Today let's all wish Sue B. a very happy birthday! She has contributed so much to GDB, not for me, but for all of YOU. She kindly sent me a photo of her at Busch Gardens in Van Nuys (from October, 1967), with a macaw on each arm. I've never held a parrot! A parakeet once pooped on my shoulder though. JEALOUS? I hope that you have a wonderful day, Sue!
Today I have two nice (and rare) interior views of stores on Main Street, from June 12, 1963. Since I have an exact date, it's time to refer to "Jason's Disneyland Almanac"! June 12 was a Wednesday; the park was open from 10:00 until 6:00 (wow, such a short day in JUNE); The temperature ranged from a high of 74º to a low of 56º, and the attendance was 21,172. NOW YOU KNOW.
This first one was taken inside the Market House (no longer sponsored by Swift); Ralph and Florence sit by the checkerboard and pot-bellied stove for a little breather. After all, they've walked half a block so far! In the background (hard to see) it appears as if somebody is listening to the party line on the old-fashioned phone.
Next we've moved up the street just a bit, and Ralph is relaxing on an upholstered seat inside the "Carefree Corner" which (I believe) was still sponsored by INA Insurance at that point. What are those types or seats called, anyway? I seem to remember that the original brick Smithsonian building in Washington DC had "sofas" just like that. (Doing three seconds of Googling, I found similar examples referred to as "circular banquette settees". You're welcome). Anyway, Ralph's Panama hat has come off; it was only 72º, but maybe the humidity was high? Florence is probably out of frame signing one of the guest books.
FYI, I will be out of town for a few days. There will be new posts for you every day, of course, but I might not be able to respond to comments during those days. I'll talk to you soon!
Major-
ReplyDeleteGood 'ol Ralph and Florence-! (Just who the hell do they think they are-?) When Sue's in the house... they better pay proper homage-! Undoubtedly, Ray Bolger would be jealous.
Happy Birthday Sue-! Thanks for ALL you do for GDB. (And thank you too, Major).
The Market House a great place to play checkers. Did it there with the wife after seeing Lincoln in 1997..
ReplyDeleteThanks Major
A very merry birthday, Sue! As Major said, and as we all know, you and your dad's photos have done wonders for GDB these last few years. Back then, Major said how he thought he would run out of stuff to post, and then whump!, along comes Sue with a boat-load of material, thanks mostly to Lou. But to you too! You do the scanning of all your dad's photos and pamphlets, etc.. Plus you scour the internet for all those fun birthday and holiday photos. We're very fortunate to have you as part of our GDB family, Sue.
ReplyDeleteThe human macaw-perch photo: You look like you're enjoying having big heavy birds climb all over you. You also look like you might run away screaming at any second. I'm wondering what happened in the next few seconds. Did the bird handler come and lift the macaws off of you?
Ralph and Florence look like a nice couple; very dapper and elegant looking. Probably been together for 40 or 50 years. I'm wondering if the checkers were glued to the checkerboard... and if the checkerboard was attached to the barrel... and if the barrel was bolted to the floor. Otherwise, it seem like the board would get bumped, sending checkers all over the place, several times a day.
The Carefree Corner sure looks fancy! I wonder who was taking the photos of Ralph and Florence? Probably their son. "Circular banquette settee", that's a mouthful. I'm sure there must be a short and casual name for those things as well... "plush traffic cones"?
Walterworld, Oh! So the checkers weren't glued and bolted down?! Maybe people were more careful back in the day, and the checkers didn't go flying every few minutes like I feared.
Thanks again to Lou & Sue. And to Major of course.
Sue, I love your impromptu Tippi Hedren impersonation! I hope you were saying, "Kaaathy! Wheeere's Kathy?" as the photo was being taken. I also hope you left Busch Gardens with all of her fingers intact. They say that a macaw is capable of biting right through a broom handle!
ReplyDeleteJB, to answer your question, Florence and Ralph's son, Alfred, most likely took the pics. They lived in Pomona, CA, but were originally from Illinois. Ralph taught art classes, and loved to take photos. Ralph and Florence enjoyed traveling, going out to eat, and visiting amusement parks and shopping malls together. Ralph passed away in 1979 and Florence passed in 1990. Major, when you get back from your trip, I would love to hear whether or not you have any more photos of Ralph & Florence! If not, I can send you some more! :-)
P.S. Happy, happy birthday to you, Sue! And many more!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Sue! Thanks for all the pictures!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Sue! Thanks for all you've done here. The photos are great!
ReplyDeleteHAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS SUE!!! We love you!!
ReplyDeleteIronically Sue wore those birds into Bush Gardens that day - she knows how to dress appropriately for most occasions.
Wow! The interior of the Carefree Corner looks like it could be a real building from the turn-of-the ( LAST) Century!! My only memories of this building before becoming a greeting card shop in the 80’s was the giant guest books …. And back lit colored photos of Walt Disney World …. Here they provided Disneyland guests with vacation information on The WDW Vacation Kingdom.
I still have the preopening booklet for EPCOT CENTER I got at the carefree corner about 1980. It was filled with images of models and renderings .
Right up until Starbucks went into the Disneyland MARKET HOUSE … the location always had a very original Disneyland feel. I know it had several remodels over the years and a really big one in. 1968 …. But it always had a feel like it was the same as when Walt was around … today the only place on Main Street USA that feels “original 1950’s Walt era” is the Magic Shop interior - maybe The Main Street Cinema too. Pretty much all the other interiors have been remodeled and updated so many times few have that Vintage Disneyland feel anymore …. At one time many of the shops felt like they were just like when my parents and even grandparents first went to Disneyland …
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE! Thanks for all you do along with Maj.Pepper!
ReplyDelete“Carefree” indeed, a comfortable area to sit? Accountants would call this a ‘careLess’ waste of retail space!!
Personally, I always rushed to this room to proudly sign the guest book. There must be dozens of them with my name somewhere…what ever happened to those old books? Since they have never displayed them fo anniversaries or events, I guessing they went out thought the round file. Cozart? Bu? You guys might know.
ENJOY YOUR day Sue. And, wasn’t Busch Gardens great? Beautiful birds, a monorail thru the factory, free beer to keep dad happy.
MS
Happy Birthday Sue, many happy returns of the day!
ReplyDeleteThank you for making mornings better with Major P. Much appreciated. I hope you do something fun today.
Busch Gardens was a cool place, completely unexpected sort of attraction. No wonder it’s been closed.
Major, these interior views are rare and precious. Lucky you found these. Thank you!
JG
Happy birthday, Sue! Love that photo. TM! is right about those birds being able to bite through a broomstick, but to mention that and The Birds on your birthday was a bit macawb.
ReplyDeleteI think the other photos were taken June 12th 1973, not 1963. The film stock, clothing and hairstyles are all early '70s. They are still lovely.
A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY is in order to aviary of your choice to replicate that picture Sue. How you were able to keep your arms outstretched with that weight is amazing. Now I know who to turn to if 'heavy-lifting' is needed. Busch Gardens was so unique, it just couldn't last forever. I mean, they would hand out cans of beer for those of us over the age which made walking around even that much enjoyable. It was a different time indeed.
ReplyDeleteRalph reminds me of my grandfather in Philadelphia. Always with his fedora. He was a hatter in his working days, as well as a union organizer. Now we, me included, wear baseball caps instead...definitely a step down the style ladder. And to think I warmed myself one night in front of that pot-bellied stove. Main Street back then was a working picture of the past. I just can't fathom it being a Starbucks today...nor do I want to. KS
Happy Birthday Sue.
ReplyDeleteI remember having a bird on me and it was even lighter than I expected. So maybe that flock isn't that heavy. I'd be more concerned with the poop as they take off.
I do recall having that Busch Gardens picture taken [though I don't remember anything else about the place, unfortunately]. Those birds were gentle [and not too heavy], though it looks like my left arm is getting pierced by that one bird. I can only imagine how badly they would've/could've dug into my arms if I quickly dropped my arms, or moved in a jerky fashion. But I dutifully followed the bird handler's instructions, and froze.
ReplyDeleteThank you, everyone, for your kind comments and birthday wishes - and laughs, too! You folks are the best!
Happy belated SUE!!! Hope you had a marvelous day! What a cute yet stiff photo of you and the birds! I'm sure the handler was saying "PUT YOUR ARMS EXACTLY OUT THERE LIKE THIS OR THESE BIRDS WILL EAT YOU!!!!!" and of course, you complied. I never went to Busch Gardens Van Nuys: and it's kid of odd that Van Nuys was the place Busch Gardens was...not because the beer place that was there...it's just...well...Van Nuys. "Encino adjacent" says my buddy who lives on the Van Nuys border. Me: "uh...you live in Van Nuys"...former home of Busch Gardens. The Market House looks lovely and I so enjoyed working in this location. Was very calm and never a fuss: unlike the Emporium...where new employees were always crying :) The Emporium at closing was quite the shift. More on that another time. Carefree Corner: there is a name for that round sofa. The furnishings were still there when I was working in Carefree Corner in the 80's. It was an expansive space for an information center...and when the card shop arrived, all the employees cheered because we had a card shop back! The guest books went to a little closet against the windows. What happened to the books: trash. Possibly. I know when the signatures got filled we just threw out the older sheets. Sorry to burst anyones dream bubble: they were not put on microfilm or anything: we just threw them out and put in fresh sheets. I think today those sheets would be worth money. Usually the question we got was "what are all those books?!" Guest books seem to be from another era. I'm not sure what happened to the City Hall REAL Disneyland Guest Book. That was a very special thing: with signatures from JFK and such. Something to look into, and worthy of a spot in the Smithsonian for sure. The binding was very ornate and "Walt-ish" all hand tooled leather. Once again: Happy Birthday Sue! Sorry I missed it, but I was there in spirit!
ReplyDeleteCould you really buy a honey bear from the Market House? Seems like a weird thing to get at Disneyland when they're in "real world" stores. Happy belated birthday, Sue! The parrot pic is super fun. I was at the L.A. County Fair yesterday and they had a similar photo op; a little girl had leis and some cockatoos on her shoulders when I walked by. Thank you for your wonderful photo collection, with thanks to your dad, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bu and Kathy!
ReplyDelete