Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, but today's the day that it is observed - perhaps some of you got the day off. Let's all remember those who sacrificed so much for us.
Today I have two scans, undated but from the 1950s... both photos show a lively park, looking clean and tidy and appealing. In this first one, a family poses near the EXIT turnstiles, while the passenger train waits at Main Street Station. Several attraction posters are clues that this is from at least 1956... the Skyway poster, the Mickey Mouse Club 3D Jamboree poster, and the Tom Sawyer Island poster.
Next is this very busy scene in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle - presumably a peak Summer day. The slightly-faded hues on this slide add to the nostalgia factor.
Just a year later, you'd see a lot more women in pants, but for now, skirts and dresses still rule. I always enjoy seeing the ice cream vendors in their spotless "white wing" outfits. Let's walk across the bridge and get in line for Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!
Major-
ReplyDeleteLove the view of the Main Entrance, with those lovely petunias encircled by everybody's favorite "permanent" fencing-!
Are those little white tassels on the ice cream cart's umbrella-? How festive.
Happy Veteran's Day to all.
Thanks, Major.
In the first pic, there is a lady wearing red shorts, which seem a little TOO short to wear to Disneyland in the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteAnd in the second pic, there is a man wearing a black bowler hat, which seems a little outdated for the 1950s. Maybe he bought it on Main Street?
Thanks for these terrific early DL shots, Major!
1) That's a lot of chain link fence! It makes the Park look like the happiest prison on Earth! All it needs is a little razor wire looped across the top. The people don't seem to mind it, though. They're happy and having a good time.
ReplyDeleteAs Nanook noted, there's some more of our favorite garden fencing corraling those petunias in the foreground.... I seem to be noticing fences today. I'm sure it means something; like Roy Neary making mountains out of mashed potatoes.
2) There's the family that was posing in the first photo, now with their backs to us. I see Mom and Gramma & Grampa, but no little girl. Where'd she go? Oh wait, I think I can see a piece of her dress below Mom's coat.
The guy on the right looks like he's using a movie camera to film the horse-drawn [something] carriage? Streetcar?
Oh dear, there's quite a bit of litter accumulated at the base of the curb. Oh, and If I use my imagination, I think I can see The Dent... maybe.
In the close-up, I wonder if they've ever shot arrows out of those arrowslits in the Castle walls? The happiest arrowslits on Earth!
Tokyo!, maybe the red shorts are Mickey Mouse shorts! :-D
Thanks for the misty water-colored memories of the way we were, Major.
In the first photo, you can see the fancy, decorative paint scheme on SF&DL RR observation coach 106, Grand Canyon. Even before her conversion into the parlor coach Lily Belle in 1975, she was treated special.
ReplyDeleteWhat are those orange, white, and blue things hanging from the umbrella at the souvenir stand to the extreme right of the first picture? They look to me like kites, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
The Space Station X-1 poster dates these to no later than 1958.
In the second picture, I think those horses are harnessed to the chemical wagon based on the the red tongue of the vehicle visible just below the horses heads.
I agree with JB - there’s just a hint of The Dent there. The Stain isn’t visible, but there are plenty of other stains under the castle turret windows. What is this - Disneyland Paris?!
Thanks, Major!
Oh, and “Happy Birthday” to all the Marines out there!
Wow, these are oldies, even before the souvenir stands at the tunnel entrances, unless it is just out of frame.
ReplyDeleteOliver Hardy is heading to fantasyland looking for Stan Laurel, who is probably on the Carousel.
My Mom has a drawstring purse much like the one held by the lady under the blue umbrella in photo 2.
Major, thanks for mentioning Veterans Day.
JG
Nanook, at least the chain link allowed for some views of what lay beyond, even if it feels a bit chintzy today. The tassels helped the ice cream vendor determine the wind’s direction, which was important.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I’ve seen a number of photos from around that period where you see women with shorts that seem like they would be scandalous by today’s standards. Saucy! The bowler hat is awesome. I also forgot to mention the knight standing in front of the castle, you can just see his back, to the right of the guy with the movie camera.
JB, while they don’t use razor wire today, they do use the three rows of barbed wire on the chain link that is not right at the entrance. I admit that as a kid I fantasized about sneaking into the park many times! Make a crummy home-made ladder or something. Yes, we can see the little family in both photos, who was taking the pictures? Dad I guess. Seeing the guy with the movie camera reminds me of something; after my grandma died, we found some rolls of home movie film. One said “Disneyland 1955”. Naturally I was excited! It turns out that it shows just a few seconds of a Horse Drawn Streetcar, and that’s ALL. The rest of the film has nothing to do with Disneyland.
Chuck, I’d love to see that painting of the Grand Canyon more clearly - I’m guessing that Daveland probably has something along those lines. The orange, white, and blue things are felt pennants. I know people collect those, though I have never found them to be that tempting personally. Good eye on the chemical wagon hints! Now thanks to your comment I’m wondering if that castle in Paris does have stains. It always looks so pristine in photos!
JG, I’m not sure if they had the big souvenir stands that early, but there is clearly a souvenir vendor to the extreme right. I didn’t know Ollie was so tall! I noticed that drawstring purse, the woman should paint a big dollar symbol on the side of it.
TM, I meant that the shorts would be scandalous by THOSE days' standards. D'oh.
ReplyDeleteHint-O-dent! Wow, it’s hard to be sure, but the right size and spot; this would be by far the earliest sighting I’m aware of. Could it really be that old? Heck, they haven’t even gotten trash pick up down yet and the castle is already bashed/ or collapsed? Well, priorities, gotta get to some nicer fences first…60 years roll by. Plenty of streaks down the front, long before they “fixed” that with way oversized squirrel spouts.
ReplyDeleteOh, hello horse.
I’m pretty sure Ms. Redshortshorts is why there would soon be a dress code for guests (I’m stifling a joke about clearing the trash).
MS
Where's Melissa? I know she'd like the dress on the lady in the second picture, near the left edge - white with a fun geometric 50s pattern.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful subtle colors on the castle. Don't need sunglasses to view it. Nice!
Thank you to all the men and women who have served our country. Still the BEST country ever, thanks to you.
Thank you, too, Major.
MS, I have not done any research regarding the dent, but I have the feeling that the damage was done before the turret (or I guess it’s the roof of the turret) was mounted to the top of the castle. It’s my spidey senses! I didn’t notice the trash in photo #2 until you said something, it is a little surprising to see so much of it there. The idea of just dropping my paper garbage on the ground is so foreign to me, it’s hard to think of other people doing it so naturally. Kids are different, they are little barbarians, but I’ll bet most of that trash is from grownups!
ReplyDeleteLou and Sue, hey, yeah, where IS Melissa? She does love those vintage fashions. Part of me was tempted to adjust today’s slides so that they looked less warm and more “natural” (so to speak), but I’m glad that I resisted. Thanks to Lou for his service!