Cute Gal and the Mark Twain, March 1962
It's time for more photos of "Cute Gal"; her sweetheart loved to take pictures of her, and she loved to pose for them. Or at least I hope she did.
In places like Michigan or Arizona, you see steamboats every day, but you hardly ever see them in Southern California. Once or twice a month, tops. So it's no wonder that our photographer was excited to capture an image of his gal as the Mark Twain returned to Earth, touching down on the water as light as a feather. A kid to our left is wearing a school jacket (?), I wish I could make out the text and the design better. I think it has a Space Invader theme.
"Honey, I know I just took a picture of you one minute ago, but would you mind posing for another one?". She smiles, knowing that it is often better to take the path of least resistance. The woman in the upper right is wondering "Is that girl famous? Was she on 'Red Skelton' last night? Maybe I should ask for her autograph". There are at least two babushkas in this picture, can you find them?
25 comments:
Major-
My vote for the fraternity jacket is Kappa Delta Phi, but you never know. (It might actually be my go-to fraternity: Phi Kappa Krappa-!) It kinda looks as though Abe Lincoln is riding on the upper deck of the Mark Twain.
Shout-out to Cascade Peak (and Ginny-!) - looking as lovely as always.
Thanks, Major.
Ginny is looking especially saucy in the first photo. And no cigarette!
There appears to be some VIPs on the upper deck of the Mark Twain, They're dressed in period clothing from the late 1800s. At least, that's how it looks... maybe they're just regular guests with the one in the middle wearing an alpine hat with an ostrich feather?
The guy with the jacket: Inside the logo, it looks like the letters "F" and "D"... Fire Department? At the bottom is "PHI", or maybe "PH1". Across the top: First part might be "NAPA" or "HAPPY". I can't make out the last part... "RE?" something.
Babuskas: Definitely see the two you mention, Major: The obvious one, closest to us, in the checkered coat. And the one just to the right of her head. But there might be two more: That red & white striped thing just above the second one. And another one to the upper left of that. It appears to be one of those clear plastic ones.
Still no sign of a cigarette in Ginny's hand. Did the world come to an end and nobody told ME about it?!
Nanook, hmmm, I think you're right- "Kappa Delta Phi". But what's that inside the logo? I see you noticed the stovepipe hat as well.
Thanks, Major. It's always nice to see an episode of GDB with "Cute Gal", aka Ginny.
I hear somebody playing the harmonica in the 2nd photo...sounds like ‘Red River Valley.’
Sue
I was thinking the same thing as Nanook and JB as far as the "Phi" part of the guy's jacket. Maybe he works for a stereo company and the jacket says something like, "Magnavox High Phi." ;-)
I see that Ginny refreshed her spit curl, for the second photo.
Major, how on Earth can you tell if any of those women are grandmothers?
That text sure looks like it could be “Kappa Delta Phi, which is a real fraternity founded in 1900, but the fraternity’s shield looks different and no chapter in existence in 1962 was located at a college or university with red and grey as the school colors. It’s possible that this slide may have slipped into your collection through a wormhole from an alternate reality. For verification, see if you can find a film can labeled “The Grasshopper Lies Heavy.” Or maybe there’s another explanation, although I can’t think of a simpler one off the top of my head.
The pretty lady and the Steamboat. Sounds like a Perry Mason mystery.
Her foot position is as precise as ever.
I think it was a damp day, I see two ladies wearing those plastic babushkas like my Mom always carried.
This is the first time I’ve spotted a trash can on the Mark Twain.
Thanks Major, a good start today.
JG
I vote that the top picture is the best one we've seen of Ginny yet. And my vote counts, baby!
Chuck, I like your theory- except I'm pretty sure in alternate realities the Mark Twain sails anti-clockwise. I'd pop over to check it out, but doing so can give me a headache. And I'm lazy.
Therefore, I'm going to say the jacket is from Happa Happy Hippo at Whatsamatta U. Prove me wrong!
Thanks, Major!
It's definitely Kappa Something Phi, and I'll bet a hundred quatloos that Nanook's eyes are sharper than mine so I'll take his word on the Delta. When I worked at a big university I used to walk home through fraternity row, and I used to joke that I should get credit for an Intro to Greek course just from reading the signs.
JG, maybe "The Case of the Steamboat Siren?" Paul Drake is just out of frame, watching from a Keel Boat with his trusty binoculars.
Ginny is as easy on the eyes as ever, but there are some pretty interesting supporting characters today. Love the girl in the rain hood standing on one foot by the fence, in #1, and of course Joe College there. Then in #2 you've got the babushkateers, the kid in the bright red jacket being carried by Plaid Dad, and the lady in the pink and orange floral looking regally down from the upper deck.
Ginny herself seems to have accumulated more literature; by the end of the day she'll be hauling around the Complete Disneyland Unabridged Library.
Nanook, well OK, I still like my Space Invaders theory, but I will bow to your expertise. Fun fact: Abe Lincoln and Mark Twain used to like to go skateboarding together.
JB, Ginny always looks saucy! I don’t know if I detect any VIPs on the upper deck of the Mark Twain, unless you take the very nice stance that everyone is a VIP. Now we know that the guy’s jacket says PHI NAPA HAPPY, the best fraternity. Because you found both babushkas, you win a pack of old cigarettes (partly used). I took them from my brother. Not to smoke, but to give away as a prize. He won’t mind! I wonder what that fraternity guy had to do to get in? What sort of humiliation did he have to endure? Maybe he just had to drink a gallon of vodka.
Sue, you mean the cast member to the right?
TokyoMagic!, my dad always referred to the stereo as the “hi-fi”. At one point he got a new system and gave me the old one, it had vacuum tubes that glowed a pleasant warm yellow.
Chuck, just walk past them while needing a haircut, they will immediately tell you that you need to go to the barber. It always works. Somehow it’s hard to believe that that kid is in a fraternity, but I guess stranger things have happened. I found a film can labeled “I Am Curious (Yellow)”, what the heck does that mean?
JG, I really wonder if Ginny just happens to stand looking so nice, or if she really had some sort of dancer (or model) training? There’s only so many ways two feet are gonna go! These were definitely taken on an overcast day, and the colors faded to a weird purplish blue that was hard to deal with. I wonder if that trash can on the Twain was the receptacle for ticket stubs?
Stu29573, first of all, I approve of saying “baby!” at the end of a declarative sentence. It was good enough for Einstein, and it’s good enough for me. The Mark Twain sails counter-clockwise (“anti-clockwise”, so European!) in the southern hemisphere.
Melissa, I like “The Case of the Crumpled Hat”. Only it’s not that crumpled (it hasn’t happened yet). Those plastic babushkas always make me think of my grandma, who seemed to always have one in her purse, even in sunny SoCal. Does the man to the right of the young girl at the rail have some sort of stripes on his sleeve? Ginny is trying to be careful with her paper ephemera, but I wish she’d put those items in a bag! They are getting all creased.
"Does the man to the right of the young girl at the rail have some sort of stripes on his sleeve?"
I can't tell if they're stripes or wrinkles. IIRC, in my family we always call random tabby cats "Sarge" because of the stripes on their arms.
I think those are wrinkles rather than stripes. If that were a military uniform, he would be required to wear a hat outdoors.
Melissa, "The Case of the Steamboat Siren" is perfect!
And you are right, we can just make out Paul Drake's loud tweed jacket sleeve through the window of the keel boat.
Major, each round of photos of Ginny, I am surprised she hasn't yet bought a shopping bag to stash all that stuff. I wonder if the hat doesn't fit, since she is rarely wearing it?
JG
Major-
“I Am Curious “Yellow” is a film, of dubious note…. As for that receptacle - I’m voting for a cigarette butt receptacle-!
Major, a new GDB tradition! We can re-gift the Old Pack of Cigarettes award to other Junior Gorillas who post an especially witty or interesting comment worthy of a prize.
In fact, I'll re-gift the OPoC award to Melissa for including "quatloos" in her comment. (Honorable mention to Stu for "Whatsamatta U".)
Melissa, if I’d heard you call your cats “Sarge”, I would have thanked them for their service.
Chuck, maybe he took off his hat because he had a candy bar hidden in it?
JG, the few times that Ginny IS wearing the hat, it looks very cute, but I have to admit that it seems like a special effect. Maybe she takes off her wig to wear the hat.
Nanook, I’ve never seen “I Am Curious (Yellow)”, but when I was a kid it was basically code for “dirty movie”. I’m afraid that the river itself probably became a cigarette butt receptacle.
JB, soon that pack of cigarettes will be beloved the world over! Um, er… what are “quatloos”? Do I need an ointment for them?
Major-
"what are “quatloos”? Do I need an ointment for them?" Ointments are too viscous; an unguent would be the doctors' preference-!
Major, "quatloos" are the currency of "The Gamesters of Triskelion" in that original Star Trek episode.
The conceit of the episode is that these super-intelligent brains in jars kidnap other life forms, make them fight each other, and then bet on them. Because they have no actual needs, they bet in arbitrary units called quatloos. As the theme song from Bret Maverick tells us, "Money's just a way of keepin' score."
Most Star Trek experts consider “The Gamesters of Triskelion” to be among of the 79 best episodes of the original series.
"30,000 quatloos on the newcomers!"
Also the episode where Captain Kirk kisses the green-haired girl who is wearing an aluminum foil bikini.
Memorable stuff indeed.
JG
Melissa, one would think that super-intelligent brains in jars could find something more creative and worthwhile to do with themselves. Didn't they have TV? Maybe they can't get cable all the way out on their planet.
Chuck, Wow, the top 79! High praise, indeed! ;-D
JG, seems like Kirk was always kissing a green-haired, or green-skinned girl. Musta been in Shatner's contract.
JB, man, I remember a lot about TOS, but not quatloos!! I don’t remember what happens in “The Gamesters of Triskellon”.
Melissa, hmmm, even after your description, I think I’m going to need to look up some screen shots. Then I think it will all become crystal clear.
Chuck, it’s just nice to be in the running.
JG, an aluminum foil bikini!!
JB, how do those super-intelligent brains get those jars anyway? Do they go to “Jar Emporium” over on State Street? Or do they order them from Astro-Amazon?
Re: The Gamesters of Triskellon - OH YEAH, that one!
Matt Groening's Futurama references Quatloos in the final episode of the original series when the characters are trapped on a planet run by an obsessive Star Trek fan alien. The episode is an endless series of Star Trek jokes.
WELSHIE!!!
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