Two From July 4, 1964
Hey hey, it's the fourth of July! Well, it is in these pictures, at any rate. Not that you can tell, nobody is wearing red, white, and blue overalls or a foam Lady Liberty crown. Gosh, these people are boring!
In this first one, a couple stands among bushels and bunches of flowers. The flowers aren't real, but what is, you know, man? The gentleman is saying "hello" to Carol Burnett's grandmother by tugging on his earlobe. Then he picked his nose, which is how he said "hello" to Ernest Borgnine's grandfather.
Over at the Carnation Plaza Gardens, the Disneyland Band performs for the lunch crowd. The sign to the right tells us that the Band was led by Jim Barngrover, who was the third director after Vesey Walker and James Christensen. The man behind that column is having a time-out after misbehaving.
8 comments:
The pic is a little over-exposed. The flowers are all pale, like they're covered in volcanic ash. Or perhaps this was taken at the precise moment when the sun went nova, back in '64. (Actually, this would have been taken 8 minutes later... that's how long the light would take to get here.) Major, you weren't around then (?) but lucky for us, some friendly aliens (who bore a striking resemblance to the Friendly Indians along the RoA; they were really shiny) quickly brought us a new sun to replace the old one, that went boom.
After the old guy picked his nose to say hello to Ernest B's grandfather, he scratched his bu...m, which was a signal that he had an itch on his bu...m.
How embarrassing for the man behind the column. Not only is he in plain view of the audience, who can point and laugh at him, but it looks like the other band members took away his instrument as well. I see lots of saxophones honking away. I bet they were playing "Minnie's Yoo Hoo". I love that song; cheerful and quirky.
I'm sure some other stuff happened on July 4th, 1964 besides these pictures being taken, and the sun going nova. But those were the two biggies. Thanks, Major.
I recognize Florence, of Pomona, CA, in that first pic! And I suppose that's also her husband, Ralph, but it's a little difficult to tell for sure. I suppose it could be a brother or brother-in-law.
Thanks for sharing more of Ralph and Florence's pics, Major!
Good 'ol Flo...in her day she was a real looker. I know the Flower Market didn't make nary a dime, but sometimes that is OK...when hundreds of thousands of people and possibly millions take photos of it and Disneyland goes 1964 viral....not everything is measured by a daily spreadsheet. The Flower Market is lovely and I am glad to have seen and experienced it. As a kid I am sure I just said "ugh...let's get to the rides"...but clearly this area has been very curated including all the fretwork on the gardening shed. Plaza Gardens: another lost icon....with it's familiar red and white pavilion, with it's Big Bands at night and CERTAINLY at this time of the year. Note that July 4 was an official "take the Disney Family to Disneyland day"...I have heard this from extremely reliable sources. They would take in the fireworks from the patio of the apartment with the grand-kiddies in tow. This may have been unbeknownst to the Flo's and Ralphs of that particular July 4. Happy 4th of July to all!
I always enjoy pictures of the Flower Mart, Moms favorite spot in the Park. I sure don’t recall the elaborate little shanty in this picture though. Maybe it was there all along and I didn’t notice in my rush to the bobsleds. Those folks are almost costume appropriate too.
Why do band uniforms look like the soldiers of Napoleon’s Grand Armee’ retreating from Moscow? All the fancy frogging and braid, downright unAmerican.
That fellow in the back stepped into the Gentlemens’ Room to comb his hair and is surprised to see the music has already started without him. He reflects on his life choices that led this moment.
I like the white-on-white latticework of the Pavilion, classic style.
Thanks Major!
JG
JB, you can see that the woman in the first picture is squinting a little bit, a sure sign that the sun exploded. Why do we still have a sun now? I can’t hear you! Plus I’m busy memorizing sports trivia, which will fill up my brain and keep me from thinking about other things. I might have slept in on the day of the nova. “Sleeping it off” as my grandpa would have said. You know how much I love to get drunk! Hey, I’m signaling that I have an itch somewhere too! The man behind the column is lucky, really, because ordinarily he’d be wearing one of those cone-shaped “dunce” hats, but somebody misplaced it. What were YOU doing on July 4, 1964?
TokyoMagic!, I knew you’d recognize Florence. She of the “too much skin” outfits! I don’t think that the man is Ralph, he must be behind the camera here.
Bu, it’s funny about older folks - we forget that they were once young and good looking! I was friends with an older couple, and they showed me their photo album. The man was doing a gymnastics routine on the rings, which I could never do! He had an “eight pack” too. The woman looked like a young Scarlet Johansson. It just goes to show you. I’m sure I would have been bored silly by the Flower Market back in the day, in fact I don’t remember interacting with it at all, though I’m sure my grandma and mom checked it out. I probably whined about wanting to “do rides”. I might have a flyer for July 4, 1964, I wonder who was performing that day? Some famous big band, but maybe a popular rock band (in Tomorrowland) too. Although 1964 might be before rock invaded Disneyland (not counting Annette Funicello “rock”).
JG, that little shanty was “Roy’s Apartment”. It was always a little embarrassing when he decided to sleep in, and then got up in his boxers with the hearts on them. Napoleon’s Grand Armeé? That explains why all of the members of the Disneyland Band were always arguing in fluent French! As for visiting the rest room, sometimes nature calls and will not be denied.
Are you sure it was July 4? I don't see a single Old Navy American flag T-shirt.
The band is full of older guys, not fresh-out-of school kids. I wonder if the band payed well enough that you could make a career out of it as a musician.
A nice sweet nostalgic glow about these.
MS
This is the first I've seen of those lady figurines behind Florence. I think they may be 'planters,' as I see corresponding-colored flowers springing-up behind each little lady. I want one.
I see the empty seat that belongs to our hiding band member. He now has to walk in front of everyone, or allllllll the way around to avoid making a scene (unless there's a side-opening where he's standing.).
Thank you, Major.
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