It's "Snoozer Sunday", but today's photos really aren't that bad. What's a little myopia amongst friends? Both of today's pix are from the early days, but we know that it is at least 1956 because Tom Sawyer Island is open for business. This first photo is nice, though it is just a teensy bit out of focus. I used Photoshop's "Smart Sharpen" filter, which improved it somewhat. Anyway, it's a great look at the Old Mill before it was swallowed by vines.
So here's a question for somebody smarter than me (this means YOU): we can see that trough that is bringing water to turn the mill's water wheel. But why is some of the water diverted off to the side? Just because it looked pretty?
Here's one of those slides that, for some mysterious reason, has turned very dark, with a greenish cast. I have no idea why some of the slides are like this, while others are perfectly fine. Anyway, this view was taken from Tom Sawyer Island, looking across the River to the canoe landing, where a sizable group of guests watches and waits for the next canoe. In fact there are so many people there that I wondered if some Indian dancers might have been performing nearby, but nope. The canoes were just red hot that day.
Major-
ReplyDeleteIt looks a might dangerous there on the Island... that young lad has drawn his pistol-! As for the diverted water flow - the shaft of the waterwheel is actually connected to a record player inside the Mill, and diverting some of the flow allows 33rpm records to be played. Hee-haw.
Thanks, Major.
About the spilling water: Maybe it acts as a regulator, to keep the right amount of water going over the wheel; not too much, not too little.
ReplyDeleteI see that the "blue barge" is parked over in Fowler's Harbor. I wonder if we'll ever find out, for sure, what that was used for. Someone here (KS?) said/suggested that it was used for river maintenance, or something.
Isn't the chimney pipe usually bent? It's straight here in this early photo.
There are a bunch of people, mostly ladies I think, just to the left of the Mark Twain, that are wearing blue tops/sweaters. Coincidence? Or something sinister?
The blurriness is so slight that it doesn't ruin the photos. The darkness however, seems to emit negative vibes. Thanks for frontier views, Major.
@ JB-
ReplyDeleteThat chimney pipe does appear to be lacking its usual 'kink' - although depending on the viewing angle, it can appear fairly straight - as seen here.
Nanook, I thought of that, too. But man, what are the odds that the photographer was at exactly the right angle to make the pipe look straight?!
ReplyDeleteOh, BTW, in my first post above, it looks like I left out the word "the" when thanking Major. THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL!!! I was just using my Boris Badenov voice.
ReplyDelete@ JB-
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly, but LOOK HERE for another example. (Thank you Daveland).
https://www.davelandweb.com/tomsawyerisland/images/oldmill/50s/KTPBKKTPBK_1956_N33B.jpg
OK, OK... I admit defeat. Even though the pipe looks a little bent in that Daveland photo, apparently it's not that rare to get a photo with a straight-looking chimney pipe.
ReplyDeleteNanook, I'm a little surprised that they allowed guns to be brought into the park back then. I know they weren't using metal detectors at the front gates yet, but weren't they giving everyone a thorough frisking?
ReplyDeleteI agree with JB that the water going through the side chute is to help regulate the speed of water, which, in turn, would regulate the speed that the mill’s machinery turned at. Most water mills are designed to operate at low water speeds to allow for continuous operation even at times of low water flow, so they could conceivably run too fast at times of high flow if there was no way to regulate its entry into the wheel. Of course, since this mill’s water flow is actually dependent on the rate of water being pumped up from the “river” to the “springs” beneath Tom & Huck’s Treehouse, the side chute is probably just for show, although I suppose it could have been added during construction when they discovered there was too much water coming down the mill race.
ReplyDeleteI always thought it was kind of cute that they wrote the “s” in the sign for “Tom’s Landing” backwards, but as I am looking at this slide, I am now realizing that every single letter in “TOM” is written backwards, too, a mute testament to the skill of the artisans of Disneyland Sign Shop.
Interesting that there are canoes tied up and not in operation when the lines were so long. I’m guessing they didn’t have enough staff on hand to man them all that day. Does anybody know how many canoes there were? I am also amazed at how inefficient the “pull in/back out” loading method of the early docks must have been compared to the through docks they have today.
TM!, TSI was like the Wild West back then, with people being shot and killed for things as trivial as a different-colored gate flyer. Things got so bad by the early ‘60s that they had pre-dug graves ready to go at all times in response to the ever-climbing body count. Unused ride coupons found on the body free of bullet holes and not terribly bloodstained were distributed for resale at all Frontierland ticket booths. More of Walt’s hard facts that created America.
Major, I like these photos, they’re “Disneyland with my glasses off”.
ReplyDeleteMost of the details have already been gone over, but doesn’t photo 2 have some power lines visible in the background out in the wilds of Darkest Anaheim?
JG
@ Chuck-
ReplyDeleteAh-hem... let's not rub-in 'the grave thing' - although I seemed to have made a miraculous recovery-! (It probably had something to do with that dumb grin...)
JB... I just learned earlier this year that Boris Badenov was voiced by Paul Frees. Can't believe I didn't know that. (Would be interesting to hear the outtakes from Adventure Thru Inner Space -- perhaps he tried the first take the Boris voice... "I have pierced wall of oxygen atom!")
ReplyDeleteChuck... the sign shop got LANDING right, but on top it was actually supposed to say S'MOT, and they got the stencil messed up.
Major, nice photos
It was originally supposed to be "Snot Landing," but they had an attack of good taste at the last minute.
ReplyDeleteThe first picture looks like a painting. It's rather lovely. I wish I could reach into the second one and turn the person in the hat around, because it would be perfect to have them looking like they're gazing off into the frontier like an adventurous pioneer.
Nanook, you forget that in those days it was perfectly OK to walk around with your six-shooter. You can never be too careful! Did the record player play “Down By the Old Mill Stream”?
ReplyDeleteJB, yes, I suspect that you are right… if the mill wheel turned too fast, the grain would be ground so fine that it would actually be individual molecules. No good. The blue barge was “Walt’s Barge”. It never gets old, folks! I was going to comment on the unbent chimney pipe, but I cheated and read ahead and see that Nanook echoed my thoughts on this important matter.
Nanook, yesterday I had a cheesecake photo of a peroxide blond, today we’re talking about kinks. What is happening to GDB?
JB, according to Mr. Spock, the odds are 3,254 to 1. He loved figuring the odds!
JB, I knew what you meant!
Nanook, you DO know that every time you link to a Daveland photo in my comments, I have to pay him $50?
JB, I am just now realized that my photo is probably worth a fortune, thanks to the “un-kinked” chimney!
TokyoMagic!, they actually handed out guns at the front gate, along with your flyer about ticket book information.
Chuck, I love that they went to the trouble of including that side chute - a detail that was totally unnecessary, but added that extra touch of veracity. They could have had the mill wheel turn with no water power at all and not many people would have thought twice about it. Or even once. Maybe “Tom’s Landing” was supposed to be “Smot Landing”? I often wonder about unused vehicles for a variety of rides, such as the Autopia. Even on busy days you’ll usually see a bunch of unused cars sitting off to one side. I wonder if the canoes were pushed out by a CM on the dock? I know that I would have been guilty of shooting other guests because they got a different-colored flyer. “Your’s is pink?? Mine is yellow!” BANG. I’m not proud of it. I used to go door to door to sell pre-dug graves. That’s how I funded my way through beauty school.
JG, I only wish I could see that well with my glasses off.
Nanook, we’ve never mentioned your remarkable healing powers, or the adamantium claws that somtimes spring from your knuckles.
LTL, it’s pretty remarkable just how many voices Paul Frees did, I was watching a “Snuffy Smith” cartoon and there was Paul’s voice. Now I want to hear Boris Badenov narrating ATIS! Get Corey Burton, immediately! Hey, I made a “smot” joke too.
Melissa, “Snot Landing” was one of the least-popular prime-time dramas, starring Charro, Bob Eubanks, Joe Namath, and Sonny Bono. I thought you had to have your hand shading your eyes if you wanted that authentic “looking into an uncertain future” pose.
Major-
ReplyDeleteIf the truth be told, my 'claws' are actually fashioned from a mixture of Unobtanium and Liquid Steel, surrounding a core of Johnson rods, embedded with brass magnets. Some say it's truly a "marvel of science"-!
I always go with the Stan Lee Press-On Claws, fashioned from used aluminum foil and Liquid Paper, surrounding a core of pretzel rods, embedded with refrigerator magnets.
ReplyDelete@ Melissa-
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that would be the 'Non-Mil Spec' version-?
Major-
ReplyDeleteOnly $50.00-??!! Sounds as if a nice deal was made. (I trust I'll still be getting my usual 'kick-back'-!!)
Nanook, please forgive me if I have referenced that picture more than once in these illustrious pages but I absolutely love that photo. I wouldn’t use dumb to describe that grin; the word that comes to mind is infectious, the happy smile of a happy kid having a happy time in the ultimate playground known as “Tom Sawyer Island” within the ultimate playground known as “Disneyland.” The smile says it all. Thanks for sharing it with us.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSmot's Landing was my favorite Aaron Spelling-style primetime soap opera of the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteI'm not 100% sure about the mill's prototypical operation, but I'm a guide at a canal museum, and the inclined planes on that canal have similar diverters to send excess water downstream when the water is not needed for power. The junior gorillas' hypothesis about what's happening in this picture makes sense.
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ReplyDelete@ Chuck-
ReplyDeleteI'm just joshing with you. Cite the image as often as you like. Based on the [relatively few] images of that particular grave site floating around the internet - it appears kinda the rarity. (I feel honored - and I lived to both share that 'pose' of my 11 year old self, and tell about it). It's already been seen [uncredited] on the Instagram site of Daily Disney History, and [credited] for some time on the great Long Forgotten blog.