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.
24 comments:
#1: Junior, in the stripy t-shirt, was obviously born with the 'cool' gene. Relaxed stance. Hands in pockets. He's already got the world figured out.
Sis, on the left, with another relaxed pose, was also born with the 'cool' gene. Very stylish in her loose-fitting (pullover?) top and tight skirt. I can't quite tell what that print is on her skirt.
Meanwhile, Mom and Dad don't look as stylish: She's wearing a sack and he looks like he slept in his clothes. I guess the 'cool' gene skips a generation.
Oh, and there's a ship in the photo, too. ;-) Actually, this indirect lighting makes the Columbia look even more stately.
#2: The white horse on the left, talking to the other white horse, "Don't look now, but here comes 'Bigfoot' clomping along behind us... No, no! I said don't look! Poor guy. He has to stay on that metal track thingy. While WE can go anywhere we please!"
That IS a really nice photo of Main Street, Major. I kept that one. Thanks for today's photos.
Some really cute vintage clothes today. I love the batik-style print on the lady's dress in #1. And in #2, my eye was caught by the lady with dark stripes on her light skirt passing by the lady with dark stripes on her light bodice. It looks like they bumped into each other and their outfits got mixed up. You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!
That shot of the Surrey makes me rather happy. Do you think the fringe was made of silk? They wouldn't have no other kind but silk. And it really has a team of snow white horses! Well, one's like snow; the other's more like milk
You know, looking at the Columbia it struck me that since the ship is actually flat bottomed with wheels, they should be able to pop that sucker out of the RoA and cruise around anywhere! Look coming up Main Street, it's The Columbia! Harbor Blvd? No problem! Hang a left on Katella and hit the highway! Oh...wait...steering.
Huh.
I'll get back with you...
Love the Columbia pic. That's Hayley Mills in the red top.
The Surrey with the fringe on top and the Horse-Drawn Street Car use to get involved in "street racing" down Main Street after 1:00 a.m. Pretty wild!
They also like to play "chicken" from time to time.
Major-
The gentleman in the 2nd image who also noticed the 'great horizontal stripes caper' involving those ladies, appears to be carrying a "Welcome to Disneyland" Main Gate Handout. I hope he visited all of his favorite places.
Thanks, Major.
Nice pics. I can't quite figure out the print on that stylish girl's dress either. I zoomed in and I get a guy with a yellow head playing a saxophone on the left and a gray pig with wings in the center.
Main Street looks so good. Right year, right place.
Thanks Major.
Yep, DrGoat, you’re absolutely right about that pattern. The part you didn’t identify, on the right side, is the International Space Station with a giant lemon on one end.
—Sue
JB, it IS kind of funny to look at some old photos, and a kid will somehow exude some sort of “cool” or self-confidence, or something, even at that young age. Hopefully it stuck until they became adults! I cut parents a lot of slack, seeing how much they have to deal with, not just with their kids, but then with everything else in life. I like to think that horses can talk to each other, but what if they say bad words all the time? You know the ones I mean.
Melissa, I wonder if those clothes came from well-known stores from that era, maybe even Sears? Those places became staples of people’s lives for a reason. It seems hard to believe that they would use silk on those fringes, but I honestly have no idea. Maybe nothing else would sway quite like silk?
Stu29573, they could put monster truck wheels on the Columbia, and jump it over the Sub Lagoon (which would have a live shark in it, of course). How do we make this happen??
K. Martinez, let’s get together, yeah yeah yeah! Greatest song ever? Hmmm, playing “chicken” at 5 mph is technically possible, but maybe not the most exciting thing to watch?
Nanook, good eye on that main gate handout! I love those things. Collect ‘em all! (I already did).
DrGoat, yeah, I have no idea what those blobs represent. I want to make them into animals, but sdo far I’m having no luck. I just noticed that she is also carrying a tasteful white handbag, even at her young age. Probably makes her feel pretty grown-up.
Sue, they put the giant lemon on the Space Station because even at 20 miles above the Earth you can get scurvy. Nobody wants astronauts with bleeding gums!
Well, i thought i left a comment earlier, but maybe it is still in my ipad.
Love these pics today Major. Everything in Disneyland runs on rails, from the horses to the sailing ships.
JG
"Stu29573, they could put monster truck wheels on the Columbia, and jump it over the Sub Lagoon (which would have a live shark in it, of course). How do we make this happen??"
I remember every time the monster truck show would come to Buffalo, there would be endless ads with an announcer yelling, "We're gonna turn the War Memorial into A GIANT MUD PIT!" Now I'm picturing the same guy saying the same thing about the Sub Lagoon.
@ Melissa-
Sounds 'delightful' - just as long as the Sub mud pit has continuous, random "eruptions" of giant bubbles perforating the surface.
Melissa, I do like the colors and pattern of the lady's dress. It just has a rather unshapely shape.
DrGoat and Sue, those were pretty much the same patterns I came with, too.
Major, I wasn't really knocking the parents' appearance (well, yeah, I was). I was just having trouble coming up with something witty to say today. It happens from time to time. Especially when you're the first commenter of the day and don't have any other comments to play off of. I'm sure you're familiar with that phenomenon.
Math problem: If vehicle A is travelling north on Disneyland's Main Street at 5 mph, and vehicle B is travelling south on Disneyland's Main Street at 5 mph, how many churros can one eat till the two vehicles crash into each other?
Extra credit: How many hotdogs can one eat?
JB, for that extra credit math problem, we can’t solve it until you also tell us how many trash cans there are.
—Sue
Sue, there are an infinite number of trashcans (minus 1)... I hope that helps.
Melissa, I remember ads for monster truck shows at the Farm Show Arena in Harrisburg, they definitely showed footage of trucks slogging through 2-foot deep mud. I think of the SImpsons: “You’ll pay for the whole seat, but you’ll only need the edge!”.
Nanook, hopefully those bubbles are nice an sulphurous too.
JB, “I was just having trouble coming up with something witty to say today”… welcome to my world! I struggle when posting the 500th photo of “It’s a Small World”, or yet another photo of the Mark Twain. It can be really difficult after 16+ years! not that I’m crying about it, but it is something I deal with all the time. I can eat two churros, but three hotdogs.
Sue, it’s true, because you have to divide the number of trash cans by Pi.
JB, Carl Sagan used to write about an infinite amount of trash cans. Only he made it sound smart, which I can never do.
I do agree that the cut of the print dress has room for improvement. I think it would look a lot better with either a shorter or longer skirt; that's kind of an awkward length going on there.
I love views of Main Street from that vantage in that era. Looks like a real city ending appropriately in a Castle of Dreams, a metaphor for Life if ever there was one. Too bad the team that inherited this masterpiece was too dense to see it.
Everything in Disneyland runs on rails, from the horses to the ships.
Thanks Major!
JG
If that Surrey is going to race the Streetcar, all’s I can say is, chicks and ducks and geese better scurry.
Time to roll down those isinglass curtains and let loose with every bit of that 2 hp. I feel the need - the need for speed!!!
[clop, clop, clop, clop, plop]
Oh, what a relief it is!
LOL, fun day, today!
"If vehicle A is travelling north on Disneyland's Main Street at 5 mph, and vehicle B is travelling south on Disneyland's Main Street at 5 mph, how many churros can one eat till the two vehicles crash into each other?"
JB, my answer is: Zero.
This is a trick question. Since it isn't mentioned that the churros-eaters have ($15) cups of Coke to drink, they have absolutely nothing to wash those churros down. So the answer is "zero."
Regarding the "Extra Credit" math problem, it'll be a while till I have the answer. I'm still dividing the number of trash cans by Pi.
Speaking of churros, I had no idea that Disneyland carried all kinds of churros...even glittery ones. See HERE!
Melissa, what about overalls made from that material?
JG, when I was young and dumb(er) I did not appreciate Main Street the way I do now, and vintage Main Street is so great. It was nice to read Andrew’s account of his first time seeing Main Street, there’s still much to appreciate!
Melissa, is “Oklahoma!” your favorite classic musical? It’s a good one, if so!
Chuck, just wait until you ride one of those newfangled horseless carriages, and feel the wind whipping through your oiled hair at 6 miles per hour!
JB, it took me a second…
Yeah, I think Oklahoma! probably is my favorite just for sentimental reasons, because it was my mother’s favorite and she brought us up on it. She used to sing us to sleep with “Pore Jud is Daid.” I also often think of Show Boat and Camelot when looking at vintage Disneyland pictures.
My mother played Aunt Eller in two productions of Oklahoma! thirty years apart. As she said, they had to use a lot more makeup to make her look the right age the first time around. I sat through many rehearsals for the first one and my sister listened to the soundtrack almost nonstop for nigh on to a year. Great memories.
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