Indian Village, March 1962
It's time for a pair of SNOOZETASTIC photos featuring the Friendly Indian Village, circa 1962. They're not terrible, but they aren't particularly great either.
The Native Americans have made themselves a nice little home right on the banks of the Rivers of America. The river provides so much. No, not candy (unfortunately), but there are plenty of fish, and that's the next best thing. The river was also the equivalent of a highway, just hop in your canoe and you could travel for miles and miles.
Our photographer snapped one more shot, catching the eastern edge of the village, with a sneaky moose lurking there, hoping for treats. To the extreme right is a dirt road that I thought was for the Stagecoaches and Conestoga Wagons - but those were removed in September of 1959. I guess the Pack Mules still used the path, though?
24 comments:
I like the second image a little more - it’s a dot more in focus. I see two meese, Major, not one...and one has glowing eyes. And a little to the left, I see two deer doing the rumba.
Fun day on the river, thank you, Major.
—Sue
#1- The light from those campfires looks pretty bright; are they actual open (gas) flames? I can see the two papeeseseses propped up against that one teepee. And of course, the two 'dancing' elk on the right. Shiny Boy doesn't look too shiny here. Then again, everything looks decidedly unshiny with this indeterminate lighting. This must be the Murkmac tribe.
On the left edge we can see a bit of the Mark Twain and passengers.
#2- The sneaky moose is accompanied by his beautiful wife, on the left. I think she's wearing Prada. (I see that Sue noticed the other moose as well.) This sure doesn't look like a themepark in the middle of Anaheim.
Sue, are they deer? Or elk? And I think they're doing the foxtrot, not the rumba; though admittedly, it's hard to tell from a still photo.
Thanks for the not-too-bad photos, Major.
JB, they could be elk. And you’re probably right about the foxtrot - as the foxtrot originated in America, but the rumba did not.
—Sue
Maybe the elk emigrated here from Cuba?
Sue and JB, personally, I think the deer/elk are doing The Hustle.
No, not candy (unfortunately), but there are plenty of fish.
Major, maybe they are Swedish fish!
Ah!!! TOKYOMAGIC Beat me to it!! I was going to say in the 70’s WED imagineers had them doing The Hustle! Sue is starting to sound like me…. Pointing out that an American dance would be more appropriate in Frontierland!!
Historically for Frontierland these animals would be dancing The Virginia Reel and maybe the St. Louis version of the Cakewalk for those city slicker moose.
Near Bear Country The Castle Walk and The Grizzly Bear ( it’s a real dance) would be all the rage.
On a side note : to my surprise some of the horse hitching posts have returned to New Orleans Square!! Earlier this year the Main Street hitching posts began to return as well as the Sidewalk clock and the Opera House sidewalk broadside frame too! These were details removed to accommodate the anticipated crowds for GALAXYS EDGE .
Also with the past few weeks of extreme heat I guess Fantasmic shows were canceled ( GOOD!!) so the Mark Twain and Columbia were running at nite …. Sometimes as late as 9:15. The motorized Main Street vehicles too! Some friends of mine in town for D23 are WDW regulars and they were AMAZED to see Disneyland running their Main Street vehicles into the early evening! ( minus the horsecars — too hot)
And like how sometimes the California Toll roads are slower than the regular lanes, some standby lines like Big Thunder , moved faster than GENIE lines !!! ( serves them right!! Those guests just got “GENIED”!!! Lol.
But fish are Nature’s candy!
Yes, the Pack Mules used that road. This point is just about as far north as the mules went. Just beyond that rise they made a sharp right turn into the Painted Desert and headed back towards Rainbow Ridge.
JB, yes, that is actual open flame. That’s one of the reasons the tribe settled in this spot, to take advantage of the natural gas vents in the earth. That also explains why there doesn’t seem to be a woodpile anywhere in camp.
TM!, Swedish fish - Nature’s premium-label candy!
Like Sweden, Frontierland teems with wildlife along its waterways. See the mäni interesting furry animals, including the majestik møøse.
A Møøse once bit my sister…
Chuck, according to Shirley Feeney, grapes are nature's candy. But heck, I guess nature can have more than one candy. Let's go ahead and add liver to the list of "Nature's Candy."
Swedish Fish were another one of those "fancy" candies that were put into those clear crystal cubes stamped with the old Disneyland logo on the top...or if you were fancier...a little Hagen Renneker figurine. Speaking of "Figurines"..."Figurines make a lady proud, the diet lunch that you can crunch out loud!" Before there were protein bars there were Figurines, Space Sticks, and Ayds....or was it Flaky Flix? Or was that technically a cookie? All sounds like delicious red dye #3 chemicals to me! Papeese...it's what for lunch here on the banks of the Rivers of America. Why does it look like there is a pile of dirty laundry there? I didn't notice the dead dear hanging there all dead..has this been in previous photos? Kind of gross, but I get it. I'm not a fan of venison, or anything remotely close. I'd rather not have Bambi for dinner. As a kid we would eat Reindeer, there were even canned reindeer meatballs...all of which: "yuk". Those were hard dinners to choke down. Rudolf with a side of Bambi doesn't really do it for me, but there are those that love it. I went to a place called Carnivore near Nairobi where they had things like giraffe and zebra on the menu- and other even more questionable things...looks like the restaurant is still open but there was a ban on game meals in Kenya starting in 2004...I'm kind of hungry for a Figurine now, with "the calorie rate about 138 a bar...." Check out the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9PmX28VcWw
Major-
With all this talk about 'Swedish Fish' candy, all I can think of is lutefisk. It's probably more Norwegian than Swedish, but very much at home in several Nordic countries - and evidently Frontierland, too.
Thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic and Mike, you are giving away your age (youthfulness). I can personally attest that is not The Hustle. You never go face-to-face with a partner, at any point.
—Sue (who LOVED the disco era and is not ashamed to admit it)
Tokyo!, "I think the deer/elk are doing The Hustle."... Great. Now I've got disco music running non-stop through my head.
I LOVE Swedish fish! No idea what the flavor is, though. Some sort of berry combination. Maybe lingonberry.
Mike, I think you're right, the elk/deer are definitely doing the Virginia Reel.
Chuck, I know candy. Candy is a friend of mine. Fish are no candy. (Paraphrased from Lloyd Bentsen.) Ah, natural gas vents. No woodpiles. Another Mystery of the Universe solved! Right here on GDB.
Ha! With all the moose talk, I almost made that Python quote earlier. Very tempting!
Sue, now I have even more disco music running through my head.
About yesterday's Magic Mountain posting: "Rollercoaster" (1977) was another film shot at MM. I think this was a year or so before Colossus, but Revolution was prominently featured. I saw the movie when it was released... in SENSURROUND! Which was a joke. The Sensurround worked well for the movie "Earthquake", but not so much for the several other movies 'embellished' with that technology. One inappropriate use of the rumbling was when (in Rollercoaster) they showed a brief shot of a 'chair swing' flat ride, which is normally quite silent in operation. Instead, we got our guts giggled around with the low rumbling. I remember chuckling derisively when that happened.
Ah, the FIV, full of details like spontaneous gas flames, varnished inhabitants and the ever-popular papeese.
It's funny that in my youth, I was sufficiently callously sophisticated to realize the Settler's Cabin was a gas fire fed by a pipe and burner like our house furnace (which ate the plastic missiles from my toy submarine), and never gave a second thought to the foresight and design coordination necessary to design the FIV with campfires.
I wonder if these had remote starters, or if a lamplighter came round every morning to turn a valve behind a teepee and light the fires by hand.
Chuck, We apologise for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible have been sacked. Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti... We apologise again for the fault in the subtitles. Those responsible for sacking the people who have just been sacked have been sacked.
JG
Chuck, we need to watch out for Ralph, the Wonder Llama, fresh from Llama-Fresh Farms, near Brixton via Paraguay.
JG
Sue, oh yeah, there’s another meese. A girl meese! I like to brighten a room by hanging a few dead deer, and see that the idea did not originate with me.
JB, those flames are from propane gas. Taste the meat, not the heat! Good eye on those papeese. I wonder if it rained either earlier that day, or maybe later? It sure looks gloomy. Did they actually eventually make Shiny Boy MORE shiny? If so, why? Did an Imagineer have to smear Coppertone lotion on Shiny Boy every morning as part of a sponsorship deal? I’m ashamed that I didn’t notice how beautiful Mrs. Meese was. If a deer and an elk walked by me on the street (it could happen), I’m not sure I could tell you which is which.
Sue, we know that Nature’s Wonderland had battling elk, so maybe JB is right!
JB, we all know about the Bay of Elk invasion of Cuba in 1961.
TokyoMagic!, I am an expert in The Hustle (“DO THE HUSTLE!” is my ringtone), and I can say with certainty that the Elk are not doing that greatest of all dances. Swedish fish, eh? I never thought of that!
Mike Cozart, I’m telling you, everyone loves The Hustle. There’s nothing not great about it. Plus it gives men an excuse to wear those white suits with the flared legs. Not that I need an excuse. When I was a kid I would hear about Cakewalks. And it just made me want cake. I’m not proud of it. Good news about the horse hitching posts in NOS! Wow, I’m so jealous that folks got to ride the Mark Twain and Columbia at night, still one of my all-time favorite things to do. The last time I got to do it was years ago, and rain from earlier in the day had cause them to cancel Fantasmic! I also love hearing about Main Street vehicles running so late. AWESOME. Oh, I dread the day when I have to use the Genie app.
JG, I always wondered if the campfires (or even the Settler’s Cabin) could be started with the push of a button (piezoelectric?) or if somebody had to toss a match into a cloud of gas fumes? So you and I thought a lot alike! Gee, your spelling sure is funni.
JG, do you ever realize that you have no idea what’s going on?
JG, I just reread my last comment, and realized that it sounded like I was attacking you. Which is not the case! What I meant is that I have no idea what's going on! Sorry about that!!
JG, I knew you wouldn’t let me down.
Major, the funny thing is that I’m not sure I’ve commented on my sister being bitten by a møøse in nearly 12 years. But I think about it every time I see a moose. Including that one time I had to take my sister to the ER for a moose bite.
And now I’m all-fired curious to learn how they light the fires in the Burning Settler’s Cabin, Friendly Indian Village, the Main Street lamps, and the Adventureland torches. They get the diesel fires going on the locomotives on the WDW Railroad by lighting an old rag and tossing it in the firebox (I seed it with my own eyebulbs), so a low-tech solution isn’t outside the realm of possibility. My leading theory, though, is they use a lightsaber.
”No, not candy (unfortunately), but there are plenty of fish, and that's the next best thing.”
And that’s the story of the first caramel cod.
Chuck, No realli!
I’m reminded of the friendly rivalry between the Elks Lodge and Moose Lodge when I was a kid. The Elks were slightly more upscale, so I’m inclined to believe they did dance the foxtrot! (The foxes are still doing the two-step. Which isn’t easy with four feet.)
I’ve had the “HUSTLE” in my head all morning so I finally went to see what versions I had I could listen to while I worked on projects around my place …. The original version sounded “tinny” on my phone so I found I had two record versions : Lawrence Welk orchestra : Disco Hits and a version from a MUZAK album from their Music Progression album series . Music from streaming and digital downloads sound flat , edited and often “tinny”…. Nothing beats the the home stereo sound system with a full amplifier, speakers and a choice or vinyl , cassettes or CDs!!!!
And speaking of VINYL: did you all see what Disney Music Emporium released on a 33 1/3 Stereo Picture Disc Record Album a week ago???
ADVENTURE THRU INNER SPACE!!! For the attraction’s 55th anniversary!! Side A is a complete stereo ride-Thru and Miracles from Molecules . Side B features various attraction instrumentals and sone additional vocals.
Get it soon! As they are selling fast!!!!
DISNEY MUSIC EMPORIUM
XVLP194 Adventure Thru Inner Space Picture Disc Album $25.00
……”your MIND will expand!!!!!…..”
MAJOR: my parents - especially my dad LOVED liver and onions . As a kid when I found out we were having liver for dinner I would throw a fit and whine and complain up until I was forced to eat “at least a small amount” …. The secret : 1- part liver with 12-part mashed potatoes…. My mom and dad learned a way to avoid my pre-liver dinner fits and whining: when I asked “what’s for dinner ?” I would be told “VELVET STEAK” ( a early 20th century fancy name for liver !!) and I’d be all excited .. “wow!! STEAK!!! Yum!!! All I heard was S T E A K …. And In the 1970’s when inflation ( 1972 is like 2022 just without BEAR COUNTRY )went crazy meat like steak was not served very often. Eventually I saw the bright mineral red raw liver waiting to be breaded and cooked and realized VELVET STEAK was one of my parents scams!!
One day I’ll explain the HUGHE fiasco my family had to go thru with me when Corned Beef & Cabbage was being served!!
Major, no offense intended or taken. I understood your comment perfectly. My specialty is irrelevant comments that only make sense in my fractured mind.
My second post about llamas came from the same source as Chuck's comment about moose, just a little further along in the credits (not part of the subtitles or sound track). IYKYK. I'm sure you would remember if you were to watch it again.
Chuck, the first time I saw that film in the theater my whole group was convinced there was something wrong with the projection print, which, of course, is what the filmmakers intended. Now that everything is digital, everyone just fast-forwards past it, including the entire four minutes of black screen with organ music, which is a shame, like so many other things about everything digital.
Mike, I share your distaste for liver, although now, I have discovered that an occasional pate' goes well with patio wine in warm weather, but it is still only a dab at a time and trying not to think of what it is. I'm sure I couldn't bear to have a full dinner portion as you describe, even now.
Chuck, going on about the gas flame lighters, here is a story from my early childhood in Disneyland. I am not even sure I went to school yet when this happened.
We (the three of us, Mom, Dad, and I) were walking out of the Adventureland Gate past the Tiki Room (which was brand-new at the time, helping me date the story). The right-hand (southerly) side of the walk for a few yards past the portal was themed to the Tiki Room with a bamboo fence and torches, which were not lit.
There was a CM standing near the planter boundary almost where the theming changes to Main Street Plaza Victorian, he stooped over and lifted up a perfectly rock-like rock, which was hollow underneath. We all stopped to goggle at this while he turned a valve in the cavity under the rock, and then proceeded to step along with a lighter on a wand and light all the torches in the row (only 3 or 4), this is what I recall, although it might be that the torches all just lit themselves, but I'm pretty sure he had to light them by hand.
For years afterward, we always walked by to see if the rock was still there, which it was through my high school visits. On my prodigal return in the 90's, either the area had been remodeled and the rock removed or relocated, or I had forgotten where to look.
JG
JG, thank you for that story. And now I want to start looking under the rocks around the Adventureland entrance for “buried treasure.” I wonder who has the mineral rights for the land under Disneyland…
Chuck, probably PG&E or SoCal Edison.
JG
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