More Instamatics
I was very happy to get an email from Mr. X, informing me that he'd found a few more Kodak Instamatic negatives - photos that he took himself back in the mid-1960s up until perhaps the very early 1970s. You've seen hundreds of his pictures in the past, just type "Instamatic" in the search bar.
We'll start with this shot looking past the stern of the Columbia sailing ship toward the Mark Twain. The Columbia is obviously berthed in Fowler's Harbor (as is often the case), maybe this was during one of the slow seasons that the park used to experience. Guests could still board the sailing ship though, to get a view over the rail, or go "below decks" to see "how sailors of the 1790s live and work on the high seas". When they stop being polite and start being real.
Next, the Disneyland Band, led by Mickey Mouse, marches toward Main Street Station. In the background we can see a sign for the GAF Photo Salon, which helps us to date the picture to sometime after December 20th, 1970, when GAF replaced the Kodak Camera Center. Closer to us is the Hallmark Greeting Cards shop, and on the corner to our right, the Market House, which may have not been sponsored by Swift by that point.
And finally, here's a shot taken from a speeding Monorail, with the ticket booths in the lower foreground, along with the west tunnel beneath the train tracks, and of course Main Street Station itself. Beyond the snow-capped Matterhorn, we can just see actual mountain with a light dusting of real snow!
Many thanks to Mr. X.
16 comments:
Major-
It's almost like 'two ships passing in the night...' I guess that's stretching the point.
Do I spy an iasw attraction poster in the tunnel-?
Thanks to Mr. X.
Excellent composition in the first photo. Nice 'n bright 'n colorful.
This is a nice picture of the Disneyland Band. Also a nice picture of Mickey. That tuba looks like it would be awkward to carry throughout the length of a parade. It also has quite a patina on it. One would think that they would have a nice shiny sousaphone instead. Perhaps this particular tuba has a long and storied history.
The banner above the tunnel says something about "Boy Scouts", but I can't make out the rest. Nor can I tell what the tunnel attraction posters are, but I'm sure someone here can.
Thanks to Mr. X for finding more negatives, and thanks to Major for passing them along to us.
In the entry tunnel I can identify 2 of the attraction posters : PRIMEVAL WORLD and ITS A SMALL WORLD. You can also see the bottom slide rail the poster frames slid into from the left or the right ends …. In 1977 they would be replaced with posters in individual painted aluminum frames bolted to the faux cut stone interior tunnel facing. Today the posters in the tunnels are replaced by unscrewing and removing one side of the frame . Then the mounted poster can be slid out and a new poster inserted from
The side without having to deal with the protective glass.
I love the guy standing alone in the bow of the Columbia. That looks like a wonderful place to lean against the rail and watch the world go by.
I watched the band march by that very spot at about the same time of day on my first visit to Disneyland. We had just entered the Park, walked partway up Main Street, and stopped at the Carnation shop for a drink of milk. I clearly remember the red-and-white Carnation box, with a little tab you could pull up and poke a straw through. I sat on the curb and watched the “parade” (it was just the band) march past. The things you remember on a Disneyland visit when you are two and a half…
JB, thanks for pointing out the banner, which I had totally missed. I realize it’s an optical delusion, but it actually looks like it says “Boy Scoots.” Mrs. Chuck worked on the kitchen staff at a Boy Scout camp the summer after she graduated from high school, and a contingent of boys from Scouts Canada came down for camp one week. The staff referred to them as “Scoots” because of the way they pronounced words that ended in “out.”
Mike, thanks for explaining how the posters were mounted and changed out. I had been wondering about that.
The Primeval World poster is the first attraction poster that I clearly remember. I remember seeing it at the Disneyland Hotel Monorail station and then asking my parents after we boarded the Monorail if we could go see the dinosaurs. They were perplexed and insisted that there were no dinosaurs at Disneyland. I tried to explain that I had seen the poster but was assured I had misunderstood. And then we rode the train and this dinosaur-mad Kindergartender was vindicated.
"I love the guy standing alone in the bow of the Columbia."
Oh, I recognize him; that's the King of the World.
Thanks Major and Mr. X, these are the bomb.
I have a childhood picture of the parade taken from almost the same spot, same composition with Mickey in the lead, maybe even the same year, only mine is faded and out-of-focus. It’s ok, since it matches my memory now.
I can’t recall any attraction posters from youth specifically, but I would miss them if they were gone.
Always ready for more Columbia photos, and that speed motion shot is a real winner. That could be an album cover for “The Sound of Speed”. The original is kind of cartoony…
https://sundazed.com/p/953-Bob-Thompson-The-Sound-of-Speed-LP.aspx
JG
The first pic of the Columbia and Mark Twain is really great. Love that one.
Also, like the Maingate Entrance photo taken from the speedy Monorail on its way to Tomorrowland. Thanks, Mr. X and Major.
Nanook, it’s like two ships doing something, anyway! And I didn’t even think to look for posters, but I think you are right about the IASW poster.
JB, I will be happy if Mr. X keeps finding more strips of negatives in random drawers. I’ve really loved his Instamatic photos! I do wonder why some Sousaphones look shiny while others are tarnished and dinged. I guess some musicians just don’t care! Admittedly that large brass instrument would be a pain to polish all the time. Hmmm, I think you are right about “Boy Scouts”, I didn’t even notice.
Mike Cozart, I’ll take your word for it on the Primeval World poster! Surely I must have a better photo showing those tunnel poster frames, but I’m not sure I’ll have time to look for one today. Maybe later. Sounds like they came up with a pretty nice system for easy removal/replacement.
Chuck, the man in the Columbia is looking for mermaids. They are in Tomorrowland, sir! Gripe corner: I’m not crazy about the new Disneyland Band that is more akin to the wacky college bands. Crazy marches! Drum routines! Those bands are fine, and no disrespect to the performers, but it doesn’t fit on an 1890 Main Street. I guess somebody decided that a Vesey Walker-style band was boring? “Boy Scoots”, the headline on the local newspaper. Slow news day. Where did he scoot to? I wish I had a more vivid memory of my impression of the posters in the parks, but I do remember when I first saw some for auction, maybe back in the 1980s. “I can actually buy some of these???” I thought to myself. It would be a while, but the answer was “YES”!
Melissa, he looks like a sad king.
JG, yes, most of my memories are faded and out of focus too! I feel like the Storybook Land poster would have made an impression on me. And probably “Adventure Thru Inner Space”, since I loved that ride so much. Hard to say for sure though. The Mysterious Benefactor might have lots more Columbia photos for us, so… good news? ;-) Bob Thompson, his albums are classics!
K. Martinez, Mr. X never disappoints. Whenever he gives me a new batch to scan, I get all excited, and then I get sad as I get to the end of the batches.
Chuck- There may be a guy standing at the bow of the Columbia, but the photo is actually showing a guy standing at the stern... ;)
Mr. X & Major, thanks for the great pictures.
-DW
Major-
You bring up a good point about my DL AP awareness. Undoubtedly, there were subconscious images of the posters floating thru my head, as seen throughout The Park over the many years and visits. I 'suspect' the first real awareness was at a Disney collectors show (Mouse Club; NFFC...)
Even more-oddly, when I laid eyes on a stack of AP's back in 1989, one of which I was in a position to "barter" for, I chose the Frontierland Tri-Level poster. Definitely the best in the batch, as there weren't any Casa de Fritos or TWA Rocket to the Moon posters to muddy the waters. Right place... Right time... Good luck-!
I waxed poetic on these photos this morning, but alas..."poof" gone...it's got to be me! It happens all too often. I generally copy and paste "just in case"....but did not. Maybe the things I wrote were a figment of my imagination: could be. I'll sum it up quickly...yes: the stern of the Columbia, and yes...you don't have to have laser beams shot at you, or dropped down 1000 ft to be entertained. Sweet pic. Main gate: looked the same decades later. I took a photo of that tree on the left of the Floral Mickey at the train station. It is REALLY huge now, and he has a brother on the other side. Looks like Main Street has perfectly trimmed trees that have no scale. Looks fine to me, but let's rip them out anyway. Blaspheme! I didn't know that the Disneyland Band has modernized 'ala All American College Band. Does everyone have to be shot out of a cannon for fun? I agree that the Disneyland band should be forever "band-like". The AACB was a Summertime thing only...and you only need them for Summertime. I was close to that band director back in the day...and there were always a few shennanigan stories about the guys who spent a Summer at the Happiest Place on Earth. Probably should be a book. They had a good brassy repertoire. I never had time to stop and listen unless they stopped near my wagon and started playing a set. I'm glad I do not have the Attraction Poster disease...it would be a very expensive habit...I can very much appreciate the time, aritistry and stylized graphics...but they are big suckers! Where would they go? Probably with all my movie posters that I haven't looked at in 20-30 years. Maybe they are worth something now (?) Thanks Mr. X and Major!
Also the photos were probably taken in spring or summer as The Disneyland Band is wearing their “whites” and not the full reds they would used in fall - winter. There are exceptions … a Disneyland wardrobe designer said the DL Band would often wear their winter reds for publicity /marketing photos and filming as they appeared more striking in print and media.
DW, I wasn’t going to say anything!
Nanook, jeez, I never saw attraction posters at any Disney show, though I did see a Grand Canyon Diorama poster, a version that I don’t have, at a Glendale collector’s show. I should have bought it! I haven’t seen one since, argh. You definitely chose the best poster available, I wish I had one of those Frontierland examples.
Bu, I’d seen your earlier comment (because comments show up in my email), but I wasn’t sure if you’d changed your mind and deleted it, or if it was Blogger eating comments again. While I agree with you about not needing laser beams shot at me or dropping 1000 feet, perhaps people half my age (or even younger) disagree. Those are the people that are being catered to now. Do they spend as much as older guests? No idea! I finally saw the “new” Disneyland Band, and they are fun. Just not “1890s Fun”. I feel bad for all the old timers who were let go. “Nobody wants to hear your noise anymore!”. Posters are expensive, and WAY more so now than when I collected. While I paid a pretty penny for some, I did get one or two for between $150 and $300, a crazy bargain by today’s standards.
Mike Cozart, I didn’t know that the DL Band wore certain colors at certain times of the year. What time of year do they wear day-glo orange? My favorite! I admit that the red outfits do look pretty swell in publicity photos.
Well I’m aware of variations of just either white or red depending on the time of the year. For the 25th in 1980 they wore a blue, white and silver uniform.
Ah… I remember the halcyon days of going to Disney collector shows and purchasing original attraction posters for 100.00 …. Or 150.00 each . Or the time I paid 45.00 for my PeopleMover , Rocket Jets, Small World …. And others from a well known poster collector who had stacks and log size rolls of them in the back of his truck … obtained in a legendary event still talked about amongst the attraction poster collectors active in attraction poster collecting in the 1980’s and 90’s ….
I don’t think anything rare like a Rocket To Moon or Flying Saucers was ever at the early Disney shows …. But there were plenty of the main ones and reasonably priced popular ones …. You could get a Mansion for 400.00 easily …
My favorite today is Picture #2...
Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me...
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E
Mickey Mouse! Mickey Mouse!
Mr. X, I hope you keep finding more negatives for us to enjoy.
Thank you, Mr. X and Major!
DW and Major, sometimes I need a stern lecture. Thanks for setting me straight.
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