1950s River Scenes
I have a LOT of river views from Frontierland, and many of those are from the 1950s. It just worked out that way. Hey, I'm not complaining!
At first I thought this photo was taken from a river craft of some kind, maybe a Canoe. But the small branches to the right tell me that our photographer was standing on shore, probably from around the Secret Escape Tunnel (part of Fort Wilderness). A plucky li'l Keelboat is making its way past Tom Sawyer Island and the Pontoon Bridge & Suspension Bridge.
I thought that all of Frontierland's water craft would take a clockwise trip around the river, but the Keelboat is going the other direction. Crazy!
These were the days when the northwestern corner of Frontierland was undeveloped, just trees and animals and the occasional Indian village, it really felt like you were magically transported to the frontier.
To the right we can just see the end of a Stagecoach as it rumbled past - what a great sight that would have been! In the distance we can see Mama Moose and Mojo Moose (her baby). Notice how the hills are arranged in layers to enhance the illusion of depth.
15 comments:
Major-
"...it really felt like you were magically transported to the frontier". Yes it did - and right there smack dab in Orange County.
Thanks, Major.
Major, that Keelboat is going in a clockwise direction. The keel is on the backside of the boat, right where it should be, and everyone is facing forward.
To the left of mama moose and her baby, it looks like there is a little headless girl in a white dress, wading along the shoreline. Maybe she was on her way to Star Wars Land....which incidentally, would be a horrible place to be headed.
All those red clothes, like pimento loaf!
Major, Tokyo is right, the keel boat is headed the usual route.
I love these, thank you.
JG
I think that's Dorothy Gale ker-klumping across the pontoon bridge. Guess she took a wrong turn at Albuqoikee on her way to see the Wizard.
We often mention here how red-colored clothing seems to be plentiful in these early Disneyland pics. I'm not sure there truly are more, but the red color really stands out from all the rest, especially on gray days like we see here.
I was going to mention the clockwise direction but, reading ahead, I see Tokyo! gets the credit.
Mama Moose looks convincingly real in this photo. Mojo Moose looks like he's made of Tootsie Rolls. There's a giant peeking over the top of those distant hills! (The berm.) We can only see the upper half of him.
Tokyo!, more puns?... TOO SOON!!! I haven't recovered yet from the previous couple of days. ;-)
JG, "pimento loaf". Good analogy... and tasteful, too!
Thanks for the River photos, Major.
June gloom...maybe June...and maybe just random gloom. That's a lot of people crossing bridges. I suppose in the day Tom Sawyer Island was a unique experience, and it still is, but without all the zany of other "attractions and amusements" beckoning the needs wishes and desires of todays GP. (General Public). The day I was here...which was very busy...the island was calm and unfettered with a pleasant absence of the litters of humans on the mainland. I wish there were places to sit! Or buy popcorn and a drink. Nope. That avenue of pleasure has been stripped away. The Keel Boat operator looks like he's leaning back on a "lean stick" or something...will have to look it up, it seems like it would be needed. If the employee falls off the boat....what happens to the boat? Do they pull a Gilligans Tom Sawyer Island? Abandon ship? Or does wet Willy swim over, get back on the boat, and just continue? The show must go on of course! The mooses and meeces look natural and serene. I am a big proponent of serene in all things. Zany was great when it was great. I wonder if those birch trees along the river as little saplings are still there...will have to check it out...or perhaps this is the part of the Island that was chopped? Blaspheme. Another quote from the Duchess of Malfi: "I account this world a tedious theatre..." Thanks for the morning of Serenity Major.
It strikes me as odd that both the barrel bridge and the suspension bridge were parallel to each other with one-way traffic going the same way. I know it all worked out somehow, but it still strikes me that way. Ouch! Quit striking me or I’m telling. OK - you asked for it… [deep breath] Sue - the blog is striking me again! Make it stop!
“Notice how the hills are arranged in layers…”. Just like an onion. Or a parfait. Or an ogre.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Eighth Wonder of the World - the backside of a stagecoach!
I just realized what’s missing from these pictures - IP. Well, that and oversaturated colors. No wonder the place looks so dull and lifeless. Look - not even a single mouse ear tiara! No wonder nobody ever went there back then.
JB, that may be Abiyoyo peeking over the top of the hill.
Chuck, is that “Sue”—as in my name...or as in lawsuit??
Sue
Nanook, they should have called it “Stagecoach County”!
TokyoMagic!, reading today’s post after writing it three months ago, I have no idea what I was thinking. Of course the Keelboat is going in the regular direction. D’oh. I need to stay off the drugs. Oooh, that little headless girl is creepy! I wonder if she moved into the Haunted Mansion? “A horrible place to be headed”, ha ha.
JG, when you think about it, life is like pimento loaf. Or is it mortadella? I always forget. And yes, I was a dope re: the Keelboat. Again, drugs.
JB, it does sort of look like Dorothy, maybe Toto has already fallen in. Oh well! Maybe if he wasn’t such a little jerk, with the barking and the plotzing! I admit that I thought about going to Tom Sawyer Island on my last visit to the park, but decided that I needed to spend my time more efficiently. Which was kind of sad, but I was already falling “behind schedule” on the amount of rides I wanted to do (long story). Maybe I should use Photoshop to reduce the reds a bit, they do stand out an awful lot. Too much? Makes me think of that cherry chip cake that was so popular. “Mojo Moose looks like he’s made of Tootsie Rolls”, aren’t those lyrics from a Woody Guthrie song?
Bu, I always assume that these gloomy photos were taken in June, but have no idea really. It could of course be a gloomy Winter day. It does seem as if the best benches (in the shade with a nice view) are almost impossible to use, since they are already taken by other guests. Damn them! Damn them all to heck. Sorry, I get emotional. I think that the Keelboat pilots just leant against the big oar. No additional stick required! I’d love to know if any employees ever did fall into the water accidentally. You’d think that in 60+ years it had to have happened. I’d want to get out of the way of those razor sharp paddles on the Mark Twain (I know they aren’t razor sharp, but it’s more fun to think of them that way). You are right, there is a lot to be said for serene things at the park, I’ve grown to appreciate them so much more. The Duchess of Malfi sure had a lot to say.
Chuck, I agree with you, it’s a little odd that they put those two bridges, both going the same way, both within 30 or 40 feet of each other. I guess the little inlet was the only logical place to put the bridges on the whole island, so that’s just how it went. Sue, please stop striking Chuck! Layers, like a lasagna, oh yeah. I agree with you regarding IP, which has become a dirty word (is “IP” a word?) in my opinion. How did anybody have fun back then? It’s funny how Universal Studios’ old motto “Ride the Movies” has become the general concept in most theme park attractions.
Sue, I am advising my client (to be referred to as “Chuck”) to please the Fifth!
Major-
"... when you think about it, life is like pimento loaf. Or is it mortadella?" Actually, "life is like the prep day". To understand to what this refers... LOOK HERE. If you want to jump directly to that joke, start @ 3:45; on the other hand, his tribute is full of other great 'yucks'.
Hey, Ol’ Man River! How’s that not planting taters and not planting cotton working out for you, huh?
Dang you, Chuck. You made me look up "Abiyoyo". I was forced to learn something!
Major, I was going to mention something about Toto, or the absence thereof, but I got sidetracked. I'm sure it would've been very witty. ;-)
The bright reds add interest to the otherwise grayness.
"aren’t those lyrics from a Woody Guthrie song?" Close; I think it was a Pete Seeger song:
Little Mojo by the River
Little Mojo made of Tootsie Rolls
Little Mojo by the River
And his mother's just the same
(Based on "Little Boxes" by Malvina Reynolds)
Nanook, I’m mostly miffed that they didn’t ask me to help present the AFI award to Diane Keaton. I’m sure she remembers our interaction!
Melissa, without taters you can’t have Tater Tots, so life is not that great for Ol’ Man River.
JB, I know that you would have said something very pithy. Funny, but DEEP. Like a member of the Algonquin Round Table. I like Pete Seeger’s song, and apologize to him for mistaking it for a Woody Guthrie tune. More songs about Tootsie Rolls please! I can only think of one other, and it’s a rude children’s rhyme.
Chuck, not to be too contrary (or no more than usual at least) but my memory was that the bridges, while parallel, ran traffic in opposite directions, outbound on the barrels, and inbound on the suspension bridge, or the other way around depending on your viewpoint of inbound or outbound. I could be wrong though, due to the malign influence of whatever force made the Major think the keelboat was going backward, or for some other reason.
The keelboats were equipped with push poles, like the real ones, to move the boat off sandbars etc. in shallow water. Leaning on one while the boat was moving would risk losing the pole, or falling in the water. The rudder had a long lever handle (the tiller?), which could be supportive.
Now I recognize the stagecoach in the picture, clearly heading full-bore for Stagecoach's Edge.
Major, mortadella has pistachios, which are kind of like pimentos, if you aren't too particular about what either pimentos or pistachios are like.
JG
Major, we have our own version of the Algonquin Round Table right here on GDB! "The Regulars" come here every day and offer up pithy, witty comments on the day's subject, and beyond. I remember Dick Cavett often made reference to the Algonquin Round Table on his PBS(?) show, years ago. I liked his bouncy theme song (from Leonard Bernstein's "Candide").
JB, I see I put you in a Pete Seeger mood. I used to tell the story of Abiyoyo to my kids at bedtime when they were small, really getting into the parts.
JG, my memory of how the bridges were operated is the same as yours, but this photo clearly shows that it wasn’t always that way, and it had me questioning my memory. Thanks for confirming I may not be going senile yet.
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