Knott's Berry Farm
I have some fun vintage Knott's Berry Farm scans for you today, starting with this first great shot dated "July 9, 1970" (a Thursday), looking up Market Street toward the impressive Calico Mine Train ride, with the full-sized (but narrow-gauge) railroad stopped at the depot. I love the look of this one, with the eucalyptus trees providing a bit of shade, and lots of people milling about on this summer day.
Next is this scan from 1966, featuring a couple sitting on a weathered old wagon (probably used to bring Pringles to the frontier). Gosh, they're having fun!
5 comments:
Major-
That last photo sure is a beauty.
Thanks, Major.
I've mentioned it before, but I used to think it was called Knottsberry Farm, as in Walter Knottsberry... even as a young adult! (I just felt like being humiliated again, tonight. It's good for the soul. :-p)
1) Ooh! I agree about this one looking especially good. Imagine the heavenly scent coming from those eucalyptus trees! Hmm, I think the guy in the brown plaid shirt and shorts is a pod person... or maybe a zombie. Or maybe he has cerebral palsy and I just made a foolish jerk of myself. (Also good for the soul.)
2) Ha! The guy kindasortamaybe is having fun. But the gal? "Ohhhh myyyy". Maybe she has stage 4 cancer and I just made a fool of myself again. (She actually does look like she's in the latter stages of cancer... been there, done that. I wasn't having fun then, either.)
3) I tend to agree about this one being an "oops". Even if the Native American characters aren't looking at the camera, you'd thing the photographer would have gotten the top half of the popcorn wagon in frame, rather than giving us a more-than-generous look at the dusty street.
4) The chief (do only chieftains wear that kind of feather bonnet?) looks quite elegant and sophisticated here. I wonder if they supply their own costumes?
Thanks for the Knottsberry pics, Major. My soul feels really good now. ;-)
Hey....is that "day old" popcorn? If the pic was taken in the early morning, there's a good chance that it was.
Sadly, those eucalyptus trees were cut down. And in 2001, management had 30 more trees inside the park chopped down, after a tree branch fell on a popcorn wagon at Disneyland, and injured some peeps.
Major, that wagon in the pic with Chief White Eagle was on School Road, and the wagon that the very cheerful couple are sitting in was on Main St.
I always love vintage Knott's pics. Thanks for sharing these, Major!
That three row seat wagon in front of The Post Office and Express office at one point had a Chinese Maple growing up thru it. It was eventually removed for safely as over time was a pile of rotted wood and rusty hardware. The wagon is a type of short distance “stagecoach” called a JERKY WAGON sometimes also called a SPRING COACH. It was manufactured by The Studebaker Wagon Works …. The same company that manufactured the Hawk and Avanti automobiles during the mid 20th Century . Most wagon and carriage makers in America switched to either making automobiles or at least parts for automobiles… like Fischer Coach works made car bodies for GM and Brewster or Abbot Downing ( who made the famous Concord Stagecoaches ) switched to making trucks and buses. Most still offered horse drawn vehicles into the 1920’s. Abandoned horse drawn vehicle were common all over but began to disappear when they were picked apart of their hardware during the metal drives of WW 2.
While I know that first photo was taken almost five years before my first visit, that’s still how I choose to remember Knott’s. I haven’t been inside the park itself since 1995, so I am spared the mental picture of the treeless hellscape that TM! describes.
Mike, it’s sad to note that the jerky wagon eventually fell apart, but when you think about it, it’s really amazing that something made of dried meat lasted as long as it did.
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