Today marks the first of a series of blog posts featuring photos from the personal collection of JG! There are 18 images in all; I'll begin by sharing the scans of black and white photo prints from 1965. Walt was still with us! JG was kind enough to provide his own recollections for each picture; here's his intro:
These photos were all together in an envelope with my Mothers handwriting Summer 1965. I have separated out the Disneyland and KBF pictures, there were other shots of campouts and similar events. Major already published the 3 KBF pictures on October 22, 2024, and one of the Disneyland pics for Fathers Day, 2024. To follow are descriptions of the Disneyland shots. I have no idea in what order they may have been taken, so I am just following the order of the file names that I gave to the scans when I made them. The photos are dated September 1965, but were probably taken around the end of August 1965. The farm work slowed down around this time, before the first of September when school started, so we traveled or camped often in the last week of August.
First up is this great picture of a young JG and his father (Russ) next to a Mine Train! My Dad and I on the railing of the Mine Train load platform. I'm wearing the same shoes we saw in the KBF photos recently posted. The KBF pics were probably taken the day after these Disneyland pics. Back then it was possible to do most of Disneyland in one day, and KBF was a half-day, so we could go there and still get home late that evening.
I wasn't sure if JG was on a Keelboat, or the lower deck of the Mark Twain, but he was in a canoe! Note the Friendly Indian Village in the distance. This is a fairly cool atmospheric shot of me in an Indian War Canoe silhouetted against the Friendly Indian Village. I absolutely don't remember this at all.
Lastly (for today) is another great photo of JG and his dad, this time next to a Keelboat: My Dad and I in front of the original Gullywhumper two-window keelboat from the show. I shared this photo with Dave DeCaro several years ago since he was collecting pictures of the two versions of the keelboat. It is in his permanent collection on the Daveland site.
MANY THANKS to JG for sharing these precious personal photos; when looking at so many of the vintage Disneyland pictures on this blog, I try to imagine myself walking around, enjoying myself, taking in the sights and experiencing attractions that have been gone for years.. But JG has actual pictures of himself doing just that! Stay tuned for more from him.
@ JG-
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing [the first batch] of images from your personal collection. Seeing Junior Gorillas in the parks is always the best-!
Thanks, Major.
One definitely gets a different vibe from B&W photos of Disneyland. We're so used to seeing it in color. It forces you to look more closely at things. For instance, I almost didn't see all those people atop the Gullywhumper. That last picture reminds me of an early B&W episode of Gilligan's Island with the S. S. Minnow in the background... Gullywhumper's Island?
ReplyDeleteOn a different note: I don't see a single trashcan in any of these photos. You'd think the Friendly Indian Village would at least have a couple. ;-)
Thanks, JG, for sharing more of your family photos with us. Thanks, Major.
What awesome photos: thanks for sharing JG. Haircuts exactly as they should be: NASA in training. Black and whites are charming and give a more vintage feel to "olde Disneylande". Just thought I would spell it that way. I don't have much to say about the Mine Train other than JG looks a wee uncomfortable...that is not a whole lot of ledge to stand on...and that is probably on purpose. The Indian Village sports "Shiny Boy" it what seems a different position. I always thought he was with "dog". I think the Indian Village went through multiple iterations: I see the deer there drying out...or perhaps they were just killed. Hopefully they are delicious. Personally I'm not a fan of BBQ Bambi...too gamey despite if they soak it in milk, cover it with cheese, deep fry it or smother it with garlic. To each his own. The Gullywumper looks like it has a different spelling...or do my eyes deceive me? It looks very rustic as compared to the later Keel Boats....and with all those peoples on top...I'm surprised it didn't flip over way earlier it it's career. Seems like if they just add more ballast it would have fixed the issue, but it was probably retirement time anyway: for the POT...(People of TRE). Looking forward to seeing the next load of JGPIX! Thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteMajor, thank you for posting these! I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s comments on the details that I have overlooked, often the best part of sharing photos.
ReplyDeleteI see a couple of things already.
I hadn’t noticed the Mine Train CM in the background, his “Y chromosome” suspenders stand out now.
Shiny Boy is with his dog, Bu, they are in their customary posts, but the camera is almost exactly parallel with their canoe so the dog looks like part of the vegetation.
My scanner is not super high resolution, so the image of the keelboat sign is blurred but on the photo itself, it is clearly Gullywhumper, an ineuphonius name if there ever was one. I also notice the wooden guardrails tied with leather strips. These have been replaced long since with resin plastic moldings of tree branches, but back then, they were real wood, rough to the touch in out-of-the-way places, and hand-polished to a smooth gloss where guests hands constantly rubbed along.
Thank you for the kind comments, everyone. I hope you enjoy them, maybe they will recall a details or two for you. When I found these, I realized why Disneyland held such great memories for me. Some of these moments stood out over the years, but others were completely forgotten, and now I have them back to share.
JG
Nanook, I love these photos from JG, and only wish I had anything even remotely like them in my own family photos.
ReplyDeleteJB, I agree, black and white is very different, but my mom used B&W film a lot when I was a kid. Well, maybe 50% of the time, so we have a LOT of black and white pix. And when I got my very own Instamatic, there was no way anybody was going to pay for color film and processing for those photos! They didn’t have trashcans in the Friendly Indian Village, instead there was one large dumpster, like you’ll see outside a 7-11.
Bu, I enjoy olde-time spelling, especially “shoppe”. It makes me want to twirl my handlebar mustache and doff my straw boater. I’d guess that JG felt pretty safe there, with his dad to lean on, though there is not much of a foothold for him. Shiny Boy’s dog was not added until later, but I’m not sure exactly when. Now I’ll have to ask a knowledgeable pal to see if he knows! I’ve never eaten wild game, which I suppose is shameful. I went pheasant hunting with my dad, but he had the shotgun, and my brother and I spooked the birds that were in a cornfield that had just been harvested. Being a city boy, I couldn’t bring myself to eat the beautiful birds that my dad blasted! I remember him spitting out a piece of buckshot onto his plate, which made me appreciate my fish sticks that much more.
JG, thank you again for sharing these! Oh, I see that you’re right, the dog is there with Shiny Boy. He has his cloaking device only partially “on”. I like the name “Gullywhumper”! It has a certain style. Do you want to whump gullys? We’ve got you covered. I was looking at some “wooden” railings in the Snow White ride, and even up close it was hard to tell if they were real wood that had been worn by thousands of hands, or if it was cast resin.
Thank you for sharing these delightful images, JG. The Gullywhumper shot is a gem and I'm sure you're happy to have that photo of yourself. I'm wondering if there was no ticket booth and you just hopped on when the boat came back to the dock. It looks like you could even jump through the windows. I wonder if we will see any Chicken of the Sea photos in this batch since I know that is one of JG's fondest memories!
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ReplyDeleteThese are preciously priceless in a persistently precocious pattern. Loving every. Little. Thing.
ReplyDeleteAndrew's comment sparked a thought - what would the Gullywhumper's figurehead look like if it had one?
Thank you so much for sharing these cherished memories, JG!
^ Why, the Gullywhumper of the Sea Mermaid of course!
ReplyDeleteHello Andrew, thanks for commenting! These were taken back when tickets were required, Mom was standing in the EXIT way to take the picture, we had just gotten ashore. The ticket taker was more to the right outside the picture. Now that I think about it, the FIV pic might have been taken in lower deck of the keelboat, not from a canoe. Too long ago to be sure.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are CoS pics coming in a future post.
Chuck, I’m glad you enjoyed. There are more to come, Major is very generous to include these in the GDB stream
JG, these are WONDERFUL pictures! This is probably THE trip that shaped you into a true Disneyland fan, like the rest of us. Looking at these pictures, we are witnessing history in the making...the foundation for GDB.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to seeing more! Thank you for sharing, JG and Major.
Ha, Sue, I think you are right, this was really the first trip I remember in detail, although little scraps of memories from what must have earlier visits still remain. I’m fortunate that these photos survived, and I’m grateful to Major and the Junior Gorillas for making me want to hunt for them. I’m glad you enjoyed, there are definitely more to come.
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Thanks for sharing JG KS
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