Today's SNOOZLES are perhaps not quite as appalling as most; they mostly suffer from the crime of being a little boring. No judge would give them more than two weeks in jail and a year's probation. Both are from June, 1962, in case you didn't see that in the title of the post.
You'd think that in June, they would need all of the vessels out on the Rivers of America, but the Columbia rests in Fowler's Harbor. So perhaps these are from a month or two earlier? We'll never know. Tom Sawer Island is being swallowed alive by vines, thank goodness they never planted kudzu there.
Looking over at the Keelboat, we can see hints of some of the construction that dominated this corner of Frontierland in '62 - the Plantation House had been removed, and there was a lot of bare dirt and boxed trees - something the photographer clearly tried to avoid (mostly). Didn't he/she know that it would be the most interesting thing 62 years later??
Next, a perfectly serviceable photo of the Mark Twain, with Cascade Peak evident behind it.
I guess these are Eeyore Snoozles... "a little boring". Was Eeyore boring? Or was he just bored? Mostly suffered from a bad case of ennui, I think.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember seeing the Keelboats painted that color before; sort of a battleship gray. Or maybe it's just the diffused lighting making it look that way?
In the close-up, what is that large mound of dirt? The berm?
The Mark Twain is infested with humans! Most of them are wearing either white or blue clothing. Nice picture.
You're slipping, Major. The last couple of weeks, the Snoozles have been too good to be called Snoozles. Snoozles need to be really bad, so we can poke fun at them. Maybe the really bad photos can be called something else? The ones that are way beyond mere Snoozlocity.
[In Eeyore's bored voice], "Thaaanks for the Snoozles, Maaajor (sigh)." ;-p
There is a mythical child there on the bow of the Mark Twain....I think because children back then were actually in school: (where they should be: preferably boarding school in Switzerland et al.)...you just didn't see to many of them playing hooky. or is it Hookie? I played hooky in school: to go to Disneyland: go figure. I didn't even mince words: I just said: "I was truant": give me the slip to get back in"....end of that...If we did some forensics on past posted aerial photos we could probably understand what the mound of dirt was...probably: "a mound of dirt". Even though it' where the berm would KIND of be: it just may be a holding pattern for dirt. I like seeing that train tunnel there: as it still is there today: and gives me some reference to where this actually is: the tunnel looks closer than I expected: so perhaps it was moved. Things on Tom Sawyer Island look so very lush: a testament to anything you put in the ground in California grows like a weed: and I am jealous. It looks rather messy there on the banks of future New Orleans Square: Some "bad show" going on: but I think "bad show" is also rather mythical like children: Walt may have took the position: "Let them see what's going on! Get them excited for what's coming!" makes sense to me. It just should be neat and not so haphazard if guys aren't working in the moment. Perhaps they are on a cigarette break. After studying these years for a bit: I had a revelation. We are 62 years later. This post is '62. So: if we went the other direction by 62: we would be in 1900. Think about that. In 1900 this plot of land in Anaheim was already "bustling" farm land. Ana: for the Santa Ana River, and "heim" meaning "home" in German: as the early settlers came from Germany: cut to the "Heidi Motel" formerly on Katella, formerly owned AND operated by Disneyland (yes: but not too publicly) but named "Heidi" for it's connection to German Anaheim roots, and a place where Germans would stay due to the name when visiting this happy place called Disneyland. My....these are all big things to think about so early in the morning. 62 years from now: where will we be, and who now: that we know...will still be hanging out at Disneyland. Resurrect the Heidi Motel! Something to think about. Not so Snoozle-ee after all. Thanks Major!
ReplyDeleteNothing boring or appalling about these vintage Disneyland pics. I love the construction of things to come. Along with the Columbia there's also a bit of a Tom Sawyer Island Raft and Mike Fink Keelboat along with the nice Mark Twain pic. Only thing missing in these Rivers of America pics is an Indian War Canoe.
ReplyDeleteIf only the Keelboats were still running in today's Disneyland.
Thanks, Major.
Major, you’re right, it’s funny that now we are more interested in the dirt pile than anything else in the photo.
ReplyDeleteI think the tunnel bore that looks too close is the pedestrian tunnel to the old Indian Village.
I like these photos, because I am a dull guy. Thank you.
JG
JB, yes, Eeyore was bored, not boring. The Hundred Acre Wood was dull! I think the lighting in that first picture makes the Keelboat look especially gray, I don’t ever remember seeing other pix where they look that way. The mound of dirt might be part of the berm, but I kind of don’t think so; it looks awfully tall! Maybe somebody else knows for sure. You are right about the Snoozles, I don’t have any truly terrible photos to share on Sundays at the moment, so I have to resort to the “merely not that good”!
ReplyDeleteBu, I used to be jealous of the kids at school who would miss a day, only to find out that their parents had taken them to Disneyland. My parents would never do that! I think I’ve seen “hooky” as the spelling, but maybe it depends on where you grew up. “A holding pattern for dirt”, that’s a goo way to put it! I don’t believe that the train tunnel in that photo has been moved, that would be a pretty big job. BUT… I’m waiting to be corrected! Which reminds me, on April 1, somebody put up an old photo of the Haunted Mansion as it was being built, and said that it was a current view (since it is undergoing lots of work), and the folks on Facebook freaked out. Look at your calendar, folks. I do wonder if there was ever a discussion about trying to hide all of the massive NOS construction - when the Matterhorn/Subs/Monorail were being built, they actually put out a flyer, turning the construction into a feature, and not a bug. “Be a sidewalk superintendent!”. Pretty amazing about what the world was like 62 years before that photo was taken; I used to think about all of the things that had happened during my grandmother’s life, born in 1905, and living until 2001. I thought “Heidi” (the character) was Swiss?
K. Martinez, I just wish the photographer had captured more of the construction! Meanwhile, I kept looking and looking for the raft in that first photo, and finally noticed the mast and little sail sticking up. I’m kinda slow!
JG, I thought that the tunnel was the train tunnel too, with those big “granite” blocks holding up the mountain around it. I am probably wrong, but I thought that the pedestrian tunnel looked more like a natural cave?
Eeyore also suffers from bags under the eyes. Poor Eeyore.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of ‘62 [sixty-two years ago], at least three of our Jr. Gorillas were born that year…so it was a very special year.
In 62 more years, Andrew will still be doing his blog [and maybe this one, too?], and he’ll still be going strong, hopefully. I wonder if there are any other youngsters, out there, reading this blog??
I love seeing the big dirt piles in these older images, too. They always grew into something magical.
Thanks, Major.
Major, you are right, the stone blocks are the train tunnel, and the pedestrian tunnel was cave-like. I was confused, easy to do.
ReplyDeleteThat’s funny about the HM construction photo. People will believe anything now.
I remember signs at the Park “Sidewalk Superintendent”. I wonder when seeing construction became verboten? We’ve seen pics of new Fantasyland from the skyway, so since then anyway…
No one could seriously believe that new things appear magically, right? I guess if they believe that HM story…
The original keelboats were those from the movie/ show and were somewhat gray. After these rotted away, the replacements were more colorful. Some went from 2 windows to 3. D*vel*nd has some information on dates etc. I miss this ride so much.
JG
Lou and Sue, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be born in 1962. That was so long ago! I wonder if some dinosaurs still roamed the earth? If Andrew is still doing his blog in 62 years… well, I won’t be there to see it, but I’ll be up, sitting on a cloud, enjoying it!
ReplyDeleteJG, I get confused all the time! As I’m sure you have observed on this blog. In a way, the destruction outside the Haunted Mansion is so shocking (as it really is) that I can almost see why people would believe that even MORE awfulness had been done! I’m not sure why construction needs to be blocked off now, though I guess it might be considered unsightly. Hey, those walls aren’t so great either. It’s funny to watch Fresh Baked videos and see how hard he works to get views over (or through) various construction walls. I liked the way the Keelboats looked when they were painted a sort of folk-art blue/green. Like an old pie safe!