Main Street Views, July 1958
Here's a pair of nice Main Street views from the summer of 1958. We'll start with this shot in Town Square, with the train station (covered in Fourth of July bunting). The lamp posts on either side of the steps appear to have signs advertising the new Alice in Wonderland dark ride and the Columbia sailing ship. A Horseless Carriage is completely full, those two ladies walking toward it are just going to have to wait for the next vehicle. A teen tries to imagine what mayhem he could create if only he could fire that cannon, while a father and son enjoy popcorn and talk about what they will do next.
Further up the street, a Surrey rides past; sometimes you'll see it pulled by white horses, or black horses, but these are brown. I know my colors! JEALOUS? There's a sign to the right of the entrance to the INA Carefree Corner indicating that "First Aid", "Lost Children", and the "Baby Station" could be found nearby.
13 comments:
Wow, the little girl near the center of the photo in the sun bonnet and poofy dress looks cute even from behind! Ducktail haircut alert on the teen in the tan shirt next to the teen firing the cannon. I like the 'butterfly' bunting on the train station.
The full-sized image isn't coming up, but even in the thumbnail, I can see that the Carriage driver has an unbuttoned vest. I don't usually mention unbuttoned vests anymore, but we just had a thorough discussion about same, two days ago. Funny how "Lost Children" and Baby Station" got so well with "First Aid".
Nice bright pictures today. Thanks, Major.
I have never seen any discussion, anywhere, of the Main Street Clock, visible to the far right in the second photo. Maybe it's time to rectify that. I wonder about the historical aspect of the clock. I know that we have one on our "Main Street" in downtown Wake Forest, NC, but it's a fairly new addition. Maybe Mr. Cozart can enlighten us?
Wow these are certainly "slice of life" pictures! All of these folks have stories, and you can just tell by looking at them. A very fun set today, Major!
But, alas, no Animitronic Exploding Ducks.
In the second pic, there is a potted shrub outside the INA Carefree Corner. And above that (and right below that directional sign), there is a wall-mounted light that I don't remember ever seeing before. There is a different fixture there, today:
Disneyland - Carefree Corner Today
Was the China and Glass Shop consignment owned by Charlie Ruggles?
How beige Main Street is in this era. Vehicles look extra scaled down.
MS
The beauty of Main Street, U.S.A. is in its simple pleasures. One of my favorite things to do in the afternoon when attractions are super busy is to sit on a bench in Town Square and watch people coming and going.
Love the Main Street Vehicles featured in today's pics. Thanks, Major.
Main Street. Presented by Timex. My first watch was a Caravelle with a groovy orange face and glow in the dark numbers. I always wanted the "fancier" Timex (?) but I think they were about the same in "fancy". Huckleberry Finn is enjoying his popcorn, and ducktail's friend seems to be very interested in "legs and hat". You can see those encased DLRR Santa Fe posters up there at the station...they were cool and I saw them leave the surplus yard for a few dollars in the '80's. The old style bunting is interesting with their "wings" I'm not sure it's a Fourth of July thing per se, and it might be a Summer thing...up here in NE our bunting goes up on Memorial Day, and comes down on Labor day. The horse carriage is lovely to see...the 10 cent prices for the Main St. Vehicles would last until my time: two decades later! The Ruggles shop put me down a rabbit hole to the Port's O Call Village with it's "Hudson Ruggles" shop...a mash up of Hudson Bay and Ruggles (?) I don't mind the unbuttoned vest on this guy...and this could have been the "look"....I'm not sure if there was a look back then, and I'm wondering if the Victorian times demanding a more formal look...but this wagon is casual and possibly for the "common folk"...hence a more casual look. I've never seen a "Disney Look Book" or appearance guidelines book from this era...there had to be something...or perhaps it was just "cut your hair and shave your face"...could be. Regarding the "Donald Duck" pin from a few days ago...that pin was not a Donald Duck birthday pin, and if you look REALLY close you can see that a MKC green passport is attached. In the early days of passports/ticket books...guests came up with their own solution so they didn't have to dig it out for every ride...or lose it. So they used these pin back buttons to affix it to themselves...leading to a string being attached to passports later....attached to a button...but not everyone had a button, and nobody trusted the string in the small hole on the ticket, so they continued to pin it to themselves...and shortly after...ticket books were gone.....Thanks Major for the multiple rabbit holes today.
The Main Street station has been undervalued in my visits. I’ve been watching the Fresh Baked guy who always starts his shows standing on the podium looking up the boulevard. I’m making a point to do that next visit, if there is one. I think I see a fancy trash can up there.
Those tiny brown and blonde horses are trying to obscure the fancy trash can and failing. If these pics are 1958, this confirms the informal dating that the plain cans were replaced by 1957. Old Main Street is the best Main Street.
Thanks Major!
JG
JB, that first photo is especially good for people-watching, you can make up little stories for many of them. That really does appear to be a honest-to-goodness bonnet on that girl, her mother must love dressing her up like a living doll. In case you were wondering, yes, I fixed the image issue with photo #2, at about 4 o’clock in the morning. Then I went back to bed! And yes, the unbuttoned vest “rule” seems to have been completely ignored by everyone!
Steve DeGaetano, I feel like I have read about that clock somewhere - possibly in an issue of the old “E-Ticket” magazine, but I might just be imagining the whole thing.
Stu29573, I really would love to know what the father and son in the first photo were talking about! Somehow I feel like Walt would have particularly enjoyed seeing the way the guests were all enjoying his park in that first picture.
TokyoMagic!, I have to admit that I don’t recall seeing that unusual wall-mounted lamp before. Now I’ll have to look at other older images of the Carefree Corner! Since Ruggles’ name is on the sign for the China and Glass shop, I can only assume that they were paying for the privilege.
MS, Main Street does look beige in that second photo, though I think it’s partly because of the bright sunlight washing out some of the earthy colors.
K. Martinez, for the first time in my life, I did just what you did… I was at the park by myself (long story), and needed a break, and found an empty bench in the Plaza, and just enjoyed watching the vehicles and the people! I think I had a churro too.
Bu, my first watch was a Snoopy watch! At some point the “leather” band broke, and I kept the watch in a box for years, I think I might still have it. That kid really does look like Huckleberry Finn. Is “ducktail” a lady? I can’t tell. Funny you should mention that Santa Fe posters, I was contacted by a gentleman who managed to own three different examples, I’ve maybe seen one or two show up at auction in all my years. I’d sure love to have some! These photos are date-stamped “July 1958”, so the Fourth was nigh. I went to Ports O’ Call Village when I was a kid, but I barely remember it… I wasn’t sure where my grandma was going or why, and thought, “Huh, this place is unusual!”, and then we bought what she wanted and left. Now that it’s gone I wish I’d appreciated it more. I think we had a scan of some sort of cast member guide from Grant McCormick, I’ll have to find it and see if it had rules on how folks were supposed to be groomed. Yes, I said that the Donald Duck pin was not one of the ubiquitous pins from the 1984 promotion; the button in that photo is what I believe is a slightly older design, from what I gather Donald was redrawn for a newer pin at some point, he is a bit more “on model”.
JG, I remember when I was around 8 years old being so disappointed that the Disneyland Railroad was down on one of our visits, which also meant that Main Street Station was not open. From an early age the train was one of my favorite things, though the dinosaurs at the end probably had a lot to do with that.
@ TM!-
"Was the China and Glass Shop consignment owned by Charlie Ruggles?"
Well, not exactly; but according to the book The 55ers...
Phil Papel heard that Disney was looking for merchants to operate their own shops in its forthcoming park. He interviewed, stressing his years of giftware experience and contacts, and was granted a five-year lease for a gift shop on Main Street. Feeling like he'd won the lottery, Phil thought back to the movie "If I Had a Million" (1932), starring W. C. Fields and Charlie Ruggles. In the film, Ruggles plays the proprietor of a struggling, small-time china shop who receives a $1 million gift from a complete stranger. Realizing he'd never again have to perform daily tasks - none more trying than worrying about customers breaking his delicate china - Ruggles grabbed a broom and began gleefully smashing all the china in his shop. In tribute, Papel named his shop Ruggles China & Glass Shop.
Phil, however, had a different tact in mind for operating his store. Instead of stressing over the china, throughout the shop he posted signs reading "Relax, we do not charge for accidental breakage". He figured customers would be more comfortable spending time in his shop and more inclined to buy something if they didn't have to worry about inadvertently knocking something over.
Charlie Ruggles played the wonderful grandfather of Hayley Mills in the Parent Trap, and his last movie of his career was "Follow me Boys"...which many decades later, I still haven't seen. But it seems that the china shop was before the Parent Trap...and maybe this was stuck in Walt's mind, after traversing Main St so many times...and why Charlie was cast in 4 Disney movies after his "return to movies" with The Parent Trap. It's possible you would see Charlie at the Main St. Cinema in a silent film...time for the next rabbit hole....
@ Bu-
Charlie Ruggles was yet another reason why [the original] The Parent Trap was such a great film. In addition to a very strong and truly funny and sarcastic script - kind of an oddity for a Disney film - the casting, from its main stars right down to the supporting cast: Una Merkel; Leo G. Carroll; Joanna Barnes; Linda Watkins; Nancy Kulp; Ruth McDevitt - and yes, Charlie Ruggles - brought their collective talents to the screen. Leo G. Carroll, as Rev. Dr. Mosby, can barely disguise his gleeful delight when Maureen O'Hara's unexpected appearance while Brian Keith, Joanna Barnes and Linda Watkins attempt to discuss wedding plans - producing understated, yet brilliantly-funny moments - to site but one example.
That Street Clock appears to have been there since the beginning -it’s still there. About a year ago I had sent images of the post missing the clock to friends fearing the feature was being removed ( when all of Disneyland’s walkways were being widened and cleared or details , planters and seating ) … but it returned after being refurbished. It likely is an a vintage original - but when Disneyland was first being created victorian antiques were plentiful as cities were removing things to modernize during the height of “mid century modem” that’s how Disney afforded the Main Street park benches ( from the city of San Francisco) and the gas lamps ( (from the city of Baltimore : purchased at 18 cents a pound as scrap) Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland both have copies of the Disneyland street clock - made from aluminum- but I’m not sure Disneyland pAris has one - they likely did .
The Main Street carefree corner was themed to THE PLAZA HOTEL … so potted plants at its entry and indoor lobby palms , the checkered tile floor , and the velvet upholstered round button lobby bench were all period details of a fancy hotel of 1890-1910.
I got to meet Joanna Barnes at the restored showing of MAME at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood . In fact all surviving cast members were there . But to me Barnes will always be VICKI of the Parent Trap and a cameo as Meredith’s ( new Vicki) mom in The new parent Trap!
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