Scenes from the USA
I've recently gone through some of my random slides and scanned a bunch for use on "Anything Goes Saturdays". There's some fun stuff!
Let's start with this lovely view of the impressively grand Denver City and County building, from September, 1959. The photographer must have been standing in the "lantern" atop the gold-leafed State Capitol dome. Say, those mountains sure are rocky, I wonder what they're called?
Zooming in on the rocket (purely decorative, sort of a rocket "throw pillow") that was perched in the City Center Park area, we can see a little western town! What in the world? Well, if you look at some old GDB posts HERE and HERE, you'll see photos from the centennial of Denver's gold rush. Where they found gold and stuff. I was happy to find this unusual detail in this photo!
Here's a more recent view, nabbed from the Web. Compare and contrast!
Next is this fun photo of the Big Chief Motel. Undated and unlabeled! I love that sign for the motel, and how about those wonderful automobiles?
I have found that it's useful to search for postcards of motels, and I quickly found several for the Big Chief Motel in Bean Station, Tennessee! Here's an early "linen"-style postcard. When you woke up this morning, did you ever imagine that you'd see a photo of Bean Station? Talk about a good day!
Here's a second, later "chrome" postcard, you can see that the "Mountain Crafts" part of the sign has been moved to the roof. For passing airplanes?
20 comments:
Major-
I think every city center park should have a permanent rocket ship pointing towards the heavens - 'cuz one never knows...
Yeah - how about those wonderful automobiles-? Down front is a 1948-49 Hudson - Commodore Series - 'Club Coupe' in "Banner Blue & Jockey Blue". (Hudson offered 'five, two-tone color combinations' those years, too). The next car is a 1950-1952 Dodge [possibly] in Gypsy Green & Island Green.
I certainly wouldn't mind "settin' a spell" on the porch in those canvas chairs.
Thanks, Major.
1) Major, those distant peaks are the rim of the Olympus Mons crater... or the Caucasus Mountains, hard to tell from this far away.
This is a very nicely composed photo. The flagpole balances out everything and provides a sense of near-and-far distance.
2) So naturally, they put a rocket next to an old western town. I get it, though. "Look how far we've come!"
3) Is that white tent-like structure on the right, the Denver Airport?
4-6) I can positively state that I've never heard of Bean Station, TN before today. Is the town named after the Rowan Atkinson character or the legume?
I wonder if those railings on the roof serve some purpose, or if they're purely decorative? The new sign looks nice but it lacks the charm of the original.
Nanook, I love the name "Gypsy Green".
Major, thanks for the Saturday travelogue.
I think placing a rocket next to a western town was Denver's attempt to siphon tourists away from Disneyland. In 1978, they added an abominable snowman animatronic on top of those fake mountains. They're fake, but they sure do look "high." I think that first photo shows it raining fire from the sky.
Old enough to remember when motels were exciting -- and not in the "Mister-and-Missus-cough-John-Smith" way.
For us boomer kids, a motel meant such thrills as a swimming pool with slide, little bars of soap, and color TV (we were a B&W household). Glasses and toilet seats were Sanitized For Your Protection, and there was a soapy scent to prove it.
Some sold souvenirs in the lobby, Decals, postcards and ashtrays; maybe travel-themed stuff like magnetic checkers.
A spinning rack of paperbacks, if you were lucky, had pocket collections of cartoons: Dennis the Menace, Peanuts, Charles Addams (tied to the TV show), and possibly racier stuff like cartoons from grown-up magazines and pulp novels. There was always a big rack of brochures for local attractions, including a Guide to Friendly Local Merchants.
If we got off to a slow start in the morning, the television usually had local kid shows with cartoons we'd never seen at home. In color! A coffee shop or pancake house was on the property or nearby. If there was a bar, it was a dark room off the lobby where they always played country music on the jukebox.
Still recall the little places that once surrounded Disneyland, all with fantasy themes on the outside and generic rooms inside. We'd study the Triple-A guidebooks with listings of approved lodgings and semi-enticing ads (Close to Disneyland ... Free Shuttle ... Kitchenettes ... Magic Fingers ...).
Now most motels have the same look and feel. The only real choice is sleazy, overpriced, or both. Channel surf and you'll get charged for dirty movies, and if you take an ice cube from the minibar it'll cost ya ... (Old guy mutterings for another half hour).
DB : love your comments- tiny bars of soap and comic books and pool with slide. I only had for a tiny time in life but great memories! I also have many old guy mutterings. Sanitized for your protection, Collect them all, Fantasyland is closed, Fill it to the rim with Brim, You’re soaking in it, Calgon take me away. I use all of these daily. I am enjoying the photo of the set of “Escape from the Planet of the Apes” where the creepy mask wearing people were worshipping their false god/nuclear rocket/bomb thing. I lived in Denver and don’t particularly miss it. Big Chief in Bean Village is awesome…I’m wondering what Mountain crafts are? Like Mountain people? Or sculptures or bean wall hangings? Like made from dried beans? That might be cool. I stay in many hotels- basically every night except Saturdays. In the past 15 years I can confidently say that they do not sanitize toilet seats for my protection any more. I have not seen one of those paper strips I think since a motel my family stayed in over 50 years ago in Lake Tahoe. There is a smell of those motel rooms- like tiny soap, and plastic bed coverlet things, plastic carpeting, and ceiling fan. I was redesigning a space recently and someone asked me what I was walking into: “Burbank apartment, low ceiling, ceiling fan, old carpet, vinyl sofa against wall”. If you’ve lived in Burbank, this may make sense to you. I really like Burbank and this is not a dig. I just spent 3 weeks in Florida, the last being the most exciting for some obvious reasons. I missed the mouse house also for some obvious reasons. I wanted to go to the houses that Disney built for Roy Disney, Joe Fowler, Dick Nunis…they are a “thing”. Next time.
Oh…btw: there is one theme hotel left on Katella: The Alpine Inn. Looks like they refused to sell out. Cars land dominates their back yard and pool (sans slide.)
The locomotive behind the Titan I missile (mockup?) is Denver & Rio Grande #268, the same D&RGW locomotive that Walt and Ward saw at the 1949 Chicago Railroad Fair. It’s now on static display at the Pioneer Museum in Gunnison, Colorado.
Bu, I stayed at Alpine Inn four times in the Oughts, and on two of those visits I wasn’t even going to Disneyland. I just liked the ambiance of the hotel and the neighborhood around it - walked to Downtown Disney in the evening just to hang out. Clean room at a reasonable rate back then. Seems like it’s a lot less reasonable now.
Denver has some nice public buildings. No self-respecting architect would be caught dead today designing something that nice. And fully equipped with ICBMs.
I love the old motel, the ashlar masonry is so characteristic of a time and a place. Never see that material in California.
While the old sign is very cool, I prefer the newer “Pontiac” one and applaud the thrifty re-use of the old one on the roof, to catch the attention of pilots of the soon-to-be popular flying cars.
DBenson, I could take your comment and frame it, a perfect summation of motel travel. The only things I might add would be the obscure glass jalousie window in the bathroom and the one-inch mosaic tile shower with hammered-pattern obscure glass in the door with a little bb ball catch so the door snaps shut.
I love my shiny new Marriotts and Hyatts and Hiltons, but we enjoyed a stay in an older motel type place in San Luis Obispo recently, most of these things were gone but the ghosts remained. Felt good. Sanitized For Our Protection.
Thanks Major!
JG
I'm with Bu on DB's comments. Those little memories that are hard to conjure up if you aren't reminded of them. Thanks for that. I'd have to add the smell of Mom's Jean Nate after bath splash. She always took some with her on trips.
JB, Gypsy Green is a good one. Our house is partially painted with a green called Sycamore Stand. It was around in the late 50s because that's what Dad insisted we paint the accents on the house. We have tried to keep up the tradition. It stills looks pretty much the same.
It goes without saying, I do like the 50's version of the City Center park over the new one. That first photo of the Big Chief motel is a great shot. Wide open spaces, flagstone wall, probably not just a veneer and the cars. Had to look at Bean Station in Google Earth. No sign of the BC. on highway 25.
Thanks Major, great Saturday photos.
Loved your motel descriptions DBenson. For many reasons my dad never went to motels on family vacations. He bought a camper. So my weird vacation memory was going into unfamiliar supermarkets. Why is all the stuff in different places? Who are these people at the checkout? Very uncomfortable seeing bread and milk with unknown brand names.
@ JB-
Haven't the vaguest idea what that tent-like structure is, but the Denver International Airport is about 24 miles NE of Civic Center Park.
Nanook, it does seem like there was a time when big cities had rockets on display. When everyone was “space crazy”. I love the Hudson, and wish I owned it. “Jockey Blue”, not the most wonderful color name. The Dodge is pretty great too!
JB, so it’s either the surface of Mars, or somewhere in Asia/Europe? Of course there are Caucasus Mountains on the Moon too, maybe you mean those? I think the rocket meant, “We could wipe those filthy cowboys out in an instant if we wanted to”. Kind of aggressive. No idea about the white tent. I had never heard of Bean Station either, but I’ll bet it is gentrified and fancy now. The railings look decorative to me, I can’t imagine any function they would serve.
TokyoMagic!, everyone wanted a piece of Disneyland back then. “We’ll build our OWN Disneyland! Never mind that we aren’t creative, and have no talent!”. Not many people know that those mountains are made of plaster, but if you get up close it is very obvious. That’s when the glitter really shows.
DBenson, I do remember staying in motels and hotels on various road trips; the kidney shaped swimming pool with the slide was always a favorite. I don’t remember spinning racks of comic books or anything like that, probably because I can’t read. My brother and I always liked an ice machine, we’d get a soda from the vending machine and drink it with plenty of clear ice. Talk about luxury! We never got off to a slow start, my Navy dad made sure of that. We’d eat early and be back on the road.
Bu, it always amuses me when I see people on eBay selling the soaps, lotions, and shampoos that they got when staying at a Disney hotel. Who wants that stuff? If they were mementos of my own vacation, maybe. But otherwise they are just tiny toiletries. I think you mean “Beneath the Planet of the Apes”, come on, Bu! James Franciscus in his greatest role. Mountain Crafts generally involve possum parts. I think most hotels and motels we stayed in were tidy and fine, but some were not so nice. I like Burbank too! Folks at the Disney Studio always knocked Burbank, and I would defend it. “I don’t know, I kind of like it here”. I guess I’m weird.
Bu, bummer that the back of Cars Land looms over the Alpine Inn. I’m sure they weren’t happy to see that eyesore go up.
Chuck, interesting! I might have read that fact at some time, but if so, it fled my tiny brain long ago. I’m sure the Alpine Inn raised its prices when every other hotel and motel did, but I’ll bet it is still reasonable compared to many.
JG, that City and County building is unbelievable, it is so grand. Denver must have been especially prosperous when they were planning to build that edifice. “Ashlar masonry”, that’s a new one on me. I love both signs, but my heart will almost always lean toward the older version, even if it isn’t as fancy. Which motel did you stay in in SLO? Last Christmas everything was full, so my brother and I stayed in a place called the Sundown Inn (Morro Bay). Tiny rooms, but hey, we were grateful to not stay in the Motel 6.
DrGoat, I think that the excitement of being on a trip doesn’t hurt. Every day you see something new, eat at a different restaurant, and have the ultimate goal of Disneyland, or grandma and grandpa’s house, or whatever. “Sycamore Stand”, that’s a good name, and I see plenty of sycamores around here. Hiking down Sycamore Canyon, we saw how it got its name. Since I wrote today’s blog post a long time ago, I forget now, but Bean Station must have been on the way to some popular tourist destination. But which one?
Sunday Night, as a kid I was so jealous of people who traveled in campers! It looked like fun to me. I know what you mean about the unfamiliar products, and yet… we used to marvel at the wildly different selections at some places. My brother still goes on about the supermarkets in small-town Minnesota. “They had stuff we NEVER had!”.
Nanook, that clear mountain air really magnifies things.
Major-
I suppose I should've also mentioned the four other two-tone color options (in addition to 'Banner Blue & Jockey Blue') you could choose for your fabulous Hudson:
Navajo Beige & Harness Tan
Gallant Gray & Quartermaster Gray
Piedmont Green & Savory Green
Deep Maroon & Ruby Red
Decisions... decisions...
Nanook, thanks for that airport location info. I knew that the airport had that sort of white tent-like appearance, but the structure in today's photo looks kinda small to be the airport; which is why I asked. SO WHAT IS IT?!?! ;-)
Major, I had forgotten about the Lunar Caucasus Mountains... EVEN BETTER!
Perhaps the roof railings are to keep squirrels from tumbling over the edge and damaging the tops of cars parked below. I bet that's it.
GBD, sanitized for your protection. Well... maybe not so sanitary, what with the doggie-doo, kitty-poo, killer swans, animatronic exploding ducks, face-ripping monkeys, and others. I do like removing the sanitary strip from my monitor every time I visit GDB, though. Major takes good care of us.
^ GBD... Gorillas Blog Don't? Guess I shoulda proof-read my comment a little better.
In the cabinet under the main bathroom sink lies several bars of soap and some shampoo from the Disneyland hotel. The room service lady with the cart was very generous most of the time. Lots of Mickey on everything. Every once in a while I'll use one of the small soaps. As we all know, can't take 'em with you.
Major-
From unhappier times LOOK HERE, "from the 1980's". Too bad, as it featured Strictly Modern Tile Baths.
I always liked Burbank. I dug it's sleepy suburban vibe. I'm talking 60s and 70s now. Plus that's were the Disney studio is so it had a special fascination for me. I always thought of Burbank as a sort of gateway to Glendale - a city I liked even more.
Major: I don't remember actual comic books in motels either. I'm thinking of the paperback books, same size and shape as the novels. My first Peanuts collections were 35¢ books that had some of the strips from the bigger $1 volumes, cut up and with some extra background scribbled in so a single strip would fill a vertical page. Most of the cartoon books served up single panel gags, either from magazines or syndicated newspaper titles.
Proper comic books came from drug stores, newsstands at bus and train stations, and occasionally supermarkets. Regular issues were 12¢, but the discerning reader looked for the 25¢ 80-Page Giants. These tended to be reprints of older stuff, like Batman in his clunky 50s version, but there were also epics like Dennis the Menace in Hawaii, or Mexico, or Hollywood. And course the Disney Christmas Albums, Vacation Specials, Beach Parties, etc. For slightly older kids there was Mad, Cracked, and magazines themed to monsters, cars, and pop stars. And your big sister's teenage magazines, which you'd check out on the sly for the cute girls in the ads.
There's a dandy book, Motel California by Heather David. It's primarily color images of postwar motels in the Golden State, laced with history. A bit pricey at $45, but solid.
Major it was the Avenue Inn on Marsh Street. It met expectations, and reminded me of those places described by DBenson, although updated to somewhat modern amenities and finishes. We didn’t need high-speed Wi-Fi or lots of USB ports, just a decent room. It was just right. Coffee at Kreuzberg next AM with the kids and hit the road.
I can recommend the Kinney too, further north on Monterey, more $ but more amenities too. Older place, updated nicely.
I’ve loved SLO all my life and I’m so glad my son lives there so I have an excuse to visit often.
Cheers!
JG
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