Ghost Town or Bust!
It's been a while since I've shared some vintage photo souvenirs from Knott's Berry Farm's "Pitchur Gallery". Believe it or not, there are still quite a few that I have not shown! Yes, I have a lot of them. All of today's examples are from the same tableau - I'd say that this was the most popular (and thus most common) of all. Still, they're fun to look at!
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that these three ladies were friends, rather than relatives. Ofcourse it's impossible to say for sure. Two of the women smile nicely, but the one on the right (with the mink coat) can't muster up the enthusiasm to work out those face muscles. She's wearing a Napoleon hat, so maybe she's thinking about when she was at the Battle of Austerlitz. The one in the middle might be sporting a souvenir pinback button of some kind, but it's just not clear enough.
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I believe that this one is from around 1960 or so. Most of these folks bear a strong family resemblance! It's exciting to see a photo of a young Bob (as in "Big Boy") to the left, a future culinary celebrity. Each day, he holds a giant hamburger above his head. I did that too, but it never amounted to anything. I guess I just didn't have the passion.
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And finally, here are two boys and their cute Shirley Temple lookalike sister. She's lost some of her teeth, did Shirley ever sing a song about that? "I'm Missin' My Incisors"? I'd hoped to be able to determine what is on the boy's t-shirt (to the right), but no such luck.
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Hey! Sue B. found an example of the t-shirt that the boy to the right is wearing. Take a look at an auction page HERE! Thanks, Sue!
12 comments:
I see “Hopalong Cassidy” on the boy’s shirt in the last photo.
Will check back later….
Major-
"... but the one on the right (with the mink coat) can't muster up the enthusiasm to work out those face muscles".
The mink coat automatically gives her a free pass in the obligatory smile department-!
What do you suppose space aliens would think of the human race if they were ever to thumb-through a series of folks 'posing'-? We are a goofy lot, ain't we-? (Well, at least we're goofy while posing).
Thanks, Major.
Maybe the mink-clad lady with the Napoleon hat is Joséphine? She's thinking about whipping up some sort of dessert with puff pastry, filled with pastry cream. "Hmm, what should I call eet?"
He does bear a resemblance to Bob's Big Boy. But he also could pass for Pugsley Addams. The teen on the right could be Harry Shearer in his high school senior year. I wonder if gramma carried her purse on her lap all the way across the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas?
Shirley's missing teeth just adds to her cuteness. The boy on the right (with the mystery t-shirt) is either 12 years old or 40 years old. I can't tell which.
So, are these oxen? Or just plain ol' cows? And what's the difference between the two? Thanks for the bovinacular photos, Major.
The two women in the mink coats would look better wearing mink t-shirts! Give me a pair of scissors and I can make one for each of them.
In the last pic, the boy on the left looks a little bit like Billy "Froggy" Laughlin. Poor Froggy....he died so young!
She's lost some of her teeth, did Shirley ever sing a song about that? "I'm Missin' My Incisors"?
Major, she did! It was in the film, "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm's Revenge!"
I'm missin' my incisors
And my parents are misers
'Cause all the tooth fairy brought to me
Was one lousy stinkin' penny.......
ah....photos of the 60's, that resemble the people of the 30's...in a very short time, all these people would be wearing mini skirts: even grandpa! I am not certain that in Southern California a mink coat would ever ever ever be needed. Calgary Canada: yes. How bout Minneapolis? Yes. Southern California: unless you are a movie star: not so much, and Bob Barker (RIP) would have not been pleased. My aunt was quite a known opera singer and wore a mink to almost every public event: no matter what the weather was....and yes, in Southern California. She was not as robust as these ladies of the Society Matrons League, so perhaps: she was cold? Or maybe these ladies are opera singers as well? Could be. Looks like they have traveled to Buena Park to see how "they" live, while eating Mrs. Knott's chicken dinner... "Helga, darling....let's have driver take us down to the charming farm of Knott's I've heard about from my maids....they have the charming little berries". I think the photo would be better if the livestock were wearing the coats! A missed opportunity. The kids look like they are having a grand olde tyme, right off the set of Leave it to Beaver. Extra work is tough, but someones got to do it. Boys are easy: jeans and a t-shirt: "done". Multi generational outings: well: I can't say I'm a fan....lot's of "WE ARE GOING AS A FAMILY AND WE WILL BE TOGETHER THE ENTIRE DAY....AS A FAMILY!!!". I was always "ugh". I didn't know why then, and I don't know why now. An independent lad since birth. Thanks Major for the time machine of Knotts! (or as we called it in the 70's: "Snots".)
These are charming, but Madame Bonaparte takes the biscuit here.
She is dreaming of celebrating her victory by eating Chicken Marengo for the fortieth time, and sabering a bottle of tepid champagne before hieing off to St. Helena.
I hope everyone in the photos had a grand time and enjoyed their memories of the Pichur Gallery. Thanks Major!
JG
@ TM!-
"Give me a pair of scissors and I can make one for each of them".
Personally, I think she'd look better in a 'short jacket'-!
Lou and Sue, OH YEAH! Now I see it.
Nanook, a mink coat plus a jar of Grey Poupon mustard would get her into the White House! I think Aliens (presumably of advanced intellect) would immediately do a 180 and head for home.
JB, yum, now I want a puff pastry filled with cream. But I won’t get one. I like Pugsley Addams, but am also his biggest fan, and only a select few could ever imitate his joie de vivre! “Shirley” does look awfully cute with her missing toofs. I’m pretty sure the wagon is being pulled by oxen!
TokyoMagic!, mink t-shirts, you have big ideas! I’ll expect to see something like that in Paris during “fashion season” next year. I didn’t know Froggy died young, I read his Wikipedia entry. Poor kid. I remember seeing “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm’s Revenge”, and the poster with young Shirley holding a shotgun.
Bu, it’s actually true, the people from the 50s don’t look terribly different from the folks from the 30s; did kids wear t-shirts in the 30s? Maybe more of the tank top style. I remember seeing a woman at some fancy restaurant in SoCal, she was wearing a fox stole, and it still had the head and beady little glass eyes. So odd. My grandma was pretty fancy, but I don’t remember ever seeing her with a fur. Not sure if she found them objectionable, or what. Maybe those three ladies dressed up for their visit to Knott’s, and thus look a little more high-falutin’ than they normally would. Just like some folks used to dress up for Disneyland, or a trip on an airplane. “We are going as a family…”. I have run into some odd family at various Disney events, they wear matching colored t-shirts and I think they have an internet presence. There’s just something a bit unsettling about them.
JG, I do sort of like that Napoleon hat (I guess it’s not exactly the same, but close enough). Chicken Marengo? At Casino Morongo? You live far away and have not heard all of the commercials for Casino Morongo. They aren’t annoying at all!
Nanook, would that be a “Bolero”?
It is depressing when you see people in the 1960’s look like they are from ….. the depression.
That lady in the first wagon image does appear to be wearing a French Bicorne military/naval hat…. However it’s really a “ Draped Crown” ladies hat …. Very popular in the late 50’s and early 60’s. It fell outta favor for the 1960’s ladies bucket hat. A earlier version of tge Draped Crown hat was big in the 1920’s and very earliest part of the 1930’s….
Major-
"... would that be a “Bolero”?"
It probably would be - but I'm quoting from a certain show. And besides, it eventually ended up as a "mink tee shirt"-!
The poster for Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm’s Revenge is a classic, with Shirley wielding a bayonet-tipped Winchester M97 dripping with blood as she leads the 105th Battalion (Prince Edward Island Highlanders) over the top and into the Boche trenches.
Mike Cozart, I don’t know if it’s sad, fashions didn’t change as quickly back then, especially for older folks. I’ve never heard of a “draped crown” hat, but that’s not surprising, I don’t know much about hats in general, ladies’ OR mens!
Nanook, SIGH.
Chuck, you forgot to mention Shirley’s neatly clipped little mustache!
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