Entrance & Streetcar
I'm down to the last few scans from a lot of loose oversized transparencies; some were from late 1955, but I'm going to go ahead and posit that these are from the end of 1956. First up is this nice bright and clear view of the ticket booths, tiny structures marginally bigger than a telephone booth. Perhaps the cast members inside felt cozy! The beautiful passenger train cars are in front of Main Street Station. It's not even 10:00 in the morning, but there aren't many people buying tickets. Perhaps it is a lot more busy inside the park?
Meanwhile, enjoy those Christmas decorations. It's CHRISTMAS IN JULY! I zoomed in because I always get a laugh when I see that "NO PICNIC LUNCHES" sign, how many grandmother's faces fell when they hefted their baskets full of sandwiches? Further to the left (at an angle) is a sign for a Toys For Tots toy drive.
Nope! The park isn't more crowded inside. As many of you know, in the early years, the off-season could mean that the park was almost shockingly devoid of guests; "Jason's Disneyland Almanac" sometimes tells of attendance numbers of 4,000 (or less!), while a busy day just a week or two later could attract nearly 30,000 people. I love this nice shot of a Horse Drawn Streetcar, that kid with his classic Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers hoping aboard. "Hold it, Mac!", he cried, with a candy cigarette between his teeth.
8 comments:
Major-
As I think was determined in the last set of images from this batch [and as you indicate here], the inclusion of the attraction posters relegate the 1st image to no earlier than late 1956.
Boy, does that streetcar image look inviting. (Is that kid wearing argyle socks with his high-tops-??)
Thanks, Major.
In the first pic, I'm trying to figure out what that thing is in front of the train. It looks like it's covered with a tarp. Is that the Kalamazoo hand car?
Yes, not many people at the ticket booths. But there are quite a few on board the train. To me, it looks like the clock says 10:50? Not that it makes any difference; there still aren't very many people entering the Park. I love those Christmas decorations on the clock tower roof.
My, that's a big sturdy-looking horse! I'm sure he could pull two streetcars, easily! He's looking at a ghost sitting on the bench. Horses can readliy see ghosts, while we humans rarely have that ability. Or maybe he spotted a bag of C&H sugar on a nearby water fountain. Lots of older people on the Streetcar. Or maybe they just look old... they're all probably under thirty.
Nanook, I noticed those argyle socks as well. An odd combo.
Nice clear, sunny pictures! Thanks, Major.
Tokyo!, it must be the hand car. It's in the right place. Plus.... it's got wheels!
JB, I was trying to figure out if those wheels were under the thing with the tarp, or were the train's wheels. But now I can see that they couldn't belong to the train.
I'm guessing that the "No Picnic Lunches" sign did not apply to great-grandmothers. ;-)
Yep, TokyoMagic!, that is the Kalamazoo handcar, covered with a tarp. The two yellow brake shoes are dangling underneath.
Photo 1 has the floral Mickey almost perfectly framed in the opening through the gate house. There is a sign at an angle that seems to read “GIVE”. Can anyone read it?
Random thought: Was there ever a robbery of the ticket booths, in or outside the Park? I know there were emergency Bat Signal lights on the inside booths, but were they ever used? Seems like getaway would be difficult.
Hey, I’m wearing argyle socks with my Converse Hi-Tops right now! I think there were Converse knock-offs back then, I think my old ones came from Penney’s. That might be Chuck Norris’ horse, who pulls ALL the streetcars.
Major, thanks for these old pics, back before Main Street turned into a sugar-fueled bubble-laced pink and gold nightmare.
JG
Nanook, then I guess I can say that my estimate is VERIFIED! I seem to recall that my mom bought me plenty of argyle socks when I was a kid.
TokyoMagic!, it’s Roy Disney.
JB, how does a clock work, again? Little hand, big hand, it’s too much! I have no doubt that the horses they use to pull the streetcars are very powerful. I don’t know what breed this is, sometimes we see Belgians, which our friend KS has experience with.
TokyoMagic!, a hand car? Who needs a car for their HAND?
TokyoMagic!, yes, I think it’s safe to say that the thing under the tarp is the Kalamazoo Handcar! If you looked at that sign closely, you would have seen very small print that said, “Great grandmothers excepted”.
Steve DeGaetano, I just don’t like the word “dangling”!
JG, the sign that says “GIVE” is the Toys for Tots one that I mentioned, we’ve seen similar signs several times before. What about Toys for Twerps?? I want a toy! I’d love to know if there was ever a holdup at a Disneyland ticket booth; can you imagine how low a person would have to be? And yet… it is more than possible. I haven’t had Converse-style sneakers for a long time. At some point, when I was a kid, I wanted “red ball Jets”, because the ads made me NEED them!
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