Main Street, May 5th, 1980
Main Street USA has undergone quite a few changes over the years, but in 1980, when Disneyland was 25 years old, those changes were less obvious than they are today. I love Walt's original Main Street!
There's Main Street Station, it's 5:38 PM, with the sun setting but still bathing everything in warm light. The population sign reads 175,000,000, which ain't too shabby. Mickey's flower portrait is looking especially lush too.
I wonder, are the Horse Drawn Streetcars that we see today the same exact ones that were at the park in 1955? Presumably they have been spruced up and overhauled (rotting wood replaced and so on). But they still look great! I also wonder if those brass "finials" on top were purely decorative, or do they actually serve a purpose? Could you pop corn during your journey? Maybe the finials are a throwback to something on older trolleys, and they were added because people expected to see them.
The castle forecourt is bustling, but pleasantly so, with people adding color and energy to the scene. Hey, there's the dent! Subtle, but visible. And to top it all off, there's a balloon vendor too. Looks like a beautiful day to be at the park.
14 comments:
Major-
Walt's Park really did look lovely for the big 25th. Everything looking 'just so'. And talk about tasteful: The SBC looks outstanding - with just the right amount of trim - now merely a distant memory.
Thanks, Major.
Major, that dent ain’t subtle...it’s bigger than ever, from this angle.
Very nice pictures, and DEFINITELY a great day to be in the park. Thanks, Major, for taking us there.
—Sue
P.S. Has anyone solved yesterday’s mystery, yet??
Looks like Mickey needs a shave and a haircut. Maybe he's going for the fashionably scruffy look.
Is that a Belgian Draft horse pulling the streetcar? If so, it looks smaller than the ones we usually see.
That's a nice photo of the Castle; good lighting. There's a lot of loitering going on to the left and right of the castle. People just standing (or sitting) around. Maybe some sort of event just happened, or is about to happen. I bet the swans are licking their chops.
New theory: I think The Dent is actually just a scrim-like cloth that CMs can look through, like the Seven Dwarfs hats. PROVE ME WRONG!
Sue, my latest theory about yesterday's conundrum : It wasn't Disneyland at all! Some other park.
Thanks for the nicely lit photos, Major.
The brass domes on the roof of the Horsecar are the car’s bell housings. When you hear the conductor ring the car’s bell - that’s where they’re located. The first horsecars in cities appeared in the 1830’s and bells were required mainly as safety warnings to pedestrians. Most city horse drawn wagons also featured bells that could be rung by the driver’s foot. Today’s four horsecars are the originals but as you guessed they have been overhauled many, many times …like the Mark Twain and the locomotives of the Disneyland Railroad.
Sue, it was Miss Scarlett in the Conservatory with the lead pipe. And she would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it hadn’t been for those meddling kids!
Three winners today! I gotta say though, the streetcar is my fav. I love the attention to detail and nostalgia factor. Thanks Major.
Looks like a nice Fall day in my first year. Everything bright and shiny and taken care of. Generally, back then the sibling rivalry of the maintenance of Disneyland and the maintenance of Walt Disney World were compared, with Disneyland being the clear winner. It's kind of hard to believe that Walt Disney World at this time was only open 9 years prior. In addition, Walt had only been dead for 14 years. Cut to today...9 years ago TRE was already a rampant thing, Star Tours was an "Old Ride"...14 years ago: the crash 0f 2008 was going on which felt like yesterday. 911 was still 20 years out... In 1980 in my mind Walt's death was sooooo very long ago, and Disneyland was soooooo very old...and in this day, 25 years ago would be '97, and I was already into a few more careers after my long Disneyland stint. It does feel like a short time ago, although I just got an invitation to a reunion...which when I did the math was 30 years ago...The 25th anniversary to one employee who went on to some notoriety was called "very poorly merchandised". If I remember correctly, it was poorly merchandised...then had these pewter medallions, which I had a few at one point...and that's about all I remember. "One big happy fa-mi-ly, joined in har-mo-ny, one big happy family, sea to shining sea, join hands and Disneyland and join the jubilee, and we'll be one big happy fa-mi-leeeeee". THAT I can remember....or the Disneyland is Your Land show: TO-MAH-ROW!!! TOMORROW!! "Everything's gonna beeeee-eeee: ALRIGHT!"....no...it actually wasn't alright, it was all TRE'd to death. You can't see the balloon vendor there, but it could have been me. Who knows. Those are shiny "new" balloons. From a forensic POV, I feel that probably the parade had completed its run...the balloons were "new" because they had just replenished them, as after a parade you would be assaulted- which is why there are so few balloons in the bundle. When balloons are exposed to heat, they get a "matte" look. These are very tight and shiny...and are very fresh. I think that afternoon parade was at 3:00pm- it was a long parade with a zillion performers in it, horses, musicians. It must have cost a fortune to produce. That sunset could possibly be at 4:30pm if this was into Fall...which it could possibly be- October was still a warm month. Ticket books still in force. Kid climbing around about to fall in the moat. Many employees, even in 1980, talked about TRE, and the proverbial spinning of Walt in his grave about a variety of subjects, and the slightest "bad show" element was talked about, pointed at, debated, etc. If something wasn't fixed immediately, Walt was spinning in his grave. I am talking the SLIGHTEST things...like very small chips of paint, and the like. If something was bad show you got on the phone, immediately. If YOU were doing something REMOTELY wrong...even sipping a cup of water on a 90 degree day...SOMEONE would rat on you (a small cup of water was allowable on 90+ degree days...but not on 89 degree days.) One popcorn vendor was tasting her popcorn to see if it was properly salted...I'm talking ONE piece...and it became an incident. No eating, tasting, chewing, talking to another employee regardless of subject matter....scrutiny at a level I have not experienced since then. For 3.20 an hour, or 11.36 in today's world. I honestly don't know if I'm complaining or grateful or both. It was a great education into adulthood working for the juggernauts of juggernauts of the hospitality business. Employees were very respected in and out of work. I'm not sure what the landscape is today, possibly "just a job"...It would be interesting to hear from a current employee, but I suspect everyone is sworn to secrecy. To quote Austin Powers: "The '80's: a Flock of Seagulls and that's about it."
The train station shot is perfect, this is Disneyland as I left it.
What a shock to come back many years later…
Thanks Major.
JG
Disneyland as I'll always remember it. From 80 to 95 were the years of some of my favorite trips to the park.
Like JG our last trip in 2012 was a sobering experience. Too crowded and the magic dissipated.
Still, great photos, and yes, a beautiful day to be in the park. I can hear the bell on the streetcar. Walt's original Main Street with the Upjohn pharmacy and all. Sigh.
Thanks Major, sigh included.
These are so nice. You know, I would pay big bucks to go to this park. The current tastless circus? Nope. I swear the current Diz-Hacks should all be sent to Pleasure Island to take their true forms...
Nanook, I don’t know why, but it always kind of amazes me to remember that Walt only saw his park reach it’s 10th anniversary and just a little beyond, and that he’d “only” been gone 14 years in 1985. His influence was still very present at that point.
Sue, I knew you would especially appreciate the dent! I haven’t really solved yesterday’s mystery… I want to say that the thing in question is a tree, but I’m not very confident about it.
JB, I think Mickey was going for the manly look. Or maybe it was the “mousely” look?? That horse looks plenty big to me, but I thought that Beligian Draft Horses were that sort of blonde color, and this one is chestnut (or even darker), so we need a horse expert here. I always sort of like it when you can see people gathered around the castle, it was basically the central meeting place, the spot where you could always find your friends if you’d split up.
Mike Cozart, well I’ll be! I did NOT know that the bell rung by the conductor was inside the brass housing. Knowing that, I’m surprised how loud the bell can be. You’d think that metal would muffle it, but obviously it doesn’t. Even with all the overhauls, I’m glad that we still have our original streetcars!
Chuck, I’ve never liked Miss Scarlet, almost every time she comes over, we have at least one dead body to deal with. But I didn’t really make the connection!
Jonathan, I don’t think you can go wrong with any of today’s photos. It’s amazing to think that 1985 was now 37 years ago!!
Bu, maybe the competition between the Magic Kingdom in Florida and Disneyland is still going hot, but it doesn’t seem like it’s talked about as much. Maybe I’m just more “checked out” than I used to be. I still remember the crash of 2008 so vividly, because a guy I was working at kept shaking his head and going, “This is bad. This is bad…” all day. And of course who doesn’t remember 9-11? Did you go to the reunion? Wow, what was that “One big happy family” song? Was it an official 25th anniversary tune? Not exactly Cole Porter lyrics. I didn’t know that new balloons were shinier - I can use that as a clue in my next murder mystery. “This balloon vendor has only been dead an hour or so. Look how shiny his balloons are!”. “Inspector Pepperidge, you are as brilliant as you are handsome”. “Don’t forget witty”. While folks on this blog still talk about what Walt might have thought about the state of his park today, at this point most people don’t seem to consider it much. I think that the treatment of employees is not what it used to be, based on some of the rather grim stories I have read online.
JG, if you’d come back sooner, they wouldn’t have let the place go to pot!
DrGoat, wow, you had a good 15 year fun of going to the park! I definitely went through some times when I didn’t go as much as I wanted. It just seemed like I had other more pressing things to deal with, having just graduated high school, and trying to get some sort of career going. I definitely read every article and kept up with any ride announcements!
Stu29573, I always think that as much as you and I would love the 1980 park, maybe today’s younger fans would find it to be boring. Hard to say of course, but it really was wonderful.
1980 was a very good year. The castle looks nice with its ivy. The Street-Car (with attached horse) pic is beautiful. All three photos today are great! Thanks, Major.
Bu, my very first thought was, “That kid’s gonna fall in the moat!”
The blue and white anniversary banners are jaunty but tasteful. I approve, and I know my approval is all the Walt Disney Company has ever wanted. ;)
Great peoplewatching in the last picture. What or whomst is Mr. Pointy pointing at? Look at that cute kid in the matching red coat and hat.
I think if there had been just one or two more comments yesterday we could have come up with a plausible alternate theory of the Kennedy assassination.
I agree, some great shirts and jackets going on in the last pic. Looks like a friendly crowd.
PS to Major, We took a trip to the park at least once every other year in that time period, culminating in our most extensive 5 day package on our Indiana Jones adventure trip in '95. To tell the truth, Mom and Dad helped with some expenses. I think they were happy I finally found a spouse (that would put up with me and as Gomez Addams said, "would not press charges") plus the fact that she had never been to Disneyland before we met was a issue that had to be corrected.
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