Nice Castle, November 1957
It's always nice to find those rare and precious views of Disneyland, showing some previously-unknown corner of the park. But sometimes it is perfectly nice to have a good photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle from the 1950s (November, 1957 in today's case).
Like this one! Bright and clear, vivid sunshine, blue skies with picturesque clouds; everything is as neat as a pin and as tidy as my grandmother's living room (that's saying something). I love the splashes of color, like that lady's red coat, or the candy-striped ice cream cart to the right, or the yellow on the ticket booth seen through the castle archway. Even the couple to the left are wonderful (Frank Sinatra and Audrey Hepburn?).
Our happy family stopped to pose beneath the portcullis (or near enough). Little did they know that their popcorn boxes would become sought-after collectibles 50+ years later. Through the archway we can see the Carrousel and just a bit of Merlin's Magic Shop, back when it was that interesting greenish color!
11 comments:
Major-
Look at that... so perfect in its 'simplicity'. (Who needs all that pink & gold-??)
Thanks, Major.
Ooh, this is a nice picture. I think I'll keep it. I'm not seeing any sign of The Dent. Hey! Where'd the ice cream vendor go? Is that him hiding behind the cart, on the right? I wonder if those are real ice cream bars, etc. sticking out of that dome? Maybe they're just for show.
Junior has one of those faces that makes him look like he's 40 something. And Aunt Alice, in the middle, isn't having any of it, "Take the danged picture! And let's get out of this hell-hole. Where's the exit?!" She was probably quite pleasant. She has a box of popcorn, after all. Those shoes she's wearing look painful; that's probably it.
It's nice to see the drawbridge with the low chain railing. I bet this spot was the killer swans' all-you-can-eat buffet.
Thanks for the vintage photos, Major.
It looks like a nice uncrowded day to be at the park!
JB, Aunt Alice looks a little bit like my great aunt Edna. And yes, those shoes do look painful....at least for running around Disneyland all day. Maybe she was just holding onto that box of popcorn for the person who was taking the photograph? It almost looks as if she can't wait to get rid of it.
Aunt Alice is mad...super mad...born mad...there are just those types, and it looks like she is one. Johnny and dad are happy as clams. The other: indifferent. They look like they are actually posing for a popcorn ad..."we went to this place called Disneyland and all we got was popcorn"... The Castle is Patty Perfect...so neat and trimmed and perfect: and without that revolting dent ruining the entire thing! Do dents have scale? Just asking. Interesting that the design of the ice cream wagon did not change one bit from '57 to '80. The umbrellas were different, but the actual wagon is exactly the same, and this red and white striped one would be seen in this location, and location in the hub between Frontierland and Adventureland...and that was about it for Main Street. Don't know what the trio of things are in the white blob...probably little mock ups of ice cream bars in a mound of "snow". The vendor looks like he is bending down behind the wagon to pick up a dime or something. In 1957 a dime was worth something. Suit/tie/and hat and suit with pumps seem to be on their way to "somewhere" with guidebook in hand. A postcard perfect shot. Thanks Major!
Hard to get better than these. Beautiful castle, lovely family, albeit with tired feet. Alice wants a Martini, not popcorn.
Major, if this set is accurately dated to November 1957, this date fits right in with my Disneyophotoskubalchronology research which states that we should see only plain green trash cans, and there are three(!) in photo 1.
Also admiring Frank Sinatra’s well-polished oxfords. You would never see this now except ironically.
Thank you!
JG
@ JB-
"Junior has one of those faces that makes him look like he's 40 something".
That's because he IS '40 something'-!
Nanook, admit it, wouldn’t it look just a little better with something sparkly??
JB, the ice cream vendor is hiding in the trashcan. He gets a lot of laughs when he pops out and frightens the guests! I can’t quite tell what those things are on that dome, I guess “sample ice cream bars” is as good a guess as any. I agree, Junior looks like a short 40 year-old somehow. Cheerful, but aged. I wonder how many pictures Aunt Alice has already posed for? “Enough! I need a bench!”. Poor women and their shoes, they really do suffer.
TokyoMagic!, that looks like the PERFECT day to be there! Judging from the coats and sweaters, it was winter, but beautiful. The park probably closed by 8 o’clock, which would be kind of a bummer, but in those days you could probably do most everything in that time frame. I actually had an Auntie Alice, she was well known in the family for her framed paper cutout pictures, they were actually quite pretty.
Bu, I’m always mad! Mad about the big savings at Zody’s, that is. Sometimes the key to getting a good family portrait is giving everyone fair warning that the shutter is about to be snapped. Also, how about saying something funny? A knock-knock joke always works. Also, that bright sun is blasting their faces, probably making it hard to not look squinty. I think the dent might actually be there, but the angle of the sunlight is rendering it invisible. The vendor is eating an ice cream bar behind the cart. “I dropped something!”.
JG, not being much of a drinker, I have not developed a taste for martinis. In fact I had a Gurrtini (Bob Gurr’s version) and it was like drinking acetone. Only acetone has that nice, dry flavor! Someday I hope that some enterprising young person gets their PhD with a thesis on Disneyophotoskubalchronology! The first of its kind, but not the last. Do people wear scuffed oxfords nowadays? I only wear Crocs, so I have no idea.
Nanook, maybe “Junior” is a stand-in for all kinds of Hollywood productions.
Dentless! My eyes are so relived.
MS
Tokyo!, you're right. Aunt Alice has a death-grip on that popcorn box. She's practically shaking with anger, "You have exactly five seconds to take your gall-durned picture; then this box of pig slop is going into the moat!"
Bu, after your tales of how the pencil-pushers kept strict count of every dime, every, nickel, and every penny taken in by the vendors, it make sense that our vendor, here, is picking up a dime. One dime short = 10 lashes in the churro dungeons.
JG, I was going to ask where the third trashcan was (I saw only two), but I finally saw the sneaky one at the bottom of the photo.
Nanook, Junior could be 40 something. I guess they didn't have growth hormone shots in '57.
Major, Junior would be older than me today, probably in his mid seventies. If he looked forty in '57, maybe he looks four today! (He ages backward, like Merlin.)
Just FYI: every dime DOES count...and it was documented on a large and publicly displayed graph...each day's + or -. It was also terminal if you ever balanced by using change out of your own pockets, as this was "falsifying company documents". (even if it was .01) If there was a pattern of .10 under every day, that means you are playing Galaga in the break room every day. :) You HAD to balance. And yes...if I was off, I soooooo put in change from my pockets....I mean really? I'm going to go through scrutiny for a nickel? If I was "over" for the day, I was over because a guest said "keep the change" as a tip. We could not accept tips, so you had to be over. If you kept the change, you were also in trouble because you don't accept tips, so "why didn't you refuse?!" If this happened I would leave the "tip" or the "keep the change" on the top of the wagon, and some kid usually saw it and said "look what I found!"...or I'd throw it on the ground to be found by a sweeper or kids or adults. Silly things, really. Some times if someone left a quarter, I'd just undercharge the next guest by a quarter...which was also terminal, because you were not treating guests equitably, and "the next guest would want it for the same price"...and so it goes...PEOPLE...I'm 17 years old, and I don't need your dimes....(but I do like Galaga.)
Bu, if you were over because someone told you to keep the change, maybe you could have let the overage fall into the Galaga machine. You'd balance for the day, and there'd be an arcade machine feeling all lonely because it had no human playing. And you know how to fix that too :-)
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