I have two random Snoozles for you on this fine Sunday. May the 7th Be With You! I'll start with this look at Fantasyland, circa November, 1967. It's not a bad picture, though the only thing that's really in focus is Dumbo VII (one of the clones that worked this attraction), while the Pirate Ship and Casey Jr. ticket booth are all just a bit blurry. Artistic as heck though!
Next, from "sometime in the 1960s" comes this not bad, not great, not much of anything photo taken from Main Street Station looking down upon Town Square. The sky is blue, the park is busy, the Horse Drawn Streetcar is unloading... it's just kind of a "meh" picture.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat fabulous 'trick shot' of the first image was achieved thru the first-time use of the world's longest Selfie Stick, attached to "Dumbo VII"-!
Thanks, Major.
Another Skyway gondola tangled up in the ship’s mast, again. Don’t ya hate when that happens?!
ReplyDeleteSue
Ha! I like the name "Sunday Snoozles". It's a good thing you trademarked it.
ReplyDeleteI guess everything else in this photo was moving, except Dumbo VII. Like you said, it makes for a very artistic shot. Hey! There aren't any kids in this photo. Gilligan (red shirt, white hat) is here again. He seems to show up quite frequently. Not sure if there are any trashcans in the photo; that might be a 'bullet' can next to the ticket booth.
Major, you forgot to mention that pile of powdered sugar that somebody dropped on top of the Wurlitzer building. Seems like an odd place to store powdered sugar; what if it rains?
Wow, the Castle looks reeeeally small way back there. I think I see three trashcans, but we know there are many more. Does the teen on the extreme right have oxide on his nose?
Thanks, Major. These may fall within the "Snoozles" scale, but just barely; more like 'low-average'... C minus... 68%. :-D
What's the difference between a Snoozer and a Snoozle?
ReplyDeleteJB, that teen's nose had to be bandaged in First Aid, after his Dumbo vehicle came to an abrupt stop in mid-air. He's even got an ice pack in his hand, with instructions to "Apply to affected area once every hour, for 10 minutes."
These elephants look kind of blurry,
ReplyDeleteBut that doesn't mean you should worry.
Don't call the optician;
It isn't your vision.
They're just flying 'round in a hurry.
You may want to get on the streetcar,
Depending on how sore your feet are.
Step on inside
And go for a ride -
Just look at how empty the seats are!
I think I spy a blurry blue babushka (say that three times fast) in the first picture, on the long-haired lady in the clamdiggers.
Today's Vintage Fashion Award goes to the lady boarding the streetcar in what appears to be a sailor dress with some sort of waterfowl appliqued on the front. An electric swan, maybe? I wonder why there are so many CMs clustered around the vehicle. Shift change? I'm sure one of the Disneyland Alumni Junior Gorillas will know. (They get to wear a special patch on their Gorilla Scout uniforms.)
JB, I think that "powdered sugar" is the Mouseketeers' cocaine stash. Got to keep that energy up for the afternoon show.
Melissa, I like your poems....as always! And I bet everyone was blaming Darlene for the "powdered sugar." It must have been a Wednesday, which was "Anything Can Happen (With Cocaine) Day."
ReplyDeleteSnoozles TM are possibly the best of the week. #1: Sunday's I usually have a bit of time to peruse them with a fresh morning mind. These snoozles TM have some merit. Phil Silvers and Martha Raye seem to be waiting for Casey Jr. to come along the track. I did not remember the lamp post of the termite/bed bug/dry rot infested Chicken of Sea boat being so long or "stickie". It's actually pretty dramatic. See!: Snoozles TM make you look deeper! The one Dumbo is in focus, whilst the rest...has an "Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds" commercial haze. I enjoy that every holiday season: they STILL play that commercial. I also didn't recognize that the scalloped top of the chain link fencing is Disneyland Gold...which is a color, and someone knows what it is. Most usually paired with Disneyland Blue...and I don't think that is a pairing anymore, and someone knows. Meanwhile, in Town Square, trees do not have scale. OK Major, I can see what you mean now. Perhaps they deserve a trim but not a chop. Trees are shade and shade is needed in this oh so sunny part of the world. It can't just be in Adventureland. I think that is why I'm not a giant Fantasyland lover...not a whole lotta shade out that way...it's better in the very early morning before humans are in it. Walking through Fantasyland without nary a sound of a mouse (no pun intended) is magical...the early morning, and middle of the night providing two different feelings entirely. In the morning: you smell water...either from the air, the freshly washed ground, or sprinklers. It's kind of a humid/ fresh smell. Mix some new paint smell in there too. At night, you can still smell the essence of guest: popcorn, random fried food...sweet lollypop smell...brass smell from the carrousel and the chains surrounding it. It is not a humid smell, very dry and you feel the heat coming from the ground. For those of you who have never experienced a completely empty Disneyland- it really is something. When it starts to get noisy from compressors and street cleaning stuff...that isn't so much magical....but there are moments directly before that and after that....you can hear the tweet tweet of birds in the morning before everything is turned back on again. Thanks for the Snoozles TM Major!
ReplyDeleteAlso: regarding the shift change Main St. Vehicles guys...I think they ONLY appeared in packs. They stance is all the same all the time. They are probably talking about their next break. When you work in foods busting your BTM and see these scenes of relaxation and BBON (big bag of nothing), you tended to get a wee bitter. However, it all takes a village, and the Pony farm guys had a more unique job than most...mostly backstage on the ranch where they had to take care of the horses and manage their shenanigans on stage- which some times was for lack of a better term "unbridled". The horses are not all always sweet lamby-kins...
ReplyDeleteMajor, there’s always something to squeeze out of the most boring picture, if it’s clear enough to identify as Disneyland, even if we can’t date them accurately.
ReplyDeleteIt’s fairly remarkable how the Dumbo is in perfect focus while the rest of the world recedes into background. JB, I agree, a bullet can on the train platform. Gold fence scallops, and Nope Taupe light towers. I would guess taken between 1965 and 1969 since we have the newer Skyway buckets but the chain link is still around Dumbo. The fancy fence came in 69 or 70.
Photo 2 has three trash cans for certain, and at least two of the white column drinking fountains. Someone left all the sugar on top of the Wurlitzer building, which I am willing to nominate as the dullest facade on Main Street. Looks like a nice day in the Park, I would greet this scene happily as a prelude to a day when They hadn’t yet Ruined Everything.
Thanks Major!
JG
I think the first photo deserves more credit than it’s getting here. To me, it’s a perfect illustration of an individual’s experience of Disneyland.
ReplyDeleteWe identify with the rider in the in-focus Dumbo, whose face’s unintentional obscuration by the photographer enhances our ability to imagine ourselves in their place. When in Disneyland, we are focused on our own experience, clearly seeing the things in our immediate surroundings. We are aware of other things around us - pirate ships, Skyway buckets, other guests - but we don’t see them clearly most of the time because they aren’t part of our immediate experience. Nevertheless, they are still there, and we are still aware that they are there, and they are part of the larger experience that is Disneyland. And even if we never focus on them clearly, we notice when they are suddenly - and permanently - gone.
Almost everything in this photograph - the pirate ship, the Skyway buckets, and many of the guests - is now gone. Even Dumbo, which survives, is no longer here in this spot. It’s less a case of “they ruin everything” than an illustration of the fleeting nature of personal experience. Things change. That’s just how things are.
And yet…our memories of our own experiences - and memory aids, like photographs - allow us an opportunity to fix things in a particular time and a particular place, to relive sights and sounds and smells and sensations that meant a great deal to us at the time and continue to mean a great deal to us years - even decades - later. I think this is what attracts us to places like GDB, communities where we can relive fond memories of the past, savor the challenge and promise of the future, and hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. This is what Walt wanted Disneyland to be…and, God willing, may it always remain so for those of us who hold Disneyland dear in our collective hearts.
Well, I think I’ve stalled long enough. Time to go fix the boys’ toilet…
Nanook, of course thanks to technology, we have since made selfie sticks that are more than twice as long!
ReplyDeleteSue, hey, at least you could enjoy the view until they came and untangled you! Hopefully nobody needs to use the restroom.
JB, it cost me $100,000 to trademark Sunday Snoozles™, but it was worth it. I paid it to some guy on the street who said he’d “take care of it”. How nice! I wish I had a Roman numeral after my name. “Major Pepperidge III” has a nice ring to it. Has the person with the green shirt really showed up in other photos? If so I hadn’t noticed. As for the pile of sugar, you know that “it never rains in California” (thank you, Albert Hammond). And we already know that they used to store small bags of sugar right on top of the drinking fountains, so a precedent has been set. Only an insider will be able to tell us why it was done that way.
TokyoMagic!, once you know the difference between a Snoozer and a Snoozle, it will be obvious, but it takes years of observation and experience. That teen actually has a metal nose, to replace the one that a Knott’s Berry Farm burro bit off.
Melissa, wow, nice pair of limericks! An artform that one doesn’t see much anymore. “Blurry Blue Babushka” was one of Prince’s best unreleased songs. Why am I unable to find the lady with the sailor dress? Back in those days, each attraction, even the streetcars, required 15 employees at all times.
TokyoMagic!, that Darlene was a bad girl, which is why I love her. I wonder if she and Annette ever exchanged angry words? I mean, Darlene would be angry, Annette would be calm and sweet.
Bu, I don’t understand why you have so much free time on Sundays, don’t you go to five church services in a row like I do? The first one is at 6:30 AM. I’ll save you a seat! I never knew that the Tuna Boat had bedbugs. There were probably chiggers too. I don’t know what a chigger is, and I don’t want to. Poor Elizabeth Taylor… one of the most beautiful women in the world, but time takes its toll on all of us. Nobody cares if I look like crap, but when you were Liz, people commented. She didn’t give any f’s though, she was a tough old dame. I know what you mean about trees and shade, but later pictures with big beautiful trees usually means that we can’t see the attractions. And really, isn’t my enjoyment more important than the comfort of the guests? I’m glad you agree. I do love Fantasyland, those dark rides, in spite of their many “upgrades”, still feel like a a way to experience the “classic Disneyland”. The smell of water that you mention might be the same smell that we get after a light rain. Apparently it wakes up some sort of bacteria, which is gross, but it is what it is. I’d love to see a completely empty Disneyland!
ReplyDeleteBu, back in those days the Main Street vehicle operators were not college kids, they were older men, probably WWII vets (or Korean War vets at least) who were not messing around. And they probably managed to support their families and live in cozy little Orange County homes with their Disneyland pay. Another world.
JG, I’m always glad when people find things to enjoy with the Snoozles™; I always feel a little guilty posting lame pictures, but by now everyone knows that they can just skip Sundays here if they want to. I assume that the photographer of Dumbo actually moved his camera to the right a little, tracking the flying elephant for a few seconds, which is how he got that particular photo. It’s a shame that Dumbo’s ear blocked the face of the woman. Hey, I like the Wurlitzer building! I admit that it doesn’t look good in this particular photo, but that’s because it’s a Snoozle™.
Chuck, we all had the same perm as that lady in the Dumbo vehicle, so it’s easy for us to imagine that it is WE who are up in the air! Once I switched from a perm to a pixie cut, things changed dramatically. I ALWAYS focus on my own experience, to the point where I will crash into other guests and step on their feet. Get out of my way, I’m Major Pepperidge III! You make a good point about everything (almost) being gone. Years ago I remember looking at a book with a photo of Tomorrowland (from the 1950s) and the caption pointed out that nothing in the photo existed to present day. It blew my mind. My hope for GDB is that it would help to reawaken old memories and experiences, the same feeling I got when I first started collecting these vintage slides and photos. And it seems to be working? Good luck with that terlet!
Sure, we all go to five church services in a row, but they're really, really short. Ding dong, amen, out the door, Bob's your uncle, you-know-who's your father, lather, rinse, repeat, and you're home before the coffee gets cold.
ReplyDeleteChuck, that was really beautiful! Reminds me of Don Draper's Carousel speech (which still chokes me up after all these years, I'm such an old softie).
Oh, and before I forget: Juuuust aaaa roof full of sugar makes the Wurlitzer fall down, the Wirlitzer fall do-own, the Wurlitzer fall down...
Major, I don't know about a guy in a "green" shirt ;-), but a guy in a red shirt (and white hat) often shows up in these photos. Not the same guy, but "a" guy. I guess it's a common 'look'.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, and it does it in a most delightful way!
Melissa, I have complained that there are not enough services on Sunday, but so far there have been no changes. But I will never give up! Ah, Don Draper’s Carousel speech. I liked his (less inspiring) “It’s Toasted” idea for Lucky Strike too. What a great show.
ReplyDeleteJB, sure, I see a guy with a red shirt and a white hat too! He’s talking to me right now! (Backs away slowly making no sudden moves).
@ Chuck-
ReplyDeleteI think that about says it all. Thanks.