Inside the Coke Corner, 1973
I have two rare and unusual photos, courtesy of my friend Mr. X, who took these himself back in 1973. I've only seen a few interiors of the Coke Corner, so I get a real kick out of these special views.
I'm not sure it was "peak lunchtime" but the restaurant looks pretty busy. The cashier is remarkably unfrazzled, she's seen it all before. I love little details like the bottles of Coke to our left, each one with a red tag with the name of a country where Coca Cola is sold and enjoyed.
There's a familiar face! Rod Miller, ragtime player extraordinaire, serenades guests with the fastest fingers in town. By 1973 he was already a battle-worn veteran of four years (starting in 1969), but his career with Disneyland would continue 2005, incredibly. Over 35 years!
21 comments:
Major-
Lovely shots - including a pair of 'dueling' Sweda cash registers and Rod Miller.
Thanks to Mr. X.
It looks like the job of the guy in the white pants, might be just to keep filling up cups with Coke, and place them on the ledge above, for the cashiers to grab. I had to do that (only once, fortunately) for an entire eight-hour shift, at Knott's. Not fun! And how did that guy keep his white pants clean and not splash Coke on them?
It looks like a nice day outside. I wonder if at one time, Rod used to only perform indoors? In the days that I can remember seeing him perform, he was always outside on the patio, unless it was raining. Then they would roll his platform and piano inside.
Excuse me, Miss. Yes, I'd like a diet Pepsi please. And I'll have that pastry under the dome, there. I don't know what it is, but I want it!
I wonder if Rod Miller knows the ragtime version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"? See, that's funny because ragtime is happy and snappy, and "...Gently Weeps" is kinda sad and... hey, it's after midnight and I'm a little sleepy.
Speaking of diet pop (soda), has anybody else noticed that most brands aren't using the word "diet" anymore? When you go down the aisle at the grocery store it's either "sugar free" or "zero sugar" now. I guess "diet" has a negative connotation to the ad guys. Not everyone has jumped on the band wagon yet, but give it a little more time.
Thanks to Mr. X and Major P.
I always liked the original curved Coke Corner soda counter …the curtain version seems so generic. Notice that the two coke cup sizes are pretty small … compared to the KEG and DRUM sizes served today …..
Last week after a Disneyland visit I was sent a online questionnaire ( I actually get them all the time) if I’m under contract they get thrown out of course . But the recent one asked all about specific lands and also corporate brands seen within Disneyland and my responses and favorability towards them….one of the sections was to check off such brands and sponsors I recalled seeing in my recent visit …. Coca Cola was listed but so was PEPSI! Was this a trick questions !???
Coke Corner always makes me think of when I took my youngest niece Hayley to Disneyland she was about 4 or 5 ( she’s in high school now) but she was so excited to go to Disneyland with Uncle Mike … her two older sisters were having a birthday party for their American Girl dolls at a American Girl Doll Restaurant…. And Hayley wasn’t going because she was too little - but she was going to Disneyland!! Anyway , when we got to Main Street she saw the horsecars and went crazy excited and we rode it round trip … then she saw the omnibus and wanted to to ride that … then the yellow horseless carriage . She then wanted a hot dog at coke corner … and while we were sitting there eating , she looked over and saw the castle and asked “what was that!??” …. It then occurred to me that I was letting her decide what she wanted to do … and she thought Disneyland was JUST Main Street USA!! When she found out what else Disneyland was - she was pretty mesmerized!! To this day she LOVES Enchanted Tiki Room, Dumbo and the Main Street Horsecar … and that the horse’s name that visit was “Danny”!
Keg, Drum and Humongous sizes. You need a dolly for the last one.
Although my wife and I went there nearly every visit, I have only the vaguest impressions of the inside of Coke Corner. It was usually to stop and watch Rod Miller play outside if we were there during the day or to grab our “stay awake” drink after midnight for the hour drive home.
Mike, “…compared to the KEG and DRUM sizes served today...”. Brilliant! Interesting distractor question on that survey. And the story about Hayley’s visit to Disneyland is adorable.
These photos are NICE!
TM! I, too, only remember Rod playing the piano outside—which is probably why I think of Main Street — anytime I hear ragtime music. The music traveled down the street.
Mike, you sure are a terrific uncle, and Hayley has sweet memories to last her lifetime.
Thanks, Major and Mr. X.
—Sue
Ah, Coke Corner, the Cafe de La Paix of Disneyland. If you see a little man with a wen on his nose, RUN!
Interior shots are nice to have. I remember the piano man, but only outdoors.
Mike, that is a great story. I got to squire my nieces around Disneyland once, telling them how everything was better once.
Tokyo, that doesn’t sound fun at all, even if you liked Coke.
KEG and DRUM, sad but true. And people wonder how they have weight problems, drinking so much sugar syrup. JB you’re right, dieting is the national pastime, but you can’t talk about that now. We banned soda pop of all kinds on our Scout outings because boys would have it for breakfast instead of food. Behavior problems went down. Some adult leaders complained because we couldn’t have it either, but eventually everyone got on board. And the boys learned to make breakfast foods.
JG
Nanook, imagine how busy it would have had to be to use both registers. Yikes!
TokyoMagic!, now that you point it out, I don’t see how that guy could have stopped his white pants from getting Coke syrup all over them. There’s splashback, and earthquakes, and even gremlins. You understand. From what I’ve seen of Mr. X’s pictures, it really was nice outside. Maybe it was too hot?
JB, I’ll have a Pepsi Digital. No more analog sodas for me. I’d love to hear a ragtime version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, or any gloomy song. I think you’re right about “diet” being a dirty word now (“Diet Coke” excepted). I prefer Coke Zero to Diet Coke, personally!
Mike Cozart, I don’t know what a “curtain version” of a counter is, so I’ll just imagine it is made out of plaid cloth. And I like large sodas! I don’t like that I’m charged $2.75 for what is 99% water, however. Is Pepsi no longer in the park? Is it just Coke now? I love your story about taking your niece to Disneyland, I took my niece when she was eight, and we had the best time. I wish we could have gone more often, but she lived too far away.
MRaymond, that’s the one for me!
Chuck, I’ve been inside the Coke Corner, but don’t remember it being as charming as this. Maybe I was too intent on deciding what I wanted to eat. A hotdog, almost certainly.
Sue, I don’t remember seeing Rod Miller there (though I probably did), but other piano players were definitely outside, usually surrounded by three or four people. Who knew that ragtime piano attracted groupies?
JG, I’m afraid I don’t get your Cafe de La Paix reference. If it wasn’t in one of the “Twilight” books, I didn’t read it. My friend Mr. X just took his grandkids to the park, and to my astonishment, they went on “Rise of the Resistance”. For one thing, I thought they’d never get him on a Star Wars ride, he pretty much despises what they’ve done to his beloved park. BUT… he said the ride was amazing! Which is saying something. Lugging soda around on Scout campouts sounds like more trouble than it’s worth, just drink nice cold water!
Major-
Where have you been-? I believe MIKE has already mentioned the details, but 1982 = EPCOT = American Adventure = Coca-Cola's sponsorship of it = bye-bye Pepsi at all the parks. (It's the new math).
I had to stare at these photos a while to assess some memories...I'm not sure if Coke Corner had the same "no guys" rule for working the counter. Perhaps that is why white pants is pouring Cokes. You can see why sweepers and other white pants wearers were specifically told to wear underpants during orientation. They tended to be quite sheer, and if you got them wet...you might as well be bottomless. Am I remembering correctly that these Cokes did not have ice in them because the Coke was pre-refrigerated? We definitely had ice at Coke Terrace, but perhaps Coke Corner was more "pure". A real Coke made with sugar is something to behold. If you get a Coke around the time of Passover, you might be lucky to get a sugar one and not a corn syrup one. Or get Mexican Coke, which is sugar. It DOES taste different. There was a story about all of those different stained windows, but I don't remember. I know that they were antique. On busy days you definitely needed a guy to do nothing but pour drinks. It takes time. I don't see any food in sight...other than whatever those things are under the dome. Looks like plastic wrapped hoagie, and plastic wrapped sandwiches...which I think was accurate. I don't remember hot dogs...they revolt me so if there was a hot dog there, I would have quickly forgotten it. You get Cokes at Coke Corner...and Lays chips. Plain. I see Rod doing his thing. When he was inside it was LOUD in there...like ballistically loud. You can see that piano has no back...on purpose. Looks sunny outside, so who knows. I don't remember him on that platform either as that piano was rolled in and out. Rod had a posse/groupies/harem. The regulars were always there- even in the pre-APP days. There were many employees too that would hang out. He was a very convivial sort and very charming to all. From '73 to at least '82 the popcorn boxes, Coke cups, other cups didn't change much. For the 25th, they went to the blue silver logo on cups...not Coke...Coke always said Coke. The Popcorn boxes changed when Uncle Orville joined the pack. That style of popcorn box was very unique. It was different than some of the other teal colored boxes that had "box tops" on them. Those must have been a nightmare. These "squeeze" boxes you could fill lightning fast and with one hand. Your left hand did all the scooping, while the right hand dealt with money. At the same time. Some people were very captivated when they ordered 15 boxes or something expecting you to melt down at the thought. Nope...took less that 15 seconds to knock out all 15 boxes...probably less. There is a skill to it. The only thing that holds you back is the amount of counter space for the boxes, but you usually told the guest...very directly...to remove the boxes once served. You counted out the number of boxes in front of the guest so they could witness the count...then threw them in the popcorn wagon...and then scooped away. The box was the scoop. With the guest witnessing the count, it avoided..."you only gave me 14..." they generally were not being criminal about it, but usually little johnny would run away with two and then dad couldn't see...and mom was screaming for another....on and on...generally guests were impressed by the speed. And you HAD to be speedy, so you learned quickly. Except for the ones that didn't, and they were generally the ones you had to rescue when you got the call from the sweeper: "uhhh....there is an employee crying at popcorn 8 and needs some help"....all true, and was not unique. Popcorn 8 was Big Thunder Trail...my thoughts regarding that one cryer: "wow....Popcorn 8...?! The second slowest wagon in the park! (Bear Country was #1)" the crying people I don't remember ever coming back. A job at Disneyland is not for everyone.
”You can see why sweepers and other white pants wearers were specifically told to wear underpants during orientation.”
Bu, what about the rest of the time??
I love your popcorn stories!
—Sue
JB - you're correct. "Diet" has been replaced by "Zero (sugar)" when Coke and Pepsi marketing found that many people, men in particular, avoid anything with the word "diet."
Mike - the giant sizes came about when somebody figured out that the fixed cost of a cup and a person to fill it was the biggest part of the expense. By selling a larger item at a higher price, there's more profit to be had on the nearly costless soda that fills the cup.
JG - I can't imagine the punishments my scoutmasters would have handed out if we drank soda instead of making breakfast. Making eggs, bacon, pancakes and coffee to the scoutmasters' standards seemed to be the primary task of camping trips in my troop.
Major - Pepsi Digital sounds like a thing that would have happened around Y2K. You'd probably get a free month of AOL with enough can tabs.
Bu - I live in the NYC area with enough of a Kosher population to get the sugar coke at Passover. Here, you can spot the 2l bottles with sugar by yellow caps, but I'm not sure that's everywhere. My mom was a home ec teacher, so soda has always been "liquid candy" to me, so a 2l bottle is only for big parties. I try to keep a few of those glass Mexican Coke bottles on hand for a treat at the end of a long day of yard work in summer. I don't know if the flavor is vastly different, but the sugar ones have a smoother mouthfeel and less aftertaste than corn syrup.
Mike, thanks for the story. It's refreshing to see Disneyland through the eyes of a child on their first trip to the park.
Major, I bet Pepsi Digital is just around the corner. Not sure what that would be; filled with nano-bots? Made by robots? (I guess it already is made by factory robots.)
Bu doesn't like hot dogs... Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party? ;-)
Loved your popcorn wagon/scooper story!
Dean Finder, A couple of months ago I was looking for a case of diet pop, 7-Up I think. All I could find was "Zero Sugar". After several minutes of looking, it finally occurred to me that zero sugar is apparently the same as diet, so that's what I got. Confusing.
Major; Curtain Counters are indeed plaid. But that was suppose to be “ the CURRENT soda counter. Yeah COCA COLA threatened Disney to pull out of all Disney parks in 1982 if Disney didn’t drop PEPSI …. Disney needed the sponsorship money for EPCOT and TDL …. So Disney sent PEPSI packing …..
Have a give watched the FOOD OF THE 80’s or the HISTORY OF FOOD with Adam Richman on the Food channel …or is it history channel? Anyways there are two COKE SUGAR / CORN SYRUP exclusive episodes and it explains the history of why most c
Cola bottling plants switched from sugar cane to corn syrup … but in both episodes it showed that some major test studies proved that the majority of coke drinkers could NOT tell what the difference was …. But that there WAS a difference a both tasted VERY good! Even the food scientists on the FOOD OF THE 80’s explained why that was so. And the. There were the Placebo Tests and people thought the corn syrup was the sugar cane and Vice versa …. But the people could not tell the difference …. But could detect a very slight hint of a difference ….
Who knew that ragtime piano attracted groupies?
I’m sure I’ve told this crowd before about the time I stalked the Dapper Dans all around the Magic Kingdom.
Maybe Donald Duck has just been wearing wet white Disneyland pants all these years!
Every little girl should have an Uncle Mike to take her to Disneyland.
That international Coke display is the genesis of EPCOT’s Club Cool.
When at a restaurant my friends who want a diet soda always say "diet", never " zero". Perhaps they are old fashioned. How do kids order today?
There is nothing like an ice cold coke after working out in the sun.
Major, it’s a pretty oblique reference to a poem by Robert Service.
It is said in the poem that everyone in the world eventually passes by the Cafe de La Paix in Paris, so the hero of the poem sits there everyday waiting for his enemy, a little man with a wen on his nose, who he will then shoot in revenge over a lost love.
In a past Coke Corner thread, we laughed that all the Junior Gorillas had been to Coke Corner, so it is the Cafe de La Paix of Disneyland, the place where everybody goes.
Dean Finder, we insisted on the boys making menus and learning to cook. The soda kids were primarily first-years whose mothers often packed their food. We had a number of excellent cooks in the older patrols.
Sunday Night, yes, after yard work, that sugar caffeine rush is the best!. I rarely drink soda so the hit is intensified. I’ll do that maybe once or twice a summer.
JG
Nanook, now that you mention it, I do remember Mike Cozart and the saga of Coke and Pepsi in the parks. Soon to be a major motion picture.
Bu, I never understand people who don’t wear underwear. I guess some people think it’s sexy, but I think it is kind of gross. Just me! Strange to think that the Cokes did not have ice in them, but I guess you got a better value for your money, unless you really loved to crunch on the leftover ice. I wondered about those stained glass windows, and thought that maybe it was just somebody’s idea of an interesting look. My best friend hates hotdogs too, and when we were roommates for a few years, he would always tell me that they “smelled like vomit” when I made them. It was great. If you’re gonna be a Main Street piano player, it can’t hurt to be good with people. Nobody wants a savant who plays the piano brilliantly, but stares at the keyboard and clenches their jaw. Well, I do, but most people don’t. 15 popcorn boxes in 15 seconds? Now that I’d like to see. In fact I would pay thousands of dollars to see it, live at Madison Square Garden.
Sue, WAH-WAHHHH! That’s a Jungle-Cruise worthy joke.
Dean Finder, I guess there is something cool about the word “zero”. Not sure why, but it’s true. I’ve always known that soda was a ripoff at any place that sells it, and yet… sometimes you just need a cola. My best friend used to be a Scout, and I guarantee that to this day he doesn’t drink soda because they didn’t drink it in the Scouts. Water, coffee, tea, yak’s milk… but that’s it. Digital Pepsi is delicious, but sometimes it can be corrupted and then it tastes like Zima. There’s nothing worse! I’m not sure I’ve ever had a “real sugar” Coke, or at least not in the past 20 or 30 years. I’ve always heard that they were better, but I wonder if I could tell the difference.
JB, yes, nano-bots for sure, each one would stimulate a single taste bud! I’d explain it in more detail, but it’s very technical. I can’t fault Bu for not liking hotdogs, I love ‘em, but just don’t think about how they’re made or what’s in them too much. I believe they come from the rare hotdog trees in South America.
Mike Cozart, AH. I figured a Curtain Counter was a real thing! The Coca Cola company doesn’t mess around. “It’d be a shame if something happened to your theme park if you didn’t get rid of Pepsi”. No I don’t think I’ve seen those Food Network shows… I used to watch Food Network quite a lot, but for some reason I’ve fallen out of the habit. Now it’s the Kardashians for me! There’s a place in Glendale that supposedly sells real sugar Coke, if it wasn’t just a bit far to drive, I’d pick up a bottle or two and do my own blindfolded taste test (while driving on the 405).
Melissa, well of COURSE a barbershop quartet would have groupies, that doesn’t surprise me at all. Those sweet, sweet harmonies, who could resist. Thank you for putting the image of Donald wearing wet white pants into my brain. And I want Uncle Mike to take ME to Disneyland.
Sunday Night, I’m sure that most servers will just give the customer what they think is right, if they only have Coke Zero (for instance), they probably won’t bother to say so. I wonder how many people would even notice? That being said, I do think Coke Zero is tastier than Diet Coke. I’ll drink both, though.
JG, well now I don’t feel so bad, my knowledge of poetry would fit on a Trident gum wrapper. Maybe nobody goes to the Cafe de La Paix anymore because it’s too crowded?
Major, that’s at least partly why I don’t go to Disneyland anymore.
JG
I worked there and to be faster we would pot eat too much ice or we’d get backlogged
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