Knott's Berry Farm, October 1963
It's always nice to take a little break from Disneyland, even if it is The Happiest Place on Earth. It's maybe a little too happy, right? I'm in the mood for a place with a few extra spoonfuls of charm and two extra dashes of... um... well, something good, you can be sure of that. Knott's Berry Farm is just the place! All of these are from slides date-stamped "October, 1963".
First up is this pretty photo of a pond, though I honestly am not sure where this particular pond was located. You can see a parking lot in the background, so it was somewhere on the outskirts. Anyway, it looks very nice with all of the trees, and look at that funny pink chicken!
Next, we're at Old MacDonald's Farm, where a mischievous goat glares at us from the roof. Some say this is where McDonald's restaurants got the idea for their Goat McNuggets. The sign in the lower left tells us that you could enjoy 4 barnyard animal acts, and even a free ride on the 100 year-old mule-powered merry-go-round.
And finally, these slides might be dated from October, but they could easily have been taken in September. And as any SoCal resident can tell you, September often has the hottest days (it was 114º on one September day in 2024). So you gotta keep your horses cool! This fella is spraying them down with a hose, I'm sure they appreciated the refreshing shower. And it got some of that dust off. No horse wants to be dusty, Einstein proved that back in 1905.
I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Knott's Berry Farm!
8 comments:
Yay! Vintage Knott's pics! The flamingo pond was located on the edge of what would become Fiesta Village, and remained there even beyond the opening of Fiesta Village. The wall that was added around the park went right along that edge of the flamingo area, between it and the parking lot. That parking lot is what is now Camp Snoopy, the Snoopiest Place On Earth.
I wonder if the goats chewed on the corner of the building? It kind of looks like they might have, and maybe that was the reason for adding that extra piece of wood to the corner?
Thanks Major, for the vintage visit to the Berriest Place On Earth!
I do wonder what happened to that 100 year-old mule-powered merry-go-round. It was moved to Camp Snoopy, along with the entire animal farm, in 1983. And it survived another 20 years after the move, but disappeared when the got rid of the animal farm around 2003. It was probably tossed in the trash, along with the Haunted Shack and the Volcano. :-(
Major, that breed of pink chicken is known as a "long-legged Irvine"; Scientific name: Kimicus Longshanks Roseus. It's quite rare to see one outside of Disneyland. It must have wandered over to Knott's after being chased by a feral cat. There's also a dark-colored coot, or maybe it's a silhouetted duck, on the left. The pink chicken, known for their elaborate nests, also built that teepee-looking structure.
I love the lighting and deep colors in this photo.
Was it a common sight to see goats on the barn roof? Goats have an elaborate network of chromatophores. Here, the goat is trying his best to blend in with the reddish brown barn.
This last photo must have been taken at a Jiffy Lube. You can have your horses go through the horsewash while you wait.... OK, that wasn't very funny. I had to stretch pretty far for that one.
Tokyo!, the goats might be using the edge of the barn as a scratching post. I notice a couple of rough patches in the goat's pelt.
All of these pics have the same deep, saturated lighting. Extra points for that! Thanks, Major.
Flaming-O the flamig-no! We haven’t seen him (her?) for a while.
Thanks, Major.
Flamingo drumsticks are the best. Those little paper caps have to be really long though.
Tokyo, I think you are right, that flat board looks like it is added so goat jaws can’t bite the corner. Goat McNuggets would be awesome.
After the Horse Wash, they get a wax and special mag wheel polish.
Even with the flamingo, Knotts is still less pink than Disneyland. No gold leaf in sight either.
Major, these are fun and offbeat views, many thanks!
JG
TokyoMagic!, I knew you’d know right where the flamingo pond used to be! Here’s a dumb question: is Fiesta Village still at Knott’s? I haven’t bee there for years, and I don’t remember seeing it during my last visit. It wouldn’t surprise me if it is gone. I think you are right about goats chewing on the barn, Walter Knott used boysenberry-flavored lumber.
TokyoMagic!, I hate to say it, but I’ll bet you are right about that merry-go-round ending up in the trash. Maybe some eccentric collector acquired it? It was probably not in the greatest condition after so many years outdoor.
JB, that pink chicken looks delicious, but my oven is not big enough, so what’s the point? It’s nice that Kim “Purple and Pink” Irvine had a chicken named after her, what an honor. Coots, yuck, our local pond used to just be mallards, now it is largely coots who want the free food given to them by a series of old ladies every day. I’m talking big bags of some mystery bird feed, they must spend hundreds of dollars a month. Never mind the signs saying, “Please don’t feed the waterfowl”. You often see goats on that roof in old photos, there must have been a way for them to get up there easily. I wish Jiffy Lube washed my car while I waited, it needs it. I still think TM might be right about the goats chewing on the barn, but it is possible that they used it for handy scritches too.
Lou and Sue, I don’t even want to know how to tell a boy flamingo from a girl flamingo.
JG, now I want to know what flamingo tastes like. Maybe it’s oily and gamy. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten goat, but I’d try it! My dad used to say that things were “tougher than goat meat”, but a few hours in a slow-cooker would do wonders. Not only did the horses get washed, waxed, and polished, they were spritzed with “new horse smell”. Did they have to feed little crustaceans to flamingos to keep their pink color? Or did they use food coloring?
MAJOR: KNOTT’s Fiesta Village is still there. It recently was renovated and had a grand Re-opening in 2023. They did a reopening celebration called VIVA FIESTA VILLAGE!!! While it’s not an exact restoration of the 1969 version, it received a great deal of structural attention and repair to an area of the park that was becoming tired and neglected ( like Disneyland’s Tomorrowland)
Mike Cozart, thank you for letting me know, I'm very glad that Fiesta Village was not torn down and got some love and attention recently!
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