Fotos From Frontierland, 1979
It seems like it's been a while since we've seen some scans from the Mysterious Benefactor. My fault! But hey, the waiting makes it all the sweeter.
As I've mentioned before, a very large percentage of the hundreds and hundreds of photos in this group feature the Columbia, and many details of that ship. And today continues that trend - with the exception of this first image, showing the Frontierland Shooting Gallery. Plink away at moving targets; Buffalo! Jack rabbits! Giant sloths! And other typical critters from the Wild West. There's a string-tied cast member to the left who appears to be heckling the two boys. "Aaaaa, ya shoot like my grandma!". Kind of mean, the boy closest to us is trying to hide a tear.
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Signage! We love signage! And this one is pretty nice. Off the top of my head, I don't remember noticing it before, though I would think that it would be over near the load area for both the Mark Twain (seen here) and the Columbia. But the sign mentions "Fowler's Harbor". I don't know! Notice the pretty (but poisonous) oleander - it used to be everywhere in SoCal, but of late it has been decimated by a pest called the "glassy-winged sharpshooter". I'm not making that up!
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Here's a nice shot of the ornate clock above the sailboat/steamboat landing. Things have to run on time, or else the world will fall into chaos. Elgin had taken over the sponsorship of timepieces at Disneyland (from Timex), as you can see. Some of that black paint is peeling, but otherwise things look well-maintained.
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How about another view, showing more details? It took me a second to figure out what the bright-colored objects are beneath the word "Columbia"... it's clothing!
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I thought I'd zoom in for a look at that nice sign, telling us to tear out one "D" coupon. No cash accepted on Ride (why is "Ride" capitalized?)!
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For some reason the Columbia had a figurehead in the likeness of Britney Spears. I just report the facts.
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I know that this thing looks like an anchor, but it is actually a fish hook, used to land some giant groupers, or even the occasional white shark. The crew would bait the hook with some cheese, and believe me, they'd catch more than they could eat.
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THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
18 comments:
Major-
I do love all the details, for which Disneyland is so famous - although the last shot detailing the hull certainly doesn't put things in 'the best light'.
Thanks to the M B.
It's been my experience that the dire wolves are the hardest to hit in the Frontierland Shooting Gallery. They're very fast! Conversely, the wooly rhinos are the easiest (next to the giant sloths of course); big, slow, lumbering beasts. (I've never actually been in any of the Disneyland Shooting Galleries. Too busy going from ride to ride.)
Shooting Gallery: I guess those are booster steps down below, to slide out for the littler sharpshooters.
Columbia sign: Hmm, there aren't any people aboard the Mark Twain. And somebody's jacket is hanging on the railing. Is the MT berthed at Fowler's Harbor, being worked on? Stately-looking sign.
Elgin clock: That's a great color combination for the station. Colorful, but elegant.
Another view: I don't think all of those colorful things are clothing, Major. The red & yellow thing looks too big to be clothing; it looks like a panel from a deflated hot-air balloon (but I'm sure it's not). The red thing on the left looks like a cutout of a cowboy.
Columbia figurehead: "...in the likeness of Britney Spears." Huh. And all this time I thought it was Lady Gaga. Another GDB fact you won't get anywhere else!
Giant fish hook: I never noticed before that the Columbia uses a (thick) rope instead of a chain for its anchor. It looks like they've never 'laid anchor', or the paint would have been worn off where it comes sliding out of that hole.
I've just noticed that there is a black band on the top right end of the anchor, but no corresponding band on the left... It bugs me! I won't be able to sleep tonight!
Thanks, Major and MB for more very nice Frontierland pictures.
That Columbia sign (second pic) is actually over at Fowler's Harbor, like the sign states (and like Major pointed out). It's the entrance to the Columbia when the "Below Decks" part is open to guests as an attraction, but the ship is docked and not in operation. There is a smaller sign hanging off of the large "Columbia" sign, which states, "Columbia Now Boarding at Mark Twain Landing." When the photo was taken, the Mark Twain was obviously docked in the Harbor and not running at the moment.
JB, your confusion over thinking that the figurehead was Lady Gaga probably comes from the fact that once a year, on National Beef Day, they completely cover the figure with raw steaks.
The Columbia figurehead....it's what's for dinner!
Tokyo best me to it regarding the Columbia - below decks entry. The attraction was free and even had its own soundtrack of “Columbia Docked BGM” a cast member would point out facts and answer questions. Several posts back I mentioned the screenprinted ship blueprint poster located to the left of this sign. There was a NEW 70’s attraction poster designed that was part of this overall sign package …. But during this time the WED graphics department was overloaded getting all the new WDW attraction posters done for the 1978-1980 poster redo …. And attraction posters NOT located at both parks got sent to the back of the line ….. having been completely designed …. But never put into production …. COLUMBIA , MATTERHORN MOUNTAIN BOBSLEDS , 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , Plaza Swan Boats ….AUTOPIA …. Were some titles that awaited production … but then graphics focused on EPCOT & Tokyo Disneyland . Some attraction posters were all ready to go and there line art and color separations were prepared but were shelved because of budget . Like the 1982 Pirates of the Caribbean attractions poster …. It was screened in 1982 …. Financed by Tokyo DL production … but was designed and it’s printing films were created in 1976. The same for a new Haunted Mansion attraction poster …that never went into the screening / completion stage.
Anyway, back to the Columbia below decks blueprint posters …. Several years ago a retiring signshop employee had a roll of these for sale …. And I passed . I’ve never seen them again ….. but they are out there!!
Seeing the Shooting Gallery image I hear the theme song to THREE’S COMPANY…..
Come on knock on our door....take a step that is new...where the kisses are hers and hers and his...Three's Company tooooo....Thanks Mike. I will be singing that allll day long. Not a bad jingle, but what does it mean? 70's TV: "Brilliant". These photos are also very brilliant, and I am waiting for the coffee table book "The Best of the Guu-ril-uzzz". I don't remember that color on the Mark Twain/Columbia dock. Wow...that is a bold choice...it is almost TRE to a stuffy designer like myself. There is a standard blue Disneyland blue collar jacket hanging over the railing of the Mark Twain. I keep on looking for one of these jackets. They are super cool with embrodered Disneyland logo and the ubiquitous "Sam" name patch...or whoever it might be. I don't want to put this jacket under lucite or in a glass box, it's for wearing. I am not a "glass case" kind of guy...I like to use things as intended. Which is why everything I own generally gets broken quickly. Also on the Mark Twain you can see the little "lounge" that leads to the wheel house. I think that is a little wash stand there as you walk in. That was a humble little space. I would like the old shooting gallery back!! What a noise those places would make! Ping, ping clank, ping...get your earplugs. The female is a Frontierland march costume, and the guy has on a specific shooting gallery costume. She was probably "visiting". I don't remember females working on this attraction. In fact, I don't remember too many females anywhere near this attraction. I've told the stories about people putting their finger over the end of the rifle to see if something "really comes out". Hence: the new shooting gallery. The other thing is you would always smell fresh paint, as it needed to be repainted every day...which is kind of cool, and kind of expensive. No wonder it was "Except Shooting Galleries" with the Passport and any other iteration of ticket. Those are some sturdy gams on bachelor #1...that was a "look" with the jeans, leather belt, and football jersey tucked in. I don't think anyone "tucks" anything anymore except me. A brand called "untucked" proliferates this casual idea. This is not an ad or endorsement. I looked closer at the photo...and it does look like the female employee has earplugs in...so maybe she DID work there...I'm not sure what he's whispering to her about, but clearly, with earplugs she's not going to hear a thing. Those particular earplugs did drown out a LOT of noise, and we also used them in the Balloon Room. As a joke I brought a set over to a friend working in City Hall, which could also always be the perfect locale for earplug wearing. Do we really need to hear "It's raining and Disneyland has ruined my entire vacation!!!" all day long? Sometimes I would reply: Raining men? or the more common water? Of course, I am kidding, as anything even close to that sarcasm would be a terminal act. Thanks for the photos this AM Major!
This is good stuff, Major. Big thanks to you and the MB, may his beard never fall out!
I remember the Below Deck Exhibit, my favorite part of Columbia, which made it possible to enjoy the attraction even if not running, which it never seems to do when I visit. Of course, now no longer open because of the never-to-be-sufficiently-cursed Fantasmic.
The Columbia figurehead is modestly dressed, as is appropriate for a family park, unlike some of the carved hussies we see on other ships.
Loved those Shooting Galleries, but for some reason I remember the Adventureland side more. I think it was shooting the Tasmanian Devils. Maybe I’m confusing the Frontierland side with Knotts?
I had shoes just like bachelor No. 1, but no sport jersey.
JG
JB, that "black band" on the end of the stock of the anchor is literally the end of the wooden stock--you can't see the end on the left side because it's facing away from the camera.
What "strikes " me (no pun intended), and brings back memories of the time I worked the Adventureland Gallery, is not only the earplugs being worn as shown by the female CM but the personal use of sunglasses. That was more than to reduce the glare from the sunlight (being essentially none because your back was usually toward the outside and being under cover)...and also being somewhat of not looking at guests as they gave you a quarter to shoot...it was primarily for protecting your eyes from ricochets. While not mandatory, whether it was day or night, we always wore glasses for protection. Most of those ricochets came from shooters at the ends of the galleries shooting across to the other side. And we would ask shooters to keep within a 15-20 degree arc. The installation of the rings arrived to keep a guest from inadvertently pulling the rifle up and away from the counter. The length of the air line was short enough to restrict the rifle from being fully pulled away and out from the ring. And yes, females were working along side me in the very early 70s. KS
Tokyo!, just splash some A1 Sauce all over the figurehead! (I can hear the Aaron Copland's "Hoedown" now.)
Mike, after all that design and prep work on the posters, it seems sinfully wasteful NOT to print them!
Bu, I also tuck in my shirts unless I'm wearing shorts, which I rarely do anymore. Keeping one's shirt tucked in was actually part of the high school dress code back in the (my) day.
JG, a Hobbit reference! I like your "the never-to-be-sufficiently-cursed" description. But it's too much of a mouthful to utter every time the F-word is mentioned.
Steve G., thank you so much for pointing that out. All is right with the world again and I will have no more sleepless nights. :-)
Ken S., I can see how someone shooting from one of the ends of the Gallery to the other would create a dangerous ricochet problem; equal but opposite angles, and such.
Also, JB, I think anchor ropes were common back in the Columbia's age. Of course, you know what the end of the rope in the hold was called, right? The bitter end?
The "bitter" end, called so because it was tied to the bitte, a secure tie-off in the deck.
The other end called the "free" end, as I recall.
I was lousy at knots in Scouting, don't call on me to tie anything. But I remember teaching the terms.
One striking thing I learned reading "Two Years Before the Mast" was the constant rope-making and -mending going on. After a moment's reflection, it all made sense, and how important ropes used to be in daily life, and now are no longer.
A chain big enough for that anchor when the Columbia was new might have cost as much as the ship itself.
JG
Nanook, I know, it’s a bit discouraging to see the Columbia’s hull looking so “punky”, years before we could blame Paul Pressler!
JB, but dire wolves are so big! Have you ever been to the George C. Page Museum, part of the La Brea Tar Pits? They have an exhibit that is just dozens and dozens of dire wolf skulls, like some sort of bizarre art piece. I think you’re right about the booster steps, a smart solution. The railing seems like a risky place to hang one’s coat… a stiff breeze and… OOPS. The Elgin clock looks appropriately antique, I wonder if they would have used such a vivid teal though. Maybe. Britney is very distinctive, I don’t know how you could have thought the figurehead was Gaga! Although from a distance I guess I can see it. No idea if the ropes vs. chains for the anchor is accurate, I’ll need somebody more nautical (hard to believe!) for that kind of info.
TokyoMagic!, interesting, thank you for confirming that the Columbia sign was over by Fowler’s Harbor. Do they still ever do the “below decks” thing? Seems like when I see the ship in the harbor, it is off limits.
TokyoMagic!, I always wondered if Lady Gaga was inspired by artist Mark Ryden’s painting of a girl with a dress made out of meat? I believe that it predates Gaga’s dress by some years.
Mike Cozart, it makes me sad that there were so many plans for more attraction posters, examples which never got produced. Bummer! I guess somebody decided that they weren’t worth the cost (which apparently was considerable, somehow). Darn budgetary constraints! Think of what we would have had, both with posters, and with the parks! Imagine if they’d been able to build some of the “blue sky” concepts completely! But… reality bites, as they say. Oh man, how could you resist those blueprint posters?? Thanks Mike!
Bu, I know I watched “Three’s Company” sometimes, but mostly for the gals. Yes, I even liked Joyce DeWitt, though she wasn’t as jiggly as Susanne Somers. I agree, that green is a little much, it needed to be a bit less intense. Add some orange/brown (just a little) to tone it down and make it a bit antique. Good luck finding one of those jackets, maybe they show up in Van Eaton auctions? I just met a woman who wore a fabulous orange jacket once worn by parking lot attendants. I am unaware of a “lounge” on the Mark Twain, interesting. I do remember the sound of the old shooting gallery, amazing that they used real metal projectiles. And that the ricocheted and hit people. Crazy. You’d also think that protective eyewear and ear wear would have been a requirement.
JG, I’ve never seen the MB with a beard, but… then again I don’t see him that often! I’ve only seen rare photos of the “below decks” area, I wish I’d seen it. My guess is that the real Columbia’s figurehead was a bit more PG-13 (if not “R”). You know what I mean. I do not enjoy the current shooting gallery in Frontierland, it’s just not satisfying to shoot something with an infrared beam.
Steve DeGaetano, leave it to you to know details like that (I mean that as a compliment, I hope it sounds that way)!
KS, I’m GLAD that that female CM is wearing glasses to protect her eyes! Just thinking about an errant ricochet… nope. Not worth it. Why couldn’t CMs look at guests when they were handed a quarter? Seems harmless enough. Unless the guest was Sylvester Stallone, who wouldn’t allow it not matter where he was.
JB, I had to go back and read TM’s comment. A-1 sauce? What?? Now I get it. I agree with you regarding the posters. I’d love to at least see what they were going to look like. Tucking in your shirt is for nerds, and I’m cool! Well, OK, I’m not cool. I can’t lie.
Steve DeGaetano, I don’t understand why those rope ends were so bitter. And who was licking them, anyway? ;-)
JG, I learned about “bitter ends” from reading the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O’Brian. I love those, though it sounds like many prefer the Horatio Hornblower stories. Maybe it’s all to do with whichever you eead first?
Major, I enjoyed the Aubrey/Maturin novels well enough, but I found them hard to get through in comparison to Hornblower. Not sure why. Did you know that Gene Roddenberry's elevator pitch for Star Trek was "Hornblower in Space"? Very taut and descriptive.
As you know, the African Queen novel was by the same author as Hornblower, C. S. Forester. I read that novel a while back and was shocked at how racy it was compared to the movie.
Forester and P.G. Wodehouse attended the same class together in grammar school in England. Great minds.
JG
My head is going to explode with all this new nautical terminology being crammed into it! I'll probably forget it all anyway. But I think I'll remember 'the bitter end' origin.
Steve D, Steve DG, Steve DeG, I mistakingly typed "Steve G" above. Sorry.
Major, I just came from having my annual eye exam a couple of hours ago. So, between the pupil dilation and other drops they put in my eyes, I cant see clearly at all. It's like looking through a really streaky window. (It'll get better in a few hours.) Britney, Gaga, or Medusa... they would all look the same right now.
JG, I thought Roddenberry's pitch was "Wagon Train in Space". He probably gave both pitches, at different times, depending on who he was pitching to.
When the Columbia is operating the “Below Decks” is available for guests to explore. They close it off and start getting guests to come back up to the upper deck about the time the ship passes the Indian village. The Mark Twain has a “salon” mid deck that has a bar that used to serve coffee and mint juleps …. But that appears to have ended by the early 70’s …. Maybe even earlier . Maybe Ken Stack recalls? My understanding is that custodial got tired of fishing coffee cups and plastic julep cups out of the rivers of America. The Mark Twain also features a “captains cabin” furnished to look as such with a coat closet , built in birth and a wash basin. Etc. This room is the access to the wheel house .
Those Mark Twain paper coffee cups and clear plastic julep cups are hard to come by. The julep cup featured a frosted image of the Mark Twain ….and the paper cup also featured a printed Twain . I don’t think many survived.
Several years ago Van Eaton gallery sold a long curvy sign described as the 1955 ticket booth sign. Someone wrote in marker on the backside “ 1955” that there was PROOF it was the ticket booth sign from Disneyland’s opening day! It was in fact the mark Twain mint julep sign that hung across the salon’s bar mirrored back. That style of sign first went into use in 1958 . I’ve seen metal versions and Masonite versions ….. it seems they tended to replace the whole sign rather than just repaint the new price every time there was an increase .
Major : being a attraction poster collector you would be astounded if you saw all the attraction posters that were designed and appear as concepts …. But even the amount of posters that were developed for production … and just never were …. There are some from the 1950’s that were done a full size hand painted mock ups that look like actual silkscreened attraction posters . They could do an entire attraction poster book JUST on the concepts and color comps!!!! I wish they included more of them then all those merchandise produced Epcot anniversary posters …
The attraction posters were very expensive to produce in later years - but they were necessary tools and a labor of love … besides so many examples never put in production runs there were others not finished … at least some of their final definition screens were left off to cut production costs down … Like PeopleMover Thru Super Speed Tunnel and Pinocchio’s Daring Journey … or the guests on the porch of the Crystal Palace porch are a few examples …
JB, I’ve heard that “Wagon Train” version too, but I remember the “Hornblower” version because when I first read about it, I didn’t understand the Hornblower reference, it sounded weird. Only years later after I discovered the Forester books did I get it.
He probably used both, and what a Cascade he started.
JG
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