Main Street and Plaza Gardens, October 1967
September 6th? It's my mom's birthday, but it's also Melissa's birthday! Let's all wish Melissa the happiest of days! As usual, Sue B. is really on top of things, birthday-wise, she sent this wonderful vintage scan of a rollicking party... somebody call the cops. All the kids are enjoying their party favors, I can hear the grating sound of all those blowers as if they are right next door. I like their woven party hats too, very festive (are they from Mexico?).
And I forgot to add this shot of this cake, specially provided by Sue for Melissa! My apologies to both of them for forgetting.
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On to today's regularly-scheduled images. October, 1967! So many things of note happened. "The Jungle Book" debuted. William J. Knight flew an X-15 aircraft to a record speed of Mach 6.7. Pacific Ocean Park closed forever. "Hair" debuted on Broadway. The famous Patterson-Gimlin footage of Bigfoot was captured. Expo '67 closes down. AND... somebody took some nice photos of Disneyland. Most importantly.
We're looking north on Main Street, probably not too long after the rope was dropped (or whatever they did back then - the electric fence was turned off?) in the morning. Everyone's heading away from me, but I don't take it personally. Trash can counters, do your thing!
And yes, I know that this photo needed some fixing. Now it's all better.
Next is this nice and unusual shot of the Carnation Plaza Gardens, with a decent crowd of guests relaxing and enjoying their lunches.
There, I fixed this one, and now it's all better.
My guess is that most folks don't really remember this area, even though it was just west of the Plaza. During the day I usually didn't see many people over there, though admittedly the window service was closed on those days. I'm not sure why I find the striped tent and wood-slat decorations to be charming and not chintzy, but I am very complicated and deep.
24 comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA-! Were you the one who invited that one boy to your party-? Uh huh. I want to know if the gals are playing with a failed prototype of Mr. Microphone. Very strange. (Love the 'Moms' in the background).
Major- I see you've been really busy 'staging' all the drinking fountains with the proper bag of sugar.
Sue - you've really outdone yourself this week.
Thanks, Major.
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Melissaaaa,
And to Major's mom, too!
(I took a cue from Melissa's comment from yesterday.)
Cute little "Tom Sawyer" hats. Looks like Mom bought them by the pound; there's a bunch more on the table behind the kids. And those "blowers" look like the deluxe models; well made. Every dog in the neighborhood started howling, and every cat ran to their hidey-hole in fear. But the kids are having fun!
Thanks, Sue. This one's a bit different; no birthday cake (visible), no cigarettes and booze, no unidentifiable bowls of glop. Just kids having fun at a party!
"Trash can counters, do your thing!" But I don't wanna! It's late an' I want to go to bed!..... Oh, okaaaay... Let's see, 1...2... I think there are 5 on the left side. And I can only see 3 on the right. There must be another one behind the guy in the white shirt, pushing the stroller, but it doesn't count if you can't see it. So I come up with a grant total of 8!
That's a pretty convincing bag of C&H! The sun is hitting it just right, with a shadow on the left side of the bag. And the outer edge is blurred out a bit to match the edges of other things in the photo. Nice job!
In the Carnation Plaza photo, those checkerboard sleeves on that lady's dress are rather eye-catching. But not as eye-catching as that swirly psychedelic shirt the lady on the right is wearing! The lady in-between them is holding her asbestos hat in front of her bosoms to deflect the heat upon re-entry into the atmosphere.
I wonder if the people in these images gasped when a bag of sugar materialized in their midst?
Happy birthday, Melissa! Thank you, Sue! And to you too, Major!
Happy birthday, Melissa and Mama Pepperidge! Today was also my great-grandmother's birthday.....the homemade fried chicken queen and smuggler!
I love the addition of the vintage sugar bags, to both pics! Great job, Major!
In that Carnation Gardens pic, there is a lady seated on a bench on the far left side of the photo. She has one of those psychedelic Disneyland bags, but this one looks like it might be a large "shopping bag" version. I've never seen one of those before, and now I want one. I have some of the "flat" versions, which my mom had saved in her "bag drawer." I remember coming across them at the very bottom of the drawer, when I was in high school. It was a great discovery. At least it was, until my mom snatched them out of my hand and tossed them into the fire in our fireplace. Of course, I am only kidding! She only did that with my Disneyland wall maps....and pictorial souvenirs.....and leftover ticket books. ;-)
Thanks for sharing these, Major. And Sue, too!
Happy birthday to Melissa & Mama Pepperidge!
Excellent job on the sugar bags, Major! You managed to get the lighting just right and keep them out of the fountain basins, ensuring the contents stay dry and that other guests can enjoy a cool, clean drink of water.
Plenty of free, curbside parking on Main Street, but nobody’s taking advantage of it. Nobody ever does..
Does that higher clump of trees behind Carnation Gardens mark the hill where KS’ preferred picnic table was?
Nice bunch today, Major, even if they were a departure from your standard, no-sugar-added fare. Five extra minutes on the treadmill and an extra minute with the toothbrush will balance that out.
^ For clarification on the birthday cake, make sure you read the comments between me and Melissa—from Easter Day, April 9, 2023.
Sue
Happy Birthday, Melissa!
May your day be the happiest!!!
Lou and Sue
Nanook, I remember going to a birthday party when I was VERY young, and I was the only boy. It didn’t seem like a big deal then, although I sure can’t remember how it came about. I did have a little friend, and (my brain) I can’t remember her name, although I do remember that her parent’s called her “Muffin”!
JB, my mom appreciates it! Or she will when I see her in a few hours. I think party hats are often purchased in bulk, and the ones in that photo can be worn for other important occasions. And I had to remedy the “no birthday cake” thing, with apologies to Sue, who specially provided a special photo. I am impressed that you can count to 8, I always get tripped up at around 6, and after that, you never know what’s going to happen. Thank you for the compliments re: the bag of sugar! I was tempted to add a shadow of a branch (like you see on the pedestal) but then I thought enough is enough. I would certainly gasp is a bag of C&H sugar popped into our dimension, right before my eyes!
TokyoMagic!, ha ha, your famous grandma the smuggler! Did she wear an eyepatch and cuss a lot? I’m glad you liked the addition of the sugar bags. I was just going through a drawer (absolutely crammed full of stuff), and found a rather large version of one of those psychedelic bags, I forgot that I had it. I’m not sure it’s as large as the one in that photo, but it has plastic handles and is perhaps two feet long. Sadly it has been folded and has a nasty crease right along the middle. I’m glad your mom did not throw away your autographed photos of Walt Disney!
Chuck, anyone who spends time putting sugar bags in water fountains quickly learns the right way to do it (and the wrong way). I could have studied a foreign language or math skills, but instead I put sugar bags in water fountains. I regret nothing. Was the picnic table you mentioned high above Nature’s Wonderland? I forgot (surprise!) that KS mentioned it, but I think my buddy Mr. X also liked to eat lunch up on a hill overlooking NW.
Sue, thank you for both photos, and I am sorry I forgot to add the lamb cake earlier!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Melissa and Mama P!!!
I'm pretty sure no one remembers that area because they only sold Instant Breakfast...which never melted completely in the milk...Not popular there, but I drank it every morning before school!
Nice pics, today Mahor! (and Sue and Melissa too!)
Happy Birthday Melissa!! And a special Happy Birthday to Major's mom!! Without her there would be no Major, and therefore no GDB, and no Junior Gorillas (gasp). Hmmm... does that make her Grandma Gorilla?
Sorry I can't write a birthday song for both of you. I'm just a lowly bass player. I tried to write one but it came out like this...
Thump thump thump thump thump
Thump thump thump thump thump
Thump thump thump thump thump thump
Thump thump thump thump thump
Major, yes, your photo "fixing" make them MUCH better. I'm always amazed at the unseen details you find with your incredible photo editing skills.
Melissa, your GDB posts are classic. Thank you for sharing your creativity and humor with all of us. Happy Birthday. Here's to many more!
And Happy Birthday to mama Pepperidge!
Happy Birthday Mellisa! And Mrs. Major. Many happy returns of the day. (Glad I checked-in early today).
Always loved how you could rehydrate and refresh yourself without taking your eyes off of the Castle…nurturing the soul, while wetting your whistle. Thanks for the sugar Pep’, keeping us as tweaked as Coke Or Pepsi ever did.
I do, I do!….and want to run right over and talk to Tony while he scoops some Fantasia for me, I hear he has some wild ideas for a ride in the wilderness, something Splashy, an all new Fantasyland, or Touring some Stars. Crazy cool.
I need to buy some rock candy….can I have the gigantic bag please?
Hoping someone turns that sugar into spectacular Birthday cakes for you two.
MS
Happy birthday Melissa and Major Mom! Many happy returns of the day!
The little boy at the party looks just like my son at that age.
10 trash cans I can see in photo 1 but we know there must be some hidden in the crowd on the right. This would be a record equaled only by that pic of 1955 Tomorrowland, but these are all alike, and the TL pic had three different styles, IIRC.
And Major, you knew the only thing missing from those shots was the sugar bag. Brilliant.
I do love that colorful bag. I almost wish I had one, but I’ve got too much stuff now. I’ll settle for the high quality scan I use for a desktop pic.
Thank you Major, and Sue too, for keeping all the birthdays organized.
Grant, I’m sorry I didn’t have a longer comment on your day, 16 hours on the road. Hope it was a happy day.
JG
Happy Birthday, Melissa!
as a kid, I was no fan of Plaza Gardens, because there was nothing to do. still, I would go through there (and study it on the giant maps) because I had to explore all the acreage. Now I see of course the value of the (beautiful) contrast it provided. great designing! it's like some say about jazz -- you have to pay attention to the rides that *aren't* there.
Major, thanks for fixing the two images with the sugar bags, since apparently the original photographer, for some reason, paid good money to have them airbrushed out.
Happy Birthday Melissa! A special cake for a special person. But that candle stuck in the head gives me a bit of the 'Haunted Mansion creeps'! Maybe a little Voodoo in the mix??
Disney really missed out in marketing the iconic C&W Sugar bag. But then again, they were not a concessionaire. What a missed opportunity in product placement.
Yes, Plaza Gardens had that great Big Band talent on the stage. And a decent hamburger, fries and Coke ready out the back door allowing me to head up to my favorite lunch spot above the Mine Train. Good one...Chuck and Major. KS
Melissa & Mama Pepperidge- Happy Birthday!!
I will have to check out the background on the lamb cake...
Yes, that colorful bag design has always been my favorite.
Thanks to Sue & Major for the photos & Photoshopping...
-DW
Major, Major, Major... We all know WHY you forgot to post the lamb cake photo... BECAUSE IT HAS COCONUT ON IT!!! Your favorite! ;-p
Grant, I enjoyed your "Thump thump" song. Catchy!
@ Sue / Melissa-
What a cake - complete with bell and bow-! (I'll bet the children seen in the 1st image would be very jealous).
Since the photo of the lamb-shaped cake hadn't been posted yet when I commented in the early a.m., I will comment on it now. For those of you who know who Charles Phoenix is, he makes a lamb-shaped meatloaf, and then when it's done, he "frosts" it with mashed potatoes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KxuK-lXrd4
....your famous grandma the smuggler! Did she wear an eyepatch and cuss a lot?
Major...oops, I forgot to respond to your comment. I know you were kidding, but your comment did make me smile, because I remember when my great-grandmother turned 90 (she lived to be 101), she said, "Now I can cuss and wear purple." I don't know if that is some kind of old-timey phrase, or if she made it up. I never heard her cuss, however she did wear purple on many occasions. And now I have a feeling that I may have told this story before. D'OH!
@Tokyo, your GGM phrase is inspired by a poem. Here is the link:
https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/warning/
Its a slogan for women of a certain age "cutting loose" a bit. There are also red hats involved at some point. I recall seeing locally a club or a gathering of older women in purple clothes with red hats, probably drinking and smoking too.
JG
I'm so sorry I missed my "birthday post!" Thank you all for the well-wishes, and many happy belateds to Mother Pepperidge and Great-Grandma Tokyo!
I love the party kids' Hawaiian Punch hats. And Sue, how did you know that my favorite cake is Haunted Sheep?
I’d always wondered about they genesis of the “Red Hat Ladies” clubs. Saw a passel of them in De Smet, SD, on a Little House pilgrimage in 2004. Now I know. Thanks, JG.
JG, thank you for the link to that poem from 1961. That must be where my great grandmother got that line about wearing purple. And I see the poem even mentions something about "for now....we must not swear in the street," so that takes care of the "cussing" part of my great grandmother's quote, too! Thanks, again!
Oh, I forgot to mention something.....as I am so often guilty of.
There were two of "Chuck's Tree." I think they were elm trees, and the second one was in an identical planter, with a bench seat all the way around it, and it was located on the right side of that area in front of IASW. It's not depicted on the DL wall maps. I think the tip of the Matterhorn is blocking it! And I believe that it might have hung around longer than the one on the left side, but not entirely sure. I seem to remember it still being there, even after it's twin was brutally butchered.....or moved. But with Disney, I'm guessing that it was butchered.
The one on the right side of IASW, can be seen in these two pics:
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v7L9YB1JnjU/V-THQn-sqyI/AAAAAAAAN5g/s8kQiHMFQV4zaPuQFmMCdT5QCJuVNVuVwCLcB/s1600/American%2BGazette%2B%252784%2B%252812%2529%2B-%2BCopy.jpg
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rxYAYOib9fA/V-THQ7YtsjI/AAAAAAAAN5c/63PUPl_pmpskTo0D-6om25dIMx3nmr1SwCLcB/s1600/American%2BGazette%2B%252784%2B%252811%2529%2B-%2BCopy.jpg
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