Knott's Berry Farm, July 1963
Who loves vintage Knott's Berry Farm? Raise your hand. Heck, raise both of them. I have six scans for you today, all from July 1963.
This first one was damaged, you can still see some evidence of a light leak to the right, so I cropped it to a nice comfortable square. Calico Square, that is! See what I did there? (I belong at the little table next to the Algonquin Round Table). Speaking of Calico Square, it is chock full of visitors who are admiring the impressive façade of the Calico Mine Train. Wind, water, and time have sculpted the rock into strange shapes. Just wait a little while, one of the beautiful steam locomotives should pass right through the middle of the square really soon.
Over by the Bird Cage Theatre, a man sits at Doc Skinnem's wagon, strumming a banjo. I'd like to imagine that he's playing something slow and peaceful, maybe "Up a Lazy River".
Does anybody recognize this fellow? With his white hair he reminds me of Jim Jarmusch, or maybe Nick Lowe. Plinkety-plunk.
Flamingoes? In Buena Park? What the...? Quick, Margie, take a picture! They're standing on one leg, just like in them Hollywood movies! The folks in Pewaukee will never believe this.
Old MacDonald had a farm, and what a wacky farm it was. Sure, he had goats and chickens, and maybe a donkey or two, but he also had seals ("sea lions", there, are you happy?). He raised them for their... well, to be honest I'm not sure what he did with them. Can you milk a seal? I'm sorry I even asked.
Ah, the old wagon camp, a natural amphitheater formed by wind, water, blah blah blah. If your timing was right, you might be lucky enough to see a performance by the Wagonmasters. Did Knott's ever have folk, rock, or pop acts playing here? Maybe GWAR, or Einstürzende Neubaten?
You may lower your hands now.
16 comments:
Major-
Our banjo-playing fella is using a Shure, Unidyne Model 55S microphone. (Actually it's a Unidyne II). It first went into production back in 1939 - and the Model 55SH Series II is still being made today. Pretty swell.
Thanks, Major.
#1- Interesting. A picture of a guy taking a picture of a little boy in blue. Oh, and there's that mountain thingy in the background... And a mine train... And two birds in the sky.
Tall Tex, in the red shirt, has a striped bag. Some of Cordelia Knott's fried chicken perhaps?
#2- Major, maybe the banjo-man is playing that slow version of "Oh Susanna" that we hear while floating through the Blue Bayou, a few miles down the road.
#3- (the close-up) He looks kinda like Exeter from "This Island Earth". Normally, Exeter is busy using his interocitor to spy on potential enemies and blow things up real good. This must be his day off.
#4- Perhaps these are Flamingae Plasticus, much easier to care for than the other kind. You don't have to feed them a special diet to keep them looking pink. Heck, you don't have to feed them at all! Just give them a coat of Krylon once a year to keep them looking Barbie Pink; just like certain castles in the area.
#5- Yes. Yes you can milk a seal, Major. In fact, Knott's milked these seals for all they were worth.
#6- I'm picturing the amphitheater at night, full of guests, fire pit glowing, a folksy band playing. A stark contrast to this fairly colorless and lifeless photo... except for the boy in the red shirt, who is eating something; possum-on-a-stick maybe.
Finally, I can lower my arms! I had to type my comment with my nose. Thanks for the Knott's pics, Major. (I'm thinking of Irene.)
As a kid my sister and I loved to go to Santa’s Village to have our picture taken with Santa. In the spring we were thrilled to go to Knott’s and have our picture taken with the EASTER SEALS.
I have a very very early memory of being in one of those covered wagons at the Knott’s wagon camp at night with my grand parents from North Carolina and my parents - but no recollection of what we were watching. Then later when I was around 8 or 10 I remember seeing a combination of a musical performance and also a stunt show at The Wagon Camp. I was already becoming very themepark obsessed and remember some forced “volunteers” were brought ( dragged) up from the audience to participate in part of the stunt show. The host asked each of the 3 guests to introduce themselves , where they were from and also what they did for a living. The last volunteer was from Florida and worked at Walt Disney World!! The Knott’s performers and the host acted all angry that he worked for a Knott’s competitor…. The audience laughed. THEN that same year or the following year I went to Knott’s Berry Farm with my friend James’ family for his birthday. We saw the same Wagon Camp music and Stunt show … and three “volunteers” were brought up to stage …… and as they were introduced , the last guy … was from FLORIDA and worked at WALT DISNEY WORLD !!! - the whole audience laughed EXCEPT for me because I realized I had been had and that the Disney employee was a Knott’s PLANT and I questioned if ANY of the “volunteers” were real guests ……. At 10 I felt swindled!!
JB, I don't think that man with the camera is aiming at the little boy. I think he is taking a picture of somebody posing with Nell and Belle/Marilyn and Cecilia, who would have been "sitting" on a bench, located on top of that wooden platform on the far right.
That cave on the ground floor and the far left of the Calico Mine Ride, was where the Burro ride was located. That extension of the mountain was torn down when the Roaring 20s area was built, and the Burros were moved across the street to the Lagoon area.
Those seals were a very specific breed of seal. They were brought to Knott's from Easter Island, and were technically Easter.......oh, never mind!
Major, as far as bands other than country or western music artists playing in the Wagon Camp, I have a story for you, which was relayed to me by the lady who trained me as a new employee, in March of 1982. She told us how shortly before Walter Knott passed away, Knott's had let a punk band perform in the Wagon Camp. She said that the audience got very rowdy during the performance and started to tear apart the wagons, along with the railings, benches, etc. She was working in a food stand, very close to the Wagon Camp and she said that they got scared and locked all of the doors. The next day, Walter Knott's nurse pushed him through the Wagon Camp in his wheel chair (he lived on the property right up until his death, in December of 1981) and he supposedly didn't say a single word, but just shook his head back and forth. After that event, Knott's announced that they would never allow punk bands to perform in the park, again.
Now don't make me tell you about the carnage that occurred in the Goodtime Theater, during a performance by Debbie Reynolds.
Holy cow - if wind and water sculpted those shapes in just the three years that the mountain had been there, is there anything left today?
Not embarrassed to admit I had to look up the Algonquin Round Table. Spent a pleasant hour learning new stuff. Of course, now I’m an hour behind on my Saturday loafing. Not sure how I’ll make that up. Maybe two naps?
Nanook, you Shure know your microphones!
JB and TM!, that guy is actually taking a picture of his lens cap, the curse of the rangefinder camera. On the plus side, the picture won’t be out of focus.
Mike, they were using that same planted cast member and WDW joke on my wife’s first visit in November of 1993. The guy had a thick, Slavic accent, and hung his head in embarrassment when he said “Disney World.” It became very obvious he was a plant once the action started and he reacted like a trained stunt man. We’d been had, but it was still fun. Until we saw the show again in 1995. Not sure why it was less amusing the next time around; it’s not like I ever complained that the Country Bears did the same thing every show, or that Billy Hill and the Hillbillies complained every show that the Country Bears had never come to a single one of their performances.
TM!, Debbie Reynolds and carnage, two words that go together like peanut butter and sardines.
I don’t believe a word you guys are saying about those seals. One look at the picture and I can sea you’re lion.
I ALMOST thought I made my first appearance in a photo I didn't post. In pic 1, the guy with the camera looks like my dad, the woman in blue (with her back to us) has the same hair and shape of my mom and she liked the "look" with the Capri pants. Could it be?
No, I was only 2 in 1963 and I'm not blond.
2. My dad is 6'1" and for him to not stand out means it was a "tall" day at Knott's.
3. I see one girl next to mom and she looks nothing like my sister. And where is my other sister, shopping for Churros? She was only 5 but she knows a good Churro.
4. The bald dude next to dad has grandpas hair line but grandpa was 5'1" so he was having a "tall" day as well.
Oh well.
The CM (can I call them that at Knotts? How about KCM?) in the first photo shure looks familiar. I wonder if we have seen him in other posts? He’s definitely got fried chicken in that bag. Mom would never ride the Mine Train, too scary. We would exit by the Shooting Gallery where I could shoot at the alternating prairie dogs and sometimes win a gold sticker for marksmanship.
Major, we stayed at the Algonquin Hotel a few years back, the Round Table is still there. It’s a Marriott brand now, but if you didn’t know, you could never tell. It’s beautifully updated with modern amenities but kept with all the classic details, and a lobby cat. It’s a great location just off Times Square close to theaters.
Spencer Tracy is admiring the Seal of Approval. What is up with the basket shape of the seal fence? Integral trash bin?
Trash can sighting by the banjo guy. I thought he was playing the same music we hear in Pirates. I think it’s more likely that Jim Jarmusch looks like a banjo player than the other way round.
Flamingoes are improbable. If you described a bird like that, no one would believe you until they saw one.
I’m trying imagine GWAR at the Wagon Camp, Rammstein seems more congenial there, somehow.
JB, the kid is bringing the possum to his family who are sitting in one of the wagons. I think we saw a show there once but the details are out-of-focus, much like that guy’s picture in photo 1.
Thanks Major!
JG
Love the Wagon Camp pic. It revealed a couple of details I never noticed like the way the concreate was scored to look like actual rock. The covered wagons, besides being a fun design element emphasizing the wagon camp idea, they also hide the parking lot. Nice.
Nanook, wow, amazing that a microphone that dates back to 1939 is still being made today. It must be the Cadillac of microphones.
JB, I’m not sure the boy in blue is the subject of that man’s camera… but maybe? I’ll bet “Oh Susanna” is one of those songs that people learn on their banjos on day 2 of banjo lessons. Exeter had a prominent forehead (to put it mildly), our guy looks more like Anthony Bourdain! Do people still get plastic flamingos? I kind of love them. “Knott’s milked these seals for all they were worth”, D’OH. There is an album cover (for The Wagonmasters, I believe) that shows the little amphitheater at night, full of people and beautifully lit, it looks like the most wonderful place in the world.
Mike Cozart, “Easter Seals”, ouch. I love your story of seeing a show at the wagon camp with your grandparents - if only we knew who was performing! I assume that the act you described was a sort of “warmup”? Funny how the scales fell from your eyes when you realized that the whole thing from the previous visit had been scripted. “I’ll never believe in anything AGAIN!”, you probably declared (with a British accent for some reason).
TokyoMagic!, that makes more sense to me, Nell and Belle are much more photogenic than that stinky little boy. I didn’t really notice that cave, but I did know that the Burros went through it. HEY, I can know things too! Mike already did the Easter Seals joke, sorry TM. I’d love to know which punk band performed at that show you referred to. I don’t like that the crowd tore up the wagons, that sucks. This is why we can’t have nice things. I can’t believe that Walter Knott didn’t approve of punk rock! In his early days he sported a mighty mohawk hairdo. At the Debbie Reynolds show, the crowd threw whole apple pies at the stage. Goo everywhere!
Chuck, some years the wind and water actually put some rock back, so it’s been pretty stable over the decades. Geology is very complex. While those Algonquin Round Table folks were witty, they sound like they might have been a bit insufferable too. Like high school kids. “We’re better than you!”. That man was a PLANT? You mean a pod person like in “Body Snatchers”? I’m surprised you weren’t more concerned.
MRaymond, oh man! We did get that amazing photo with K. Martinez not that long ago, but I would still love to have more “Junior Gorilla” sightings. You’d think that after 16+ years it would have happened more often. But… no such luck. I have more Knott’s pix, so don’t give up hope!
JG, we can call them whatever we like, this is America! Do you mean the banjo player in the second photo? I don’t recall seeing him before, but he might have appeared on another website (*cough* Daveland *cough*). I’d love it if the actual round table was a crummy formica thing with folding chairs, and squeeze bottles of ketchup and mustard. “I thought it would be so much fancier!”. Spencer Tracy always loved sea mammals, that’s why Kate Hepburn liked him. I never even thought to acknowledge Knott’s trash cans - an entire subcategory. I saw Rammstein years ago, what a show! Not at Knott’s though.
Sunday Night, I love that they tried to make that amphitheater look like a natural formation (just like the Mine Train), as if you might be in one of those canyons in Utah. Good point about the wagons hiding the parking lot, I’d imagine that headlights would be a part of the show on many nights.
OK GUYS, I will be gone for the rest of the day, but look forward to reading the rest of your comments when I get home (or tomorrow)! Thanks!
In the banjo guy pic, don't you just love those themed phone booths!
Mike (I'm always tempted to write "Mozart"), swindled at age 10. I guess both Walts worked 'hard facts' into their parks.
Tokyo!, I'm sure you're right about the picture-taker. Besides, his camera is pointed a little too high for the kid.
Chuck, thanks for the 'lion' groaner. It helped me clear the mucus out of my throat.
JG, "KCM" works for me.
Major, Exeter wears his "low forehead" disguise when out in the public; like movie stars wearing sunglasses.
We have a couple of Flamingae Plasticus in our back yard. My brother found them, abandoned, on the banks of the river that runs near our house. The flaming-Os fly west (into our pump house) for the winter to get out of the rain and sleet and stuff.
A preteen Steve Martin thinks, "Someday I'll have white hair and a banjo, and I'll get paid to hang around theme parks ..."
Depending on how old his banjo is, buddy may be singing fee-fie-fiddle-ee-i-o.
Judging by the crowd's lackluster expressions, I'd say those are definitely not the seals of approval. But their enclosure is so neat and tidy, they may be good housekeeping seals.
The man on the banjo is Don Galvan. He was a successful Mexican actor and solo artist. Look him up on YouTube.
Wow, thank you, anonymous!
Even more interesting is that I went through a box this week with letters from my grandmother inside. Nestled in amongst those are 10 or 12 letters from Don Gavlan from the 1960's Not sure exactly what's going on there but it appears that they had a "thing" going on. My grandmother took me to Knott's every single weekend on the bus during those years. It was free to get in, now I know why we went so often. As an 8 year old I saw that man play every weekend. :-)
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