Tuesday, September 13, 2022

Subs and More Subs

Happy Birthday to our friend Stu! Sue B. sent along this fun scan of a bunch of morose children "enjoying" a birthday party on the floor. Chairs are too good for them!


Meanwhile, I decided to use up a few random Submarine Voyage photos that were rattling around in one of my computer folders. A themed post for a themed park.

From March, 1962 comes this photo of the Patrick Henry as it sat in the lagoon, but was apparently not in use that day. Another Sub is just heading beneath the waterfall into the "ocean depths". I hope the Sub isn't swallowed by a giant gulper eel. OK, I admit, I'm always worried about being swallowed by a gulper eel.


Here's a gulper eel. See what I mean?


Next is this October 1962 photo of... the Patrick Henry. What can I say, this is just a classic photo, probably snapped next to a Kodak Picture Spot sign. Those Kodak guys chose well, because it's a pretty exciting image, what with the Monorail Station to our left and the Skyway in the upper right.


Well, at least this 1970 photos is of... hey, wait a minute! Patrick Henry, you give those other Subs a turn, or I'll have a word with your mother.


24 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
Another winner from Sue. That 'tablecloth' setting the scene for an indoor "picnic" appears to be adorned with hearts. Is this a Valentine's Day party-? Although I think we would see evidence of some sort of Valentine's cards. (Either way, I can't imagine all those boys having to sit there in the company of so many girls-!!) And - "Oh those drapes". Help me send some extra love to that tired plant sitting in that square planter [with handles].

Those first two shots of the Patrick Henry are really nice and sharp; although all are winners.

Birthday wishes to Stu; and thanks to Sue-!

Anonymous said...

By golly, Nanook, I bet you’re right! This does look like a Valentine’s party...which explains why all the kids look miserable and freaked out. Lots of yucky boy germs and girl germs! I hoped Stu isn’t grossed out. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STU!

Major, the water looks gorgeous in that last shot!

—Sue

TokyoMagic! said...

I wonder if it could have been a "Valentine Birthday"? I have a friend who was born on Valentine's Day, and always had Valentine-themed birthday parties when he was a kid. I was even able to find combination Valentine/Birthday cards for him, on multiple occasions.

Happy Birthday, Stu!

Very nice Patrick Henry pics today, Major!

Anonymous said...

TM! That’s a good point, but there are no birthday presents...and also no Valentines anywhere. It’s like the Twilight Zone. The kids don’t know why they’re there. And WHAT are some of them wearing on their heads??

—Sue

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue, the parents of the birthday kid were VERY strict! NO presents! NO Valentines! NO drinks! And NO table and chairs! No wonder they aren't smiling!

JB said...

Stu, yesterday was one of your unbirthdays. Unbirthdays are much better than birthdays because there are so many of them. 364 days of cake, ice cream, and presents. But, tradition must be observed. So, happy birthday to you.

Oh my. The birthday kids all look like they were just informed that "We're all going to the dentist to get some teeth pulled!"
Looks like the girl in the back with the ruffly sleeves is trying to get a campfire going... on closer inspection, that's a spoon she has in her hand. I thought it was a lit candle or something.
Next to Ruffles, Tex is trying mightily to keep his cake down.
There seems to be a heart motif on the... well, what is it? It's not a tablecloth because it's not on a table... Floorcloth? Maybe this is a Valentine's party.
Edit- Nanook stole my observation! ;-)
Such a weird photo of a kid's birthday 'party'. It's perfect for GDB!

Sub pic 1: "Patrick Henry". Two first names. Just pick one and go with it! He was famous for saying "I'd rather fight than switch!" Or something. This is a nice clear photo, Major. Excellent color. The guy in dark blue looks like "Fearless Leader" from Rocky & Bullwinkle.

The gulper eel: Good grief! I never knew such a thing existed! Now I'm gonna have to sleep with a nightlight on. Thanks a lot, Major!!

Sub pic 2: Another crisp, colorful photo! We GDBers must've been especially good lately to be rewarded with such nice photos!

Sub pic 3: You're too good too us, Major. [JB wipes a tear from his eyes] Three really nice photos in one day. Does the Lagoon water just naturally have that cerulean blue appearance? Reflecting the sky, no doubt. Or did they add some coloring to the water? (Or paint everything blueish?)

Thanks to Sue for another weird and wonderful birthday photo. And thanks to Major for GDB. And Stu, well you managed to complete another year. So that's something.

Anonymous said...

The kid on the lower left, leaning against the couch, reminds me of “the boy in the striped pajamas.” Sorry for such a depressing party, Stu. I’ll have to throw you another party or something...

—Sue

TokyoMagic! said...

At first, I thought that some of the kids had a chicken leg next to their plate, but now I realize they are balloons.

JB, "Tex" might be trying keep his cake down (maybe it was carrot cake....yuck!), but he is also blowing up a balloon!

I think the strict parents told the kids they had just 5 minutes to eat their cake, and then get out! That's probably why Tex and Ruffles sucked down their cake so fast.

"Lou and Sue" said...

TM! The adults wouldn't even provide air for the balloons. Those poor kids.

Today's birthday party is so 'sad and forlorn' that I think these kids need to go over to Stu's blog ("Stu's Attic") and wish him a Happy Birthday, there. At least, Stu has lots of cool games and toys to play with. I'm heading over there with a cake. But, first, I'm going to take a quick ride on the subs.

Anonymous said...

Thanks everybody!
Sue, I don't know how you found a picture of my actual birthday party! The guests have just been informed that the cake is only available for a 150.00 upcharge. In unrelated news, Disney is recruiting me for their parks division!

Gulper eels??? Gulper eels???? What tha??????? Thanks, Major, I had just come to grips with the angler fish and now THIS? At least they can't walk on land...can they? CAN THEY????

That Patrick Henry, what a ham! Always shoving the other subs out of the way and launching into a chorus of "There's No Business Like Show Business." Quite undignified, really...

Thanks for the plug, Melissa! Come on over guys! everyone's welcome! And I'll discount the cake to 50 bucks! ;-)

TokyoMagic! said...

Sue, no air, no helium. "You want balloons? Blow them up yourself! Just sit on the floor, be quite, eat your cake, and then get out! Oh yeah, happy freakin' birthday, Johnnie. We'll take just one picture of the occasion so that when you are older, you can't ever say that we never gave you a party!"

DrGoat said...

Happy Birthday Stu! Hope it's a good one.
That whatever party photo should be hanging in the hallway at the Overlook Hotel. I do like the cowboy shirt kid next to the Aloha shirt kid. Wonder what they're doing now. Guessing this is about 1950 something. That poor potted plant on the table next to the fireplace definitely needs some TLC.
TM! you did have to mention carrot cake, yuk!
Neat submarine pic. Lagoon looks very inviting.
Sue, thanks for that photo. I'm going to be seeing that in my head for a while. Something about it. Maybe it's that cryptic figure lurching into the room from the lower left corner.
Thank you Major.

Anonymous said...

Unrelated just found out fact:
Today is Wally Boag's birthday too!

Anonymous said...

TM! And those parents SOLD that only photo on the internet. Poor kid couldn’t even keep his party photo.

—Sue

Chuck said...

Happy St. Birthentine’s Day! These kids look like they would rather be wished to the cornfield than be in this picture.

For some odd reason, I am unreasonably enjoying the fact that we can see the cave openings behind the waterfalls in the first sun photo. I don’t recall being able to see that before.

The Patrick Henry is now the Triton. Or maybe the Triton was renumbered from D-305 to 307. I’d always assumed that the sub names that were retained but had different hull numbers after the yellow repaint (Triton and Seawolf / Sea Wolf) had had their names transferred to different hulls, but it’s possible that maybe they switched hull numbers and retained their original names. That will probably keep me up tonight. Well, that and the thought of gulper eels.

Happy birthday, Stu!

TokyoMagic! said...

Oh, and those nut cup baskets/party favors.....they contain rocks!

JG said...

What a bunch of grumpy kids.

Those subs never got dusty, going through the waterfalls 6 times an hour. I miss the old subs, of all the stupid movies to graft onto this classic, they had to pick the most annoying one ever.

Guessing most visitors today have no idea who Patrick Henry or Ethan Allen ever were.

HBD Stu, Many Happy Returns of the Day, and may Gulper eels not haunt your dreams.

Thanks Major!

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, it looks like a birthday party to me, even with the heart-themed accoutrements. I went to a lot of birthday parties when I was a kid, but not a single Valentine’s Day party. Maybe nobody wanted to be my Valentine. Was it because I didn’t bathe?

Sue, we always did our Valentine’s Day thing at school. Bring one Valentine for every kid in the class. Was that just us?

TokyoMagic!, President Eisenhower made it illegal to celebrate two events at the same time, because it was proven to turn children into hoodlums. Must have been rough for your friend.

Sue, my vote still goes to “birthday party”.

TokyoMagic!, don’t forget NO laughing, NO talking without permission, and NO squirming.

JB, I would love to know the story behind that photo, and why everyone looks so glum. Hey, cake and ice cream, that’s all I need to be happy. I’m guessing that the mom already had a (plastic?) Valentine’s Day table cloth, and probably didn’t have a table large enough to seat that many kids. It’s very weird that all three of these random Sub photos just happened to feature the Patrick Henry. I guess Ethan Allan and George Washington were too busy. Yes, gulper eels are the stuff of nightmares, but as a kid I loved those weird deep sea critters. I believe that the lagoon only looks blue due to water absorbing all other colors and reflecting blue back, but my expertise is in brain surgery, not sub lagoons.

Sue, “the boy in the striped pajamas”…!!

TokyoMagic!, they were playing the old party game, “Chicken Leg? Or Balloon?”. By Milton Bradley. I like a strict birthday party, and I also like to remind the children that they will probably roast in hell for all eternity because they are sinners.

Lou and Sue, the parents wouldn’t pay for helium for the balloons, so they used hydrogen gas instead. Just like the Hindenburg disaster! I hope mom didn’t smoke.

Stu29573, at least you didn’t serve Dolly Madison Zingers at your party. Hey, I’m trying to find a silver lining. Most angler fish will fit in the palm of your hand, don’t be concerned. Patrick Henry was a famed patriot who once said, “I’ll come to any party and pose for any photo!”. What a guy.

TokyoMagic!, if kids have a good time at your home, they’ll just want to come back. Nip that problem in the bud, I say. “When you’re done with your cake, we’ll go into the backyard and pull dandelions for two hours”.

DrGoat, ha ha, it does have that “Overlook Hotel” vibe. I do like seeing genuine cowboy shirts on kids from that era, they look great. Much better than the ruffled powder-blue shirts that I usually wear. Maybe you were the person who previously mentioned that you didn’t like carrot cake. I love it! You could put that frosting on just about anything and I’d eat it. Look at the horrified expression on the boy to the extreme right, he’s seen a ghost!

Stu29573, Wally who? (Joking). You are in fine company!

Sue, I can’t imagine selling my family’s old photos, but I also can’t imagine throwing the ones I don’t want to keep into the trash. It’s a conundrum.

Chuck, the cave openings do seem to be a bit more noticeable, maybe it’s the angle of the light at that time of day. Maybe they used cheap water. I understand that they wanted to rename the subs when the changed from nuclear war vessels to research craft, but I miss the old names. The numbers, not so much!

TokyoMagic!, when I was a kid I got lint for my birthday. And I was grateful!

JG, I feel like that many unsmiling kids has to be the fault of the host. You’d think that *some* of the kids would have smiles on their faces. I liked “Finding Nemo” (that was back in the days when Pixar went from strength to strength). And I do appreciate that they managed to save our submarines; I just wish I liked the Nemo overlay more. I only experienced it once, and that was enough. I’m sure you are right about most people having no clue to Ethan Allen or Patrick Henry were. Or Frederic Skipjack.

Nanook said...

Major-
Undoubtedly, that sort of American history is lost on most folks these times - unless your town has an Ethan Allen furniture store, as a reminder. (Those 'hardwood-clad' subs didn't perform all that well, unfortunately...)

Anonymous said...

Major, I noticed something in studying the photos.

The first photo is dated March 1962 and the sub paint is shiny and looking pretty new, which makes sense since it is only three years old.

The second photo is dated October 1962, only seven months later, but the paint is streaked and faded, and there is a nasty rusty scratch on the foredeck fairing which isn't visible in the first photo. The Patrick Henry looks "rode hard and put away wet", which I guess is par for a submarine, but unusual for Disneyland.

The third photo is dated 1970 and the paint looks better than the 10/62 pic, which could make sense if periodic maintenance were recent.

Just an observation on the durability of the paint.

JG

TokyoMagic! said...

Look at the horrified expression on the boy to the extreme right, he’s seen a ghost!

Maybe the kid hasn't actually seen a ghost. Maybe the kids weren't actually there. Maybe someone just took a picture of their empty living room, and this is what came back from the developers!

JB said...

Yep. It's that time of year again; when spooky things happen.

Dean Finder said...

It's amusing to me that the bulk of the comments are on the party photo.
"yes, yes, the Ethan Allen, but look at those morose children"

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, yes, Ethan Allen’s legacy lives on as bedroom sets and sideboards (wipes tear from eye).

JG, that’s an interesting observation regarding the wear and tear to the paint in only a few months. Real subs obviously have paint on them, and they survive some pretty intense situations, I wonder if Disneyland used something different? Maybe just automobile paint? I’d actually really like to know!

TokyoMagic!, your comment is too scary and I’m sorry I read it. Now I won’t be able to sleep.

JB, one of my local stores is already discounting their Halloween stuff, even though October is weeks away! I have my eye on some giant skulls that are about $20, perfect for year-round enjoyment.

Dean Finder, you have to admit that we have all seen about five thousand photos of those subs!