Cute Frontierland, March 1962
Let's continue a series of photos featuring a charming woman who posed for a LOT of pictures for her adoring hubby. She's still in Frontierland, but not for long.
It must be freezing at Disneyland, you can really see her exhalation! She's standing next to a sign for "El Zocalo", a cluster of booths that carried all kinds of priceless treasures, including coonskin caps, rubber tomahawks, hats, leather goods, baskets, and basically everything a person needs to lead a contented life.
Only a true Disneyland nerd would love this one. Guilty. Our gal is sitting over at the Casa de Fritos, where there isn't another diner in sight. I like the artistic composition, and the way she is silhouetted in the foreground. Lonesome, as if she was in an Edward Hopper painting.
20 comments:
Major-
'Ginny' isn't alone sitting at Casa de Fritos... why she's got the Frito Kid and Klondike to keep her company-!
Thanks, Major.
1) Ha! Nothing says 'cute' quite like a cloud of noxious fumes being exhaled through one's nose; I always say. She's Puff the Magic Dragon!
On the left, is that white oval thing a mask? Or maybe pizza dough with a happy face carved into it?
I like those lantern-on-a-pole lamps.
On the right, there's a silhouette of a bull, or possibly a horse, or mule. Maybe it's a piñata.
Ginny's really workin' that 'bad girl' look.
2) Hopper's "Nighthawks" is one of my favorite paintings. On the one hand, the diner is a bright, warm, familiar place to be late at night. On the other hand, the scene looks stark and lonely. Stirs up lots of emotions.
I have to wonder what's on Ginny's mind in this photo. Maybe she's tired from posing for photos all day. I can almost hear her say to the photographer, "Beat it, buster. I'm off the clock... Where can a gal get a pack of Marlboros around here?"
Thanks for another episode of Ginny, Major.
Man, they really junked up Disneyland with merchandise booths back in the day, didn't they? Glad they don't do that anymore.
"Ginny" is seated sideways on the bench, yet turning towards the table as she checks her cell phone. Makes my lower back sore just looking at it.
Note the bottles of Tabasco and probably picante sauce on the tables, with an ashtray conveniently placed next to them, perfect for mixing your sauces to get them to your preferred level of heat.
I bought a bottle of Tabasco in a camouflaged pouch in New Orleans Square just before deploying to Haiti back in '94. Wore that thing on my web gear ("battle rattle") for easy access. MREs come with tiny, Barbie-sized Tabasco bottles, but sometimes that's not enough (particularly when trying to choke down the "omelet with ham" entree). We also had a detail that picked up hot meals twice a day at the field kitchen and drove them the couple of miles to our location, and while the food was hot, you were on your own for condiments.
The Frontierland ZOCOLO always had vendors around it in the early years creating a plaza market … but I think this is the first time I’ve seen the market stalls up close …. Or what was being sold there. Vintage Images of the ZOCOLO are normally from a distance or focusing on a music group on the small center bandstand that stood there.
One thing that looks awful today is that outdoor beverage “tent” construction next to the Riverboat landing: it looks like something from the Ape City in the 1968 PLANET OF THE APES …. AND……. From the decks of the Mark Twain and Columbia guests can see the dirty -dumpy and MESSY modern “backside” of the beverage operational side. As we use to say “THATS BAD SHOW”
How did Ginny manage to hold onto her hat, purse, pictorial souvenir guide, main gate handout, AND her cigarette, all at the same time.....and all day long, too?
Tokyo: to answer your question: super glue (on all counts.) I've never seen this market set up. Was this TRE before it was TRE? Could this be the "plush" of it's day? Are we REALLY shrinking? The Hopper pic is a keeper. The Eliot the dragon photo I think was meant to indicate that Ginny WAS El Zocalo...but she should be La Zocola. Ginny likes to be the model. She had to have been a someone...or wanted to be a someone. Too bad the smokes probably got her. I have some photos of me in from school days in Oxford and although I did not have the stylish figure and presence of Ginny, what I did have like Ginny was a cigarette hanging out of my mouth, or in my hand...in. every. photo. Terrible habit that I have given up. All of us creative types in England smoked, don't judge too harshly... El Zocalo: The smoker.
The marketplace is very atmospheric. I half expect to see Wishbone and Mushy in the background, stockin’ up on supplies for the cattle drive. I’m assuming JB’s pizza dough mask is brightly painted on the other side, to look like some kind of Native ceremonial gear. The second picture is all kinds of Western Gothic. Mike, one morning when I was staying in a fancy hotel in Las Vegas, I went around and snatched up all of the tiny Tabasco bottles from the used room service trays left in the hallway for collection. Got a few tiny catch-up bottles, too - nice for keeping at the office for microwave macaroni and cheese lunches.
I saw that white oval in photo 1 and thought Tokyo had slipped into the scene.
I will call photo 2 “Still Life with Frijoles”. It’s brilliant.
I think if I had a fake coonskin cap and a rubber tomahawk now, I would be well on the way to a contented life.
Mike Cozart, that drinks stand is an abomination and needs to be removed, or at least seriously re-worked. Amazing that design was approved.
Chuck, we bought MRE’s for a couple of Scout outings (the set-up was a pretend plane crash and how to survive it). The Barbie Tabascos were highly prized by the boys. Those meals earn their epithets, but frankly, they are amazing to stay even marginally edible for so long. A triumph of technology over taste.
Thanks Major!
JG
I definitely sense that Ginny’s getting a little tired of posing for pictures, at this point. The model stances are long gone. But these pictures are unique.
Thanks, Major.
Sue
Spectrum analysis reveals she's smoking Virginia Slims.
Thanks for the Rawhide reference Melissa. I try to catch at least 2 on Saturday's cowboy lineup. They took off the Lone Ranger, which I didn't care much for, and substituted Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, which is unwatchable.
My cousin has a Christmas tree which is adorned with about 35 or so Barbie Tabascos. They adopted 2 Korean boys when they were babies and they loved the stuff growing up, so he went out of his way to collect them.
Thanks for the pics Major. Hope she got to eat something after that smoke. The another cigarette, cause after meal cigarettes are mandatory.
Nanook, the Frito Kid and Klondike are always so busy, but they probably had a few minutes for Ginny.
JB, yeah, I’m sorry to all the smokers out there, but… cigarette smoke is pretty bad. How it ever was conceived as “cool” I’ll never know. I can’t quite tell what the white thing is, since we’re seeing it from the back… a mask is as good a guess as any. I see the silhouette of the bull, if t hat’s a piñata, it is nicer than any I’ve seen in the local Mexican shops! I like “Nighthawks” too, but I can’t ever find the hawks. Hopper really hid them well. Ginny probably didn’t even know she was having her picture taken in photo #2!
Chuck, just imagine how much fun it must have been to peruse all of the fun stuff that they had in El Zocalo! Those were the days. I didn’t really think about Ginny’s contortions, but she seems OK. I noticed the Tabasco, but couldn’t figure out what the other sauce is. I wonder if it is a brand that still exists? I don’t really think of Tabasco when I think “Mexican food”. Interesting that they sold the stuff (in a camo pouch!) in New Orleans Square back in ’94, that surprises me. I’ve never tried an MRE, sounds like they aren’t so tasty. Better than nothing though!
Mike Cozart, take a look at the first photo from THIS POST, it’s probably the best look at the wares in El Zocalo that I have. Jeez, I don’t remember that beverage tent, though I must have walked right past it. It’s amazing that nobody apparently considered that it looks bad from the Mark Twain!
TokyoMagic!, in a few years she would be able to hold all that, PLUS a squirming baby. It’s a mystery.
Bu, I just assume that Ginny was an aspiring actress or a sometimes-model. She had poise! I don’t find the old El Zocalo to be crass like the many piles of plush dolls that used to be such a blight on Disneyland. The variety of souvenirs and crafts is unlike what we see nowadays. Like many young people, I tried smoking, but the experience was so profoundly unpleasant that I could not understand the desire to keep doing it. And yet…! My older brother smokes a lot, I worry about what will become of him as he ages.
Melissa, I wish these “Ginny” slides didn’t tend to go so dark, and they also shifted to a blue-violet as well, so that probably aids in the atmospheric look. “Wishbone and Mushy”?? The “mask” appears to have a little open smile - not a fearsome frown. Funny that you got all of those tiny Tabasco bottles. I love putting it on Mac and cheese! Sriracha is good too.
JG, TokyoMagic! does get around, but he usually brings his body with him. I mean, as a rule. I don’t want to be seen as putting limits on his abilities. Hey, you could be “the guy who wears a coonskin cap” in your neighborhood, everyone would know you. The rubber tomahawk would become a symbol of authority and wisdom. What is worse, MRE’s or those freeze dried meals?
Sue, ha ha, I DO wonder if she started to get irritated. “Another one??”. But her husband was nuts about her. I have one photo of him, so you’ll finally see what he looked like!
DrGoat, I love the idea of making “cigarettes for ladies”. We’ll make them longer and skinnier, they don’t want those stumpy man cigarettes! I think there was a brand that even had flowered paper, maybe that was Virginia Slims. Oh Melissa was referencing “Rawhide”? I never saw that show that I recall, though my brother sometimes watches it on “MeTV” or some such place. Can mere mortals buy those little bottles of Tabasco? Like in a “giant family pack”? Suddenly I want food so that I can put that vinegary heat on it!
Oh, the guy who wears a coonskin cap is a person in your neighborhood,
In your neighborhood,
In your neighborhood,
Oh, the guy who wears a coonskin cap is a person in your neighborhood,
One of the people that you meet each day!
"Won't you be my neighbor."... Oh wait, that's a different neighborhood. [JB takes off his slippers, puts his shoes back on, and slinks quietly out the door.]
Major: wow! I didn’t remember that post showing the Zocolo merchandise stalls!! - I don’t think I would have even known that was Disneyland!! That red painted pot with the little “balcony planters “ on its sides is a very familiar sight!! Growing up in San Diego in the 1970’s EVERYBODY had those planter pots!! But they were almost always plain or glazed terra-cotta in finish . And I’m not exaggerating: I seriously think everyone we knew had them on their porches , walkways , patios …. Gardens …. Around their pools . They almost always had strawberries growing I them I recall . About 10 years ago we disposed of out last surviving pot …. The plants ( I think some kind of succulents were last growing in them) had died off and the exterior glaze has worn away and the little “balconies” or terrace pouches were breaking off or chipping away. I remember these planters being used and sold at garden centers and specialty stores like Mosketel’s … ( a fancier pier 1 imports type store of the 70’s) and Mexican pottery shops . I don’t know what those pots were called , but growing up in 70’s Southern California they were as commonplace as were abalone shell ashtrays were !!
Melissa that song “ who are the people in your neighborhood?” And “I’m going for a ride” from. Sesame Street were two of my favorite songs as a kid …. We sang those songs in kindergarten, on the playground and at home I had two heavy cardboard picture books with records that featured those songs I played constantly!! ….. until one day I left the records on my bed and while we were out the sun came through the window and melted/warped the vinyl discs.
I still make jokes about Virginia Slim Cigarettes …. When were we little my mom and grandmother smoked and my sister and I would beg my mom to smoke VIRGINIA SLIMS everytime we saw the ads in magazines !!! They were LONG LITES !! So long and elegant and slender ! Almost the length of TWO cigarettes !!! And best of all they were available In COLORS!! Not just white cigarette but Bicentennial Green!! Regal Raspberry and Exotic Orange!! ( I don’t really know if those were the color names ) but other than in the magazine ads I don’t recall evert seeing and lady’s smoking those Virginia Slims Long lites.
Marketing cigarettes to women was done from the very beginning to elegant ceramic dainty tobacco pipes in colonial times to ladies cigars “cigarillos” in the 19th Century. That’s one bad legacy Native Americans left the world : SMOKING and LUNG CANCER!!
I TOTALY sympathize with Ginny starting to get irritated with having to Constantly pose for more pictures . My cousin Elizabeth and I laugh and joke that we have MORE photographs of us posing with Civil War cannons or battle field markers than we can count!! I think that’s why as kids when we heard about our grandfathers in “THE WAR” we thought they meant the CIVIL WAR and didn’t understand WW2!!!
Major, you mentioned Ginny’s “husband”....did we determine that she’s married? I wasn’t paying attention to whether or not she was wearing a ring in any past pictures. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a first, AND LAST, date....the photographer seems to be annoying her...which wouldn’t surprise me. He doesn’t take her on many rides/attractions...
Sue
Melissa, I probably should know that song reference but I don’t. Sad tears of shame.
JB, what about your sweater?
Mike Cozart, it’s easy enough to miss a day (or a week) around here. I remember those pots with the little side openings, but never saw a painted or glazed version. My mom had a smaller one, plain terra cotta. I think I broke it. I swear it was an accident! I suppose nothing lasts forever, but it’s a shame that the pots from your house finally wore out. They were probably cheap back in the day, though they’d be expensive now. I just went to a plant nursery, and some glazed pots were well over $100. Yikes. Oh that song from Melissa was from Sesame Street? I guess I was too old to watch that show - of course I was aware of it, but even now I’ve only seen occasional clips. I’m kind of jealous of the kids who had that to watch when they were little! I didn’t know Virginia Slims were that long. I figured they were probably an inch or so longer. You know, you’d get an extra few puffs out of them. “Bicentennial Green”, ha ha. I think I remember reading that Marlboros were originally considered “women’s cigarettes”, until they decided to make them manly. I wonder how often Native Americans actually smoked tobacco. Was it strictly ceremonial, or did they smoke all the time the way everyone does now? Hey, at least you have lots of pictures of you and your sister from those days, I’ll bet they are fun to look at now.
My ancestors on my dad’s side French/German and English ( mostly ) came to America in the late 1600’s to Virginia and parts of the Carolina’s …. With the intent of growing pears ( pears are even on the European Cozart/Cossart family crest) the pears didn’t grow as well as they did in france so the family quickly converted to growing Tobacco. I think Native Americans smoked tobacco mostly for ceremony …. But other tribes like The Cherokee ( I’m also part on my dad’s side) smoked for pleasure as well. And many Indian tribes did smoke for pleasure. I’m sure if it was addictive now it was back then. A funny note about my family having tobacco plantations is that none of my dad’s 20th century side were smokers of any kind - it’s possible that relatives were smokers in the 1700’s and 1800’s .. but we have no evidence per se. I know that Mexican and South American Indians were big pleasure smokers …. Even in San Diego when the first public school in California was created ( the Mason street Schoolhouse ) the first teacher Mary Chase Walker made notes on the attendance of the children of the area and that it was difficult to get the mexican / Indian boys to attend class because the families needed them on their ranches and farms … however the girls attended more frequently and came to school smoking cigars ( little girls!!!) and that their mothers also constantly smoked cigars!! While the man and boys were rarely seen smoking : This was in the 1860’s!!
Smoking as a "manly" activity is largely the result of mass advertising. It was once more like drinking coffee - a thing men and women both did to get a boost of energy.
Beer brewing is much the same. Though it's seen as a "guy's hobby" now, if a man in the 18th century mentioned that he spent the afternoon brewing to his neighbor, the neighbor would have asked something to the effect of, "hast thine good wife taken ill?"
Mike C, we had one of those pots when I was a kid. My Mom called it a “strawberry pot” and we planted strawberries in it of course. It must have been a stylish thing since I remember she was pleased to get it. The plants didn’t do well in the valley heat in the unglazed clay, they dried out fast and took a lot of attention.
My daughter moved into an old house, about the same vintage as my childhood farmhouse, and there was an unglazed strawberry pot in the garden. We cleaned it up and planted it with strawberries. They do much better in the climate here. I don’t know if you can still buy them new or not.
JG
Mike, I wonder if the succulent you're thinking of is Hens and Chicks? We always had them on our front porch in a similar kind of pot.
https://thehowtohome.com/how-to-plant-and-grow-hens-and-chicks/
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