Main Street, July 1964
If you could transport somebody from the 1870s to Main Street USA, they would be aghast at this busy big city! "What an eyesore, forsooth!" (I assume that's how people spoke back then). But to our 2024 eyeballs, Main Street looks pretty wonderful. Look at all those beautifull buildings, containing shops of all kinds. Do you need a Yale key made? Or maybe some home-made candy? Or candy with a Yale key in it (for your uncle who is in jail)? You're in luck! No need to walk, either, there are plenty of forms of public transportation; Surreys, Horseless Carriages, Omnibuses, and Horse-drawn Streetcars. The Firetruck will even give you a ride if you ask nicely.
Those guys to the left wear matching outfits, I wonder if they worked at the Wenmac Flight Circle? Thank you for your service, fellas! A boy near them is entranced at the sight of the Streetcar, or maybe at the sight of the horse. Let's stop at the Hallmark Store on the corner for some humorous greeting cards, and then get an orange juice bar at the Sunkist Citrus House.
15 comments:
I don't need a key or any candy, but I could use about a dozen leaches for some bloodletting that I need to perform. (The Upjohn Co. Pharmacy is visible on the far left side of that first pic.) There is also a hidden Skyway bucket in that first pic.
Five trash cans in each, and a sailor in the last one. Lots of other fun stuff, too….including some stylish folks, including Mr. Black-socks.
I’m heading to the candy shop now, and will check back later.
Thanks, Major.
Major-
1964 certainly seems like a great time to be on Main Street, U.S.A.
"Let's stop at the Hallmark Store on the corner for some humorous greeting cards..." Funny you should mention this, as I still have one of those "Contemporary Cards" from Hallmark. 3-⅞" wide x 7-⅞ tall, costing all of 25₵-! No doubt dating back to the 1960's. [Hold your ears, Major] it was given to me by Estelle Oppenheimer some time in the early 1990's, for no special occasion - the outside of the card reading: I'm kind of FUNNY about my friends...; and on the inside: ...but then I have kind of FUNNY friends!
That describes me fairly well.
Thanks, Major.
I just realized that the horse coming towards us in the first pic is different than the one in the second pic. The photographer must have stayed in that same spot long enough for the other Horse-Drawn Streetcar (seen in the distance) to make it to the Plaza, unload, reload, and then return down Main St. to this spot.
We can call this first pic the "PUSH" photo. Like Sue, I count 5 unobscured trashcans here.
The "entranced boy" is drinking, what looks to be, orange juice from a cup, with a straw. The person next to him seems to be drinking the same thing. Far to the left, the tall guy with the light-colored shirt looks like he's wearing a red sock on his nose. Pretty sure it's just a hat on a lady behind him. I think there are 6 trashcans visible here; maybe seven, there's a smidge of green and yellow peeking over the shoulder of the taller of the two dressed-alike guys. Likewise, directly across the street from the questionable trashcan is another questionable trashcan.
Tokyo!, I noticed the two different horses as well. Maybe this is the color-changing "horse of a different color", on vacation from the Land of Oz.
Both of these photos are nice, clear, blue sky examples of a bright and busy Main Street. Thanks, Major.
Maybe this is the color-changing "horse of a different color", on vacation from the Land of Oz.
JB, possibly.....but neither one of these horses appears to be licking the Jell-O gelatin powder from it's coat.
^ Musta used unflavored gelatin.
Sue has been sailor spotting this week! That sailor’s service dress blue uniform tells us the slide’s processing date has fooled us again. Navy enlisted personnel in Southern California shift to their summer whites around the beginning of April. Service dress blues come back out of the locker around the beginning of October.
Confirm 5 trashcans in each photo. Shout-out to my favorite nostalgic curb in front of the Carnation Cafe.
TM!, there are hidden Skyway buckets in both photos. You just can’t see them in the second one.
TM!, there are hidden Skyway buckets in both photos. You just can’t see them in the second one.
Chuck, does that have something to do with the fact that they are hidden? ;-)
Navy enlisted personnel in Southern California shift to their summer whites around the beginning of April. Service dress blues come back out of the locker around the beginning of October.
And if you wear white shoes after Labor Day, Kathleen Turner will stab you with a pair of scissors.
When I think of Disneyland, I think of leeches...well: sometimes anyway. The legend goes (from the 80's) that when Upjohn was "quit" as a sponsor, that the disgruntled pharmacist took it upon himself to dump the leeches into the Rivers of America. This topic came up every Summer as we prepared for the Canoe Races and were cautioned about jumping or "falling accidentally" into the river. Also, in various "dares" it was part of the excitement of the dare to jump into the river that was "riddled with leeches." Tribal knowledge comes from somewhere, so possibly something did occur...perhaps the leeches were missing one day, and it was assumed that they were dumped into the river (?). Who knows, but someone does. I never heard of anyone coming out of the river with a leech attached to them...but maybe someone has. The jumping into the river: well that's all true....I was not one of them, but I certainly watched it numerous times, with of course everyone sworn to secrecy. The canoe race jumping was generally a traditional thing...with winners jumping away. Then there is the Jungle river jumping, and that was more a rite of passage: all part of the shennanigans of the 70's and 80's. I did not ever hear of anyone "accidentally falling" into the sub lagoon: but I'm sure it happened...and possibly even truly accidental: those docks were skinny. Thanks Major for the vintage Main Street...which always looks lovely.
I’ve said it before, and I will keep saying it, Old Main Street was the best Main Street.
I see the trash count is complete, my work is done.
I do like how those old cans stand at attention, ready to help you Waste Paper, or climb out and fix the engine of your X-Wing. All in a days work, we salute you Trash Cans!
Thanks for these fun pics, Major!
JG
You guys are all pretty observant! Took me a while to find the sailor.
No orange juice bar for me, Major! One of my fondest Main Street memories was enjoying the most refreshing ice-cold lemonade ever from the Citrus House on one of those hot August days.
TokyoMagic!, leeches are also a cool fashion accessory. Stick one just above one eyebrow. Piercings are so 2006!
Lou and Sue, that sailor is not with a buddy, he’s all by himself. it is very sad. Maybe he’ll meet a nice cast member and get married. Not both in the same day, what is this, Las Vegas??
Nanook, things given for free are the best. That Hallmark card exemplifies classic greeting card humor. Sort of along the lines of, “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps”. Estelle Oppenheimer? I just watched a 3 hour movie about her brother!
TokyoMagic!, the photographer actually stood in that exact spot for seven hours, barely moving a muscle. “That’s what THEY expect me to do!”, he thought to himself. He showed them!
JB, if that kid is drinking fresh-squozed (technical term) orange juice, I am jealous. So delicious! I got spoiled by my grandmother’s orange groves, I’d get a full grocery bag of oranges and make juice on a hot afternoon, there is nothing better. I don’t really care for store-bought stuff. Don’t you ever wear a sock on your nose? I guess times have changed. I thought color-changing horses were invented in the 1970s, they were called “mood horses”.
TokyoMagic!, I’m just glad they used something non-toxic on The Wizard of Oz. No cobalt or cadmium colors!
JB, yum, my favorite.
Chuck, jeez, if you look at the crowds, it looks like summer to me. 1964 “crowds”. But hey, Navy rules are rules, I guess this could have been a busy weekend. “Nostalgic Curb”, one of Hemingway’s best books. “There are hidden Skyway buckets in both photos”… mind blown.
TokyoMagic!, is the Kathleen Turner remark a “Serial Mom” reference?
Bu, I suppose that dumped leeches could have “fed” on the exploding ducks (I don’t think there were any fish in the river by then). But the river has been drained a few times since the 1980s, so I’m not sure how well they would do in that case. Having found leeches stuck to my skin while swimming in Minnesota lakes, I don’t have much love for those critters. And while sitting in a boat fishing for walleye, you’d see leeches lazily swimming by. Argh. Even without leeches, I’m not sure I’d want to swim in the Rivers of America. Maybe the water is perfectly fine? I imagine that it is full of all kinds of nasty stuff.
JG, “…or climb out and fix the engine of your X-Wing”. ???
Steve DeGaetano, I’d happily take orange juice OR ice cold lemonade!
Post a Comment