Frontierland Scenes, July 1964
Hey hey! It's time for two random Frontierland photos. You never know what you're gonna get.
Let's begin with this unusual photo, looking along the walk that was in front of the Frontierland Shooting Gallery. Your ticket books are no good here! The patterned shadows are quite a thing - almost Op Art. You get shade, but not too much shade. Are those feathers hanging from overhead? WHY? It must have some significance.
Favorite detail: the little girl to the right, who just wants to ride Dumbo again. It's clear that guests really wanted to shoot and those steel targets.
Over on Tom Sawyer Island, we see a group of kids enjoying the natural formation named Merry-Go-Round Rock, named after Sir Albert Merry-Go-Round (sorry, I could not resist). Carved by eons of wind and water, it is one of the Wonders of the World.
22 comments:
Maybe the hanging feathers are akin to the antlers on the roof thing. Oh look, there are three little girls all dressed in the same pink & white outfits. (Two on the right, one on the left.) I don't remember seeing this pergola(?) before.
Major, I'm guessing you meant the little girl to the left, not right? She definitely looks like she's ready to get back to Fantasyland. Or maybe she's giving us her best Stevie Wonder impression.
"named after Sir Albert Merry-Go-Round"... Oh those Brits and their hyphenated names.
The little kid looking at us is holding his arm in, what appears to be, a shockingly painful position. It wasn't meant to bend that way! There must be strange forces at work here; to shape the rock like a merry-go-round and to bend the kid's arm like that. I'm thinking this is one of those "gravity spots".
Thanks for letting us spend the day in Frontierland, Major. (Shooting Galleries not included.)
Your ticket books are no good here!
I thought guests could give up a "C" Coupon to shoot in the shooting galleries. Or did that come later than 1964?
I think those are the ends of palm fronds hanging down from the overhang. Either that, or there is a huge flock of long-tailed parrots roosting up there.
That lady looking at us in the last pic looks like she's trying to make some kind of a fashion statement with her Bermuda shorts and mid-rise heels. Not sure that is what a heel like that is called.....I only wear stilettos. But aren't "flats" usually worn with shorts? Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about! Miss Tom Sawyer Island 1964 looks fine though, just different.
“Well, Gail … Tuesday was the day I was taking the kids to Disneyland …. Well , you are not gonna believe this … ; I tell you , you just won’t believe what I did !! After we park, I’m getting outta the Impala - Ron had me take the Impala ….. I look down and I see - well you just won’t believe what I did ! ; I wore my office mules! Can you believe that!!? My office mules!! … and with my clam digger shorts!! I just could die!! I’m sure everyone was just thinking well … how odd to wear with shorts. The kids we so excited to be at Disneyland and I figured there wasn’t much else I could do. You know Gail , Disneyland sells keys … bras, and bathing suits …. But no shoes ! At least not for adults… well I must have been just a sight!! A DISNEYLANDER … oh that’s what they call their employees; “Disneylander’s” …. Suggested one of the smart little shops over at the Disneyland Hotel … but I tell you … getting the kids over there was impossible!! Anyway , I survived wearing my office shoes the whole day. My feet were sore … but I survived! You know Gail , the whole time …. All day long …. I kept thinking someone 60 plus years from now is gonna see a picture of me at Disneyland.. wearing THOSE shoes … and make some comment about me … and I’ll have no way to explain myself … oh really , I must have looked a sight!”
Tracy Turnblad: that hair is a Hair DONT! Lot's of hairography going on here in "Olde Tyme Frontierland"...looks like the two blond hair-do twins (in hair only) are prepping for their audition for "Hairspray" decades in advance. "Do not light a match within 20 ft, please.". Feathers on the ceiling might be a thing, but historically/spiritually : may not make sense, as certain feathers mean specific things, and have specific uses. Worthy of some digging in to find out why they are here overhead and next to the Shootin' Gallery. I actually heard the airgun/clink clink sound when I looked at this photo. If anyone knows if that noise was ever recorded, I'd like to hear it again if you have a link. The Shooting Gallery was always crowded, both before with the "shoot your finger off" pellets, and after the laser beam versions. Even though I knew the WED guy who designed it, I never was really as enchanted as with the original: "we paint these every morning/shoot your finger off/wear ear plugs/extremely noisy/ except shooting galleries, shooting galleries. :https://www.wdwinfo.com/disneylandcalifornia/interview-former-disney-imagineer-hugh-darley/ (His wife was a TG with me.) Not sure how shooting galleries would fare 68 years later. Sounds like a merch location in progress.....Tom Sawyer Island in those shoes? Not sure what she was thinking, and one step back off that rock: "poof". Lots of "rail-less" antics going on here on the island. Looks like an insurance nightmare in today's world, but back then: oh so wonderful, and I think it was a badge of courage to get a big lump on your noggin from a cave, or a couple of bruises bounding around like a maniac. As a parent, I would have loved to dump my kids on the raft: send them off, while I sat on a bench on the river smoking cigs. That seems like it would be a "This is Disneyland" poster. Soo..."Except Shooting Galleries, and Fantasyland is closed." Thanks Major.
JB, you might be right about the feathers, I’ve just never seen them before, used that way. I’m used to antlers on roofs now! And no, I mean the little girl to the right. You see her, don’t you? She’s wearing a Victorian-era dress and is very pale. It’s odd, her eyes follow me no matter where I move. But I’m sure it’s just my imagination. I don’t know, that kid’s arm seems bent the way it’s supposed to me! I dropped out of medical school after six months though.
TokyoMagic!, well durnit, I forgot that the Shooting Galleries used tickets. I thought it was only a cash-transactional experience. But I think you’re right, a “C” coupon sounds about right. I’m not sure about the palm fronds… some of the dangles look like fronds, but others don’t. to me anyway. I couldn’t tell you anything about shoe styles for ladies, if they aren’t Crocs, I don’t want to know about them!
Mike Cozart, for a while they did have a Bluebird Shoe store on Main Street, but that was for kids I believe. I was recently at the park with somebody whose shoes started spontaneously falling apart while in the park, and he had to go to Downtown Disney and buy a pair of sneakers! “Racing green” in color, if I recall. I like your dramatic scene though, Meryl Streep could really bring it to life. When you see how some people dress at Disneyland, I’d think that an otherwise nicely-dressed lady with office mules wouldn’t cause much of a ruckus!
Bu, I was commenting while you were commenting! Some of those old hairstyles didn’t age well, but then again, I look at some of my school pictures, and am ashamed of my weird hair. I never used hairspray though. I remember in the 1980s a girl had a wild “Flock of Seagulls” hairdo, and she would use about a whole can of Aqua Net to keep it in place. I do miss the old metal pellets at the Shooting Galleries, the infrared beam system is very unsatisfying, and I often am unsure if I hit the target or if somebody else did. I’d love to know how much those Shooting Galleries could make on a busy day, and I’m sure there were records of that sort of thing. I once found a document that stated how much money they made on postcards. I doubt many ladies thought about walking on dirt paths as they put on their shoes in the morning, but it’s true, they might have regretted their choice in Frontierland. How about a nice pair of sneakers with nice squishy soles? Tom Sawyer Island was definitely a place where a person could potentially injure themselves, but I assume that most folks had a little common sense. I bumped my head on the rough side of a cave wall, bad enough to draw blood, but I just got on with my day.
“Come for the pictures, stay for the comments…”
My ribs hurt from laughing.
Of course the shooting galleries would be popular and who wouldn’t want to spin around on the naturally formed merry-go-round rock. I’m not surprised it was named after a British explorer chap, but I thought they called these things by another term, roundabouts, circle-henges, or centre-pivots, or some other thing, Sir Reginald Buff-Orpington St. John Smythe.
Yes, remember when you could cheat death daily in a playground, and no one cared?
I cannot account for the feathers in the overhead. I don’t recall that at all.
Those two blonde women look just like my cousin, who could absolutely produce Mike’s dialog and be completely serious.
Thanks Major, a rollicking start to the week.
JG
A kid firing a real (air) gun with lead shot. Who wouldn't want to spend an hour at the gallery? Oh and beware of ricochets. It was fun. And then I worked one for a Summer and...well...my attitude changed some. Yep...it was coupons OR 25 cents...and then changed to cash at the time, I believe, it went electronic. The maintenance was expensive but it was also difficult to justify it as an E attraction to recoup the cost. So...cash eventually won out. KS
JG, there is something so satisfying about knocking over those metal targets. Remember the pool of water to absorb errant shots? I like the idea of the fancy animations that are caused by an infrared hit, but somehow it just doesn’t do it for me. Maybe other people dig it. I truly remember some playgrounds from my childhood that I am now amazed did not cause several deaths a year. One kid broke his arm falling off the monkey bars, and another got a concussion when a dodge ball hit his head and then his head hit a wall, but other than that, it was all minor scrapes and bruises.
KS, ha ha, I’m sure that working among all of those projectiles was not as fun as it might seem. Did they at least give the CMs protective eyewear? Those ricochets!
Hi Major. Nope...only ear protection. We were on our own and I wore my own prescription sunglasses...including at night! KS
Ah, yes - Sir Alfred Merry-go-Round - rock solid fellow. Later appointed Lord Carrousel by Queen Victoria.
I have two scars on my noggin from playground accidents (the third is from being hit in the face with a baseball bat while playing golf). I consider them badges of honor.
Having a shoe blowout at Disneyland would be just plain awful. And I’m sure the prices at Downtown Disney were significantly more than MSRP. I’d hate to have to foot that bill…
Major,
JB, how about this . . .
The kid in the last pic: "Yes sirree! I'm gonna be a famous left handed pitcher someday, and there's gonna be a surgery named after me. My name is Tommy John."
Sorry. I saw this at about 1 this morning, and that 'comment' has been rolling thru my head ever since. Oof.
W
The feathers are shrapnel from AEDs that detonated on the Rivers of America.
The Jungle Gym apparently turned 100 recently. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1209932614/jungle-gym-playground-monkey-bars-maths-hinton-fourth-dimension>https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1209932614/jungle-gym-playground-monkey-bars-maths-hinton-fourth-dimension</a>
^ Dean—HAHAHA!!!
—Sue
One thing that really stood out when entering FRONTIERLAND was the sound of the shooting gallery .. all day and night! PING!PING!…. PING! .. PANG!PING!! PANG! PANG!! That with the GBM Capitol Records Media Music tune “ western saloon” over and over … and the smell of western leather goods and the temple like display of EXINWEST!!!
I’ve had two pant failures at Disneyland and one belt failure … Disneyland sells no belts .. at least not in the last 3 decades . I kinda had a shoe failure : one New Yesrs Eve 1988/89 it was massively raining and as soon as we got out of the car we were standing in a parking lot lake … the whole visit I had sloshy shoes …. And as the night went on the shoes began to expand and feel like they were coming apart .., the laces would’nt hold any longer . Then as the shoes began to dry they shrank!
KS, oh man, now all I can think about it all those unprotected eyeballs and all those metal pellets. OUCH.
Chuck, Lord Carrousel had so many wonderful inventions, including the slide carousel and the microwave carousel. Our lives are so much better because of him! I was jealous of my brother, who broke his arm when he was about seven years old and got to wear a cast. What’s cooler than an arm in a cast?! Those stores in Downtown Disney know that they have their customers over a barrel. What are you going to do, drive someplace else?
Warren, it is quite something to realize that I have a photo of a very young Tommy John! ;-) Never apologize for a comment.
Dean Finder, suddenly the feathers make sense, thank you. And wow, the Jungle Gym turned 100? Somehow I would have thought that they’d been around longer than that!
Sue, :-D
Mike Cozart, I’m sure cast members went a bit loopy hearing those noises day after day, but for a kid, they were all music to our ears! Wow, I’ve seen leather Disneyland belts, but they might date back to the 1950s. It’s shocking to think that the leather goods store wouldn’t have belts. Oh man, a shoe failure IN THE RAIN. Pretty bad. Wet shoes are truly uncomfortable, it’s one of the things I don’t like about rides where you get splashed. Luckily my last few turns on Splash Mountain, the CM nicely informed us that sitting in the back kept you the driest, and she was right.
Yeah .. they haven’t had leather goods in Frontierland in more than 20 years … the belt incident was earlier this year. And for security Disneyland sells no belts at least since the 1999 and on.
Mike, at least we know there's one category of Disneyland souvenirs that never goes to waist.
^ Chuck, your comment reminded me of back when the saying, "The mind is a terrible thing to waste," was popular....my dad would say, "The waist is a terrible thing to mind."
I may be wrong, but wasn't it Sir Albert ROCK, who invented Merry-Go-Round Rock?
Thanks, Major, for posting - and thanks, all, for the fun day!
I'm confused what the security issue would be with belts.
DEAN FINDER ; in the late 90’s early 2000’s there was a problem with teenagers going into Disneyland and using belts to make “whips” and destroy things inside attractions …for points … nothing could be really done with guests coming in with belts but they weee no longer going to be buying belts inside. Other things were also no longer sold in the oaths at the same time for similar reasons … like souvenir bottle openers …and bottle openers on key chains … people would use these to
Pry signage and plaques off of things … another thing was magnets larger than a certain about of “power” …. I’m not sure exact what was being done with those … there were other things also that were stoped being sold inside the parks for other security reasons … I remember when the souvenir shopping bags were pulled … there were the regular plastic ones sold and the Disney Gallery and Disneyanna sold a high quality paper bad with a gold rope handle … these were used to fill stolen stuff up by in park
Shoplifters … and omg … the pins … those were stolen by guest by the tons!! When Casa MEXICANA was closing collectors were buying the souvenir shopping bags and loading them up with the FRP cafeteria trays …like stacks of them!! Similar thing with monorail cafe .. the menu racks in the waiting areas had to be emptied because guests were taking shopping bags and stealing all the menus …
Mike - Wow! I knew about the clear ponchos to dissuade shoplifting, but those stories are just wild.
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