Snoozles™. You know the drill! Let's begin with this first scan of a slide damaged by a light leak. Darn light! It's always causing problems. Kids (and adults) were swarming to meet the Practical Pig. Look at the expression on the kid walking toward us, it's like he has just seen the Beatles. "He shook my hand! I'll never wash it again!". Not that he washed his hands anyway, to be honest. It's kind of amusing to look at the adults - one mom is waving her child in for a landing, another is looking through the top viewfinder of her camera, and another gazes off into the distance, remembering a song from when she was a little girl. "Beautiful dreamer....".
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It's pretty obvious why this next photo is here - somebody was too jittery and the picture is blurred. It's too bad, since it would have been pretty nice. The door to the Pirate Ship is closed, so I guess there were no tuna sandwiches to be had that day. Closed due to that dratted Peter Pan, I'll bet!
"Meet me by the old Pirate ship...be there alone.."
ReplyDeleteThanks Major
Major-
ReplyDeleteIt appears we have another appearance of a Kodak Brownie Reflex Camera. And let's give that girl a round of applause for allowing herself to be seen in public wearing "that outfit"-! Eeek. (I wonder if she has heel taps on her shoes...?)
Thanks, Major.
It looks strange to see the Pirate Ship from that angle, without the Skyway buckets going by. This must have been taken within the first 12 months of the park's opening.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Melissa will have something to say about that girl's (closest to us) outfit, so all I'll say is (using my best George Takei voice) "Ohhh, myyy!"
ReplyDeleteMajor, I don't think the boy-with-the-unwashed-hands is ecstatic. I think he is grossed out because Practical Pig just drooled all over him.
From this angle and distance, the Pirate Ship looks like a real ship moored at a dock. I don't recognize that flag atop the rearmost mast; it has a white background.
Who put that mannequin there in front of the Ship? Seems to me they could've found one that's more life-like. This one is all out of proportion; legs are too skinny, shoulders are too wide. ;-)
Nanook, I think we'll all have something to say about that girl's outfit!
Amusing Snoozles today, and amusing commentary from you, Major. Thanks.
I was just wondering where that little girl's six siblings were, in the matching outfits their governess made out of the old slipcovers from the patio furniture.
ReplyDeleteThe person taking the second picture is shaking because he's afraid of taking a bad picture of that gangster. "You get my bad side, Fredo, and you'll be sleeping with the animatronic fishes." Seriously, though, the blur is the only thing keeping that picture from postcard-worthiness. And I can't help smiling at the excited kids in the first image.
@ JB-
ReplyDeleteThat does look like an unusual flag. Look HERE and HERE.
Nanook, even with the better view in those linked photos, the flag looks even more strange.
ReplyDeleteIf you zoom way into the shadows under the rightmost umbrella, just in front of the blue and white striped object, you can see a young man placing an engagement ring on the finger of his lady love. Either that or he’s a mob enforcer collecting “interest” for a delinquent loan. I tend to lean towards the latter explanation.
ReplyDeleteI have no words for that plaid outfit. Fortunately, you all do.
I remember commenting before on how that flag reminded me of the Flag of Maryland, but I can’t remember if we came to any sort of consensus. I’m away from home and using my phone and really just don’t really feel like looking it up. Please forgive me.
Now, back to rekindling the fire…
Chuck, we forgive you. Hope it has warmed up a bit where you are.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, the vexing vexillotomy issue was resolved with the notion that the Pirate Ship flags were custom designs and not symbols from the real world. I spent several billable hours one day some years back trolling the D*vel*nd archive and could never find a complete image of that flag, much like those linked here. It does strongly resemble the flag of Maryland, on which it might have been based. I wonder how citizens of Maryland would feel about their state flag on the pirate ship?
I love the photo of the kids waiting to be drooled on. Plaid girl trying to wrench herself free to join the throng.
The broadside of the Pirate Ship shows the door in the original position. I wonder if anyone recalls the internal arrangement with this location? Also, a plain green trash can, so quite an old pic. The man who is undoubtedly the portrait subject looks like a cartoon gangster for sure, Melissa and Walter have nailed it.
Thanks Major!
JG
Not sure why we would be crowding around this strange embodiment of what proposes to be a "pig". Looks like something from space that needs antenna on it. Paint it green, it will make more sense. Makes sense that the kid walking away, saying "OMG...THAT THING TOUCHED ME!". I'm sure back in the day this was a charming character, but my favorite pig costume are those with the giant heads and tiny arms wearing white Keds. All pigs love Keds. Girl wearing outdoor furniture upholstery..."oh dear". Shoes and socks did not help matters. Perhaps she is looking at pig saying "I wish I was wearing that today". Could be. I have umbrellas exactly like that in my backyard and they are so nifty. I'm not sure if people use that word anymore, but I do. Pirate ship and Clark kent: awesome early photo. Must not "be fish" yet, as the door is closed. I don't see any hard core marketing outside, so maybe it's not open yet (?) Perhaps Clark Kent is a Van Camp (?) Could be. I like the ship, but like Skull Rock more. Bring back Skull Rock. I see a wheelbarrow over to the right. Which might have been a common appearance in the day. The landscaping team planting beds always had a neat and tidy wheelbarrow alongside of them. It seemed kind of natural watching the guys doing their planting thing. Something that when we started going 7 days a week, was not possible to do on an "off" day. Those Mondays and Tuesdays if you were working the park was a different world: with LOTS of activity everywhere...then all cleaned up spic and span and nifty for Wednesday at 10am. Give me an empty park please. "Bucket List 2024". Thanks for the Snoozles(tm) Major!
ReplyDeleteBu, I noticed that wheelbarrow too. thx for your remembrances.
ReplyDeleteat first I thought it was the attraction where some random employee would push you around in a wheelbarrow... but, then, I remembered that ride was from the Disneyland I built in my backyard (!)
"...this strange embodiment of what proposes to be a 'pig'. Looks like something from space that needs antenna on it."
ReplyDeletePigs! In! SPAAAAAACE!
walterworld, he didn’t even need to wear a red carnation, since he’s the only person there!
ReplyDeleteNanook, they must have sold boatloads of those Brownie Reflex cameras. I can’t blame kids for their crazy outfits, after all, the mom probably bought (or made) it!
TokyoMagic!, the second photo does have that early feel, and as you said, with no Skyway it has to be within the first year of operation. Which is cool.
JB, Melissa will never admit it, but she is wearing the exact same outfit today! What are the odds?? I feel like I may have seen that flag you mentioned before, probably just in other Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship pix, but I do wonder what significance it has. The mannequin is one of those kind that they used to throw off buildings for action scenes, he’s propped up with broomsticks and gum.
Melissa, your comment reminds me of that Talking Heads album cover in which the band is all wearing suits made from upholstery fabrics! I stopped dealing with the mob a long time ago, and so far they have not come after me. But I’m waiting for that shoe to drop!
Nanook, it’s the flag of Oxnard!
JB, I have to admit that the flag is not as graphically interesting as the Jolly Roger.
Chuck, I was SURE you were going to know what that flag is! But I will forgive you, since I am terrible at looking things up on my phone. I can’t throw stones. Why is the Flag of Maryland so weird? Why doesn’t it have a crab on it? Or Sonic the Hedgehog (I just like Sonic the Hedgehog)?
JG, hmm, so now I am wondering if somebody at Disney actually designed that flag? It’s useless to look up “pirate flag” on Google, because all you get is 1000 terrible Jolly Roger images. Was Maryland a hotbed of piracy?? I guess anything’s possible. Even now, it’s fun to go to the park and see just how HAPPY people are to see any of the characters. It’s like a switch is flipped from their childhoods. It’s sweet.
Bu, folks just love a character, and it’s as simple as that. They don’t have to look good. I do sort of like the idea of taking a Little Pig and modifying him into a horrible alien. Upholstery fabric is durable and cleanable, it’s actually a practical solution. “Nifty” is a great word, and everyone should use it often. TokyoMagic! might have been on to something, it is possible that the ship photo was taken before it opened to the public. If so, I wish it had a hand-written date, that would be cool. But - no such luck. I watched landscapers doing their thing just before the park opened, trimming branches that were low, looking carefully with trained eyes. About 10 seconds before rope drop, they vanished!
LTL, oops, I should have refreshed my comments screen, which has now been open for hours. When I was a kid, we’d push each other around in my grandpa’s wheelbarrow - seriously. Eventually somebody would get hurt and that was the end of that.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, who was the first pig on the moon? Squeal Porkstrong. Not a joke, just a fact!
Maybe instead of the flag of Maryland (or Oxnard), it's the flag of Neverland?
ReplyDelete(I'm still groaning over "Squeal Porkstrong".)
Wrote this comment on my stupid phone and then accidentally hit the “back” button as I was going to publish. Don’t do that. It will close the window and erase your comment.
ReplyDeleteI found the post where we discussed the flag. We didn’t figure out what it was supposed to represent, but Mike Cozart came through with info from the original pennant and flag pattern drawings for the ship dated 8-16-55. You can read all about it HERE.
Interestingly, the Jolly Roger at Disneyland Paris flies a flag made to the exact same design.
JB, knowing that I have caused pain with my horrible pun (or whatever it was) makes me happy!
ReplyDeleteChuck, once again, you rock! You’d think I would remember notable things like that flag, but I don’t. I barely remember how to tie my shoe. Which is why I use staples. I like the fact that they use the same flag at DLP!