Knott's Berry Farm, July 1964
Let's all go to the farm! Knott's Berry Farm, that is. In beautiful Buena Park - the Paris of the West. I'm continuing to share a large batch of Instamatic ("126 format") slides, circa 1964.
Look out! That train is heading right toward us! Oh right, it's just a picture, heh heh, I was just kidding. Yes, I still faint at the movie theater. I suppose the train was stopped for loading and unloading, and for the gathering of all the squashed pennies near the track (may I have one?). It still boggles my mind that guests were allowed to just walk in front of a real narrow-gauge locomotive in the middle of an amusement park.
Oh no, another yellow-bellied outlaw has robbed his last payroll. When will they ever learn? I guess it's hard to learn lessons when you are pushing up daisies. The undertaker has arrived with his wheelbarrow, which is inelegant, but better than when he would put the corpse on six skateboards.
He looks so peaceful, I almost feel sorry for him. The boy with the striped shirt and hat doesn't... he enjoyed the whole gruesome thing.
Surrounding the Covered Wagon Camp was a series of... well, wagons. I wanted it to be a surprise, but I kind of ruined the setup. If you were lucky (or willing to get there early), you might be able to claim one of the covered wagons in order to watch the Wagonmasters as they played music in the sunken amphitheater in the evenings. "Ma, I just love fiddlin'!" "Hush, boy, I can't hear the yodeling"
Folks in Boot Hill pause to watch old #40 (the Gold Nugget) as it passed by. Chuck likes this train!
Yessiree, there's more Knott's Berry Farm to come.
13 comments:
1) Hmm. There seems to be some sort of smudge on the left side of the photo making things look diffused. Maybe the photographer just ate some of Cordelia's greasy fried chicken.
2) Interesting how no one in the crowd seems to be 'enjoying' the scene being acted out in front of them. They all look so serious, or worried. Except that one kid with his back to us. He looks like he's asking his big brother, "Is that guy really dead?" Or maybe he's saying, "I'm hungry. Let's go get some chicken!" Are those things in the bottom left corner fluffy white bunny ears?
3) I wonder if that boy in the red stripey shirt with his hands covering his ears is "screaming kidney stone kid" from the Disneyland pic? Wow! That lady in the back sure is tall!
4) The little girl in front is wearing a sailor suit collar, except it's red, not blue. Man, the canvas on that covered wagon is in serious need of cleaning!
5) We've been told that some of those grave markers are actual grave markers from actual graves. Did Walter Knott also transfer the actual remains from the graves? The red-shirt guy has what looks like a Polaroid camera dangling at his side.
Fun Knott's pics, Major.
Man, the canvas on that covered wagon is in serious need of cleaning!
JB, when it's taking you 6 months to cross the frontier, and you are so hungry that you have to eat your fellow wagon train members, you don't worry about a dirty canvas! ;-)
Did Walter Knott also transfer the actual remains from the graves?
Yes....Walter transferred the remains of everyone, except Elmer McCurdy.
There’s someone in a Native American headdress in the first train pic. What does the deceased outlaw have in his shirt pocket? A stolen pack of baseball cards? The boy near the center seems to be eating one of those squeeze-pouch popsicles. And peeking from behind pink shirt flower shorts girl, is that a red-tipped cane like those used by people who are blind? Curious. Thanks for the Knott's day, Major.
Anonymous was me Kathy; weird. It looks like I’m logged in.
I thought at first the bad guy was run over by the train.
This was back when society knew to handle criminals, cart them off in a wheelbarrow!
Major, I think the train design was inspired by Mr. Toad.
I remember this clearly, when the train whistle blew, everyone had sense enough to move out of the way.
Boot hill was filled with criminals, not train collision victims.
Thanks for the old KBF, Major!
JG
It’s true Walter Knott’s and his designer combed actual mining towns and ghost towns ( mostly Northern California and the high desert) for artifacts for GHOST TOWN and he purchased many original worn wooded grave markers from various towns ( with permission) and had new markers made to replace the worn rotting ones. I believe the old ones were used by Knott’s craftsmen to DUPLICATE the aged and worn grave markers with their original epithets and Didn’t use the Actual 100 year old artifacts in the park. Some actual used grave markers were once on display in the original WESTERN TRAILS MUSEUM when it was still located in its original larger location on Museum Road in GhostTown . As to what became of the original 1800’s grave markers Walter Knott’s purchased is unknown today. I speculate they were removed from display when the Western Trails Museum was relocated to its smaller location in the old Fandango Hall building …. And that they were tossed or used and then lost because modern Knott’s designers didn’t know they were originals.
A follow up to yesterdays images : when trying to guesstimate vintage Disneyland images based on attraction posters: while the park opened in July of 1955 the first series of standard 36”x56” official attraction posters don’t appear till about summer of 1956. So nix 1955.
@ MIKE-
OH - I was asleep at the switch yesterday - for shame-! [And thanks to Lou and Sue], I'm the one who's always referencing his image taken from the period between June 13-15, 1956 - which shows the plywood backers in preparation for the initial installation of the AP's. THANKS-!
I did not visit Knott's as a kid, although I was jealous of all my schoolmates who did....but I think if I DID I would have been horrified and screaming/crying the entire time with all the killing/gravestones/et.al. I was a sensitive flower, but it was short lived. Do they do these things still at Knott's? Or any other Wild West-y type place: with gun fights and such? Perhaps with these new TV shows: like Yellowstone, etc. there is a resurgence in Wild West interest: not sure as it's not really my bag. I always preferred The Donna Reed/Leave it to Beaver type shows over the Westerns: but I was intrigued by set design interiors on the western shows. I remember having gun fights with my buddy Chris....but his guns: not mine...we never has as much as a water pistol in the house. Not sure why that is, but it was: and I didn't think it was odd and didn't pine for a toy gun collection of sorts. Walter Knott: "Graverobber"...well...could be...if there was money involved and the body was cheap. I'd like to see a well researched movie based on the life of the Knott's....it's a compelling story: that I think many people would be interested in: not sure if there is any "flys on the wall" back from "the other Walt's" time: But with some funding: I'd make it myself. "Normal people in abnormal circumstances" "Failed Farmer to Theme Park Legend" It's all good stuff. Thanks Major for morning diversion: back out to by own berry farm....
Thank you, Major, for posting a vintage Knott's locomotive photo that doesn't induce a gag reflex.
Ahh, I love classic Knott's. JG is correct about criminals (plug and plant) and when the whistle blows, stand aside. We never saw a show in the covered wagon circle, but as I recall, it was a quiet place to rest and swill down our sasparilla in the afternoon. It's been many years since I have been at Knott's, and I have no idea if the wagon circle is still there. So much has disappeared or changed. Yeah, I admit it: I have a soft spot for the old Knott's. Thanks for sharing these, Major. Looking forward to more.
I think Mike Cozart means "epitaph," and not "epithet." We must not speak ill of the dead!
D&RG engine No. 40 was purchased by the Rio Grande Southern in 1916 and was sort of a rock star to narrow gauge/RGS fans, because it had two different "domes" for a long time. The front, sand dome used to be a "fluted" type, like what you see on the C.K. Holliday or Ernest S. Marsh, before it got one to match the more-modern rear rounded steam dome. I don't think the old-timey box headlight was ever replaced with a modern headlight when it was in regular service.
There are several differences between 40 and 41, one of the more interesting being that the whistle on 41 extends out the back of the steam dome. The one on 40 is on top of the steam dome--the more-common location.
Hi everyone, sorry about my late response to comments, it’s been “one of those mornings”.
JB, yes, the lens definitely had a greasy smudge on it. Gross! Perhaps the crowd was considering the pitiful sight of the dead robber, and the meaninglessness of his wretched life? The tall lady has a set of gams on her that you wouldn’t believe. Hey, I’m wearing a little sailor suit too! I always wonder why Knott’s would need authentic grave markers, just get some boards and make some new ones. Seems like they went to a lot of unnecessary effort.
TokyoMagic!, remember, this is from before Tide pods existed so it was hard to get your conestoga wagon to be as white as one might wish. Walter Knott personally dug up all of those old graves, he was kind of a weirdo.
Anonymous, I believe that the person in the headdress is one of the Native Americans who posed with guests. Maybe that’s a pack of cigarettes in the outlaw’s pocket?? I didn’t know that those squeezy popsicles existed back in 1964, but maybe they did. Huh, perhaps that one woman IS blind? I guess one could basically get the gist of what was going on just by listening.
Kathy!, oh it was you!
JG, when you get run over by a train, you are squished to the thinness of a pancake. I’ve seen it many times in my line of work. “What line of work is that, Major?”. I can’t tell you! The train gag in Mr. Toad is one of my favorites. I assume that there is at least a human to make sure that the way is clear when the train is ready to move, although I suppose the train’s “driver” might be that person.
Mike Cozart, I just don’t get why Walter Knott didn’t just make the new grave markers for his park and not bother with the whole rigamarole of acquiring the old ones? Was it all for the sake of “authenticity”? I don’t think many guests would care that much. After a little sand blasting and the application of ammonia (to make the wood look 100 years old), nobody would be the wiser. I know there are Knott’s historian out there that probably know the fate of those grave markers, but they probably don’t check in with GDB on a regular basis. Good point about the posters from yesterday, we learned all of that from our friends Lou and Sue (and one of Lou’s amazing photos)!
Nanook, yes, I should have remembered that too.
Bu, I truly loved going to Knott’s when I was a kid, it was closer to our house, and just felt more “doable” and friendly to a child. Disneyland was wonderful, but felt so big and overwhelming. I look back and realize how much I never did at Disneyland. I don’t know if western gunfights are still performed anywhere - it’s a different world, and perhaps people aren’t in the mood for a gunfight, even a fake one. I’m sure that Walter Knott was, in general, respectful of those long-dead people, but it still strikes me as a bit weird to move the grave markers!
Chuck, I did it for YOU.
Warren Nielsen (hi Warren!), I don’t recall gunfights at Knott’s when I was a kid (more around the 1970 era), but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t happen. You had to be in the right place at the right time! I’ve mentioned it before, but I sure loved having free reign at Knott’s, going to look at the guy in the hearse (as he sat up and then lay back down), playing the big Regina music box, watching the blacksmith, buying cups of ice cold berry juice, and riding the Log Ride and the Mine Train!
Steve DeGaetano, ha ha, I didn’t notice “epithet” though I now want cuss words on my tombstone. You sure know a lot about trains! I have a few early photos of some of the Knott’s locomotives, I wonder if the fluted sand dome is visible on the #40? I’ll have to take a look!
Yes I did mean EPITAPH …. Thanks AI!!
Major : I think Walter Knott’s was just caught up in the moment collecting authentic artifacts for GHOST TOWN …. I suspect a bunch of homemade stuff and copies wouldn’t have been much of a draw or interests. I’m sure he discovered the difficulty and expense of bringing in the authentic buildings and horse drawn vehicles and other artifacts …. So replicas were used. No Different than Walt Disney collecting all those original band organs , mutescope and vintage games for THE PENNY ARCADE … or the other antiques Walt collected for use in Disneyland. Walt Disney once had the largest collection of horse drawn circus wagons …. He could have just made copies of all those things…
The real success of these places like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm was there was a decent mix or REAL and REPLICAS being used to create these places.
Post a Comment