The River - November 28, 1973
This is the third consecutive day we've visited Frontierland - and if you skip Saturday's "Anything Goes" Knott's pix, it's the fourth day. Am I being paid to post so many photos from Frontierland? Sadly, no. But I am open to bribery! Offer me lots of money and we'll see how it goes.
Afternoon sunlight can add so much to any photo. It's like putting sriracha on a bland dinner! As you can see, the warm, brilliant light makes colors POP (I hope you brought earplugs) on this November day - hard to believe that Christmas was only a month away! Only one guest has short sleeves, but just wait until the sun goes down. He'll be sorry! Frontierland looks beautiful, and somehow I like seeing Rainbow Ridge along the far shore.
This next photo was taken mere moments later (you can see some of the same people on the raft), the shadow of the Mark Twain's pilot house is cast on the shore of the island, while two men salute us respectfully (I know, I know, they are just shading their eyes, but can't a boy dream?).
10 comments:
Major-
"I like seeing Rainbow Ridge along the far shore". Any day with Rainbow Ridge is a great day.
Thanks, Major.
1) Major, you're right about the lighting; beautiful!
It looks like "Huck" (or is it "Tom"?) could use a new shirt; this one has a big hole ripped in the back. Plus torn sleeves. He's also wearing regular shoes instead of those sandal thingys that make it look like he's bare-foot. I guess this is more of a cold-weather costume?
I wonder what's written on that trio of green wind breakers? And is that guy standing on the outside of the raft's railing a CM? It looks like he might be wearing a name tag. I can't imagine a regular guest being allowed to stand in such a precarious spot.
2) It looks like someone went fishing for wooden crates... and they caught one! It'll look good mounted above their fireplace. I thought the Old Mill was covered with ivy; but I guess not. it must be some other kind of vegetation. I don't think ivy would turn brown and lose its leaves in the winter?
Nice pics, Major.
Oh, the comments section looks a little different now. I like the afternoon lighting in these photos. Major, I was going to say that Rainbow Ridge was long gone by November of 1978, but I see that you're file names for both photos include the year "1973."
Has anyone heard from Melissa. I hope she is doing well and getting better! We miss you, Melissa!
There are at least three guys on the raft with the same outfits, dark pants (jeans?), light blue shirts and pocket protectors. But they aren’t standing together? One of them is even outside the rail. Are these a gaggle of engineers studying River hydrology? Or are they CIA?
The Stadtler Brothers are perched insouciantly on those dynamite kegs, just waiting patiently. If those kegs are still available today, they probably have seat belts.
I notice the saluting gentlemen are both wearing neckties, which is a bit odd, but at least they are well dressed.
Yes, worrying about Melissa, GDB isn’t the same without her poetry!
Thanks Major!
JG
Nov 28 1973, a Wednesday a week after the Thanksgiving holiday and back in the doldrums until Christmas Season begins mid-December. That explains the lack of crowds in Frontierland in shot 2. It's likely between 4-5 PM with the shadows. Nice day considering everyone in shirtsleeves. Yes, that's a maintenance guy on the outside of the raft as they usually were the last on and first off and who wants to mingle with the riff-raff? However, this did strike me as odd as the reserve dock is being used rather than the usual dock on the west side of the mill. And the two fellows saluting the wheelhouse in their ties are management types checking to see who is piloting the MT. Oh so it seems. Maybe it was Capt Mike. I'd like to think that is Larry Nunez in the yellow shirt. It does look like him. Ah, such are good memories. KS
Tokyo beat me to it : Rainbow Ridge was long gone by November 1978 - and we’s see vertical Big Thunder construction of the mountain already .
That is a WINTER Tom Sawyer Island costume …. But I’m not sure what that white blotch is. The costume shirt features two slightly overlapping patches on the back and two separate patches on the front …. I’m wondering is the white blotch is a camera focus distortion of two overlapping patches .
Melissa : I hope you are well and maybe just busy with life and look forward to you joining us again !!
Nanook, I prefer to think of it as a “hap-hap-happy day”!
JB, you can’t criticize Huck too much, he didn’t have a mother to take care of him. He was described in the book as “fluttering with rags”. The Widow Douglas will set him straight! I didn’t notice the green windbreakers, that’s odd. Gang trouble in Disneyland. Wooden crates, I like to dredge them in flour and fry them in a cast iron skillet. Serve them with hush puppies! No idea what sort of vine covers the mill, bougainvillea? That’s awfully thorny, so probably not.
TokyoMagic!, yeah, what’s up with the comments section? I checked my settings and it is still set to “pop up window” but it doesn’t pop up, not even for me. I don’t like change! Ugh, sorry about my “1978” typo!
JG, I could just see it as a coincidence that those three guys are dressed similarly, but on the other hand that is a lot of light blue shirts and pocket protectors on one raft. River hydrology: “Yep, that’s water alright”. First Stadtler Brothers reference on GDB, you win… something? I do wonder why anybody would wear a tie to Disneyland, but hey, if it’s what one enjoys, go crazy. I’ve tried to email Melissa, but if her eyes are not working well, that is an issue. Sue and I both have a phone number, but she called it and somebody (not Melissa) answered saying that we had the wrong number. I’m worried about her.
KS, gosh, imagine going to the park during the Thanksgiving holiday season and finding it with low crowds. And you can see that the weather is beautiful! What a time to go. Thank you for the ID on the maintenance guy, I always wonder about people who stand on the outer part of the rafts. I’ve read several references to Larry Nunez lately, and don’t know who he was. Must have been a good guy!
Mike Cozart, yeah, I somehow mis-typed the date in the title of the blog post. I need new glasses, maybe! That sure looks like a patch on that shirt, at this distance two patches could easily look like one. And yes, I hope that Melissa checks in SOON.
KS and Major that IS Larry "Saluting"....I know that shirt, I know that tie. His wardrobe didn't change much unless it was a "fancy day" with "fancy people"(Dick Nunis, et.al) in attendance, and then he'd wear a dark suit. He preferred "Earth Tones"...If I was a betting man, I'd say the other guy is Rory O'Leary, another long timer at the Park, and much loved. Like most of the guys, he was hard on guys, and soft on ladies. I know he was on the West Side for a while, and I knew him on Main Street as I was the epicenter of all things Park Operations. Larry was an awesome boss and totally supported all my ideas and notions when we both got temporary gigs at the Queen Mary to get it to Disney Standards. It was not an easy thing, and the Wrather people were quite put off by us. I often heard "If I wanted to work at Disneyland I would have applied there!" This was before hostile work environments were officially hostile. I managed to increase attendance on Guided Tours by literally 1000's of percent, which got me a bit of notoriety. We changed so many things there: and spent money to do it when the previous regimes did nothing. Don't believe everything you read about how Disney didn't spend on restoration/etc. We spent millions, and definitely improved the quality of life for both the guests and employees- unless you had a mustache, or wore hoop earrings...and then: well...it was comply or goodbye. We gave them a year (and everyone got lovely new costumes and a wardrobe department) and then some: it was absolutely NOT overnight to shave. We brought things out of storage: historic items, did a refresh of staterooms: not the most brilliant of design decisions...but much better than what they had. There were some things that were questionable from a historic perspective, but we were just trying to get more people on the property which was slowly dying a slow painful death. I have great memories of the place, and some not great ones: just like any job: and Larry was a bright spot who always supported me up until the last day. He wrote the sweetest heartfelt card for my goodbye party: I still have it somewhere. It was great to see him and remember him this morning: most definitely a guy from "Walt's Disneyland". I hope someone from his family, or others will see this post. As I've said before, what a treat to go back in time and see people from your past: only in Disneyland and GDB. Thanks Major!
More fun Frontierland pictures. Thank you, Major. I don't think anyone minds spending lots of time in this beautiful area of the Park. Very relaxing.
I enjoy all the background info on the costumes (Mike) and, especially, KS and Bu's info on Larry Nunez, too. Thanks for taking the time to share.
Regarding our beloved Melissa, I am trying a couple other 'avenues' to contact her. We'll let you know as soon as we are back in touch with her. Things just aren't the same around here without her!
BU...You nailed it on Larry. I was thinking to myself later that not only the silhouette, but also the shirt and tie was a definite trigger for me. He, like many of us, have a style of clothing we just stick with. I'm going to post this picture on a FB site that many of my Frontierland CMs visit. A HUGE disappointment and sadness was to learn of his passing a few months before my attendance at the annual ORH. I was so looking forward to seeing him after all these years. Fortunately, pictures of a few earlier informal gatherings have been posted on A great guy. And an 'Indian guide' CM who worked his way up the ranks. There are pictures of that too! KS
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