The Mysterious Benefactor continues to shower us with vintage Disneyland goodness. I am now into the 8th (or 14) folders of scans that the MB graciously shared with me (and you). As I've mentioned before, all of the hundreds of photos are from Frontierland, and that means there are LOTS of pictures of the Columbia.
The first four images are as artsy as heck - mostly silhouettes with cyan skies. Like this one, showing the masts and rigging, and a rabid mouse (you have to look closely to see the mouse).
More rigging - it's a rigapalooza.
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This is the nicest photo of one of these thingies that I have ever seen. It's like a shot from F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu". Only with fewer vampires.
Back in the days when the Columbia was circumnavigating the globe, having a cannon pointed at you was just good fun. They were usually filled with colorful confetti (jellybeans were found to be painful).
Can you spot the Disneyland guest who was experiencing an existential crisis?
THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
Major-
ReplyDeleteYes, artsy indeed - including Dutch angles-! That "thingie" is actually a Double Wood Shell Block with Shackle.
Thanks to the M B.
That little spot of golden yellow coming from the lantern makes all the difference in the first photo.
ReplyDeleteI immediately figured you were pulling our legs about the rabid mouse, but I looked anyway... And waddyaknow! I found one! Up near the top of the nearest mast; running down the rigging just to the left of the mast. You can see his body and his tail. There are also several pairs of sneakers tossed up onto the rigging, as one does.
Yes, the photo is artsy. It's also beautiful.
The third photo is also artsy and beautiful. Again, the golden glow steals the show.
The silhouette of one of the "thingies" is mesmerizing. It evokes all sorts of moods and emotions. I suppose describing it would tell a lot about the person viewing it; like a Rorschach inkblot.
Major, Major, Major... that isn't a cannon pointing at us, it's a Canon! Camera, that is.
Hmm, not sure which guest is having an existential crisis. It's either the lady on the left, chewing on her sunglasses, or the boy on the right in the blue shirt with white collar, his mouth wide open.
Cool photos, MB; thank you. And thank you, too, Major.
COLUMBIA …….. nautical and moody.
ReplyDeleteThose silhouette pics are beautiful! At first I was having trouble finding the rabid mouse, but then I spotted the dripping foam.
ReplyDeleteI don't know who's having the existential crisis in that last photo, but everyone looks pretty bored. I'm surprised that management didn't use that pic as a reason to permanently close the Columbia. Management seems to enjoy doing things like that.
Thank you Major, and MB, too!
Postcardworthy, nay, POSTERworthy!
ReplyDeleteI think I spot the existential crisis; the person next to them looks a little bummed, too. Probably just tired from a long day running around the park.
Nanook, I knew it was a clock and tackle, but the “double wood shell” part… not so much.
ReplyDeleteJB, “That little spot of golden yellow coming from the lantern makes all the difference”. Just like a drop of golden retsin makes all the difference when you pop a Certs into your mouth! *Bing!* I’m glad you found the rabid mouse, he met a rabid lady mouse and they are starting a family of rabid meese. I don’t like Canon cameras pointing at me. Darn paparazzi. I suppose it’s possible for more than one person to be experiencing an existential crisis.
Mike Cozart, your comment is like lyrics to a song.
TokyoMagic!, yes, the dripping foam is always a dead giveaway, as is the tiny growls. The guests aren’t bored so much as they are very hungry and thinking about where to eat after this seven year cruise ends.
Melissa, I once went to Disneyland with a friend and her two kids, and late in the day they were so exhausted that the kids spontaneously burst into tears. Time to go home!
YO HO, YO HO...oops..wrong attraction. Loved working the Columbia! KS
ReplyDeleteCannons on ships are called "guns."
ReplyDeleteThat's all I got.
From narration: the COLUMBIA is a six GUN vessel. And her full name is COLUMBIA REDEVIA.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Columbia “was the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe” …. She went on this famous voyage with a sister ship : THE LADY WASHINGTON.
ReplyDeleteOn early models of Walt Disney World you can see a riverboat and a Sailingship on Florida’s Rivers of America …. And people mistakenly call it The Columbia … it was in fact going to be THE SAILING SHIP LADY WASHINGTON. Also at this time was the large seaport restaurant of Liberty Square “THE NANTUCKET HARBOR HOUSE” but was changed to THE COLUMBIA HARBOR HOUSE.
In 2009 there was discussion of trading WDW’s “Liberty Belle” ( admiral Joe Fowler riverboat ) for Disneyland’s Columbia …. Giving California two riverboats more appropriate to its Frontierland and New Orleans Square … and the sailing ship Columbia more fitting to WDW’s Liberty Square and it’s larger Frontierland area themed to an earlier Frontier America.
Disneyland was planing in building a prop show pirate ship to use during its Fantasmic show … but the Columbia didn’t go to Florida because the riverboat hill rail straddle is smaller than the wider Disneyland hull straddles and it would have been way more expansive and complicated to make adjustments for what was planned to be a simple swap.
Mike Cozart, I didn't know The Lady Washington was sister ship to Columbia.
ReplyDeleteA seaworthy replica of Lady Washington is based at a harbor in Washington, and makes educational sails with paying passengers up and down the West Coast in the summer -- including "adventure sail" mock battles for an afternoon.
It's being refitted this year, and won't visit Oregon or California again for the next few years.
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I guess COMPANION ship was more appropriate since the Lady Washington was a smaller ship.
ReplyDeleteI found the mouse, next to the fire bell.
ReplyDeleteI think our crisis is unfolding for the kid in the purple shirt, far left. He is gazing into the abyss, and the abyss is staring back.
Great atmospheric shots here, Major. Undoubtedly “cover-worthy”.
Thank you!
JG
Actually, the Lady Washington was the Columbia's "tender."
ReplyDeleteThat was a trick question, Major. They are all experiencing an existential crisis.
ReplyDelete