Family in Disneyland, December 1965
I'm starting today's post with two fun photos contributed by GDB friends. Last Saturday our friend Grant sent in a photo of himself back in the days when he had long hair. Steve Stuart (you know him as "Nanook") sent in this picture of himself, circa 1969. He's very relaxed! Love the groovy striped pants, which were definitely the fashion of the day. I don't think Steve's hair looks that long, but my grandpa probably would have had a few choice words for him! And maybe he would have loaned Steve a bottle of "Vitalis". Nice and greasy. Thanks Steve!
This next one is bittersweet - it's a photo of our old pal Pat Devlin, who passed away back in 2018. His brother Tom kindly sent this high school portrait of Pat, circa 1974. While I was in high school a few years later, Pat looks like he could have been one of my classmates. My grandpa would give him a bottle of Vitalis too! It's nice to have Pat with us again, even for one day, and I am grateful to Tom for sharing this wonderful picture.
And here's a late addition! Not a "long hair" photo, but quite the opposite... it's none other than our friend Chuck, just as he was starting his crazy adventures. I won't say where he was, but let's just say there was a lot of yelling and running of laps and doing 20 pushups. Talk about joie de vivre! You can see by the twinkle in Chuck's eyes that he's as happy as can be. Thanks Chuck!
Here's the regularly-scheduled post:
Sometimes I have found that vintage photos of Disneyland are fun even if they don't feature the park that much. In other words, the people who are the subject of the picture are where it's at, daddy-o.
Because of the gnarled old olive tree, I'm guessing that this photo is from somewhere around the Plaza. maybe the little stone bridge on the Matterhorn will help somebody figure out the exact location! Notice the Kodak Picture Spot sign nearby.
The two girls are resplendent in their plumed hats.
Here's a Kodak brochure from 1963, maybe they were staying next to #20.
One kid wears a Union Army kepi while another apparently needs to pass a kidney stone.
Over in Frontierland, big things are afoot (but not Bigfoot, he's still playing hide-and-seek), those construction walls hide a massive project, the addition of New Orleans Square. Somebody had the bright idea of sticking attraction posters to stun and dazzle nerds like me so that I won't even care about that corner of the park being off-limits.
The little girl in the center is operating the home-movie camera, pretty cool of Mom to let her do that.
EXTRA! EXTRA!
GDB friend Bu sent me this comparison of a tree that is at Disneyland today (from his own photo), and the tree that is in today's first photo. I can definitely see how they could be the same tree, nearly 60 years apart! What do you think? THANKS, Bu!
29 comments:
Major-
Here I was all set to make some 'smart remark' about the lad 'up a tree', but I see you've got that one all covered... with a much more sinister condition-! My vote is for Kodak Picture Spot #20, too.
Thanks, Major.
I vote for Spot #20, too. And even being someone who has passed multiple kidney stones within the last 25 years, I laughed out loud at your comment, Major. Too, too funny! You are a card, and you need to be dealt with!
An extra neat detail about that last pic is, that we can see people coming down the steps of the Swiss Family Treehouse (on the far left).
Nanook, I love everything about that photo of you! I must say, you have style! Thanks for sharing that with us. I agree, it is nice to see pics of the Junior Gorillas. I am getting a little braver. I almost shared one last week, of me in Ketchikan, Alaska. Maybe I still will!
Awww, Patrick! It's nice to see a pic of him, too. I think about him from time to time, along with the others who have left us.
Thank you for sharing these, Major. And thanks to Nanook and Tom Devlin, too.
I never looked as cool as Nanook did in 1969. I was very casual then... and now. Thanks for sharing, Steve.
That's a nice picture of our friend, Patrick Devlin. I remember how shocked I was to hear of his passing. He contributed a lot to GDB with his family photos.
In that brochure map, I think I can see Fudgie! ;-)
Both, the kepi kid and the kidney stone kid will be spending a few years in the Disney dungeon, below the Castle, for stepping off the designated path and climbing that tree. I do like kidney kid's shirt though.
In the last photo, there is another miscreant trampling on the petunias. To the dungeon with thee! What would the little filmmaker be aiming her camera at? The Swiss Treehouse? Golden Horseshoe?
Ah. Tokyo! has pointed out the people on the Treehouse steps. I guess that rules out my Swiss Treehouse guess for the little filmmaker.
Thank you to Tom D. and Major P. for today's photos.
That’s Nanook’s picture when he was an extra on LOVE AMERICAN STYLE.
Greetings again Pat.
I often think about the EPCOT CENTER WORLD SHOWCASE models Pat’s brother Mike worked on during his time at WED. Not long ago I came across a Disneyland Line saying Mike would be going to WED for awhile. I think it was Pat that was sharing his brother’s work.
Man….I remember getting so excited whenever construction barricades went up at Disneyland !Sometimes you knew a little about what was going on behind the walls and the project and most of the time it was something well done and exciting. Today the barricades often mean “bad ideas are going forward and things are gonna really get messed up!” …. Oh well….
I can’t imagine what it would be like walking thru the park and seeing an exposed original FLYING SAUCERS attraction poster!!! Like painting a wall with gold!!
JB, wow! I did not notice that little monster stomping on the petunias. Her mother is looking in that direction. I wonder if she was saying something to her, like "Why, I oughta...." or "Do you want to go to the car, right now? Because if that's what you want, we'll go to the car, right now! Is THAT what you really want?"
I wonder if "sister" was actually filming, or if mom and dad just let her hold the camera. Maybe she's pretending to be her favorite filmmaker of all time, Cecil B. DeMille.
So, I just assumed they would have chopped down that tree (in photo #1) by now. I think I was safe in assuming that. But surprisingly, it looks like they replaced it with another gnarled olive tree:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8124297,-117.9186716,3a,49y,55.44h,86.5t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s9ZqejCfbEb2Q9owzTccUHQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Unseen in this shot are the slits running along the outer edges of each pant leg, revealing solid black inserts inside the flared bottoms. Yes, I knew how to 'work' an outfit...
@ TM!-
As a special note for fans of a "certain" television show, it should be noted if one were to follow along to the far left end of the couch I'm sitting on, there's a pair of doors to the projection room, and within the room is a complete set of 16mm protection/syndication prints [complete with commercials] from the first five seasons of I Love Lucy. Whoops - gave it away. Those two 'B&W corner's' above my head are the bottoms of photo blow-up's of famous actors, common back in the late 1960's. I believe those posters would be of Humphrey Bogart and W.C. Fields (the image of him wearing the top hat and white gloves, holding a playing card - from My Little Chickadee).
The 'early American-style end table' in reality also contains certain electronic components for a 1950's, Fleetwood 24" B&W Television set - allowing for remote control of said TV. It contained the power switch, volume, brightness, contrast, and fine tuning controls, along with a VHF tuner. It was interconnected to the cabinetry housing the CRT and loudspeaker, through a rather large diameter cable. The Fleetwood line of custom television receivers was manufactured by Conrac Corporation (Baldwin Park, CA), who manufactured broadcast studio monitors, and introduced the first color studio monitor in 1954.
Nanook, I noticed the "control knobs" on top of the end table, and also the bottom half of the black and white posters. I meant to ask you who the subject of those photos were. I do remember even in the early to mid 1970s, images of people like Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, and Mae West, being pretty popular. I think I even remember seeing posters of them and other old movie stars, for sale at Pier 1 Imports.
My analyst would say after seeing "Nanook": "My...what an open personality". The flares are epic. My grandfather would also have many things to say about the hair. I still enjoy the smell of Vitalis and the smell of an old school barber shop. My current condition does not deem a barber necessary, unless getting a shave, which is quite a relaxing indulgence now and then. Nothing better than a straight edge. I'm wondering what picture spots the likes of us would come up with? Three fences?, crumbling curbs circa 1955? Close ups of tree trunks? That Kodak map is quite stylized. The word on Kodak, and it's name origin comes from creating a brand name that any language/dialect in the world can pronounce. True story. The picture spots were numbered? Looks like Monorail #24 has a chain link fence there by the subs (?) Kid being tortured in tree: I think I have a pic of that same tree circa 2022. Major: I sent to you. Olive trees last a long long long time. I did an installation in LA of 20 trees and not one was under 100 years old..they were about to go bye bye from a farm in Fresno. I rescued them. They were amazing, and a few years later, I had to rip them out for a "new look". Which was very sad. I too loved to see the construction walls and would daydream about what might be going on behind. Tiana Town does not have the same feeling of an entire New Orleans Square. I will have to search for that Magnolia Tree. I know a lot were creamed, but possibly it's still there. I would like to go to the special screening room of perfect prints of ILL. When that becomes reality, send me the ticket please. It would be kind of fun to see that show on the big screen where you can really see Mme. Ball's very exaggerated makeup- which didn't really "read" on a 1950's TV screen. In HD digital: it's kind of scary looking. Thanks for the morning missive Major!
Ha, Nanook be stylin’
I miss Patrick, may his memory be a blessing.. thank you Major and Tom.
Yes, Spot 20 is the Spot, just on the edge of HOTF and across from Snow White’s Grotto. I love that little map, never before seen! I wish there was more backstory to the Picture Spots. Were they conceived in advance, discovered by happy accident, dictated by aliens in a dream, found engraved on copper plates in a cave? Someone knows.
Those kids show why the little wire fences had to give way to sterner measures. Kidney Boy was the type of youngster I threatened recently with life imprisonment in the Churro Mines. His Mom loved it, I bet she will chide him with that for years… Twerp in 2048, “awww Mom, give it a rest!”
Yes, 3 fences should be a picture spot, along with Bu’s ODV popcorn cart in the Hub and the Back Side of Snow White.
A sad and yet enjoyable post, Major. Thank you.
JG
Nanook, for once I made a smart remark before somebody else! Truly a time to marvel.
TokyoMagic!, I think that you were in kidney stone distress during one of the times I met you. You did NOT look well. Fortunately you were not screaming like that kid. Oh yeah, now I see the Treehouse steps. I told Nanook that I am probably not going to be sharing photos of myself, unless I’m a little kid, and didn’t want to be a hypocrite… but I guess that I AM a hypocrite.
JB, it’s funny how I have a million photos of myself as a young child, and then I think I grew out of my cute kid phase, and became a weedy teen. There are a lot less photos of me at that point! I think that kidney kid’s shirt would have looked good on a Beach Boy. I saw that kid trampling the flowers in the background, the little terror. And of course Mom is just happy he isn’t doing anything that requires her attention. Not sure what the girl might be filming… maybe the Mark Twain?
Mike Cozart, Nanook was in the episode with Karen Valentine. You know the one. I certainly remember those World Showcase models you mentioned, and think how much fun they would have been to build. Not easy, but still fun. I know what you mean about the barricades in the old days versus the barricades of today. Argh! And I still regret my chance to buy a Flying Saucers poster for less than $2,000. But… if you don’t have the money, it’s not going to happen.
TokyoMagic!, the petunia-stomping child has a band-aid on one knee, so that mother should be thrown in jail. Doesn’t she know that each and every child is a precious jewel? You might be right about mom letting the girl look through the camera viewfinder, but I’d like to think that they let her film a few seconds of footage. Re: the olive tree - see the addition to today’s post. Do you think that it is another different tree? I have to admit that it’s hard for me to tell.
Nanook, the black inserts were there so that you could blend in while on the veldt. Just like a zebra. Why you were on the veldt, I couldn’t say. Maybe you won a trip with S&H Green Stamps? I do remember specific posters of those old movie stars, especially the W.C. Fields - as you said, where he’s holding cards and looking angry. For some reason that makes me think of Straw Hat Pizza (or was it “Shakey’s”?). We used to have a “hi-fi” that was in a massive and heavy piece of furniture - at some point I inherited it from my dad. I still remember the orange glow of the tubes inside. Of course it is long gone now.
TokyoMagic!, that console almost reminds me of the old “table top” Pac Man games that you would see at Pizza Hut. Though 1967 is much too early for that.
Bu, ha ha, Nanook did not go to Ginny’s finishing school. Knees together! And don’t slouch! I slouch all the time, I’m famous for it. I don’t know if I’ve ever smelled Vitalis, though maybe I have. I do have a memory of some sort of barber shop unguent. Creative photographers from our group would probably come up with some great Picture Spots, though I have admitted that I am a terrible photographer. I try, but it just doesn’t result in nice pictures. It makes sense to number the Picture Spots, so that you could tell someone where you would be (assuming they had their handy Kodak map with them). I do know that olive trees live a long time, they have ancient ones in Greece. It always bums me out when they remove magnolia trees from the park, I love them, and my grandma loved them too.
JG, it’s lucky that we have that Kodak brochure… I remember somebody on one of the 1964 World’s Fair forums was trying to figure out where all of the Fair’s Picture Spots were, and he had to comb through hundreds of random photos trying to place them. And who knows if he got them all. I’m kind of surprised that Kodak (a sponsor at the Fair) did not create a similar map for that event. I’ve alwyas assumed that some representative from Kodak walked around and found what he or she thought was the best overall views for shutterbugs, and then somehow marked the spot on a map or put an “X” on the ground with paint. Or whatever. Will we ever know for sure??
@Tokyo, I think you nailed it, both the location and the tree. I'm pretty sure it is the same tree today, not a re-plant.
@Bu and Major, I don't think the tree in the newly posted photo is the same tree, the Matterhorn is visible in the background, but at a different angle and the limb scaffold looks different.
And this tree should be a Picture Spot, except the tree itself, not because of the view of the Matterhorn.
JG
Oh, Ha ha, this location is still a Picture Spot, only having been taken over by Nikon...
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.812484,-117.9186299,3a,15y,108.33h,80.79t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s9QCRWg9a27dDQPTBvp2KqA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
JG
@ Bu-
Although those prints may be "perfect" in their completeness and with the correct commercials, stick figure-animated openings/closings, the image quality is a bit on the grainy-side. If you're hankering to "... really see Mme. Ball's very exaggerated makeup...", you'd do better viewing 'her' on the DVD sets, or the Season One & Two Blu-ray sets-!
FUN post today! I LOVE our Jr. Gorilla photos!
JG, I see the MH in both photos—one is taken closer to the tree and the MH fills up more of the background.
I’ll be back later when I have more time.
Thanks, Major!
Sue
JG, I just re-read your comment...I now see what you meant about the MH—I misunderstood. I still think it’s the same tree ??
Sue
Nanook, what a great photo, and a time capsule straight to 1969. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what put America on the Moon. I only have one concrete memory of 1969, and it’s through the mesh of a play pen
Mike, thank you for sharing Patrick’s photo. He is deeply missed. I think of him often.
That poor kid! Sonic kidney stone therapy technology can’t come fast enough for him.
The kid in the petunias looks like she’s playing kaiju with the ants. Leiningen probably could have used her help.
JG, at first glance, I thought you said the picture spot had been taken over by Nixon, and I was wondering when he had moved from Yorba Linda.
Lookin' good, Steve! Those are some flares you got there.
Nice pic of Pat Devlin. Definitely missed.
Chuck, you remind me a little of the late Tim Considine from Spin & Marty and The Shaggy Dog.
My favorite Disney kids today are the kid passing the kidney stone and the petunia stomper. The girl wearing the pink plumed hat and holding the ticket/coupon book looks a little severe. Not a very friendly face.
Thanks, Major. Especially enjoying the reader pics.
Ok, am finally on lunch break and have time to look more-closely at the tree pictures. You’re right JG—not the same structure—plus the ‘sidewalks’ aren’t the same, etc. Maybe those two trees are cousins.
Major, I chuckled at your comment to TM about him probably having the stones when you saw him because he didn’t look good. What if he didn’t have stones, then? ;o)
Nanook, I recall seeing today’s photo on old GDB posts—as your avatar, for a brief period. I hope you share more pictures!
Sue
@ Chuck-
Ahhhhh.....
"You can see by the twinkle in Chuck's eyes that he's as happy as can be". Major, what's the Maureen O'Hara line from [the original] Parent Trap-? "... you're just as cute as you can be-!"
I'm enjoying today's pictures & comments today. Thanks Major, Nanook, Tom, Chuck & Bu.
Chuck- In that photo, you look like you could be Colin Farrell's stunt double...
JG- The instructions for the Kodak picture spots came from a black monolith.
-DW
Whether that is THE tree, it nonetheless is close enough in juxtaposition to add contrast between "then and now", especially with the initial three pictures of current and past Jr. Gorillas. Puts me in a melancholy mood while listening to soft music in the background. KS
Look at our handsome young gorillas! Such fine, upstanding (and downsitting) young men. Nanook, I've seen some stripey trousers in my day, but I think yours are the stripiest. The envy of tabby cats all over the world.
It's the Kid-Eating Tree, the lesser-known cousin of the Kite-Eating Tree from Peanuts. Today's pictures are very slice-of-life.
Chuck, that's a great picture, thanks for sharing it, and Major for posting it.
DW, all the planets aligned when that happened!
JG
@ Melissa-
"...but I think yours are the stripiest. The envy of tabby cats all over the world". My nickname at that time was 'Cosmo'... or was it 'Carbon'-??
Nice photo of Hansen, C.. At first I thought Major had started posting mugshots to liven the blog up. ;-)
Major, good memory! I was going to mention that about me having kidney stones on that one occasion. Boy, that pain just sneaked up on me out of nowhere. I also remember that you very generously offered to drive me home. I really appreciated that, and I probably should have taken you up on it. That was the most difficult hour of driving I have ever experienced in my life. To all the other drivers on the freeway, I probably looked just like that kid in today's photo.
I agree with JG, I don't think that is the same tree, in Bu's pic. I think the tree in Bu's pic would have been located in this planter (see link below), but is now gone. You can see the angle with the Matterhorn in the background is the same as in Bu's pic and that path in the background with the metal railing can be seen in both views. The tree with the screaming kid can be seen in the distance, hiding behind that lamppost on the left.....if that is the same tree, today. It is the same location, however.
Have I thoroughly confused everyone now?
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8123013,-117.9187168,3a,30.2y,40.11h,91.34t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDCeZjppn-FPmaHyjUwYYOQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Nanook, yes...that is what Maureen O'Hara says to "Vicki." I also like it when her mother, Edna, creepily says to Hayley Mills in her gravelly cigarette voice, "YOUR AN ADORABLE CHILD!!!"
Thanks for sharing that pic, Chuck! Everybody's sharin' today!
@ TM-
Oh - I knew that quote, exactly. I was just 'stalling' for dramatic license. That's one of Disney's best live action films, that works on so many levels - including a rather healthy dose of [at times] very sophisticated sarcasm - belying what Disney usually passes-off as comedy - AND in 1961, too boot. That line is the culmination of a brilliantly-written, lengthy comedic scene.
Update: the tree in TM's Googly thingy is the tree in my photo. Seems like it is the same position as kidney boy....worth a good forensics. That tree existed last year, but possibly may have been removed...next time I will get a bark sample and do some DNA work- along with getting my elusive Anaheim 1950's orange seeds. In addition, there IS an ILL connection to "The Parent Trap": Mme. Ball often times on talk shows talked about how her kids wanted her and her former husband to "watch that damn movie": (her words not mine,) and she had to explain: "no kids, I'm sorry, it's just not possible..." My parents ALMOST had a Parent Trap situation...it was soooo close... so that movie might be the only thing (besides baskets of puppies) that makes this stoic Norseman remotely emotional. I also, like everyone else on planet earth, want to live in that fictional Carmel Estate.
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