More Ken S Photos!
Today I am sharing the last batch of images that Ken S. was generous enough to send along - more wonderful snapshots of a time when there was so much fun and friendship! Once again, Ken also provided some great info to go along with the pictures.
The first shot is of the Davey Crockett canoe team circa 1974, consisting of those who worked the canoes so you would think we would have an edge in the competition. I wasn't on the team. I had served my time for a couple years with the Hill Brothers group. We called ourselves the "Hills Angels". Those teams never had a chance of winning, show or place in the standings but like so many, it was the camaraderie that came with the challenge which helped us jell in other ways when we returned to our regular duties. From that experience, I found I was not naturally inclined to stay up all night to come in early, work my tail off while getting soaked with river water, have breakfast at AJ's and then off to work in the kitchen after taking a shower in the locker room. Ugh.
So I'd come in, watch and cheer on my "Canoe" team members. I remember them all. Many are now social media friends. I just don't recall if the canoe team won that year. They were exceptionally close and one would have thought that with the experience we had on the attraction, we would always take the prize. The mixed teams with some girl CMs always won. I think the downside for the men's team is that we had football players as CMs. Kept the boat low in the water.
Speaking of "low" well...here's a good example of being in 'Low Rider" mode. Thought we'd lower the wind resistance. I can attest many of us had wet bottoms after that picture. I'm in the middle looking away...as usual. LOL
Pirates...oh what fun to put on clothes which suggested that we had a bit of Tinker Bell in our DNA. Working Crowd Control, we'd always be asked to pose with guests. This shot takes me back. Jess on the right ended up working other theme parks in management. Hassan...on the left, was friendly, but mysterious. He didn't speak much about his past in Iran and was a bit guarded about saying too much like there was some secret agent after him. Nobody really knows to this day but there are stories...
You know we considered Tour Guides to be very yummy. It was all done in fun and nobody took an exception to it that I can recall. Her smile is genuine and well...for Greg...he didn't complain either. It's backstage antics at its best and the shot just makes me smile of a time of innocence. I wouldn't mid going back to those days. I think we all need to take a breath and laugh. Life is too short. BTW...Greg got his PhD and is in medical research at Vanderbilt.
Then there was the time we were told we were 'up a tree'. Except this time we really WERE up one. Ah never got into trouble.
And just when you thought we were done, Ken sent along two additional photos!
The team took the (canoe) race seriously. It ended one time missing the top spot by a fraction of a second. Pictured are Jim Z and Gary B contemplating that they were only one stroke away from winning that morning. They were in the break area waiting for the attraction to open. Yep they took it seriously.
Man, I feel so bad for them!
Gary went on to work 10 years and back in those days...the whole organization was like family. Even to the point of receiving service awards from the CEO and Board Chairman of the company.
I recognize Card Walker (maybe the name tag with "CARD" on it helped), but I'm not sure who the gentleman is to the left. (Note… I have been informed that the man on the left is Don Tatum).
MANY THANKS to Ken for sharing these photos!
19 comments:
Major-
I think these pictures should be part of an employment brochure entitled: So - You Want to Be a Cast Member-? How could anyone say no.
Thanks Ken for sharing more good fun with us.
Ah. Nice to see more CMs having a good time. I like that the teams who were not really in the running to win the races still got a lot out of the experience. Bonding and camaraderie was the main goal.
Looks like they picked the swarthy, exotic-looking CMs to play the pirates. Which makes sense, I guess. Not sure what it says when the pirates are dressed more colorfully than the two ladies. The gals are wearing the palest of pink sweaters and those intricately patterned shirts. They must be mother and daughter.
"Greg got his PhD and is in medical research at Vanderbilt." Yes, but, does he still wear his topless coonskin cap? It's the important things that matter in life. He looks like he's really 'getting into it' here, pretending (?) to bite the backside of the yummy Tour Guide. And what's this? WIRE HANGERS!?!? Joan Crawford must be spinning in her grave.
That looks like a good climbing-tree the guys are in. Plenty of branches arranged like a spiral staircase. Some sort of cedar tree, I think, judging from the bark and overall shape.
I bet Jim Z. and Gary B. didn't stay glum for long. They look like how I imagine Superman would look if he suddenly realized he wasn't "super" anymore.
Thank you, Ken. It's always great to see CMs and hear about their stories. And thank you, Major for hosting GDB.
I can never get enough of all the cast member photos posted lately!
I wonder if they still have canoe races, today? I have a copy of "The Disneyland Line" (an employee publication), from January 2020 and it mentions that the Canoe Races will be held "June through August" of that year. I'm guessing that they were canceled that year, but I'm wondering if they have resumed since then, or if Disney took that opportunity to eliminate them?
I'm assuming that's Gary's 10-year employee pin in that little plastic container, attached to his 10-year plaque? I love the background artwork in that photo. It reminds me a bit of the artwork that was used in the Bell Telephone exhibit, where you could call Disney characters, riding in various vehicles, all over the park.
Thank you so much Ken, for sharing even more of your personal photos! And thank you, Major!
I just noticed that that gentleman on the left, in the last pic, is wearing a Mickey Mouse tie! I wonder if it was a "Cervantes" tie?
Apparently, it was a Cervantes/"Walt Disney Productions" tie:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/256038126183?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=256038126183&targetid=1264870804704&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=9031053&poi=&campaignid=14859008593&mkgroupid=130497710760&rlsatarget=pla-1264870804704&abcId=9300678&merchantid=6296724&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsIejBhDOARIsANYqkD05GJKrhzHsM9T5jwks6pZ9MUnRDC9IvzSabIDN3mGgEj9eGxChWaAaAuJLEALw_wcB
Thanks again, Ken S! I love seeing people having fun at work. Camaraderie and teamwork make coming to work an enjoyable experience and generally turn out a better product in the end.
Thanks for that link, TM! Wow, that Cervantes guy was talented. Designed ties and wrote Don Quixote, which I believe was the definitive history of instant oatmeal. What a guy!
Fun pictures of a job that probably isn't nearly as fun now. The "good ol' days" sometimes really were better!
I can attest to low riding canoes not being fast. Water is a bit denser than air, I'm afraid. We once swamped a canoe at 6 Flags Over Texas on Grad Nite by riding WAY too low. One turn and there we went! They don't sink, by the way- only fill with water and wallow. Slowly.
Thanks Ken! (and Major)
The gentleman on the left in the award photo is Disney Legend Donn Tatum. He became CEO and board chairman after Roy Disney died in 1971, and served in that position before Card Walker. He was the first non-Disney family member to head the company,
Thanks Ken and Major!
Looks like a dream job, getting paid to climb trees and paddle canoes.
Ken, I’m sure you were CM on one of my high school canoe expeditions, I think we rode that low in the water too! thanks for the great memories!
JG
Nanook, I would say “NO” because I want to keep my big ZZ Top beard.
JB, I figure you have to be philosphical about not winning - only one can be top dog after all. “As long as we had fun” should be the thinking! I’m sure that the casting of the pirates had to do with their looks, just like they might cast a woman with long blonde hair as Alice. makes sense. Greg doesn’t wear his coonskin cap, but he does wear a clown nose, something he did long before that phony Patch Addams. I wonder if Jim and Gary were thinking, “If only we had (insert name here) on our team! We would have definitely won!”.
TokyoMagic!, I was also wondering if they still did the canoe races. As you said, I’m sure that the last two or three years have been a bust, but maybe now they are back? How can we find out? I wonder if that background scene was made specifically for that ceremony? It’s not very much like the Disneyland castle, but I guess it gives the general idea.
TokyoMagic!, I used to have several Disney ties that my grandma gave me, I wonder if they were “Cervantes” ties??
TokyoMagic!, my ties didn’t look like that one, but it looks like they could be related. They might even still be in a closet at my mom’s house, I’ll have to look!
Chuck, er, em… “Don Quixote”… “the definitive history of instant oatmeal”? Whu?
Stu29573, when I passed the Canoe area a few months ago, the CMs kind of looked like they were a tight group. Hard to be sure though. Why didn’t I ride the canoes, darn it??
Anonymous, thank you. Mr. X emailed me at 2 o’clock in the morning to ID Mr. Tatum, and I updated the blog post at around 3:30!
JG, I thought that my job as a plumber would allow me to climb trees and paddle canoes, but I was sorely mistaken. Dark high school guidance counselor!
On second glance around, that tree picture reminds me of the Lost Safari.
And that stage decoration doesn't look very Disney at all, more like something they picked up from "Castles-R-Us".
Major, we were both clearly duped by our guidance counselors, look how I turned out.
JG
Major, try pronouncing “Don Quixote” as if you only spoke English and had never seen or heard the name before. That might help make some sense out of my comment, even if it isn’t that funny.
Chuck, I knew that Cervantes wrote Don Quixote, sometime in the 1600s, I think. But, like Major, the instant oatmeal flew right over my head. BUT NOW I GET IT! hahahahahahahahaha... well, one "haha" anyway.
Major, interesting stuff about the word "plumber": Lead, the mineral, is designated as "Pb" on the periodic table because "plumbum" is Latin for lead. So, a plumber is someone who works with lead. Now you know. Tomorrow, we tackle 'tin foil'.
Appreciate the comments folks. As Stu noted, maybe the job isn't as much fun as it used to be. Certainly, it isn't as intimate within the organization like it once was. But each generation probably things their time was just as good. KS
Love the photos and takes me back to a more carefree time in my life! I'm not even sure that this level of carefree even exists anymore, but it's nice to look back. I remember Gary, and yes that's Don Tatum and Card Walker both Walt people. Both very nice always, and both supporting Walts vision. How interesting that Card and Don showed up for a 10 year. 10 years in my time were aplenty. Due to my Casual, to Part Time, back to Casual, then back to Part Time...even at a regular 40 hours throughout, I never "officially" got to 10 years, but by the calendar it was 10+ I've spoken about the Canoe Races before, you do it once and kind of get hooked: like getting a Tattoo. I was in the Why Be Normals, Rad Plaids, Totally Tourguides, hmmm...will have to dig through the memory to figure out the others...I did it every Summer until I changed work sites. Great fun. Not sure who the TG is, but that looks pretty normal to me, as does tree climbing. "Nannigans". As long as it didn't disrupt show, a blind eye was generally turned. The Disney ties were everywhere, and supervision wore many versions. When I became a supervisor, I wore fancy ties. I did have a lot of "Alligator Shirts" that had a little Mickey instead. Those were super cool, but verboten to wear unless you wore a jacket as well. Working for certain leaders you HAD to wear a coat and tie ALWAYS. REGARDLESS of heat. The show was everything. If you were guest facing: better get on your game. Thanks Ken for sharing and Major for posting! Very enjoyable. BTW: losing by a second...man...that hurts bad and is real. Super real. I hurt reading it.
"As Stu noted, maybe the job isn't as much fun as it used to be. Certainly, it isn't as intimate within the organization like it once was."
Ken, haha! Looking at the 4th photo, I bet you're right! You can't get much more intimate than that!
Thanks, Ken, for sharing more of your photos and fun stories! And thank you, Major, too!
Great to see the behind-the-scenes fun for these CMs.
In the 4th picture, I suspect that's a BMW 5-series (mid wheelbase between the 3 and the 7 series), back when you could get a 2-door version.
JG, I wish Castles-R-Us was still around, for all of my medieval needs. Just the other day I was looking for a trebuchet, and Home Depot had nothing!
Chuck, ah, I would have never gotten that one on my own. It’s not your fault!
JB, Cervantes also invented the s’more. You don’t hear about that so much, but he did. I actually do think your plumber facts are interesting!
KS, I think you’re right about each generation finding something that they love. Look at Disneyland itself, which so many people adore more than anything, and yet, to some of us, it has been ruined! It all depends upon one’s point of view.
Bu, I was assuming that the event with Card Walker and Don Tatum probably involved giving out lots of awards to lots of people. The awardee would get a few seconds to shake Card’s hand, pose for a picture, and then it would be the next person’s turn. Just a theory, but it sounds plausible. I like that groups of CMs, no matter where they worked (in other words, not just Frontierland) got to participate in the canoe races. I wonder if anybody worked out for the event? “This is going to be our year!”. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the tour guide photo, everyone seems to be having fun. Wearing a coat and tie at Disneyland, yuck! I get why they had to do it, but still.
Lou and Sue, maybe that tour guide had a bee on her, and that guy was trying to save her life because she was allergic? Yes, I’m sure that’s what it was.
Dean Finder, ha ha, oh yeah, there’s a car in that photo too!
The awardee would get a few seconds to shake Card’s hand, pose for a picture, and then it would be the next person’s turn.
Major, you just shattered my picture of the whole experience. I was picturing Gary posing for that photo, and then immediately getting into Card or Don's car and heading off to the local Sizzler, for their All-You-Can-Eat Salad Bar. Isn't that what Eisner and Pressler did, after presenting cast members with their service awards? Maybe they actually let the cast members order the Malibu Chicken.
I scanned these earlier today, but forgot to post the link. Sorry that it's so late, but here are three mentions of the Canoe Races from an employee publication, from 2018, 2019 (a reprint about the 1999 races), and 2020, along with photos:
Disneyland Canoe Races
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