It's Hip To Be Square
I have two random square-format slide scans, why not put them together? Maybe they'll turn out to be the peanut butter and chocolate combo we've all dreamed (dreamt?) of.
Let's begin with this undated example, I assume it is from sometime in the 1960s. It's a nice view from aboard the Disneyland Railroad, I honestly can't think of another slide in my collection that actually shows the seats and guests sitting on them. A mom and her two kids (with dad at the camera) have boarded at Main Street Station for the Grand Circle Tour. The railroad is a perfect ride for a family with young children, though perhaps the dinosaurs are a bit scary.
Next we'll go back to the 1950s (probably 1956) for a view from the original, non-jokey Jungle Cruise. Headhunters used to be prominent in the attraction, and here we can see a group of hunters/warriors celebrating a successful hunt - or are they happy to see a new crop of heads to harvest? I'm not upset that the headhunters are gone, even though I miss that childhood memory.
8 comments:
Major-
These are both lovely images. I think the first image is from the mid-to-late 60's. 50's or 60's - either time would be a fine time to be in the park.
Thanks, Major.
"I honestly can't think of another slide in my collection that actually shows the seats and guests sitting on them." I was thinking the same thing before I read your commentary. I can't recall any GDB scan taken from inside the train. Young sis needs to get with the program, she's not wearing stripes! Although her shoes are kind of stripey. The brother looks like he's trying to figure out what that weird thing is, crawling on the bench next to Mom.
I agree, we can do without the head hunters. I always thought they didn't really fit the overall theme of the Cruise, which was animals from around the world, not people. Seeing evidence of humans is fine; like temples, shacks, and canoes. That said, this is an exceptionally clear and crisp image of the head hunters and their village. It's kinda 'busy' though; hard to tell what we're looking at. I think that's one of those upside-down trees in the foreground, where the branches are meant to look like roots.
What a clever theme you curated for us today; square photos. ;-p Thanks, Major.
I thought these were going to be square themed photos...like the little squares the Flintstones would draw out to illustrate "square". I don't think nerds are squares though...nerds have a cool factor...I'm not sure if squares do. I'm not sure I've ever been a square in life, but certainly have my share of nerd. I know those train seats very well...this was an easy car to get my groups onto...and where I could see them all...and perhaps talk to them while standing on the platform: with them all in "audience". I'll say that they look exactly the same from the 60's to the 80's to the 2020's...which I quite like. Mom is very coordinated with the red kids and patriotic outfit. One thing I remember about the headhunters is that they were quite "jiggly"...so when they bounced around they looked quite realistic...in a rubber snake kind of way...that rubbery jiggle. I've seen Maasai and Samburu dances in Kenya, and they are much more colorful than these chaps: with bright reds and ochres: lots of fabric : the predominant colors of the surrounding soil and landscape. The Adamu jumping dance of the Maasai I'm not sure could be replicated by audio animatronics. I have to hand it to cultures where the modern world grows around them while they stick to their own program. Something like keeping the 1955 in Disneyland. Thanks Major.
The Holiday Green (400 series) and Holiday Blue (500 series) cars made their debuts in the mid-1960s, so I'm guessing the first to be from then through maybe the early 1970s. I always loved the deep wood grain and glossiness of those benches.
Mom is stylishly dressed, and her hair is perfect (Warren Zevon said so). Those wood benches are beautiful too. Next time I ride the DLRR I’m going to go around twice!
I always thought the headhunters were very National Geo, but replacing them hasn’t hurt the JC experience. The pile of skulls in the canoe was pretty creepy too. This is a fine period piece, Major.
Thanks for these pics, good memories all around.
JG
Nanook, I agree, the first one is probably from the mid-to-late 60s, though I suppose they could even be from the very early 70s.
JB, I think Daveland has some images inside the trains. And I remember one photo of mine taken from inside the old yellow cars looking out toward the park. But other than that, nothing. Sis never followed fashion trends. She was the first to use safety pins and jewelry in later years! I am not sure if any of the old True Life Adventures ever featured African natives at all. Maybe they were in one of the “People and Places” films, which I don’t think I ever saw?
Bu, I remember that somebody drew a dotted square in the air on The Flintstones, but I can’t remember who did it or why. Still, it was funny when Uma Thurman did it in “Pulp Fiction” (though she drew a rectangle, which bugged me). I’m sure those bench-style seats made life much easier for Tour Guides, and I definitely like them as a passenger, it makes viewing the park and the dioramas so much nicer. I wonder if the benches have had to be replaced ever? Millions of backsides sliding on them might just polish them to a fine finish. I’m sure the jiggly quality of the figures was supposed to be a sort of “secondary animation”, but you’re right, it did just look rubber-snakey in a way. I don’t think the real natives in Africa generally live in verdant jungles, they are more on vast veldts. But what do I know? Nothing!
Steve DeGaetano, “early 70s” is definitely possible! So what do you think, are we sitting on the same benches that have been there since the mid-60s? Or do you think they’ve had to be replaced once or twice?
JG, if there’s one thing that Warren Zevon knew, it was stylish hair. I had a teacher in grade school that looked just like that lady, I was very sad when this teacher left in the middle of the year because she was going to have a baby. I think many of the skulls that used to be seen in Adventureland have been removed, do guests complain about those? You gotta have a good pile of skulls once in a while!
Major, varnished wood is pretty durable, and they are fairly protected from the elements, so I'm going to have to go with the benches are probably (mostly) originals.
I’m not sure if Bu will see this comment, because I’m adding it at the end of the day, but now I’m wondering how many people (guests) were usually in his tour groups? I do recall him saying it was like “wrangling kittens.”
Thanks, Major, for the dinosaur ride and JC pics, today.
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