwing range; those things can sail farther than you think.
These pics are a solid B+++ the only that is missing for an A is like Walt or Annette sitting in one of the cars. Or perhaps the Annette of the 1980’s- Bette Midler! This was one of my favorite rides. No one’s knows that this is a thrill ride. There is no 5mph after “I thought I could, I though I could”. Casey zips along that track after the hill like a speed demon. All my friends…or coworkers…uh dude…why are we going on this stupid kid ride? Then we went down the hill and all was forgiven. I chose the Monkey cage as I liked to be well secured during the blast off. Giraffes, Gazelles, Gmonkeys…oh wait that is the jungle cruise. Love big giant feather lady…that is like a character who should be playing with the tweedles…that is some plume…are feathers even PC anymore? That hat is so vintage Disneyland. That’s also the perfect employee- so pressed and it could be a costume department shot. I see photos today of employees in such Ill fitting costumes with droopy drawers and pant legs too long. When Drew Carey was in his more “robust” physique I used to see him frequently at the Rock and Roll Denny’s on Sunset Blvd. He would always be solo sitting at the counter with Grand Slams…multiples actually. We later switched to the OTHER Dennys closer to the 101…it had a bar where we could legally smoke indoors. That was a Little Richard hangout. If you want to see stars in LA- you don’t have to go much further than Denny’s. There was also Rock and Roll Ralph’s…the grocery store off Sunset. Just FYI- these places actually had “Rock and Roll” on the receipt printout. I guess since they were so close to the Guitar Center they had a Rock and Roll clientele too. That was a fun neighborhood back then…I think both of those Dennys were torn down. And I’ve gone down the rabbit hole. Thanks Major!
ReplyDeleteCasey Junior, the ride where everything is made up and the points don't matter!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure that Drew is actually a CIA agent and is detaining that lady in the shades in the last frame. Shades- that's where they get the word "shady." Prove me wrong! You can't!...because I never listen anyway.
I love the CJ now (all us hip dudes call it that), but I have no memory of riding it as a kid. I know we must have, but...none. So much for a lasting impression. Maybe if it had double loops...and a zero to 60 launch in 2.3 seconds.
Gotta go do some work...Stupid job...
Oh my, not only vintage pics of possibly my favorite ride, next to the Canal Boats.
ReplyDeleteI have some pics of our 1965 visit from this same vantage point, but mine are black and white and more blurry. These have to be only a few months apart, and I would have looked like the little boy with the crew-cut.
There are a couple of CM’s in my pics, wearing the same “Air Force” uniform. I wonder if Klaus Hergesheimer here (from G Section) is in our shots too?
Yes Bu, the Monkey Cage or the Caboose are the best, and I get weird looks sometimes as an elderly solo rider. I told the CM on my last visit that I rode the caboose with my Dad in 1965, and got a knowing nod in return.
Major, thank you for sharing these!
JG
Fidel is cunningly disguised as anAmerican child, determined to have the day at Disneyland Khrushchev never got. He’s trying to work out the mystery of what happened to Casey Senior.
ReplyDeleteNanook, that lady’s glasses in photo #1 are so awesome, I wonder if she brought those with her, or if they were purchased in the park? Very “Devo”!
ReplyDeleteJB, it does sort of look like a peacock feather! You’d think that white fluffy ostrich feathers would be relatively plentiful compared to white peacock feathers, but… who knows. I’ll bet Drew Carey is mad that he gave up his sweet Casey Jr. gig to do that low-paying game show.
TokyoMagic!, on my one and only trip to Las Vegas, I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and we friend and I ate lunch at some, only to have Drew Carey sit just two or three seats to the left of us. We wondered if he just liked to hang out in Vegas, or if he was there to do stand up.
Chuck, “Castro’s slinky”, ha ha! That reminds me of the show “King of the Hill”, where Hank Hill’s father claimed to own “Hitler’s canoe”. The missile man definitely looks like he would go on to work at NASA’s Mission Control. He figured out how to adapt those CO2 scrubbers on Apollo 13. You have given me some great dating tips, and from now on when I go to Disneyland I am going to sit as far away from my date as possible. I won’t even talk to her! How can she blame me for anything? I was 50 feet away!
Bu, well gosh, if these had Walt or Anette in them, I’d retire from blogging because there would be no more worlds to conquer. (See my photo of Annette at the World’s Fair, however!). I guess I was lucky, if I was at Disneyland with friends they generally were willing to go on anything, even the rides that might be considered “stupid kid’s rides”. As far as I know, ostriches shed their feathers, so no dead birds are required. Funny about you seeing Drew Carey sitting solo at the counter, just like he was doing when I saw him in Vegas! I saw Little Richard coming off of an airplane when I was at LAX. He had a full entourage. But hey, it was still fun.
Stu29573, I know I’ve heard that line, “where everything is made up and the points don’t matter”, but I can’t remember where it is from. If Drew is supposed to be undercover, he is not doing a very good job of it. It reminds me of Steve Buscemi in that classic meme where he is undercover a la “21 Jump Street”. “How do you do, fellow kids?”. Man, calling stuff by their initials sure is cool, I never do anything so cool on GDB. Hey!
JG, as I’ve mentioned before, I did not experience Storybook Land until much later in my Disneyland experience. For some reason my mom and dad never took us on that one. Why? It’s right there! There’s a big whale! And yet… we didn’t do it. “Klaus Hergesheimer”, that must be yet another reference I’m not getting? I felt so dumb riding in that front seat with the hot fumes, my girl and I felt so lucky that we snagged the “best seat”… UNTIL the ride started. Ha ha, I love the “knowing nod”. That CM has seen it all.
Melissa, Fidel has hidden his beard and mustache beneath prosthetic appliances, the same guy who did the “Planet of the Apes” makeup helped him with his disguise!
Major, Klaus Hergesheimer (from G Section) was a character from "Diamonds Are Forever". James Bond impersonates him to gain access to Blofeld's secret laboratory. Klaus wore a lab coat and carried a clipboard, thus proving the adage, "you can go anywhere wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard."
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't get to experience Story Book Land as a kid, I'm convinced it had a big effect on my future career choices. The two intertwined rides are still my favorites, in spite of Pirates and the Haunted Mansion.
I think I may have sat in the "exhaust seat" once or twice, I wonder if CJ (I call him CJ because we are close like that) is going to go electric someday?
Re: Celebrity sightings, I was once on a plane with Richard Kiel. My goodness that guy is big, but he had perfect teeth. I also saw Jane Fonda once at the grocery store in Santa Monica, buying fresh herbs.
JG
Major, the "Everything's made up" line is from Whose Line Is It Anyway. Drew said it at the beginning of every show.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, my favorite Drew Cary Show episodes are the ones that feature Joe Walsh as "Ed," Drew's band's "sloppy" guitar player. The audition episode is great!
Chuck and JB, re yesterday's thread on Scholastic Books.
ReplyDeleteI read both the Mushroom Planet (Basidium) and Revolt on Alpha C. I can't remember when, nor if I still have them. I don't recall my kids reading them, so I think they are gone.
Dean Finder, that is a great idea of a Scholastic book reunion.
JG
JG, I ran into Richard Kiel once at O'Hare. I was going up the big escalator with all the neon tubes overhead (I'm sure you know the one I mean) and happened to look down off to the right and see a huge guy in a wheelchair coming out of the elevator. I immediately thought "that looks like Richard Kiel" and then looked his public appearance schedule up later that day to confirm that he had been at a comic book show in Chicago.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of airport encounters and Whose Line Is It, Anyway?...on another trip through O'Hare with a work colleague, we were sitting at a gate, waiting for a plane, and reading to kill time (we had come from Honolulu and were headed to Omaha, so it was a long day). I was vaguely aware of a group coming and sitting down to my left, and then one of them came over and asked if I minded if they pulled the table next to me over to where they were seated to play cards. I looked up without really looking at him, said "sure, no problem," and went back to my magazine.
About 10 minutes later they announced a gate change for our flight, and after we got up and started walking my companion leaned over and quietly said, "Dude - did you see who you gave that table to? That was the cast of Whose Line Is It, Anyway?!!" I looked back, and sure enough, he was right. No Drew Carey, but most of the rest of the crew was there.
And way cool on reading those books. I knew there was a reason I liked you!
(Tiny)TM!, I smell a Dickensian theme today. It smells like... razzleberry dressing!
ReplyDeleteDrew, I bid one "C" coupon.
Chuck, is the kid's slinky that reddish thing on his lap?
No kidding about those slide rule batteries being hard to find! They take size AAAAA½.
BU, No. Feathers are now Mac.
JG, I would've been the little crewcut kid, too. Except it would have been 1957... and I don't think we went on Casey Jr. But other than that, IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME!! ;-)
JB, it's in that lavender bag he's holding. I think that spot of reddish color is actually part of the car.
ReplyDeleteJG, “Diamonds Are Forever” is one of those Bond films that I have not seen since I was a little kid, so my memories of it are pretty fuzzy. I’ve rewatched some of the other Connery installments, but not “Diamonds”. As for the lab coat and clip board, I always thought that if somebody hid away in some spot in Disneyland, and then put on a hard hat, a reflective vest, and a fake badge (and carried a clip board), they could probably walk around for quite a while before anybody would look at them twice! Richard Kiel, that’s pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteStu29573, ah, that’s why it sounds familiar! I used to like the Drew Carey Show a lot, but I don’t remember seeing Joe Walsh on it. I do remember seeing Reverend Horton Heat though.
JG, I can’t help thinking how delicious that Mushroom Planet sounds. A little garlic, a little butter…!
Chuck, I feel like there probably weren’t a lot of people who “looked like Richard Kiel”! I looked him up on Wikipedia, and saw that he did a lot more acting than I was aware of. I do remember seeing him on “The Wild Wild West” and of course that classic episode of the Twilight Zone, “To Serve Man”. Your experience with the cast of “Whose Line” is fun, I love it when people can interact with celebrities just as normal folks. While I have seen my share of celebrities in and around L.A., I rarely have any sort of interaction with them. I don’t need an autograph or a selfie. I did have a brief interaction with Diane Keaton at a swap meet, it started out normal! Long story.
JB, “razzleberry dressing”, another reference that I’m not getting. But… remember the candy called “Razzles”? I used to love those things.
Chuck, yes, for a while the merchandise bags were a lavender color for a while.
I was on a plane with Colin Farrell once. He was even in a Disney movie, so it all comes full circle!
ReplyDeleteIf I remember dressing, Razzleberry dressing was from Mr Magoo's Christmas special--it kind of breaks the 4th wall like Pagliacci.
ReplyDeleteMy aunt brings razzleberry pies to family meals. Marie Callender's makes them (they're in the freezer section- you heat them in the oven) It's raspberries and blackberries.
ReplyDeleteWith ice cream, its incredible.
Major, Dean Finder is correct. Razzleberry dressing is mentioned in a song from "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" (1962), where Magoo plays Scrooge. You don't see it very often on TV anymore, but it can probably be streamed on some service or other.
ReplyDeleteStu, We often get those pies as well. Kinda tart, kinda sweet; delicious!
I’m chuckling at the comments about dates staying 50 feet apart. I once worked in Chicago with a guy—who lived in Chicago. His wife lived and worked on the east coast (Delaware, if I remember correctly). Hey, they never fought.
ReplyDeleteFun post and comments, today!
But I would walk five hundred miles
ReplyDeleteAnd I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door