Big River, August 1965
There are some Disneyland features that I never grow weary of, no matter how many times I've seen them. The Rivers of America (particularly from ye olden days) is one of those features.
The river looks like rippled glass here, barely disturbed by the canoe gliding past. In recent years, whenever there's a photo of a canoe, I like to look at how many passengers are paddling, and how many are not even pretending to help. In this case it looks like hardly anybody is helping! Many seem to be watching a fresh batch of guests as they deplane from Injun Joe's raft.
Our photographer has taken the time to set up a composition that includes dark foreground elements. Maybe he used to work for the Viewmaster company. The Old Mill is surrounded by guests hoping for a mouthful of free flour. In the distance, the Haunted Mansion looks stately and elegant, but we know that it is still filling up with ghostly inhabitants, to eventually open four years later.
11 comments:
The Haunted Mansion, still in it's pristine unused state without any guests or ghosts, is trying mightily to look like it's part of the Mark Twain. [Edit- Guess I shoulda finished reading Major's commentary before writing this, huh?]
I don't see any ducks! Where are the ducks?! How are we gonna blow things up real good without any Animatronic Exploding Ducks!!!
I'm not sure, but I don't think the Canoe CMs are wearing coonskin caps.
Lots of white shirts being worn on the upper deck of the MT.
The Old Mill is looking nice and... old, and... mill-y. The foreground flowers and fencing add a touch of artistic elegance to the photo. Still no ducks. I think I'll go visit City Hall and ask Bu for my money back. :-D
Thanks for the views of the glassy Rivers Of America, Major.
Deplane! Deplane!
Mmmmmmm free flour! Throw in a mouthful of salt and together, with a mouthful of water from the river, you could make your own relief map of Tom Sawyer Island. Hey, they should have a location on the island where you can "Build Your Own Relief Map" of TSI. They could charge $200 per person! I bet it would be more popular than "Build Your Own Droid" or "
Build Your Own Light Saber." Throw in a Zinger, and they could charge $250 for it!
By the way, the purplish-blue flower in the foreground of the second pic, is statice. I'm hoping that the plant with the red flower is oleander, because it makes for a great free snack "on the go."
Oh, wow, it certainly is a beautiful day on the river. Sun-dappled water, rich green foliage, and boatloads of guests having a good time. Are the canoe skippers wearing something besides coonskin caps on their heads, or are my eyes just a bit blurrier than I thought today?
The worst thing about traveling to TSI was the inability to check luggage, carry-on only, and no overhead compartments!
Still, it’s a short trip and the scenery makes up for the lack of beverage service.
Tokyo, I think that is oleander, and that’s probably what they ground up to make the flour. Definitely “road food” since there were hundreds of miles of it lining the 99 & 80 freeways (and many others). Relief maps sound like a great souvenir, better than a catfish! Now I’m hungry for oleander, Socrates recommended it.
Melissa, I think the canoe guides are wearing headbands, at the time of the photo, the attraction was called Indian War Canoes. The name change to Davy Crockett Canoes must have brought a costume change as well. Not sure when that happened.
JG
The last time I rode the canoes, everyone I could see was at least trying to paddle. Unfortunately, the kid in front of me had a very erratic stroke and our paddles kept dueling for supremacy over the same chunk of river, and the little kid behind me kept unintentionally splashing his paddle into the water on every stroke. My back was pretty wet after our journey over liquid space.
There were also a couple of spots where the lead coonskin directed us to rest. This photo may document a rest period, with some lazy or clueless guests dragging their paddles in the water when not in use. Unfortunately, a dragging paddle attracts sharks, and there's about a 30% chance that these draggers didn't make it back to port. KS can back me up on this.
JG, the canoes changed their name in 1971 with the closure of the Indian Village. That would be the Indian Village you could visit, not the FIV, the GIV (Grouchy Indian Village), the Indian village inside Peter Pan Flight, or the India section of it's a small world.
Whenever I read the word “oleander,” I hear it in my head with a stagey, exaggerated Southern accent. I must have heard it for the first time in a Tennessee Williams play or something.
JB, you should always read all of my commentary, take copious notes, and maybe even write a small synopsis in your journal. Is that too much to ask? Maybe all the ducks already exploded, it was bound to happen sometime. And it naturally takes a certain amount of time for more exploding ducks to find safe haven in Frontierland. The circle of life or something. From what I have heard, the coonskin caps were somewhat optional, depending on the weather. If you ask Bu for your money back, be sure to also complain that you did not get to meet Walt Disney.
TokyoMagic!, I would love to make a scale model of Tom Sawyer Island, in fact that sounds pretty cool. The little bridges and peaks, the fort, the mill… and then I could sell it for a million dollars. Can I pay $200 for somebody ELSE to build my relief model? I just got my nails done. Velma (my nail artist) would be so upset. I am enjoying the idea that a Dolly Madison Zinger will make any outrageous activity OK!
TokyoMagic!, I’ve never heard of “statice”, but I believe you. And a few oleander leaves placed on a hotdog adds a spicy note that kids love.
Melissa, I remember a magazine referring to the River as looking like “rippled Jello”, and now that’s all I can think about when I see a photo like this. It doesn’t look like a flavor I want to eat, but still… Jello! I think the canoe guys are wearing “Indian headbands”, since they were the “War Canoes” back in those days.
JG, not to mention that you have to keep your shampoo in a container that is 3 ounces or less! I need lots of shampoo for my famous wavy locks. Some say I look like one of the Bee Gees in their 1970s prime. Who am I to argue? I’ve noticed that a lot of the oleander that used to line the freeways in SoCal is gone, supposedly the victim of a bug called the “glassy-winged sharpshooter” (no joke).
Chuck, I applaud you for at least trying the canoes. If I were you, I would have yelled at that kid loudly, with my face turning purple and the veins in my neck sticking out. But I admit that this is not for everyone. I wonder if the kid was even a little aware that he was splashing somebody?? Thank you for the info about dragging paddles and how that attracts sharks, that will serve me well in the future. I love learning, especially when I don’t have to go to the liberry! I wouldn’t want to go to the Grouchy Indian Village, but can you blame them for being out of sorts?
Melissa, ha ha, I’m sure the phrase “fiddle dee-dee” has to be in there somewhere!
Sorry to be so serious, but honestly folks, do not eat Oleander, it is highly toxic to humans and lethal for dogs.
And they look like Mandeville anyway.
MS
MS, we have talked about oleander's poisonous nature before, but you are right, it can't hurt to stress that one should NEVER eat it.
Oleander is what Vincent Price used to poison his first wife in Dragonwyck. He slipped it into her tipsy cake.
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