Wednesday, August 31, 2022

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.

18 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
Yes... so risqué-! That young gentleman in the 2nd image is beginning to get ideas-!

I see sitting atop the microphone stand on the apron of the stage there's an Altec 633A dynamic microphone - often referred to as the 'Salt Shaker' microphone for its small cylindrical body [about 2" in diameter] with rounded edges and a series of small holes across the top. (And no - there isn't a pepper shaker microphone-!)

Thanks, Major.

JB said...

Nice, clear, and colorful images... and naughty! The trifecta... or quadfecta. As noted here before, the Golden Horseshoe stage was actually pretty small. The four dancers just about fill it up. And shallow too, from front to back.
I never saw The Revue. My mom and dad saw it, and liked it, while my brothers and I rushed to go on the rides. Sound familiar?

Thanks for the colorful and naughty photos, Major.

Stu29573 said...

Ah so naughty indeed! The skirt "poof" in the last slide makes these particularly fun!
I was going to comment on how small that stage was (or maybe they hired big girls?) but JB beat me to it!
I saw both the Disneyland version and the Walt Disney World version (The Diamond Horseshoe Review) because apparently I like girlie shows...or the adults I was with did. I remember you had to get (free) reservations for the WDW version, and get them early! My main memory is hoping and praying I wouldn't get "picked on" by any of the performers. I was a shy lad...
Fun pictures today, Major!

JG said...

Can can can you do the can can, can you?

I’m glad I watched this show once, but don’t recall these dancers? Maybe the show changed over the years? Maybe I’m just old.

It’s a tiny stage, but it gets the job done!

Thanks Major. Were these special promotional slides or other pro work? I’ve never seen consumer slides on glass?

JG

DrGoat said...

Way back when, The Revue was a must go to for my parents. We sat there and enjoyed it, about 50% engaged and the other 50% on the Jungle Cruise or some other attraction. As I got older in the 60s, the show was a must for us too.
Sue, it doesn't matter what post, if it's about the canoes, it's OK.
Does anyone remember a cologne for men called Canoe? I liked it back then plus Royal Copenhagen. They still sell that stuff but I gave up cologne a while back, except for a little Mennen Aftershave occasionally.
Thanks for the Revue pics Major. Good times.
A little 4711 was nice too.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, if I’d been around in those days, I would have had to write an angry letter to Disneyland. What kind of “entertainment” is that? What’s wrong with a seltzer bottle and a nice pie fight? You have done your “microphone thing” again, I am impressed!

JB, yes, this is GDB - for adults! I forget how old Andrew is, but he might have to leave. Sorry, Andrew! You aren’t kidding, that stage in tiny. Barely room for four high-kicking ladies. Must have been a challenge to perform on it. And I’ll bet I would have been champing at the bit to go to some nearby rides. Now I would appreciate the show.

Stu29573, from now on, GDB is going to be PG-13. Mostly for blood and violence, but occasionally for sexiness too. I didn’t know about the show reservations at WDW… in early Disneyland photos, you can see folks gathering outside for the next performance. I wouldn’t want to get picked either!!

JG, I think I would be able to lift my leg about four inches off the ground, so no, I can’t can can! It is very possible that you saw a later version of the show, it did change over the years, especially after Betty Taylor and company were let go. I have some glass slides, even some Disneyland glass slides, but they are unusual. And heavy. They leave a lot to be desired, but I do like their big size (there are normal 35mm-sized glass slides too, of course).

Sue, there’s one from this lot that I am saving for a special day in January (you know what I’m talking about), it’s the best one!

Major Pepperidge said...

DrGoat, ha ha, I just don’t think that this show was really aimed at kids. Sure, they had Wally Boag with his balloon animals, but for the most part it was for slightly older folks. I’ll bet a LOT of kids were wishing they were elsewhere. Sue mentioned “Canoe” (the cologne) the other day, and even had a link to one of their old commercials! Of course, being a man of action, I am more of a Hai-Karate guy.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of men’s cologne, I recently asked my dad what was his favorite — he said “Yama.” That’s going back a ways!

—Sue

Melissa said...

These are great slides; I'm not sure I've ever seen so much of the detail in the painted backdrop. Yeah, you'd be hard-pressed to fit more than four to six girls on that little bijou stage without them kicking each other to death. I've directed shows in smaller spaces, but not MUCH smaller! The colors of those petticoats couldn't be more midcentury. It's like when Gunsmoke went from black-and-white to color and all of a sudden Miss Kitty's dresses looked like they'd glow in the dark.

This is one of the attractions I'm saddest to have missed, on both the East and West coasts. It was still running in Florida when I was a kid, but we just never quite got around to it. The Western-themed Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue dinner show at WDW's Fort Wilderness is a barrel of fun, but it doesn't have the same saloon atmosphere.

Major Pepperidge said...

Sue, I don’t even remember “Yama”. What era are we talking about?

Melissa, I used to have a friend who acted in “Actor’s Equity” theaters (less than 100 seats), and those stages were pretty small, but even they were larger than the Golden Horseshoe stage. I like your observation about the colors on “Gunsmoke” when it switched from black and white - it reminds me of those early Technicolor movies (“The Wizard of Oz”) that knocked your socks off with saturated colors, just because they could. And yes, from what I’ve heard, the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue was nothing like the GHR.

Anonymous said...

Major, late 60s..early 70s.

—Sue

Anonymous said...

Sue, I can canoe, preferably on a new canoe canal.

Apologies to KS.

JG

Anonymous said...

JG....but, can you canoe OVER a new canoe canal root??

—Sue

Melissa said...

I can tip a canoe, and tile 'er, too.

Anonymous said...

Hard to imagine...but I never saw the show. I just had the opportunity to see some of the backstage antics of Wally and Betty as they went into and out of their dressing rooms there at the upstairs break area. I can tell you, the can can dancers were just another CM...though they looked pretty darn good to me! And had the personalities to match. ;) KS

MIKE COZART said...

Sounds like JD and Sue have their very own “Golden Horseshoe” routine going on.

Both Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue & Walt Disney World’s Diamond Horseshoe Revue and the both locations post 1986 “Horseshoe Jamboree “ shows always required reservations. Infact the various versions of all the Reservation seating cards are popular with collectors. For most of the shows history reservations had to be made ASAP - as soon as each park opened …. And at the entrance of each Horseshoe Saloon. In the late 80’s and until the reservations were discontinued , guests could also make show reservations at City Hall ( Disneyland ) and The Hospitality House (Walt Disney World). By the 70’s and 80’s At Disneyland the earlier the reservation tge better chance you had at seeing star performers like Betty Taylor , Fulton Burley etc. the secondary casts performed in the later afternoon and evening shows.

In the 70’s both parks also offered different shows throughout the day - the traditional “horseshoe revue” and other shows like the POLICE GAZETTE REVUE - the Salute to the American Woman , THE CLASS OF ‘26 ( also called The Class of ‘27) Roaring 20’s Revue, and The GOLDEN / DIAMOND Magic Lantern Show. I used to wonder if Disneyland did the Roaring 20’s “Class of ‘26” to cash in on the highly popular Knott’s Roaring 20’s ???? 1975’s ROARING 20’s opening saw Knott’s attendance levels beat Disneyland’s for the first time …. And again in 1976 ….Giving Disneyland a added PUSH to go ahead with Space Mountain , New Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain!!

JB said...

Major, I think Andrew just turned 18 (or 19) recently. So he gets to stay. Maybe you should put up one of those warning screens: "You must be 18 years of age to enter this site." ;-)
PG-13 is a good idea; what with the blood-thirsty swans, exploding ducks, and all the other Disneyland hazards mentioned here from time to time (pretty much, daily!). And now we can add dance hall girls showing their legs and colorful undies.

DBenson said...

I remember seeing the original. It was still sponsored by Pepsi Cola, and was preceded by a slide show combining old-time Pepsi ads and vintage illustrations with jokes (a smiling Victorian couple with the caption, "Mother will love your maxi skirt."). There was a PA announcement that the sheriff caught a robber in somebody's home: "The Lone Ranger was in the parlor looking for Silver."

Wally Boag wasn't doing high kicks any more, but made everything he did do look slick and improvised at the same time (this might have been when young Steve Martin was hanging around, zealously studying Boag's technique). Fulton Burley (sp?) performed "The Girl on the Police Gazette", an Irving Berlin number in the turn-of-the-century style but actually written for a 30s movie. The girls came out and posed in a big Police Gazette cover.

Years later saw a post-Wally Boag show. There was a kind of story with a hammy (and smitten) bartender desperately wanting to join the visiting songstress and her troupe. I remember one joke. The songstress was starting a number when the bartender barged on, wearing a massive Indian headdress.
BARTENDER: (in mock Indian voice) Chance!
SONGSTRESS: Don't you mean "How"?
BARTENDER: Me know how. Me want chance!
Only now do I realize he might have meant a chance to sing.

Of course I've viewed the World of Color episode several times, and vaguely remember seeing it on our B&W set. Burley was nowhere to be seen -- elbowed out by the guest stars, perhaps. The stage was evidently big enough for some larger numbers featuring Annette (looking hot in vintage costume) plus a saloon brawl, but now suspect they stopped filming to allow those added sets to be brought in from outside. Clearly not a true live performance, with a camera-trick gag involving Ed Wynn's costume change.

An odd joke probably smuggled in by Boag: "You'll be hearing about me. I smoke in bed."