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!)
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the parade of Skyway gondolas - so perfectly lined-up... as if they had a choice. (I do believe Holiday Hill is actually named after Freddy Eynsford-Hill).
Thanks, Major.
Major, we shall bask in the aura of your charisma.
ReplyDeleteI think Captain Hook's pirate ship is getting ready to set sail for Neverland. Second star to the right, and straight on till morning.
This photo was taken during the brief period when the Castle had sea-green roofs. ;-) Considering that the photo had turned pink, it turned out really well.
The kid on the right has a classic, striped t-shirt. I think I had one just like it.
#2- I too, like this picture, for all the reasons you gave, Major. Nice vivid colors.
"named after Sir Albert Holiday"... That joke never gets old. I know that because you said so the last time you told it. ;-)
Dang you Nanook, you made me google Freddy Eynsford-Hill. I didn't know Freddy had a last name in the play... now I do.
Thanks for the juicy photoz, Major. (See? I'm hip and 'with it', too!) Now if you'll excuse me, I need to apply some more sunscreen, lest I get a nasty burn from the glow of your charisma.
I think Pinky Magenta was the identical cousin of Pinky Tuscadero.
ReplyDeleteI sure do miss Holiday Hill. They ruin everything! ;-)
Great restoration work, Major. July 20th - that's the day we landed on the Moon. Of course, in 1957 Disneyland, we landed on the Moon every day.
ReplyDeleteThose patriotic light pole wraps always make me think of the rectangular souvenir guidebook photos, where they featured so prominently in the early Disneyland photos. I love 'em.
A castle, a pirate ship, a palm tree, and a ski lift with a line of buckets receding into the distance that you can see out to the last visible dog. Only at Disneyland. And this blog.
Oh, the towering feeling just to know that fact about Holiday Hill, Nanook. My mother and a high school girlfriend both played Mrs. Eynsford-Hill. Not sure what that says about me psychologically...
I enjoy Disneyland looking like a "Park" and not a sideshow. Even the castle with the later-added stone walls and just using simple flower beds and grass are just lovely and humble. The wind was blowing, but Skyway bucks don't move. A couple of single riders (?) Did they get a special lane? I don't see a dent, but I think maybe he hadn't grown yet...since I never see the dent, I am questioning. I love umbrellas with fringes and I have two vintage ones in my backyard. They still make the fringe for repairs and it is available on Amazon and this is not a product placement or pop up ad. What is the sign there over the horse hitch? "I'm a smoker?" In those days, perhaps. I have to admit I've never seen a go away green trashcan, probably they went away. I actually had to "discover these" as I didn't see it first. I'm sure this is intentional to focus attentions forward to the castle. Whatever negotiation is going on with the boys and dad: I am sure I had the same. Always a negotiation. Ring leader is in white pants. Stripes is waiting for response and staying clear of any flying objects. I understand palm tree by Pirate ship, but from this angle out of context I don't understand palm tree with Medieval tents and small Bavarian village. Since you could only see this view point from the buckets, I suppose I'll let it go. I don't think this was a case of TRE, it might be anti-TRE which is a whole different ball of pre-TRE, before the era of T. By the way, who IS T? I don't think the photos are pink...might be me. Thanks for the morning diversion Major.
ReplyDeleteThose go away green trashcans don't exactly go away in that photo. I don't remember trashcans that color but that was when I was a single digit age. I try to dredge up memories of our first trips in the late 50s and all I get is Tea Cups, Mr. Toad, the Jungle Cruise and the Penny Arcade and the electric shock machines. I know we had a great time, so that's all she wrote.
ReplyDeleteThat is a pretty wonderful pic of the Skyway and Fantasyland. That glorious palm kind of cancels out the pylon. Great job making these photos shine Major. Thanks. Everything looks so clean. This certainly is a park and no sideshow BU.
Could that be Peter Pan on that sign?
Bu and DrGoat, we've seen that sign before, here on GDB. It's an image of a fireman and it reads, "Be A Fireman....Answer The Alarm.....Ride With The Disneyland Fire Department......Adults, Children.....10¢"
ReplyDeleteMajor, knowing you is my only claim to fame, so you had better be famous, or I’m stuck.
ReplyDeleteI would have dated photo 1 as 1957 purely on the original-issue “go away green” trash cans. I’ve never seen the plain green cans in a photo reliably dated later than that.
Photo 2 is really fine, I can imagine the Matterhorn to come…
Between the two photos, I count four different umbrella styles, including the “lunatic fringe”, or maybe those are “fringe benefits”.
JG
@ TM!-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ID on that sign. It all seems familiar now.
TM!
ReplyDeleteThanks. A far cry from Peter Pan.
DrGoat... as a kid I was scared of the electric shock machine at the Penny Arcade, then as I grew up I liked it. It was only after visiting with my own kid that I realized (spoiler) it has no shock at all, it only vibrates (as far as I can tell).
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Arcade had an amazing old baseball coin-op, formatted kinda like pinball platform, where you controlled a bat to hit a ball rolled by a pitcher to see if you got an out or a hit. the platform itself was like a whole baseball field. wonder where that wound up.
Nanook, it’s true, the Skyway is not only lined up perfectly, but it seems like there are a LOT more gondolas than we usually see. Freddy Eynsford??
ReplyDeleteJB, actually, the Pirate Ship was about to make a run to 7-11 for some taquitos. Pirates love snacks! Yeah, the color, even after I corrected it, is a bit off, but it still looks better than before. I’m glad you like my “Sir Albert XXXX” joke, because I guarantee that you will hear it again. I still don’t know who Freddy Eynsford is, and I don’t want to know. Unless he played Ultimate Frisbee.
TokyoMagic!, I’m more of a fan of Leather Tuscadero myself. Suzi Quatro! I am hoping that they tear down the Matterhorn and rebuild Holiday Hill.
Chuck, “we landed on the Moon”, good one. You mean that’s the day that Stanley Kubrick released his footage! We all know it’s true! It feels like Disneyland had patriotic bunting up all the time, not just around July 4th. Or else I have a lot of summer photos, which is likely. I think I like this particular batch of gondola colors, there’s just something very appealing about them to me.
Bu, “later-added stone walls”? I’ve always wondered if the Skyway was shut down when the Santa Ana winds kicked up. They can be pretty fierce. We don’t want a bucket to go flying off the wires. I’m going to invest all my money in umbrella fringe futures. See you with all the other billionaires. I was going to answer your query about that sign, but I cheated and read ahead, and see that TokyoMagic! beat me to it. I still don’t pay attention to the trash cans, maybe I suffer from “trash can blindness”. Please give so that we can find a cure. I don’t remember negotiating with my parents, I think we all liked doing the same stuff. Although in retrospect there were rides that we never ever did, maybe I just didn’t know about them. The palm trees were a not-very-successful attempt to give the Pirate Ship a tropical feel; they made it look great in 1960 with the addition of Skull Rock and the beautiful rocks and waterfalls.
DrGoat, I would assume that they wouldn’t want the trash cans to “go away” too much, or else guests wouldn’t notice them. I’m surprised that you remember anything from your 1950s trips, since I barely remember anything from trips decades later. I wonder how long that palm tree lasted? Was it saved for the Skull Rock lagoon? Or moved to Adventureland? See TokyoMagic’s comment!
TokyoMagic!, thank you.
JG, I am pretty famous, the local Denny’s has the corner booth reserved for me just in case I come in with my entourage. Then I “hold court” telling hilarious stories of my adventures with various celebrities. How many of those umbrellas did Disneyland own? 50? 100? Some salesman had a good day when he received that order.
Nanook, it’s as if that sign was familiar in a past life. Or something.
DrGoat, Peter Pan didn’t want to grow up, but he also valued safe fire regulations.
Major-
ReplyDeleteIt's not often [ever-?] one gets to work-in a Lerner and Loewe/"My Fair Lady" reference here on GDB - but today is evidently that day. Freddy Eynsford-Hill - gotta love hyphenated last names for guys - is the young socialite (originally played on Broadway by John Michael King) whose heart is captured at the Ascot Gavotte when Eliza Doolittle (famously played by the incomparable Julie Andrews) forgets herself while watching a race, reverting to foul language. (The horror-!) Eynsford-Hill is essentially her suitor. His character is noted for singing "On the Street Where You Live".
Thank you for the opportunity.
Tokyo!, TRE indeed. I also miss Holiday/Snow Hill. Large mounds of weedy dirt are hard to come by in today's Disneyland.
ReplyDeleteI spent 2 hours looking for Fudgie... couldn't find him. ;-)
Bu, DrGoat, and JG, maybe these "go away green" trashcans are actually their usual 1950s bright green. They just look dull because of Major's valiant effort at color restoration.
Major, as Nanook just noted, Freddy was the besotted suitor of Eliza Doolittle, who as all know, talked to animals.
LTL,
ReplyDeleteThose electric shock machines most definitely shocked you in the earlier days. They might have changed that later due to liability issues. There was one where you grabbed two doorknob type handles and tried to hold on until the knight crossed the bridge and got to the dragon. After a while, it was hard to let go but I never made it to the dragon. My Dad made it across but he said it was intense.
Nanook and DrGoat, you are welcome! DrGoat, I agree.....from far away, the stance of the figure does look like Peter Pan. But I remembered that we had seen that sign before.
ReplyDeleteLTL, I can confirm what DrGoat said. Those electric shock machines ("Electricity Is Life") delivered a very strong (and painful) shock, at one time. I think it was sometime in the late eighties or early nineties, when I realized that they had majorly toned down the shock on those machines.
DrGoat & TokyoMagic!...
ReplyDeletethat seems right, now... those old style shock machines must've really delivered what they promised!! (then turned down in later years)
LTL, Dr. Goat and Tokyo, let me chime in on those electric shock machines. This would have been early 1970's.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a real electric shock, the first time I won the game, having the knight cross the bridge, I was shocked so hard that I tried to let go, and couldn't. My grip was paralyzed by the current. I told my Dad about it and he said that's how electricity worked, your nerves are overcome by the current and if it is strong enough, it will kill you. Dad tried it and he won also, so maybe we were more resistant than some.
After that, I knew what to look for and could win the game every time, to the amazement of my high school friends, but the first time, it was very frightening.
It's no surprise that the effect of this "game" was toned down somewhat in this litigious world.
I do remember the baseball game too, the little runners advancing around the bases. I detest the game baseball, but the little arcade machines were fun.
JG
@ All-
ReplyDeleteHERE's the ticket.
LTL, I only did one of those electric shock machines once, and it wasn’t at Disneyland (I don’t recall where, though). I remember it had a definite buzzing electric shock feel, though not painful. It was unpleasant though! I wonder where those games went, such as the baseball example you mentioned? Somebody out there owns it!
ReplyDeleteNanook, I have probably seen “My Fair Lady” more than any other movie musical, so I guess I should have known Freddy’s last name. But… he was such a drip of a character! It’s a shame that there is no footage (as far as I know) of Julie Andrews performing the role of Eliza, but I do love Audrey Hepburn in the movie.
JB, I plan to write an existential drama called “Looking for Fudgie”. And yes, those trash cans look weird because of the color-restoration, I could have spent more time to get them to look proper, but… my tummy was growling. Freddy was Sherlock Holmes!
DrGoat, I wonder if those electric shock machines ever caused problems? Maybe somebody with a heart issue could have been harmed. No idea. I’ve never heard of the kind that you mentioned, where you watched a knight cross a bridge to a dragon! Sounds cool.
TokyoMagic!, if they had those electric shock machines now, you could charge your phone while holding on!
LTL, you could tell who had tried those machines because they all had Albert Einstein hair.
JG, wow, that’s pretty incredible that the shock was that intense. I guess it could truly be a weird experience. Somebody would be impressed (?). The weird thing is that I am reminded of swimming in a neighbor’s pool. Whenever you got to the diving board end, there was an underwater light, and you could feel this electric sensation in the water as you got nearer and nearer to it. Clearly there was a short of some kind, but it was STRANGE>. And possibly super dangerous.
Nanook, I guess the “Fishhooks in the Face” arcade game wasn’t as beloved.
I remember Being at a Dave & Buster's that had one of those shock machines (designed to look like an electric chair) that was malfunctioning and not delivering a shock. We collected the entire roll of tickets before someone noticed and took it out of service.
ReplyDeleteMajor, electrical devices in water that are shorted are dangerous. A person was killed at the famous Action Park in NW NJ due to a situation like that.