Two Beauties From the 1950s
I always enjoy photos taken from outside the turnstiles - presumably taken by a new arrival, excited at the prospect of a day at Disneyland. Although in this first example, the picture was taken in the afternoon. "We'll just go for a few hours, and then get home in time to watch Perry Mason". Pardon me, but your priorities are all wrong! Red Christmas bells and some modest garlands adorn the train station, but it was warm enough for the Short Sleeved Family. The clock tells us that it wasn't even 3 o'clock yet - in December it would be dark by 4:30 or 5:00.
From a different 1950s batch comes this pretty photo of the Pirate Ship, with the Skyway overhead, and backed by floofy white clouds. The sails on the ship are missing completely, but you can see from the pennants that it was a breezy day. When the sails were there I wonder if they would be furled because wind stresses would be too great?
14 comments:
Major-
It's pictures such as these that makes one want to jump right into them and stay right until closing - Perry Mason be damned-! (I wonder what sort of shenanigans were going on under that stripy umbrella, with that slanted 'drafting table' and stool-?); not to mention the woman in the plaid skirt who seems to be involved in a self-administered sobriety test...
Thanks, Major.
We rarely see clouds in these Disneyland photos. Usually, June gloom or clear blue sky. More picturesque with clouds. Not sure what the lady in the yellow shirt is doing, but I think the lady behind her is doing the same thing. Maybe they're shooing bees away. Or maybe we're in the middle of an earthquake (though no one else seems to be reacting).
This is a really nice photo of the Pirate Ship; crisp focus and deep colors. Not sure if both Skyway buckets are orange, or if the one on the right is red. Maybe they were only running orange buckets that day. From the bright green trashcan, this must be 1957 or before. The people on the left are in various strange poses. Maybe this pic also was taken during an earthquake?
Nanook, "sobriety test"; I hadn't thought of that explanation.
Nice photos, Major.
I wonder what sort of shenanigans were going on under that stripy umbrella, with that slanted 'drafting table' and stool-?
Nanook, that is how they used to sell the DVC timeshares, back in the day. They didn't start to build the more permanent sales kiosks until about 50 years later. ;-)
There’s soooo much to love about today’s pictures, but my favorites are the skinny green garland on the train station, and the little white wire fencing. Simple, but sweet.
Thanks, Major.
@ TM!-
"That is how they used to sell the DVC timeshares, back in the day". Oh - you're so crafty-!
Speaking of sobriety tests: looks like the garland installer could have used one before embarking on festooning the train station. At first glance this looks like a super early photo: due to "landscaping with some opportunity" there against the chain link fencing...but then I see buckets and a poster for 20,000 Leagues....so '56? Possibly: and still early... That Ticket Booth near the center of the photo and to the left of the DVC selling experience remained a building (with a few iterations and lives) and was the leads office when I was a ticket seller. Those are super skinny and interesting accordion doors...but I guess humans were smaller back then. In my day this "office" only had a back door that I remember. A lot of cash...as we only accepted cash back then...went through that building. Verified cash counts (cash was verified THREE times btw...before being verified the final time in Cash Control) happened in your ticket booth when your booth closed...usually sometime after the crush of the morning. Then they would aggregate guests to other and more "center" booths. It was quite the system. Ticket Sellers were not your average employee: as they basically took in the major portion of Disneyland income...in cash mind you...and the possibility of internal theft, or plain ol' mistakes would not be tolerated. Main Gate employees: those were a different category completely. With all the fanciful umbrellas in Disneyland: this is what they chose? That sign looks like a lot of explaining about Ticket Books. Interesting that the word "Ticket" was used sometimes...and on the ticket...or guidebook was "Coupon". Is it a ticket or a coupon? I always liked the Mickey flag there on the right. There is still one flying: I think somewhere next to Walt's apartment (?) The color choices for the branding of Disneyland has always enchanted me: this blue and gold melange...but it's not an empire blue...or a pure gold color...and someone had to art direct this choice: a choice that was used until my final hour of employment and beyond. I did not go for the silver blue of the 25th: however I understood it...the Disney 100 purple...big bag of "no". I like purple: but a bit of a confident choice. Seems they love confident choices...it's THIS gold and blue: also the color of the old Ad. Bldg: front and back that I need to dig into more. I want to know who when and where. This photo is very charming, and I would like to go there now please. The Pirate Ship: oye vey ...so many photos...just bring it back already...for a fast food location it was epic: they should have charged a B ticket...or even a C! Tuna prepared 'ala Mermaid style absolutely reviles me....but I climbed all over that ship too. I think a ship like this...in Swiss Family Treehouse mode...where you follow a path...would so very much be enjoyed by the likes of many...the fast food is a bonus...but I don't want to smell Tuna sandwiches while cavorting with the one leg guy and his parrot. I'm not the target market: so I don't get to vote. Note that Christmas is 4 months away: get your garland ready! Thanks Major.
As much as I love the anticipation of the first photo (the sobriety test lady is actually just trying to get awsy from the DVC salesperson), my clear favorite is the mighty pirate ship! The finest ship to ever sail a wading pond! The sails had obviously been sent to the cleaners and were a little late getting back (One Hour Martinizing, my foot!). But it's still just so purrrrrdy!
Thanks, Major!
Stu is right, the sails were at the dry cleaners, there was a special on. The castle drapes were sent out also.
Major, I think you are right the sails are probably taken down for bad weather, much like a real ship. The door is in the original location too.
I see the sign on the ticket booth “Tickets for Fantasyland Attractions”? Were the booths exclusive? That is, tickets ONLY for fantasyland, or could tickets be bought in one land and used elsewhere?
JB, yes, a plain green can!
Thanks Major!
JG
@ Bu-
"Those are super skinny and interesting accordion doors...but I guess humans were smaller back then>".
And who would know better than AT&T just how 'skinny [American] humans were...' Those are phone booths at that time.
It's always great to hear how "mere humans" - no matter their girth - could [accurately] perform tasks now relegated to computers - no matter the lack of 'efficiency'-! Thanks for sharing the story.
Nanook, I’ve seen other photos with some sort of table outside the gates, and have never really thought up a good theory as to why it would be there! Note to self: go to Disneyland really drunk someday! I wonder if a sobriety test was a “B” ticket?
JB, yeah, you can usually tell if it’s winter if there are nice clouds in a photo. Possibly February or March. I think the lady in yellow was just caught in a weird pose, don’t make fun of her! With the gondolas being slightly silhouetted, it is a bit hard to tell the colors, they might even be one of those metallic hues that they used in the early years.
TokyoMagic!, I still don’t understand the appeal of timeshares, but maybe I need to sit through a presentation!
Lou and Sue, I generally love clear photos of the park from these early years, it just has a vibe that I find very appealing, and I wish I could have seen it like that!
Nanook, I guess these days, with some guests visiting the parks so often, perhaps a timeshare really would be worthwhile. But for me? Nope.
Bu, maybe the wind blew the garlands around a bit; I’m giving the workers the benefit of the doubt! 20,000 Leagues was an opening-day attraction I believe, but we can also see a poster for Tom Sawyer Island which did not open until mid-1956, so that’s one clue. I’d say that still qualifies as “early”, however. That little building was a “lead office”? Shameful. Cash, gimme cash. Like Lucy Van Pelt, I love the sound of money. I’ve heard at least one story of “internal theft”, but I wonder if it was otherwise a rare occurrence? Temptation is powerful, and a few extra bucks a day was a lot back then. I know that “coupon” was used often, but it doesn’t seem like it was common - maybe it was the general public that refused to use a term other than “ticket”. I like those Mickey flags too, and would like to have one, but would never pay the prices that they fetch at auction. I don’t like them THAT much. I’ve explained my resistance to purple - basically one of my teachers showed us how purple had become a default color in animation, and it was WAY overused. I had to agree with him once he made his case. I sure wish I’d boarded the Pirate Ship, but I never even set foot in it. If my parents didn’t do something, neither did I.
Stu29573, I guess I am often a fan of those “out front” views with Main Street Station and the ticket booths. Plus I have SO MANY photos of the Pirate Ship, even though this one is particularly pretty. I wonder how often those sails needed to be replaced?
JG, the dry cleaners hated it when the Disney folks showed up with the sails, because they just claimed they were “sheets”. So they could only charge them their standard rate! Good question about the ticket booth, I assume one could buy tickets for the entire park, but the sign seems misleading.
Nanook, I don’t know why I sort of miss phone booths, maybe it’s just nostalgia. I didn’t use pay phones very often - it had to be an emergency. Computers are great, but as with most things, their effect on our lives has gone way overboard.
@ Bu (2)-
"I see buckets and a poster for 20,000 Leagues....so '56?"
There's also a Space Station X-1 AP; so if the 'AP poster fairies' (oh, you didn't know about them...) were on the job, the original X-1 poster would've been 'modified' by June, 1958 to read Satellite View of America. So let's just say Xmas season '55, '56, or '57.
Major-
"I’ve explained my resistance to purple - basically one of my teachers showed us how purple had become a default color in animation, and it was WAY overused".
I don't know if 'that teacher' was referring to "the earlier days" of color animation, but both purple and turquoise seemed to be 'go-to' accent colors in the use of Technicolor. I don't know if this was a Natalie Kalmus "suggestion" - or one that caught on with other "Technicolor Color Consultants" - but it's a highlight used often in the 1930's and 1940's - maybe due to its reliable and repeatable appearance when it finally 'hit the screen'. Those aniline dyes used in dye-transfer (IB) printing changed over time, so who knows. (I'm no expert, but...)
Nanook, while I am a poster enthusiast, I don’t think I want to be known as a “poster fairy”!!
Nanook, my teacher was mostly referring to the 1980s and into the 1990s, when colors for animation backgrounds became quite ugly, often (I’m talking largely about television, of course).
Major-
Yes, the 'poster fairies' would sweep-in surreptitiously in the middle of the night and perform the necessary 'swap-out's' to keep the AP's correct and timely.
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