You saw the title of today's post, so you know what you're in for! Snoozers, by golly.
From "sometime in the 1980s" comes this too-dark photo of the Ernest S. Marsh - the ol' number four, almost lost in the gloom. Has it come to a complete stop yet? Or is it still slowly moving forward? We'll never know. But this one isn't a total loss, in the distance is the famous Disneyland sign, and the even-more-famous Denny's sign. I'll have waffles with a side of bacon AND sausage. And a glass of terrible store-bought orange juice.
Speaking of "too dark", here's a shot of that crazy castle, slightly greenish and mostly in shadow. We can't even enjoy a vintage look at The Dent thanks to that tree.
Funny how the background is perfectly lit, while the Ernest S. Marsh is "lost in the gloom", as you say. It's not a bad picture if your main interest is the parking lot and the Disneyland sign.
ReplyDeletePesky tree. Oh well, the Dent wouldn't have been visible in the gloom anyway. And those grapes would have been sour anyway, said the fox.
I think photo #2 is from sometime in the fifties, judging by the height of that kid's pant cuffs (on the right). Speaking of which, is he wearing a metallic blue cowboy hat, like we saw the other day? And what has he gots in his handses? Looks like a disintegrator ray gun. I think he's keeping a wary eye out for the killer swans.
The gloom gives these Snoozers an aura of mystery. Thanks, Major.
Those poor people stuck in that last image...forever. They seem to know it, too.
ReplyDelete—Sue
As Bert the chimney sweep would say, there’s things half in shadow and halfway in light. Coo, what a sight! That li’l buckaroo on the drawbridge is looking right at us. I can’t make out what he’s holding - kind of looks like a box?
ReplyDeleteThe Ernest S. Marsh is almost certainly still moving. If it were to stop here, they’d be unloading passengers on the bridge over the East Entrance Tunnel and possibly in Primeval World. That’s not allowed for safety reasons - you don’t want a guest to be eaten by an Allosaurus Rex.
ReplyDeleteIs that Denny’s still there? I haven’t driven that part of Harbor in a month of February 29ths. I know there’s one on the first block of Karelia just west of West Street/Disneyland Drive.
Man, that looks like the castle from Sombertown, or maybe Disneyland of the Damned. Don’t touch any spinning wheels as you pass through. Properly warned ye be says I.
It’s so dark, the banners flanking the drawbridge and its approach bridge look like they are black. Even the Stain is obscured by shadow and a small tree or shrubbery placed where I am positive that the Knights Who So Recently Said “Ni” did not wish it to be placed.
I do like that first one, for what it does show us. However, I'm not sure it's from the 1980s. Weren't the tall flags on top of the Disneyland sign gone by 1980?
ReplyDeleteChuck, Denny's is still there on Harbor Blvd. I'm not 100% sure that it's in the exact same place, but everything seems to line up properly:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.google.com/maps/place/Denny's/@33.8083413,-117.9152101,3a,75y,45.88h,92.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sR7-g2SfyhgGiEzZfaEqe7Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192!4m8!1m2!2m1!1sdisneyland!3m4!1s0x80dcd7daee428d2d:0xd4eded2dcee91a58!8m2!3d33.808458!4d-117.9148436
I am always completely enamored over photos of the parking lot and the surrounding "rag tag" of the neighborhood...all it brings to mind for me is the anticipation and excitement which is actually better than getting in past the gates and riding rides. Call me crazy. I agree that the photo is pre-80's as the sign is not resonating completely, and I think the Denny's logo was not the same...although that logo is awesome! In 1980 they had the blue/silver 25th anniversary logo, and I am seeing the "park and hotel" sign. After the 25th, the sign changed "mottos" but I am remembering that it stayed within blue color ways and not yellow. I like the flagpoles too...they area awesome, but I'm pretty sure they were gone. I don't remember specifically going into that Denny's, but why? It seem like where we would go after the canoe races...and maybe we did...will have to do a memory regression meditation.......... I think we all did actually. In fact...now that my memory is stirring, I think all the canoe race peeps would converge at this Denny's for breakfast before going back to the park to work. In fact...I think one of our more jocular team members had a jeep the would forever be jumping that median on Harbor in order to not do the U-turn. I could only aspire to be as crazy as that one...he stopped doing that when APD gave him a gigantic ticket when the jeep got caught on a big rock. If you were there in the 80's you would remember that rock. It was huge. The things you remember when you put your mind to it... It seemed as if the Denny's team was ready for us, as we all would basically get there at the same time...maybe at the new Denny's it is the same? I did confirm that canoe races still occur...but I'm not sure they were as big of a deal as in my time. We were covered by the worldwide press for it...not my team however as we never made it past semi-finals. My first team was the "Why be Normals"...and the only other one that I remember was "The Totally Tour Guides"...however, I participated every year during my employment. Will have to do some more meditation... I think another was "The RAD PLAIDS"...now that I am going there, I am pretty sure I was rear steerer in Rad Plaids...I also remember now that it was the only team that we were out TO WIN. We may have even got ringers from other departments. Note to current employees that read this blog: "WRITE THINGS DOWN". Thanks for the memory unlocker this morning Major! (what was the post about...?)
ReplyDeleteMajor, I’m willing to forego a clear view of the locomotive in return for a clear view of the sign and Denny’s, which is still there AFAIK. Thanks Tokyo for the link!
ReplyDeleteI do hate to give up a view of the Dent, especially when the Stain isn’t very clear either, and I can’t even make out the coat of arms, but I’ll take this view since it isn’t Barbie Pink and Lavender.
I know I’ve never visited that Dennys before, but the chain was a standby for me during college. Grand Slam Breakfast FTW, it’s the West Coast counterpart to Waffle House.
JG
Thanks, TM!
ReplyDeleteJB, yeah, I don’t quite understand how photos turn out like that, with the light part looking pretty good, and the shadow part turning to black mush. I assume that the photographer’s main interest was the train! Yes I’m sure that photo #2 is from the 1950s, I forgot to say that. And great catch on the metallic blue hat, that has to be the same kid!!
ReplyDeleteSue, it’s like an episode of The Twilight Zone!
Melissa, that Bert, he’s always saying stuff. With that authentic Cockney accent, too. I wonder if the boy is holding a movie camera?
Chuck, back in those days they made passengers climb up over the east tunnel. It seems odd to us today! Also, three points to Hufflepuff for calling the dinosaur an Allosaurus and not a Tyrannosaurus! (You ARE in Hufflepuff, right?). I believe that Denny’s is still there, but I can’t say for sure. I also feel like I’ve heard people on podcasts talking about going to Denny’s to eat. “Disneyland of the Damned”, like in Mrs. Chuck’s bad dreams? That whole lot of slides went kind of dark, I wonder why. If they were from decades later I’d speculate that the x-ray machines at the airport were the culprit. Maybe the film got too hot? Or too cold? Or somebody hurt its feelings?
TokyoMagic!, gosh, I scanned this slide so long ago that I don’t even know where it would be, but you know a lot, so maybe that first view is from before the 80s.
TokyoMagic!, mmm-mmmm! Look at all that delicious Denny’s food! It always looks so good on the menu. And then… you eat it.
Bu, I agree with you, as much as Walt hated the clutter and chaos of “motel row”, there was something kind of exciting about it for mere mortals. I will call you crazy, but I won’t like it! If you also think that photo is pre-80s, I must have just guessed. Sometimes I do that with undated slides. I love the old classic Denny’s logo, it’s so cheerful. The flagpoles are definitely classic, I remember seeing somebody attempting to do a “vintage” sign, and they added flags much like the ones on the old Disneyland sign, it did the trick! I’m sure that Denny’s offered some good hearty meals for young folks who’d just canoed around the Rivers of America. How about a big breakfast with eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, toast & jelly, and maybe some pancakes? Everything a growing CM needs. Now I need to see that famous rock. I once got a ticket doing a U-turn where you weren’t supposed to, but “everyone did it”, and I just happened to be the chump who got caught. Argh. “The Rad Plaids”, a good name for a barbershop quartet. Good idea for CMs, definitely write things down!
JG, don’t you worry, I’m sure we’ll see plenty of pictures of that dent, the most-loved dent in the world (although I’m told that the original Maltese Falcon from the movie had a dent in it too). At a certain time in my life I had friends who always wanted to go to Denny’s after a night out. I didn’t mind it, it was sort of nice to wind down and see the weirdos who were there at 2 in the morning.
Chuck, spoken like a true Hufflepuff.
Three more points for correctly identifying my house. And don’t be silly, Major - nobody eats the menu!
ReplyDeleteThe last time was in a Denny’s, some grizzled old coot with his pants pulled up to his armpits stopped st my table, looked at my plate, and yelled out in a voice you could hear in Pennsylvania, “MY GOD! I COULD NEVER EAT THAT MANY PANCAKES!” I was trying to think of a polite response when he shuffled off, muttering something about his war wounds.
ReplyDeleteThat Denny’s does have a nice Coke Freestyle machine, though.
Melissa, it’s amazing how the ol’ brain filter wears thin as we age...until we get to the point where my dad’s at. You can expect him to say ANYTHING that’s on his mind, at the moment. The scary part is that I’m beginning to notice it starting in me, now.
ReplyDelete—Sue
Major-
ReplyDeleteThe best I can determine from the resolution of the Denny's sign is, that logo style is from the period of 1961-1973. (Who knows how up-to-date that signage is, and it may be lagging behind for some years before updating it to the [then] current version).
As for the Disneyland sign... the last photographic evidence I can locate with a date indicates the flags were still up in May, 1974; and gone by [at least] December, 1976. Also, in 1976, the 'yellow', appended "entrance", etc., sign was replaced with a stylized, blue/white The Happiest Place On Earth, and the flags were removed. Seems logical the first image was taken some time in the 1970's, as putting it any earlier would be at odds with some of the vehicles in the parking lot.
Sue, I've spent so much time alone over the last two and a half years that I wouldn't be surprised if my own public filters weren't everything they used to be!
ReplyDeleteMajor, I hung in a group of hard partiers for a few years right after college and we did just what you describe, late nights or early mornings at Denny’s eating the chili spaghetti. I had forgotten that till you mentioned it. Too many brain cells under the rug,LOL. We were probably the weirdos you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteAfter hearing Mrs. Chuck’s dark dreams, I’m starting to wonder if you should start retouching these murky slides in the other direction, but one doesn’t simply walk into Mordor, or Fordor, or Twodor.
JG
My only real memory of a Denny's was eating at one during a trip to Hersheypark as a kid (mus be a connection between Denny's and theme parks). I was fascinated by the spherical scoop of butter atop the pancakes. I really should buy a tiny disher to put scoops of butter on my pancakes at home.
ReplyDeleteChuck, I guess you’re right, nobody (or not many people) eat the menu.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, it’s always great when a nut job offers his unwanted opinion. I once went to a restaurant with my grandmother, and we’d been walking through the rain, so my hair was sort of plastered down. Some old geezer came up to me and said, “You look like Mr. Spock!”. Thanks?
Sue, I can’t wait until I let all those whippersnappers know just what I think of them! I guarantee that there will be a lot of discussion about their long hair.
Nanook, I guess I could look it up, but I assume that Denny’s began in 1961? I dislike their new logo, which is just boring. Why replace something fun and full of personality with something bland? Thanks for doing the research on the Disneyland sign, which I could have done. But I had to watch my stories on TV!
Melissa, I definitely spend a lot less time with people than I did two+ years ago, and I was never exactly Mr. Sociable. I’m sure you are fine!
JG, I was not a “hang out until the wee hours” person as a rule, but for a while my friends liked to go to raves, and I was the designated driver, being not much of a drinker, and I took no drugs. Let me tell you, it was not much fun to wait around for them while they were zonked out of their gourds. Luckily that fad did not last very long. The hangout that I enjoyed was a brew pub in downtown L.A. called Gorky’s Cafe, we could go there after a live show and meet interesting people - not even weirdos, but folks on movie crews, musicians, etc. I was very sad when they finally went out of business. Some of my dark slides don’t need much retouching, they look fairly sinister hot off the scanner.
Dean Finder, ha ha, it’s funny how something like a sphere of butter (whipped butter too I’ll bet) made such an impression on you. I used to love to watch them make milkshakes with the milkshake machine (do those have a more elegant name?), and thought that looked like a fun task.