Miscellaneous Knott's
Hey everybody, without going into details, our friend Peter (aka DrGoat) could use some love and positive vibes right about now. I've exchanged many emails with Peter over the years, and he's such a good guy. He's going through a tough time, and he's told me that GDB is one of the places he still finds some fun and happiness. I'm sure he would appreciate hearing from the Junior Gorillas. THANK YOU.
I sure do love Knott's Berry Farm, but today's photos are oddball leftuggies that I've managed to avoid sharing for a long, long time. It seemed like I might as well take the plunge and post them today.
The first two are date-stamped "October, 1979"; where in the world was this photo taken There's a dilapidated covered wagon (sans cover), and a train car (at first I thought it was a school bus!), and... well, not much else that I recognize. You nutty Knott's experts will surely glean something of interest though.
Next is this view of the "Night Watch", can you call it that when it is broad daylight? I don't want to go to prison for false information. In the background we can see part of the Calico Mine Ride façade, and a smidgen of the 325-foot tall Sky Jump tower. The pink building looks familiar, but... no idea. In the lower left, Walter Knott's apartment.
Again, these are leftuggies, folks. That's why I'm including this September 1959 photo of the old Seal Pool. The seals loved fish, but they also enjoyed Vienna sausages, Space Food Sticks, and Chiclets.
35 comments:
@ Peter-
I think GDB is where we all find some fun and happiness. Just reading the Major's comments goes pretty far in brightening things up for me on a daily basis.
If you're feeling crummy, just remember... 'Don't try to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time, and it annoys the pig'
Also... "Some luck lies not in getting what you want, but getting what you have, which — once you take a good look — you may realize is what you would’ve wanted if you had only known".
Hang in there, Peter (DrGoat). No matter how bad things seem now, they always get better, given enough time. The trick is to keep your spirits up until that time comes. It's always worked for me.
Major, wherever in the park this first photo was taken, there were eucalyptus trees present. And palm trees. Does that help? ;-) On that barn (to the right), it looks like there is a large bucket, or garbage can, attached to the hayloft pulley arm thingy. I don't understand what that could be for.
And to the right of the "school bus" there is an old medicine wagon, or maybe a circus wagon. I cant quite read what's on the sign. The bottom text looks like "Medicine Show".
In the Night Watch photo, wow, and we thought Walt Disney's apartment was small. It was palatial compared to Walter Knott's! What...a...dump! (Bette Davis impersonation.) Still, it has that rustic charm... a real fixer-upper.
Sounds like the Knott's seals enjoyed a well-rounded diet, incorporating all the basic food groups. We can probably add that guy's cigarette to their diet as well. (Hey, ya gotta work those veggies in there somewhere!)
Thanks for the random Knott's pics, Major.
I believe that first pic was taken on the road that led from the Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars, around to the Ghost Town. I think that reddish wooden structure we can see part of on the right, is Jeffries Barn. And I think the building in the upper left corner is part of the Goodtime Theater (formerly the John Wayne Theater, and currently the Walter Knott Theater). This would be before the Bigfoot/Calico Rapids area was added to that corner of the park, and the only thing over there was an accessory entrance (used only on busy days) and a pathway from the Roaring 20s area, over to Ghost Town.
Walter Knott used to enjoy sitting in that open window of his little apartment, flicking spoonfuls of rotten boysenberries at the train passengers, as they would go by.
That pink building is the show building/backside of the Calico Mine Train. Once the Roaring 20s opened, they dressed it up a bit and hung a giant "Bath House & Plunge" sign on it.
Peter, I agree with you and Nanook about finding fun and happiness here on GDB. And a big part of that has been because of you and all of the other Junior Gorillas (and of course, Major P.). I hope things turn around and get better for you! I'm thinking of only positive thoughts, and sending them your way!
Peter, sorry you are going through a rough time. I agree with the rest of the gang that GDB gang is a great place to go. I credit GDB and the readers here with improving my life in my later years. Truly a great group of people and that includes you. I never found a better group of people.
Whatever it is you're going through, I hope you find peace and solace. I value your input here very much as I'm sure others do. Hang in there, Dr. Goat!
I knew our resident expert on Knott's, TokyoMagic! would figure things out when it comes to all things Knott's. Thanks for the details of these pics, TM!
Thanks, Major. Always enjoy Knott's pics when they show up.
Okay, here is the spot where that first picture was taken. In the modern view, we can see just a portion of Jeffries Barn (underneath the roller coaster track), because the station for the Pony Express coaster is now blocking most of it, from this angle. Also, those trees are blocking the view of the Goodtime/Walter Knott Theater, but if you "back up" in Google street view, all the way to the Wheeler Dealer Bumper Cars, you can see that the theater still has that same "dental" trim up along the roofline, and it still has striped awnings, just like the one visible in the 1979 view.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8428366,-118.0018475,2a,49.2y,46.57h,93.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sQ6iY77mCQwhefZBzIAdMgg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
And here is a better view of the pink building/backside of the Calico Mine Ride:
https://gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/knotts-roaring-20s-march-1977.html
God speed Drgoat!!!! Positive thoughts headed your way!!
Major : that first photo is taken at the rail spur at the end of “Museum Row” in ghost town . To your right would be the Ghost Town Marshalls Office and The Railroad Supply building. The ENDNA private rail coach is visible on the spur … and you can see the Knott’s GoodTime Theater butting up to Ghost Town to the left.
Looking at the second image again, I just realized that the angular rooftop and wooden fence that we see just below those palm trees, is the backside of The Haunted Shack!
I just realized that the link I included for Google street view isn't showing the exact angle that I wanted and for some reason, I can't get it to. If you use that link, you need to swing the view around to the left about 45 degrees, until you see the giant gates that lead backstage. Then everything else I described applies.
Peter, we’re sending hugs and prayers your way—you mean so much to us! We love you!
Lou and Sue
P.S. I’ll be back later, to comment on today’s images. —Sue
Great big virtual hugs to Peter.
#1: An uncovered wagon! How naughty!
#2: I got coffee up my nose at the mention of Walter Knott's apartment.
#3: Hey, buddy, don't ash all over the seal habitat!
Happy thoughts to Peter, and anyone else that needs it.
I also come here for a daily dose of fun, frivolity, and history. The Major and the rest of the gorillas has help me get through some rough times. Thank you all for your comments and enthusiasm. It really helps to have someplace to visit that can take me to better place if only for awhile.
Hang in there Dr. Goat! I, too, come here a lot when I need a pick-me-up, or even just to wander down memory lane for a bit.
Mike Cozart, that is just a standard coach, not Edna. Edna has a much different window arrangement on each side, with large spaces between some of them.
Knott's eventually turned one of their coaches into the combine car "Chama." I wonder if this is that coach?
That’s interesting … your right that is not the EDNA car .. I’ve never seen another car sitting in the ENDA display spur … I wonder where EDNA was or if the coach was changed out at sone point and still used as a “private car” display . I remember the mannequin Victorian dressed family inside … the interior was set up to look like a family was living in the rail coach as opposed to being set dressed as a presidential private car. … a platform allowed access to the coach platform ….
There used to be two covered wagons on display at the end of this street - both also absent … but a “city hitch “ type wagon is here in this photo …
That adobe shed in the second picture was a favorite sight at Knott's; after dark a small lamp flickered invitingly in the window.
Likewise DrGroat, we'll keep the home fires burning for you at GDB.
Dr. Goat, I’ve been thinking of you for some time now, I hope things brightens up with the Spring season. There’s nothing better than a few old pics and conversations around the GDB Market House wood stove. familiar scenes of the past did a lot for me, hoping the same too for you and Mrs. Goat.
Major, I know very little about the Knotts scenes today, but the seal pool looks familiar, unless I’m conflating it with one at the Fresno Zoo.
Thanks for the picture today. Hope everyone has a good one!
JG
Sending all the best wishes & prayers to DrGoat.
Always great to see Knott's photos without all the roller coaster supports blocking the views.
-DW
To the Good Dr. Goat (Greatest Of All Time), sending massive amounts of positive thinking and good vibes your way. This little blog has magical healing powers. Hang in there my friend!
Love the pics Major!!
Prescribing healthy doses of cheer and 10cc of support for Dr.Goat, stat.
Take daily as required.
refills: unlimited
MS
Nanook, I am grateful to you and all the Jr. Gorillas for helping to make this such a welcoming and friendly place.
JB, I hope Peter checks in today to see your comment, I’ll send him a “heads up” just in case. Eucalyptus trees and palm trees? It must be my grandma’s backyard! I guess that “structure” to the right of the yellow train car is Doctor Mal de Mer’s wagon. Snake oil aplenty! Walter Knott was very humble. “All I need is a place to put my elbow”. And he meant it! I wonder how many jerks tried to feed cigarettes to the seals?
TokyoMagic!, I knew you would have lots to say about these, since you know Knott’s like the back of your hand. Very cool! What if you go to the Goodtime Theater but have a bad time? I had no idea that flicking food was such a thing among men of Walter Knott’s generation, I guess it was a tradition that they learned in the Great War. Or something. Please refrain from using words like “backside”, it’s too naughty. Thanks for your nice words to Peter!
K. Martinez, at some point I had the “genius” idea to just try to keep GDB as friendly as possible. Who needs more unpleasantness in their lives? Not me. Thanks as always for your comments and friendship.
TokyoMagic!, thank you for that link, MAN does it look different now. Not better, just different. I would have never guessed that this was the same area as in my first photo. And there you go with a naughty word again! ;-)
Mike Cozart, thank you; what is the private rail coach?? Is it like the Lilly Belle at Disneyland?
TokyoMagic!, Oh cool! I loved that Haunted Shack (it sure was slanty!), and am still sore that they tore it out. All so that they could sell cocaine. Well, that’s what I heard, anyway.
TokyoMagic!, ah, well that would partly explain why it looked so different. But it STILL looks like a different place, even in the “corrected” angle.
Sue, thank you.
Melissa, the wagon was topless. Coffee in your nose, I apologize! Sounds unpleasant. Now if it had been a chocolate milkshake…! I wonder when they decided they had to add that little wire “shelf” to keep out the garbage and cigarette butts? Probably pretty quickly.
Budblade, as corny as it sounds, it makes me happy to think that my silly blog brings at least a small bright spot to the reader’s day.
Steve DeGaetano, what the heck is an Edna? I mean besides the most beautiful name on Earth? What if I want a Gertrude instead?
Mike Cozart, THOSE WEREN’T MANNEQUINS!!
Stefano, oh I love little stuff like that, just some flickering lights add so much!
JG, I know DrGoat appreciates the kind words, he has nothing but good things to say about the whole GDB crew. The seal pool is long gone, and I think the one that I remember most vividly is probably the one from the old Japanese Deer Park ((which is REALLY long gone). Did you ever see the sea lions that you could feed at that aquarium in Morro Bay?
DW, I kind of agree, I like a good roller coaster, but… they sure change the feel of our beloved Berry Farm.
Grant, ha ha, he IS the GOAT! Thanks for your kind comment.
MS, aw, so nice.
Major, I do remember the Morro Bay seal! Wow, but not till you mentioned him.
He was part of the Aquarium exhibits, I have no idea what happened to him. How long do seals live? I hope they let him go and that he lived a long happy seal retirement in the open sea. Downside, he would have had to catch his own sardines, and cigarettes.
The Aquarium is gone now too. I think it may have moved to Avila Beach, or else that is another aquarium.
The building is still there, now a beer brewery. I haven't been in to try the beer. Maybe next week when we visit SLO again.
JG
Knott’s had Morro Bay Seals….?? Disney had actor Vic Morro who stared in The Treasure of Metecumbe ……which was filmed mostly at Walt Disney World preserve lands …. Walt Disney surveyed the Florida property in a helicopter….. and Vic Morro died from decapitation from helicopter blades ….. COINCIDENCE ?!?!??
Oh! the Lampy and Nora’s Lighthouse set and scenes from Pete’s Dragon were filmed at Morro Bay ….
And at Knott’s the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad featured a private business coach named EDNA ….and the house mother on the tv show FACTS OF LIFE was named EDNA!! …. COINCIDENCE!???
AND…….. on the tv show FACTS OF LIFE were two former NEW Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers JULIE ( Julie) and LISA (Blair)… and they were filming the 1976 THE MOUSEKETEERS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD … at the same time Vic Morro was filming at WDW Disney’s Treasure of Metecumbe with New Mouseketeer Billy “pop” Atemore !!! And our own BU tried to audition for the New Mickey Mouse Club!! …. And WDW keelboats were used in filming the WDW MICKEY MOUSE CLUB special AND Treasure of Metecumbe!! And Bu rode a Keelboat!!!
COINCIDENCE!???…….I think not….
@ MIKE-
I had an Aunt Edna. Where does she fit into the 'pantheon' of COINCIDENCE-??!! Ah-ha.
Mike, I see how you tied it all together:
Bu’s a seal!
—Sue
Dr Goat. I believe you and I are of that same certain age from previous discussions. Here's a helping of Good Karma coming your way from this old Beach Boy now Cowboy. All it takes is a little balance and you will be in for the ride of your life. Trust me...I entered a dark hole many years ago from which I escaped and never went back into. You can too my friend! KS
I'm just waiting for Mike to work in some Ancient Astronaut theories and extraterrestrials... and maybe tell us where the Oak Island treasure can be found. :-D
Arf! Arf! Arf! (That was for Bu. He'll know what it means; him being a seal and all.)
Is Bu the Seal of Approval?
For the last GDB Knott's posting (two weeks ago), Stefano brought up the fact that Knott's got mentioned on an episode of "I Love Lucy," and I mentioned that it was also referenced on an episode of "The Golden Girls." Last week, I was watching "Designing Women" and Jean Smart's character brought up Knott's Berry Farm and it's "House of Miniatures." In reality, the attraction was called "Mott's Miniatures" and it was housed in Jeffries Barn (now, the Wilderness Dance Hall), which we can see a portion of in that first pic. Not only did they get the name of the attraction wrong, but Jean Smart starts describing the two little fleas that lived in the exhibit, in a little house, with little beds and wore little "bride and groom" outfits.
And then just yesterday, I was watching an episode of "The Larry Sanders Show," and Knott's got mentioned, once again! Free advertising!
Nanook, I also had a great-aunt Edna. She used to give great big bear hugs that would squeeze all of the air out of your lungs. Not fun.
TM!, your comment about Knott's being mentioned in TV shows brought back a memory of a book I read as a kid. The heroine was a teenage girl who worked at Knott's on the weekends. I don't remember the entire plot, but it was something about how the other kids at school and the boy she had a crush on thought she was dull for working instead of going to parties. And there was an incident where a customer accused her of short-changing, but her supervisor knew she hadn't because there was a policy where they didn't put the customer's money into the drawer before making change. So, she could prove they had given her a ten instead of the twenty they were claiming it sticks out in my mind because it was the first time I had heard of Knott's Berry Farm being a real place instead of just a brand of jellies and pancake syrups.
Mott's Miniatures at Knotts? Knotts Motts? Is the Mott from the applesauce Mott's? Aunt Edna was also put on top of the Family Truckster...on an aluminum chair. I don't know why they put her on the chair...wacky Hollywood types. Imogene Coca...she was still going strong even at 150 years old. I've never been called a seal. I've been called a bear. Maybe I could have been a seal when razors got too close. It is very true that I've rode a keelboat and tried to audition for a Mouseketeer job. If I DID become a Mouseketeer...would I be famous? Or blown out of the bottom of the B movie business? Probably the latter. Way too much shennangins in my life to be an "Annette"...Dr.Peter: I am sending positive vibes and good things your way. I read an old quote today that I wrote down a few years ago "Just when the caterpillar thought it couldn't get any worse...he turned into a butterfly." I thought it was sweet, so I wrote it down. These things tend to come back to you when the universe tells you that you need to pass them along to someone else. I guess that is true. Note that "Goat" is also "Greatest of All Time". Thanks for the Knott's and Mott's notes today Major...don't have much to say, but Knotts is growing on me...ARF ARF...
Melissa, that book sounds interesting! In our "cash handling" training at Knott's, they actually did stress placing the money on a ledge of the cash register, and not placing it immediately in the till. It was for the very reason you mentioned. After giving someone their change, if that person said, "Hey, I gave you a $20!", we had the bill right there to show them, in case they were mistaken, or in case they were deliberately LYING THROUGH THEIR TEETH! There were even very dated and very poorly acted training films that we had to sit through, with different scenarios played out, showing customers trying to scam the cashier out of money.
Bu, yes...it was actually Mott's Miniatures. It was run by the Mott family (no relation to the apple people) for many years, as a concession. I believe it was sort of the same situation/agreement, like how Bud Hurlbut ran his own rides and attractions in the park, and just paid something to the Knott Family to be there. In 1985, Knott's moved Mott's Miniatures out of Jeffries Barn, where they had been for decades, and crammed them into a much smaller space in Ghost Town. The rumor was, that there was a falling out between the two families. I'm not sure if it was because of that move, or if it was over something else. The Mott's eventually moved out of Knott's altogether, and opened their own store somewhere in O.C., but that has since closed. I think they were even doing mail order business for a while (satisfying all of your "miniature" needs), but I think they have discontinued that, as well.
Dr. Goat - sending good feelings your way. This place is about the best little community I've ever found on the internet and I'm glad to see all of your comments.
Mike Cozart - have you considered pitching a new volume of Time-Life Books' Mysteries of the Unexplained series. Though I think a basic cable special might be an easier sell.
@ TM!-
"She used to give great big bear hugs that would squeeze all of the air out of your lungs".
"Dorothy, you're really hurting me... Dorothy-!!"
Nanook, that is my absolute favorite line from, "The Wizard of Oz"!
Just kidding! If I didn't recognize that line from "The Golden Girls," I'd have to turn in my fan club membership card.
I guess I should also mention....for no particular reason, that my great-aunt Edna also scratched my face once, with one of those old fashioned metal Christmas corsages (during one of her bear hugs). Those things had sharp edges! And she also burnt me once, with one of her cigarettes. Poor aunt Edna.....I know it wasn't on purpose! (Or was it?)
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