Along Main Street, July 1959
Clip-clop, clip-clop. That's the sound that my wooden shoes make as I walk along Main Street USA. In 1959, most people wore shoes of wood, so don't give me that look.
I have a pair of nice Main Street views for you, it's quite a thing to walk down a street like Grandma and Grandpa might have seen in their childhoods. My Grandpa grew up in Los Angeles, but hey, in the early 1900s, perhaps his neighborhood didn't look so different from this. "The Girl and Her Trust" is playing at the Main Street Cinema ("Do Not Miss It!"), that's a 1912 film directed by D.W. Griffith, starring Dorothy Blanchard and Wilfred Lucas. THE Wilfred Lucas?? If you look to the left of the Cinema, you can see one of those wonderful lamppost signs that were created as part of the hype for the incredible 1959 additions to the park.
Here's a better look:
Next comes this great look down toward Main Street Station, with a Streetcar and the Chemical Wagon heading in our direction. The Penny Arcade is to our right. More Disneyland '58 signs (printed on masonite) hang on wires overhead, while a big red banner spans the street near Town Square.
16 comments:
The wooden Indian is looking especially regal here. He makes the casually dressed guests look like hobos that just jumped off a freight train by comparison.
I like how the Motor Boat is zooming along at 40 mph, leaving a frothy wake in its... well, wake. I wonder how many guests thought this was gonna be a thrill ride?
The third pic is almost postcard worthy; but too much empty foreground... and there are a few 'horse biscuits' next to the curb on the right. Speaking of curbs, what's all that shoved against the curb on the left? Little tree leaves? Peanut shells? And there's another unbuttoned vest, but I won't mention it.
It has become a sensitive subject, like religion and politics. ;-p
I'm trying to come up with a snarky joke about your wooden shoes, Major. But I'm drawing a blank. So I'll just say thank you for today's pics.
Wilfred Lucas appeared in a couple of Laurel and Hardy features. He was the warden in "Pardon Us" and the dean in "A Chump at Oxford".
One of my school friends Mom often wore her wooden shoes to town. They don’t look comfortable but maybe it’s what you’re used to.
At first I was shocked by the wide expanse of sidewalk in photo 1 with no trash cans. Photo 2 calmed me down a bit. Main Street is the Happy Hunting Ground for trash cans, I wonder what happened.
The motor boat cruise could be a thrill ride if you think about it the right way.
Wonderful Main Street Major! Thanks for the tips about the signs.
JG
these are nice pic and signage, Major!
old Martin Mull quip: "I'd like to go to Holland, wooden shoe?"
Having spent a weekend or two manning the Main Street Cinema collecting "A" tickets, which felt like a month, standing around the corner of the entrance in the first picture, what strikes me is the absence of a box office with "Tilly" inside it. I suppose Mike Cozart can chime in on whether it and she were there in '59. KS
JB, it must be the red cape that makes the wooden Indian look so regal; perhaps the other wooden Indian in Frontierland, with a blue cape, also looked impressive? The Motor Boat graphics might not be accurate, but I sure do love them. Now when I see photos with so much empty space, I assume that the camera viewfinder gave an inaccurate idea of what the actual lens would capture - it happens often enough. I’m assuming that those are leaves in the gutter, though it is hard to be sure. Wooden shoes are nice, but don’t wear them with socks, you’ll look like a nerd.
DBenson, there can’t be one person in a hundred (five hundred?) who know who Wilfred Lucas was! Impressive. I’m assuming that Nanook knows, because he’s a movie guy.
JG, I watched somebody carving wooden shoes when I was in Europe, it’s so crazy to think that it was the best solution to a need. I guess leather or other more traditional materials were scarce? I’m glad that photo #2 pulled you out of that tailspin, that’s not a good way to start the day. My guess is that the original concept for the Motor Boats involved them going much faster - only to realize that this was not practical.
LTL, good old Martin Mull, I always think of “Fernwood 2-nite” when I think of him. And Jerry Hubbard!
KS, interesting, I wonder when “Tilly” was added? Now I’m going to ask a buddy to see if he knows.
The Main Street Cinema was built with the admission booth from the start . I’m not sure why we are not seeing it here in this picture . Is it in shadow? Was it removed for refurbishment? Is the exterior accordion drape closed like the Penny Arcade use to use when it wasn’t open to guests? I don’t know.
I’m also uncertain as to when “Tilly” made her debut …. I know she appears in sign shop /graphics documentation photos from 1962/63. I’m sure at one time a real castmember took tickets from the booth , but it seems for most of the “Cinema” attractions at Disneyland , Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland a cast member stood or sat on a stool at the entrance taking tickets ….. with the mannequin in the admissions booth. I’ve also seen a Disneyland publicity photo that accompanied an article that predated the park’s opening - it showed Walt and a warehouse manager pretending to be talking to - what looks like the figure “Tilly” the article was about the collection of music boxes , band organs , mute-a-scopes and other 1900 period mechanical devices Walt had amassed to use inside the soon to open Disneyland. So it’s very possible “Tilly” may have been at Disneyland since the beginning…. And the real question might be when was she given the name “Tilly” ….
The above reply was me …. I’m not sure what I wasn’t identified. I have seen some photos that show “Tilly” without a name badge ….
Major-
"... there can’t be one person in a hundred (five hundred?) who know who Wilfred Lucas was! Impressive. I’m assuming that Nanook knows, because he’s a movie guy".
Sorry, Mr. Lucas is not in my wheelhouse. Now, If we're talking Bess Flowers - she's right up my alley. What... you aren't acquainted with Ms. Flowers-? Why she earned the title of "Queen of the Dress Extras" for her 1,112 appearances-! in films and TV shows from 1923 thru 1970.
Anon, I’m sure that Tilly and the ticket booth must be just lost in darkness, or set back further than we might expect (or both). If I was home I’d try to see if lightening the shadows revealed the booth. I always thought that Tilly was there from the beginning, but to be honest it wasn’t something I thought about much! The photo of Walt that you refer to seems to indicate that she was there. As for the name “Tilly”, who knows! There was a famous silent Chaplin film, “Tilly’s Punctured Romance” (weird title)…
Mike Cozart, I thought it might be you!
Nanook, well, we can’t know them all. I thought you might have a whole “Wilfred Lucas” room! :-) Wow, Bess Flowers, I guess she was too busy to do 1,113 film appearances??
"Tillie's Punctured Romance" (note the spelling) had a just-before-superstardom Chaplin in a major role, but top billing went to Marie Dressler, a huge hit in the stage version. Dressler in 1914 looked much the same as she did in her MGM years, and nothing like the pretty mannequin in the Main Street Cinema booth. The movie was produced by Keystone Studio and directed by Mack Sennett himself, featuring Mabel Normand and a host of other Keystone favorites, plus some Keystone Kops. Footnote: This was one of the very few times Chaplin wasn't doing his tramp character. He was a city slicker out for Tillie's money.
That said, I just want to express my disappointment nobody else here seems conversant with Laurel and Hardy movies.
DBenson, “Berth Marks” is one of my favorites!!! My dad loved Laurel and Hardy—and introduced me to their antics, when I was little. I’ve loved them ever since.
Interesting that none of you commented on the, what appears to be, Mexican flag on the right side of the lamppost opposite the American flag. Where's @Jason Shultz when you need him to tell us what was going on this fine July day in 1959.
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
Matthew, good eye on that Mexican flag! I referred to "Jason's Disneyland Almanac", and while I can find no celebrations relating specifically to Mexico in the months leading up to July 0f 1969, there was a "World Trade Day" on May 17th. I think I see a French flag (mostly obscured) in front of the Penny Arcade in photo #2, so... maybe it was for World Trade Day?
Thank you Major for looking into these matters. Now that you mention it I can see the French flag too... and maybe further down the street another flag that is green and red. I think you may be correct... so I'm following the Major... and suggest you all do to... and say, "It was World Trade Day celebration at Disneyland."
Always your pal,
Amazon Belle
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