Golden Horseshoe Revue, 1950s

It's time for a little Disneyland Naughtiness™, courtesy of the Golden Horseshoe Revue! Don't worry, it's no worse than a PG-13 movie, and there are no decapitations. These oversized slides were mounted on glass, which is always a novelty. And good photos of the Revue are not common, so it's nice to get these big clear color images.

There they are, the can-can gals, legs high, showing off their colorful petticoats. I'm blushing as I type this because it's so naughty! I don't even know, did they play the famous "Galop Infernal" by Offenbach while this saucy display was occurring? I'm sure the composer would be honored to learn that his music would eventually be used in two Disneyland attractions (The Enchanted Tiki Room being the other). "Je suis heureux!".

Well! There's something you don't see every day. Unless you live in Las Vegas. Then you see a lot of crazy stuff every day. I wonder how many dancers the Golden Horseshoe Revue employed? There are four here, but I'd assume that there were at least two shifts multiple performances during a long day. And it was hard work too! But with regular employment at Disneyland, hopefully these ladies could settle down and have a nice life.

More Stuff From the Box

THE BOXES. They ask so little, but they give so much. We are lucky to live in such a time. Here's another half-dozen fun items for you to theoretically enjoy.

I've mentioned my weird love of old employee badges, and that is exemplified frequently today, starting with this wonderful little pin given to a lucky Boeing employee on the 10th anniversary of his or her employment. You know those little nozzles that you can adjust to point air at your face? That was this person's idea. That pink stone is probably a genuine Burmese ruby, without a curse. 

10 years is nice and all, but 35 years is even better, and you get FIVE beautiful "diamonds". One for every seven years, I guess? They use dog years as their base, it's a long story. As is often the case, these pins are small, less than an inch in diameter. No need to be crass about one's accomplishments.

This next item is a mystery to me. It's some sort of "good luck" coin, with the rather fierce visage of a bearded fellow glowering at us from the obverse and the reverse. One side wishes us HEALTH, WISDOM, and WEALTH. On the other side, "Prudens" - - NO IDEA. Wasn't Phoebe Figalilly her nanny? Prudens is Latin for "wisdom", so perhaps the Hebrew and Chinese (?) characters repeat the "health" and "wealth" incantations.

As an added surprise, this coin has a secret compartment! Because it is so thin, it must be for microfilm, or a photo of Evel Knievel.

How about another employee pin? This one is from Dutch Boy paints, it's pretty swell, with the Dutch Boy himself wearing Delft-blue, and waving his brush at us. In some countries that gesture is a deadly insult. "He did WHAT??". Five glorious years in the paint biz, with golden laurels to boot, it's enough to bring a tear to one's eye.

You can trust your car to the man who wears the star! Texaco was all about safety. And good hygiene. But they only gave out pins for safety; this is an appealing little shield just over .75" tall, in enameled brass. 

And finally, here's a fun little pin from Illinois Bell. I have a couple of pins from Illinois Bell, but this rotary phone is quite nice. Would a 10 year old have any idea how to use this? (The phone, not the pin). It makes me want to call grandma. It's funny how I am often not aware of the amount of wear on these items until I take these macro photos, and then the missing plating or corrosion (or whatever) suddenly becomes glaringly apparent. 

Won't you please stay tuned for more STUFF FROM THE BOX?

Main Street USA, June 1970

I have two slides from different lots, but both are from June, 1970. Let's go!

Beneath the east tunnel that goes beneath the railroad tracks and leads to Town Square, you might find a certain hunny-lovin' bear lurking there. His ability to balance a full jar of bee goop (and one bee) is impressive, though some cranks theorize that Pooh is using double-stick tape. Never! Balloon Boy just got some financial advice from Pooh ("You can't go wrong with real estate!"), so he's a satisfied customer. The ladies to our right want to know the five best uses for vinegar. 

The glimpse into Town Square is enticing, do you think those seated people are gathering for a parade?

While organizing my jpegs, I found this previous-posted photo of Pooh, also from June of 1970!

What do you call a Horse Drawn Streetcar if the horse refuses to "draw" it? "I'm not moving until somebody gives me an apple or a sugar cube!". This is what happens when you get horses from Hollywood, they are temperamental. "Listen, Dobbin, I don't have any apples or sugar cubes, but I can get you an autograph from Ruth Buzzi". "Ruth Buzzi?! You've got a deal!".

Dance Circle, June 1961

Today's photos have many admirable qualities. Vivid colors, an interesting subject matter - the performers at the Dance Circle over in the Indian Village - and nice compositions. BUT... the focus is just a little bit soft. What can ya do.

Sometimes we've seen impressive crowds gathered to watch these Native Americans as they performed various dances from various tribes - on busy days the Indian Village was quite popular. I love the late-afternoon lighting, so warm and inviting.

I've always thought it would be interesting to read an account of what life was like for these performers. Did they enjoy their roles? They were preserving Native American culture, and presenting it in a respectful manner; I assume that there would have been a nice camaraderie among the performers as well. But... maybe things were not that rosy, either.

I like this view, with the people over on Tom Sawyer Island watching from that lookout across the river. I'm assuming that the waterfall that appears to be right behind them (coming from that rock) is actually Cascade Peak, and the lens has flattened the perspective.  

The Magic Kingdom, January 1973

Hey hey! I'm the Monkees! All four of them, which is why women find me irresistible. How would you like to join me in a visit to the Magic Kingdom, circa 1973? There's room in the Monkeemobile for all of you.

Here's a different angle looking at Main Street Station. While the Florida park does not have a Disneyland-style berm, though there seems to be a bermlet out front so that guests can walk beneath the train tracks. And speaking of trains, there's one now! Ya gotta love those big narrow-gauge locomotives, all genuine old steam locos, purchased from the Yucatán in Mexico.

OK, full disclosure, this slide is actually an orphan that was mixed in with some Disneyland slides, but I am betting all four of my mansions on the fact that this is actually taken from the WDWRR, showing the peaceful Indian Village.

Next is this beautiful photo looking across the blue Rivers of America as a Keelboat heads our way, with Cinderella Castle looming (always looming) over all. Notice the construction on Tom Sawyer Island! The island would open for guests on May 20th, just four months or so after this picture was snapped.

A second photo was shot just a bit to the right of the first one...

... so naturally I had to attempt to merge the two. There's a bit of weirdness along the shore behind those pilings, but it still looks pretty good.

I don't want to brag, but I've been to Switzerland, and was not surprised to learn that most Swiss actually live in treehouses. So when the Robinson family was shipwrecked on their lush tropical island, it was only natural that they would build a home in the branches of the biggest tree they could find, using pieces of the ship when possible. They also built a minibike out of bamboo and coconuts, though you don't hear about that so much.

I am jealous of visitors to WDW, they still have their original treehouse. Meanwhile, the Disneyland version is undergoing changes, though as I write this, it's not really known specifically how it is changing. It will be interesting to see what happens!

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to the Magic Kingdom, 1973 style.

Looking Cute on Main Street, March 1962

I've posted a few Sunday Snoozers™ from a large lot of slides that I have recently scanned, but I'm finally getting into the non-snoozers. In this lot, I'd say that 60% of them feature pictures of the photographer's charming wife (I presume). He was bananas about her! So I hope you like her too, because you'll be seeing at least 20 photos of her.

There she is, posing on Main Street, near the Tobacco Shop and the Main Street Cinema. I like her jaunty souvenir hat, an interesting counterpoint to her understated jumpsuit. Where are all the other guests? It's cat swingin' time for sure. She holds some paper ephemera, but we'll get a better look at both items in a future post.

Next we're in the Plaza, and our gal looks like she's about to commandeer the Omnibus for a top-secret spy mission. The Omnibus is so unusual that enemy spies would never suspect a thing.

Canoes, 1996

I scanned a batch of negatives for Mr. X a little while ago, mostly photos that he took back in 1996. And he said it would be OK for me to share some of them with you!

As far as I am aware, the Canoes still operate in Frontierland, at least during the busy months. This is an attraction that provides a pretty unique experience, especially with the closure of the Keelboats. Guests who are willing to participate get wonderful close-up views of features along the Rivers of America. Here's one of the Explorer Canoes, gliding past Cascade Peak. The Mine Train stopped running way back in 1977, but the track was still there.

Here's a beautiful shot of another canoe with Tom Sawyer Island in the background. The large "mill" structure for "Fantasmic!" had been there for four years by this point, but the verdant island looks great, otherwise.

And finally, here's a nice look at two "racing" canoes, once again passing Cascade Peak, which would be gone in two years, a victim of time and neglect. It sure looks wonderful here, though!

Many thanks to Mr. X!

Two Scenes From July 1964

Here are two nice view of Disneyland from two different lots of slides, both dated "July 1964". This first one is very overcast, so I would guess that it was taken a few weeks earlier during the infamous "June Gloom". Hey, at least the sun isn't baking us into leathery mummies, right? A family takes in the wonder of the Rivers of America, including a jam-packed raft heading to Tom Sawyer Island, and the Columbia, one of the few tall-masted sailing ships in Orange County.  

Next, on a day that did not suffer from any June Gloom comes this wonderful shot of Main Street, looking north toward the castle. Here comes a Surrey and a Horse-drawn Streetcar! There are a lot more people walking in the street than normal, or so it seems. I love Main Street from this era so much, the vibe, the colors, the Main-streetiness of it all.

Fort Wilderness, 1950s

Many visitors to Disneyland probably have no idea that there used to be a fort over on Tom Sawyer Island. Not the abomination that is there now, but one that was accessible to guests, a place that encouraged interaction and exploration! That's right folks, I'm talking about Fort Wilderness. 

There it is, probably from around 1957 (just a guess), teeming with guests as they climbed up to look over the ramparts, or wandered over to Regimental Hdqrs to pay their respects to Andrew Jackson; as you can see in this photo, there was also a "secret escape tunnel to the river". So cool! Do you like ringing a giant triangle and yelling, "Come and git it!"? You could do that too.

I believe that guests could get drinks and light snacks in the Trading Post, but I'm not 100% positive about that. Up above, guests (mostly men and boys) head into that blockhouse where you could pretend to shoot at... well, let's not talk about it. Times have changed. Love the kid with the yellow Keppy Kap!

Two Bands, June 1961

One of the best things about Disneyland is (was?) the wonderful live music that guests might just happen upon in any of the lands. You had an oom-pah-pah band in Fantasyland, the Royal Street Bachelors in New Orleans Square and The Strawhatters inFrontierland. You might see The New Establishment in Tomorrowland, or the Elliott Brothers at the Plaza Gardens. It was there for everyone, at no extra cost!

The Disneyland Band was always a popular sight, whether they were playing aboard the Mark Twain, or marching down Main Street, or, as we see here, performing by the flag pole in Town Square. It's about 6 o'clock, so there were hours of daylight left, but I wonder if this might not be part of the "Flag retreat" ceremony? 

Next is this fun photo of the Gonzalez Trio, but this time it's three hombres, instead of two guys and a gal. Where is my retro crush, Carmelita Gonzalez? I'd love to see and hear strolling mariachis in Frontierland, maybe I will start holding my breath. The gentleman to the left appears to be signing an autograph, possibly on a rolled up Grad Nite booklet. Just a guess, but it IS June, and the first Grad Nite was in 1961.

 

Sub Lagoon, March 1962

Most of you know what you are in for if you check in to GDB on a Sunday; that's the day where I usually share scans that are flawed in any number of ways. Too dark, too blurry, too boring... you name it. Both of today's photos are from a batch from March 1962, and for some reason they all tended to be a bit dark (sometimes very dark), and they all have a blue-violet cast to them.

Both of todays photos feature the Submarine Lagoon, one of only 10 or 11 lagoons in Anaheim, but (arguably) one of the most popular. The "Nude Lagoon" nearby sometimes gets higher rankings in the polls, no surprise there. I told Walt that the Sub Lagoon should be clothing-optional, but he pretended not to hear me. Anyway, here's the very blue-green lagoon, it reminds me of a bottle of Pelikan ink that my mom used to have in her desk drawer (she liked to use a fountain pen, believe it or not), I always liked that particular shade of emerald green. BUT I DIGRESS.

Same lot, but less greenish. I struggled to do any color-adjustments to these; the camera makes it look like it was tornado weather, though I'm sure it was merely "partly cloudy". There's not a single sub in the lagoon, which makes me wonder if that attraction was down for maintenance. At least we get a Mark II Monorail.

 

Goofy Golf, Panama City, June 1964

I have a pair of fun vintage slides featuring Goofy Golf in Panama City, Florida, circa 1964! This place looks like the ultimate in miniature golfing, with a level of fun and creativity that has rarely been surpassed. And hey, it's still operating today!

Check out this photo, with a massive Easter Island Moai gazing calmly into the parking lot. Notice the people on top of his head!  To our right is a ferocious dinosaur of unknown species. Goofy Golf opened in 1959, thanks to a man with a vision - Lee Koplin. 

From the Roadside America website: Lee advertised Goofy Golf as "A World of Magic." It definitely looks otherworldly, showcasing a menagerie of wildly painted, thematically discombobulated giant figures built to grab attention from passing cars. There are ancient monuments and space age icons, with a few monsters and aliens tossed in. You can crawl inside a Chinese dragon or stick your arm out the nose of a Easter Island Tiki head. All of Goofy Golf's biggest characters have colored light bulbs for eyes, and they glow at night.

More from "Roadside America": ...most of Lee's Goofy Golf artwork is interactive, challenging players to putt through or around or into them. The two 18-hole courses were built with mechanized hazards: a snapping alligator, a monkey with a ball-swatting tail, a dinosaur using another monkey as a yo-yo. Golfers have to hike through a subterranean black light cave between holes 7 and 8, skewing their vision with hot pink and green UV stalactites. What a place! I'm so glad that Goofy Golf is still around for people to enjoy after more than 60 years.

Two Leftuggies

I have a pair of nice leftuggies for you, served up hot and fresh! You have a choice of regular fries or sweet potato fries, or fresh fruit.

From August, 1959 comes this nice (and postcard-worthy?) photo of a Horse Drawn Streetcar as it headed south toward Town Square; I wonder if there was another streetcar heading north, since our streetcar is just coming out of the track split? There must be a better term than "track split", but my assistant can't come up with one. I love the look of Main Street here, still sporting its original colors, with no weird fake brick patterns to distract. Notice the signs overhead touting the latest additions to the park, I wish I had a complete set! There are also wonderful paper signs on the lamp posts, though you have to squint (and stand on your head) to see those.

This next one is dated "June 1966", and while the photographer was almost certainly trying to get a good photo of Mickey Mouse's floral portrait, we also get a swell view of the Freight Train, as well as the back half of a 1966 Pontiac GTO, possibly part of the 1966 "Spring Fling" giveaway. Looking online, a 1966 GTO in mint condition with low mileage could go for over $100,000 today, and one went for over $180,000.

 

Skipped Slidez

Notice how I spelled "Slidez" with a Z? That's how you can tell that I am hip and "with it". Jealous?? Sometimes it isn't easy being this charismatic.

So here's a slide that I did not scan long ago because it had shifted to shades of pinky-magenta (Hey! I dated Pinky Magenta in high school!). But I decided to try a bit of Photoshop magic, and LO! It turned out alright. This is a nice view of the Castle, but it's enhanced by the umbrellas, and the hu-mans. We can just see the sails of the Chicken of the Sea pirate ship, they are really billowing, the wind was a-blowin'. This slide was hand-dated "July 20, 1957", by the way.

Have you ever had a seat at a baseball stadium that was slightly behind a column? "Obstructed Views". Well, here's an obstructed view of Fantasyland, as seen from the queue of the Skyway Chalet's steps. It's not great, but not bad either. I like the yellow, blue, and white umbrellas in the foreground, and the Pirate Ship with the striped sails, but the thing I like the best is the lines of Skyway gondolas in those original '50s colors, as they diminish in size all the way to Holiday Hill - named after Sir Albert Holiday (I did it again!)

Tomorrowland Spaceman

I always enjoy any photos featuring the Tomorrowland Spaceman. If he's accompanied by his Space Gal, so much the better - but she was getting her hair done on the Moon, what are ya gonna do? Both of today's examples are scans of black and white photo prints.

This fellow obviously grew up in the microgravity of space - his bones and muscles didn't have to struggle against 1g. If he'd grown up on Jupiter (one of the floating cities), he'd only be two feet tall! This fellow seems to have stepped through a dimensional portal into an early 20th-century plaza of some kind. How strange and squirmy these tiny hu-mans are!

This particular Spaceman spent most of his life on Earth (or Urf, as he calls it), so his height falls within acceptable International Space Academy parameters. The little girl posing with him is wearing her brand-new Goofy t-shirt, which is pretty cool!

More Stuff From the Box(es)!

You saw the title, so you already know that we are going to enjoy even more STUFF FROM THE BOX! Even though I have mentioned that I have actually gone through several boxes, I kept the original title for tradition's sake. Should I change it to "Stuff From the Boxes"? 

Anyway, here's the latest box... 4" X 4", and a mere 2" deep - but I photographed 40-ish items. Because they're small, see? Meanwhile, I love to spread camphor on warm toast.

Let's start this Stuff From the Box with a goodie, this fun charm bracelet from the 1940 New York World's Fair - from the Heinz pavilion. We've got seven different cans of Heinz products, as well as a shiny green pickle charm, and a swell Trylon and Perisphere charm so that you will always remember where you got this treasure. The cans are each about 5/8" tall. Getting a good photo of this was a challenge, but I'm happy with the final results.

Who's up for some b-ball? Let's hear some chatter out there! I guess this little metal (brass plated I think) baseball bat and glove might be a keychain, but I love it for itself.

The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world for nearly 40 years - pretty impressive. And it's a beautiful building too, not a glass box. I have a few vintage ESB items, including this neat "sweater pin" (that's what my mom calls these double pins). 1953, hey, that's 20 years A.K. (After Kong).

SO... at some point I got really into vintage employee pins from various companies and stores. I'd see them at collector's shows, in an endless variety, and they are often pretty inexpensive. They just appealed to me! As far as I know, this General Electric "News Reporter" pin is the first employee pin from my collection that I have shared, but you'll see many more. This is about 3/4" in diameter.

Next is this Tom Mix Official Straight Shooters service ribbon and medal, circa 1945 from Ralston cereal. The checkerboard fabric covers a metal bar, and the "medal" is supposed to glow in the dark, though my example does not glow at all. I think that they may have made "glowing" and "non-glowing" versions, but that's just a theory. Darn 77 year old item!

Another employee pin! This one is from RCA (Radio Corporation of America), a swell little award (this pin is just over 1/2" tall) for 1 year of safe driving. Genuine brass and enamel, it is classy as heck. I would be proud to wear it, even though I like to crash my truck into parked cars.

That's it for today's Stuff From the Box(es)! But there's more, MUCH more, to come.