Here are two nice views from Main Street USA, from sometime in the early 1970s.
It was a busy day - presumably Summer - and even though the sun is already slightly in the west, a surprisingly large number of guests look like they've only just entered the park and are heading northward; just think, the Haunted Mansion was still new at this point, I'll bet a lot of people were going to head straight to New Orleans Square! The patriotic bunting makes me think that this was close to the 4th of July.
-_MainStreet.jpg)
A young boy poses with Mickey Mouse - the kid looks like he has "Bonkus of the Konkus". Tragic! Other guests are being surprisingly orderly as they wait to meet The Mouse. In the background, to the left, is a souvenir stand. We can mostly see plush dolls for sale on those top shelves - I think I see a Thomas O'Malley from the Aristocats, as well as a "Lady", Pooh, Mickey, and Pluto.
-_Mickey&Fans.jpg)
Major-
ReplyDeleteEarly 70's, indeed. As we can see the New Century Timepieces shop, it can't be any earlier than January, 1972.
If "Bonkus of the Konkus" refers to the ne plus ultra of bangs, that lad has 'em in spades-!
Thanks, Major.
Well, it could be near the 4th of July, but it might just be Patriotic Bunting Day! Which usually falls on Pi Day, unless it's a leap year; then it falls on Feb. 32nd.
ReplyDeleteThe wooden Indian (on the right) is watching the crowd go by. The guy in the denim jacket seems to roaming aimlessly; I think he forgot where he put his stash of weed... Or maybe he already consumed the weed, and now he's looking for a Dolly Madison Zinger. The lady on the right is carrying something round and shiny and pink; a Mickey (or Minnie) mylar balloon? Did they have mylar balloons in the '70s?
"Bonkus of the Konkus" is so shocked that his hair turned white! I think that's Julia Child peeking over Mickey's head. In addition to the characters you mentioned, Major, there is also a smaller Donald below the Mickey plushie. Not sure if he's a plushie or a hand puppet or something else.
Ohhhh, so that's where "Bonkus of the Konkus" came from! I see that all the text is hand written, not a 'comic' font. I'm guessing this is from the fifties? It actually sounds like the absurdities we hear every day here on GDB. So we're in good company.
I guess I was in a sillier-that-usual mood today, Major. I DO appreciate the photos! Thanks.
JB, 'silly' is good. We all need the laughs.
ReplyDeletePhoto #1: Sailors! They're here for Melissa, and they'll hang around til she gets back. (Melissa, we're looking forward to your return, too!)
Photo #2: Ha! That kid's seen a ghost! Or maybe he's seen a giant mouse.
Great shots for people-watching today. Thanks, Major.
Hmmm, I don't think that everybody is being orderly as they wait to meet Mickey. Mickey and that kid appear to be posing for the photographer on the far right. But that lady who's "growing" out of the top of Mickey's head, just couldn't wait her turn for our photographer to get a shot of her. Oh no, she had to go ruin the picture for the other people. But I guess their photo would have been ruined either way, by whoever it was that gave that poor kid his haircut. A little advice....if you want the bangs to be straight, you have to make sure that the salad bowl is perfectly centered on top of the head!
ReplyDeleteI feel for the Tow-head kid as I looked very much the same during this time maybe just a bit younger. I had many a crooked bowl hair cuts my mom gave me … she says when they came out crooked it was because I refused to sit still and whined and squirmed. I remember when I was old enough to go to the barber with my dad - sort of a right of passage. It looked exactly the same in the 70’s as it did in the 60’s and on the last day it opened! Tony’s Barbershop in La Mesa on university avenue …. It’s still there but Tony retired many years ago… after cutting my grandfather’s hair , my uncles , my dad’s , mine , my friends and even my sister’s once!
ReplyDeleteMain Street USA represents a transitional America of 1890 - 1910. In these picture we see another transitional America : from the trimer closer fitting fashions of the late 60’s and early 70’s to the loser less tailored cuts of the 1972-1974 period ….
I see a few trash cans through the crowd, a wildly out-of-place GAF logo sign that looks like it landed from a UFO, all from the vantage point of the Cigar Store Indian. Love it.
ReplyDeleteThat poor kid, looks completely gobsmacked, “I’m really in Disneyland, standing next to Mickey Mouse, with the dumbest haircut possible!”
I see the poster map for sale in the booth beyond, if the pre-1972 date is correct, this edition will show the Indian Village.
Thanks Major, I’m happy to see Main Street anytime.
JG
Speaking of barbers, I’m curious if any Jr. Gorillas ever got their hair cut at the Disneyland barber? I think it would be fun to say you did, though maybe you’d rather spend time on rides, instead.
ReplyDelete@ JG-
ReplyDelete"... standing next to Mickey Mouse, with the dumbest haircut possible!” No - that would be a mullet-!
"... if the pre-1972 date is correct..." Nah, it's January, 1972, or later. I believe that's the 1968 wall map, not the 1972 - it's hard to tell. The '72 wall map features a Bear Country graphic in the lower-left corner, replacing one featuring the DL Hotel.
Sue...if you count the backstage Disneyland barbershop used by CMs, the answer would be yes! KS
ReplyDeleteNanook, 1972-ish works for me! Meanwhile, why would anybody subject that hairstyle to their own child?
ReplyDeleteJB, the wooden Indian has watched many crowds go by! Mr. Denim Jacket isn’t roaming aimlessly, he’s heading toward the sign that says “Candy”. A worthy goal. I can’t tell what that lady is carrying, though 1972-ish seems early for mylar balloons. I have no idea though. I used to have nearly-white blond hair when I was a kid, it looks so odd to look at photos from those days, particularly when we lived in Huntington Beach and I spent so much time out in the sun. My guess is that the Popeye comic strip is from the 1930s, or no later than the 1940s.
Lou and Sue, wow, I had to really look for the sailors in that crowded pic. I hope that Melissa is getting the medical attention she needs so that she can join us again SOON.
TokyoMagic!, do you think the lady growing out of the top of Mickey’s head could have just been looking in our photographer’s direction? They might not have any relation. Nobody can complain when they take pictures amongst a crowd, even recently I found myself nearly walking into other people’s photos inadvertently.
Mike Cozart, I don’t remember having bowl cuts, but I do remember that on “picture day”, the photographer (who was the same person two years in a row) hated my cowlick, so he had a comb in a glass of water, and he would slick my hair down until it looked as wet and greasy as if it had been combed with Vaseline. My mom was so mad! I never understood that; parents want pictures of the kids the way they actually look, right? Meanwhile, another hair-related story - we got caught in a sudden rain, and my grandma took us into a restaurant. I guess my hair got plastered down, and some old gentleman walked by and told me that I looked like Mr. Spock! I was impressed that he even knew who Spock was.
JG, I see that GAF logo and get angry, their slides aged so bad, turning red and grainy. Nothing could top Kodak! Well, maybe Fuji Film, I don’t know if I ever used that. The towheaded kid really does look completely stunned, maybe he looked like that 24/7? Sadly, we can’t see the poster map in enough detail to determine whether the Indian Village was still there.
Lou and Sue, I don’t believe that Disneyland had a barber, but I could be mistaken.
Nanook, good point - the map with the Bear Country graphic is one of the examples that I don’t have (for a while I wanted all of those poster maps).
KS, I honestly did not even know there was a backstage barber for CMs! I think there was one at the studio in Burbank, but I doubt it was available to mere mortals like me.
"Lou and Sue, I don’t believe that Disneyland had a barber, but I could be mistaken."
ReplyDeleteMajor, you're right...I'm confusing DL with WDW. WDW had (still has?) the barber on Main Street, for the guests to use.
KS, was the backstage barbershop inexpensive for CMs?
I've gotten my hair cut at the WDW Main Steet Barber Shop a couple of times. It's surprisingly affordable, even for the "child's first haircut" package. Crowds are variable so I've skipped it as often as I've done it.
ReplyDeleteI do a St Baldrick's head shaving event every fall. If I'm ever in Orlando at the same time as it, I'd totally have the barbers there do the shaving.
Sue: I’ve had my hair cut over at CAST CUTTERS … it was backstage. Disneyland never had a barber for guests (except at the DL HOTEL) only Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris have/had barber services within the theme park for guests to use. I don’t think the pAris one operates anymore .
ReplyDelete