Happy Easter, everybody! As you know, Sundays are usually pretty sleepy around here, but I have a few fun items for you, starting with this slide (circa 1975) of a tulip-headed woman! Every once in a while she had to dump a bucket of water on her own head, but it's all part of the fun.
The date: 1955. The location: unknown (sadly). But I love this image of two young boys, all decked out for church in their finest suits, while displaying their Easter baskets of goodies. I wish I could tell what the boy on the left was holding, but I might guess it was a large chocolate egg in a box - it's hard to say. Meanwhile, the kid on the right even has a fedora, he's a miniature Frank Sinatra! "Say ma, this Easter business is a gas. Ring-a-ding-ding!".
Continuing with the spirit of the day, I have two vintage Disneyland brochures for you. Gate handouts, to be specific. This first one is from Easter week, 1970. Would you believe that I have over 60 different variations on these "Two Wonderful Ways" brochures? I love them, even though they are not that old by some standards.
On the back cover we see Thumper and his pal Flower; guests could expect "special shows, dancing, and... Preview '70, a look at upcoming summer openings at Disneyland". They also mention the "See America" revue, which changed its name to "Show Me America" by the time it was actually performed. PLUS... big band and rock acts, and and "old-fashioned Easter parade featuring antique cars, bicycles, and guest promenaders". All available at no extra charge!
Inside is the usual information about ticket books. Such a deal.
Next is a brochure for Easter week, 1971. Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox are jamming while in a teacup. Will these characters be permanently retired? If so, I understand it, though it makes me a little sad.
A schedule on the back cover tells us about important events such as Easter week (naturally), Daylight Savings, and "Big Band Week". Notice that the park is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays until the end of May, when summer officially begins at Disneyland.
You could go see the King Family (with the King Sisters), Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, and Lionel Hampton. Among others! I had to look up Gary Puckett's hits on YouTube, a few of them were familiar, especially "Young Girl" (which went to No. 1).
Have a happy Easter, everyone!
I choose "Disneyland's Personally Guided Tour," please. And I want Bu to guide us, thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing the King Family in concert with my mom, at Disneyland, but don't recall which year. Maybe it was this year.
Happy Easter, everyone! And, no, that's not me wearing those tulips. I like to wear hyacinths.
Thanks, Major.
#1, I'm trying to decide if those flowers are real or not. I'm leaning toward 'not', but they do look real. Maybe a little too perfect to be real?
ReplyDelete#2, Major, on the box that the kid is holding, the big white circle appears to be a baseball (with stitching). The larger text looks like "Churches", but I don't think so. Why would it say Churches? Also, the box is too big to hold a baseball, isn't it?
In the last scan, there's that rounded triangle that was mentioned a couple days ago. Even in its simplest form, as seen here, it still evokes all things Disneyland.
Sue, hyacinths are OK, but I like to wear Venus flytraps.
Thanks for the Easter pics, Major.
The photo of the two young boys on the steps is wonderful. I remember dressing pretty sharp like that for church on Sunday as a kid in the 1960's.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter to all!
I think that’s a toy police car (with a captured criminal) sitting on that red, white and blue box...or maybe a toy cab (with a passenger)??
ReplyDelete“Venus flytraps”...typical boy!
@ JB-
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the flowers, but it's highly-doubtful all that 'curly' hair is real.
Major-
Oh - those lads-! They are really stylin' - 3-piece suits and a hat for Frank Jr. Jr. They are too much.
Thanks, Major - and Happy Easter to all.
JB, the box is filled with Church's Fried Chicken.
ReplyDeleteAs for the lady with the tulips on her head....that certainly is a hat! If anyone wants to know what I really think of it, I'll just say, if that's the kind of hat the lady wanted, then she really picked herself out a good one!
This was a fun Easter post, Major. Thanks! And thank you Sue, for sharing the photo of "Marion Strong" and her crazy hat! Happy Easter, everyone!
I never thought Marion Strong's hat was totally "crazy" or "horrible"...if I was the costume designer I would have went a little more over the top. Perhaps that was over the top. Amen for closed Monday and Tuesday! How refreshing it was to see that. I was there when it stopped and there was some mild anxiety about "when do we do things?" - maintenance things. I suppose the 3rd shift got more robust. It really didn't affect much, but those first Monday and Tuesdays were deliciously slow. Never to be seen again. When did the park become the Vatican? Talk about crowds (I recommend spending the $$ for a private guide before the commoners are let in.) The boys "suits on stoops" look very Chicago-ian. The stoop does anyhow. I don't remember dressing up for Easter until way into adulthood and going out with my in-laws to the obligatory Easter Sunday buffet at a Country Club. Two things I don't enjoy: Buffets, and Country Clubs....add "suit wearing" to that column too. "Oblications" (as opposed to "Vacation"). As a kid I would covet that "Wonderful ways" booklet. I thought "the typeface is all wrong!" It is way too frilly and swirly curly! I did enjoy "copyright Walt Disney Productions" however. Easter was actually a fun (and short) season to work. I was in a few Easter commercials with my hands full of balloons strolling through the background. I remember a kid actress that I was in the shot with (she must have been 5 or so) asking the director "Director...WHO do you see more in the shot? ME or HIM?" Director "well you of course, you are the star!"....It was kind of gross. There was a cute Thumpers Easter Egg hunt with scratch off cards and little Easter scenes throughout the park with little kids searching for plastic eggs or something...it was cute. I don't remember "guest stars" and musical things...I suppose if I dig I'll find some remnant that I have saved inside a book or something. The song-stars were more for Summer than that one or two weeks of Easter. I do remember being asked when the Easter parade was...like the Easter day thing...which may or may not have happened. I remember seeing photos of the Easter parades of years gone by in the Disneyland Line and what not. Looked kind of cool. Like the pancake races they used to have too. I think they dropped "attractive" Tour Guide and turned it into "informative" or something like that at some point. The people always wanted the pretty girls. Time to chow down on Easter Candy!
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine Disneyland closing two days a week now? Even a Monday and Tuesday in February must be profitable.
ReplyDeleteThe teens my age would all be going to see Gary Puckett. I would have too until I saw Lionel Hampton on the bill. I'd be right up front for that show.
I believe the flower hat is the "Audrey" from the Little Shop of Horrors collection. :)
Happy Easter everyone!
ReplyDeleteIt was a big holiday for new clothes, I remember always having pictures made before church in our garden in front of Mom’s iris beds, which would be in full bloom.
Sue, I’m with you, Guided Tour by Bu. But I also remember when we could afford to move up from the Big Ten to the Deluxe 15.
Do male tour guides wear plaid trousers? Or kilts?
“Oblications”, LOL. Used to do many of those. Not. Any. More.
We were never much on the bands or entertainers, too busy riding rides, but Teddy Buckner played the French Market, where we almost always had dinner, except sometimes it was the Delta Ramblers. I’ll take either group gladly.
Fun stuff Major, here’s to you finding more of these.
JG
Happy Easte!
ReplyDeleteThat hat! All those tulips! What would you water those Dutch flowers with, anyway - Hollandaise sauce? [pause] I fully expect to be Amsterdamned for that pun. I regret nothing…
I saw Gary Puckett and the Union Gap along with Herman’s Hermits, the Grass Roots, and the Monkees at the Oklahoma State Fair when I was in high school in 1986. Only concert I wanted to see that year (yes, I was an odd one…and I recruited four friends and my sister to see it with me). Loved watching the monorail do its thing around the Fairgrounds and seeing the B-52, B-47, and missiles on display. The whole place had sort of a “run-down 1964 World’s Fair” vibe to it, like “this is what Flushing Meadows might be like if the NYWF had never closed and never been updated.” I just learned last week that the cool, dated light fixtures that didn’t really register at the time were actually refugee luminaires that had come from the New York fair site.
JB, I prefer a good Les Nessman hat. Each to his own, I guess.
Bu, “oblications” (Autocorrect does not like that word one bit). I will be adding that to my vocabulary, partly because it’s clever and partly just to spite my electronic nemesis.
Lou and Sue, I wish I had experienced a guided tour at least once, back in the good old days. I think the King Family placed at Disneyland quite a few times, but it would be fun if we could confirm that you and your mom were at the park for this run! Happy Easter to you too.
ReplyDeleteJB, yeah, I would assume that those are silk flowers, maybe that lady wears the same floral headgear every year. And thanks for the baseball (softball?) observation, I think you are right. Do you think it says “checker” on the box? And YES, there’s that rounded triangle!
K. Martinez, yes, that’s a pretty fun slide. I don’t have a lot of vintage Easter photos, and the suits really make that one great.
Lou and Sue, hey, you’re right! I guess that Easter was like a mini-Christmas for these kids; not only did they get their Easter baskets, but they each got a swell toy. I have to admit that the toy police car is the better gift! I think the people “inside” the car are just lithographed graphics.
TokyoMagic!, yum, fried chicken. Never had Church’s though. I may be done with KFC forever though, even though I used to like it a lot. Now it just makes me sick every time I try it (which is seldom). Who is Marion Strong?? And WHY is she so strong?
Bu, I’ll bet that the employees liked getting Mondays and Tuesdays off. I have to wonder how many people made the trek to Anaheim only to discover that the park was closed (a la “National Lampoon’s Vacation”?). I was unaware that guests could take a guided tour before everyone else was let in, not sure they do that anymore. I could definitely see the scene with the boys being somewhere in the Midwest, if not Chicago specifically. But it’s impossible to say. I wonder if any of those commercials that you were in happen to be on YouTube?? I remember somebody telling me that I should be a Disneyland tour guide (by that time, men were doing it), and I couldn’t think of too many things I’d rather do less than that.
Grant, yes, nowadays they must rake in many hundreds of thousands even on “off” days. A friend of mine went a few weeks ago and said it was nuts, he was there on a Tuesday. If the flower hat is Audrey, it might need a turkey leg.
JG, gosh, I don’t think we got new clothes on Easter. We had to wait for our grandma to take us shopping! I think male tour guides wear a plaid vest. I can’t see my dad EVER being willing to pay the cost for a guided tour, plus he probably wouldn’t have had the patience for one. I can hear his salty language now (ex-Navy man, you know).
Chuck, my sister has seen some pretty amazing bands at the Mid-State Fair in California. Aerosmith, John Cougar Mellencamp, Tom Petty… those are the only ones I can remember. She said that these bands always expect the crowds to be lame, but then they are shocked when the audience loses their collective minds. My best friend saw James Brown at some County Fair. I didn’t know that the Oklahoma State Fair had a Monorail, I’ll have to look that up. I’ve seen many photos of places that had luminaires from the Fair, so jealous. If I had any ability to make stuff, I’d make a half-sized example.
Happy Easter to all!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures today, Major.
-DW
I've been away for some time. Happy Easter to all! KS
ReplyDeleteIt's Morticia Addams's sister Ophelia!
ReplyDeleteMale tour guides at WDW used to wear plaid trousers; I'm not sure if they still do, or what they wear/wore at Disneyland.
Mom always made us fancy dresses to wear to Easter services. I think I may have a picture from one year; if I find it I'll share it later on.
Happy Easter, all! Those kids sure are spiffy, and nice that they got some toys in their baskets. I got a plush rabbit every year for my first few Easters. I'd like to see the parade and promenders -- hope they have those old-timey bikes with the big wheel. Then I'll listen to the All-New Polynesian Revue, much better than that all-old one. Thanks, Major!
ReplyDeleteSome plaid clarity: Red Trousers, Plain white shirt, Red vest with brass Disneyland buttons (a castle). Vest had functional pockets with button closures, Royal Stewart tartan tie (poly blend), and RS jacket (wool most of the time, wool blend a few months of the year.) with DL brass buttons. No hat, no crop. Generic DL patched trench coat for rainy days with zippered plush lining. WDW at the time had exactly the same except in blue. No Host costume until I think around 1988 or so. A pin (NS Meyer gold plated) was changed from “Guide” to “Host” depending on who you were that day. Royal Stewart is the Queen’s official tartan and (technically) not to be worn by others. However, the plaid is worn and loved by many so I don’t think that the rule sticks. A “plaid” is actually a misnomer. A plaid is a throw, a plaid with a tartan is where “plaid” evolved from. Mike may know more of the design of the costume- I’m pretty sure it’s a Bob Phelps design. The design today has morphed from the Host costume of that day. The Ambassador costume had it’s take from the TG costume, but custom made for the lady chosen. Male Ambassadors were a general “no” until much later. You could apply and be interviewed, and one guy did make it to the top 4- think that was in the early 90’s. Things have changed. Also: there were no “before the park opened” tours- I was referring to the Vatican :). Although I do not have strong religious leanings, the Vatican museum is quite an amazing place. I’m now checking YouTube for my commercials :)
ReplyDeleteChuck, not sure what a Les Nessman hat is (just a ball cap?) but I know who the character is. Reminds me of one of my favorite WKRP lines: Johnny Fever, going to a commercial break, "We'll be right back with more music and less Nessman."
ReplyDeleteMajor, "Checker"... hmm, could beee (you have to say that with Bugs Bunny's voice.) I still think it looks like Churches. We'll have to settle it with a duel to the death... or maybe a poetry slam. Melissa can referee.
Melissa, if I remember correctly, weren't Ophelia's 'head flowers' actually growing into her head? I think The Addams Family is playing on MeTV or one of those channels?
Bu, I never knew the origin of the word 'plaid' before. I knew that the Brits called plaid 'tartan' and that 'tartan' refers to the pattern of the cloth which is unique to each Scottish clan.
Bu, were any of your commercials shown during Disneyland/WDW holiday parade TV broadcasts? Am asking because my dad taped a number of them off the TV, in the 80s and 90s, I think. If yes, give me as much specific info as you can, and I’ll do some searching.
ReplyDeleteWill be back later...
Happy Easter, DW!
ReplyDeleteKS, I hope you’ve been having fun. Happy Easter to you too!
Melissa, yes, I always liked it when she’d pull a flower out of her hair and wince. So weird. I wasn’t sure about the plaid trousers, but I was almost certain I’d seen plaid vests. Perhaps not though.
Kathy!, I’m trying to remember how old I was when I stopped getting an Easter basket! I was probably secretly dissappointed, especially since I had younger siblings who probably still got them. And that old Polynesian Review can go to heck, am I right??
Bu, Hm, I’m surprised that only the tie was plaid, I wonder if (like many Disneyland costumes) the tour guide outfits changed regularly? Also, was it WDW where the guides wore blue instead of red? Hey, they can wear red too, the universe won’t implode. So much plaid knowledge, I hope there won’t be a test. Maybe I’m thinking of the Male Ambassadors when I imagine the plaid vests, who knows. It’s all so blurry. Oh the Vatican, name one thing that place has that’s worth looking at. Nobody has even heard of it!
JB, I was wondering what a Les Nessman hat was too, it’s been way too long since I’ve watched WKRP (etc). “Checkers” is just a guess, but it does look like it to me. I’m glad you didn’t challenge me to a nude poetry slam.
And thank you Sue, for sharing the photo of "Marion Strong" and her crazy hat!
ReplyDeleteLOL! TokyoMagic, I just now googled who Marion Strong is/was. Hahahaha! ;oD (Major, you don't want to know.)
I guess my Les Nessman joke fell flat. Sorry about that. It’s just when JB was talking about wearing Venus flytraps, this is the image that popped into my head and it just sort of went from there. Maybe if I’d said “I prefer wearing Less Nessman [or maybe Johnny Fever]” without the word “hat” it would have been less obscure. Oh, well - a swing and a miss. Probably deserved after misspelling “Easter.”
ReplyDeleteChuck, Ha! Your mea culpa was funnier than your Les Nessman hat joke. ;-) I don't know why I didn't make the connection between Venus flytraps and Les Nessman. Too much time had passed since I last saw an episode of WKRP, I suppose. Keep trying. ;-)
ReplyDelete