It would have been fun to see Knott's Berry Farm in the early days. The Ghost Town goes all the way back to 1940, a stroke of genius on the park of Walter Knott. And of course it all continued to grow, bit by bit, for decades. I love the idea of a family heading to Buena Park for one of Cordelia's famous chicken dinners (and boysenberry pie for dessert); the wait is several hours, but it's no problem, because there's so much to do!
Today's photos are from 1961; this first one has Dad and his four kids - three boys and a little girl (I hope her brothers were nice to her). They're all in front of the Red Cliff, old #41. I've always wondered if the odd colors were historic to one particular railroad? The pavement is wet as if a rain shower just passed through - or else the streets were hosed off every morning. The wonderful Calico Mine Ride had opened just four months earlier.
Ah. Chuck's favorite train! I guess Mom is taking the picture? Perhaps they took another photo as well, with Dad behind the camera and Mom holding the young'un. The older brother is the best dressed in the group. The two younger brothers are dressed exactly alike (hello, Melissa), but they are not twins, so I'm not sure why.
ReplyDeleteFun and colorful. Also, somewhat stereotypical. One wonders what the 'chief' thought about the "lets pretend we're Indians" poses of these pictures. I guess it's "just a job" that pays the bills. Although, he does seem to be enjoying his work.
Knice Knott's pics, Major. Thanks.
The two younger boys could have been fraternal twins, and one of them just had their growth stunted from smoking cigarettes. Otherwise, why dress just the two boys alike, and not all three?
ReplyDeleteIn the first pic, it looks like the boy who smoked heavily is holding some cotton candy? That might also be why sis is reaching out to him. She wants some cotton candy. Or a cigarette.
In the second pic, the oldest boy is holding onto something. It looks like a paper bag. Maybe it's an unfinished bag of popcorn, with the top of the bag rolled up?
I've been scanning my dad's negatives and slides, and it looks like it was a regular thing when his family members visited from the east coast, to take them to Knott's and pose with Chief White Eagle or Chief Red Feather. Every family member has their arms crossed in front of them, just like the oldest son here. I have been wondering if it was just something that they did on their own, or if my dad was encouraging them to pose like that. I'm now thinking it was just something that people did, after seeing too many western movies and TV shows.
Thanks for the vintage Knott's pics, Major!
So glad I’ve already finished breakfast. That is an exceptionally clear photograph of #41, and you can see there’s a beautiful locomotive hidden underneath all that clown makeup.
ReplyDeleteI am trying to make sense of the outfit the oldest boy in the first photo is wearing. The top layer is a sport coat, then a red and black or blue pullover with a weird, possibly zippered collar, and then another shirt - or maybe an ascot - underneath. It’s a bit odd, but, hey - you do you, kid.
TM!, ”Otherwise, why dress just the two boys alike, and not all three?” Thinking back, my wife and I did the exact same thing, only dressing two of our boys alike. Of course, we only had two boys, so that may have had something to do with it.
Wonderful family photos, Major. Another example of “how did these end up on the internet?”
ReplyDeleteI’m glad Chuck was braced for the sight of the train livery, which is somewhat liverish. Still a great photo, and extra points for the Mine Train.
I have a (b&w) photo of me wearing that feathered headdress, and the same pose. Seems reasonable to assume that guests were prompted to pose that way. It’s nice to see the outfits in color, they were very cheerful. I can imagine the Chief coming home after a long day and cracking a cold one in his recliner while watching the game. I haven’t shared that photo since it’s very out of focus.
Thanks Major!
JG
JB, I can only assume that Mom is taking the photo(s). She’s like an old movie director. “Places! Wave at the camera, kids! Mark, I’m not feeling it, go bigger!”. Stuff like that. Oh, of course she yelled those things through a cardboard megaphone. I wonder why a person would dress two non-twin kids exactly alike? Seems odd. Yeah, I often wonder how the Indian performers at the various parks felt about dealing with these tourists. Maybe it was just “part of the job” and it was better than digging ditches. Which is what I do for fun, but it’s not for everybody.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, silly, you stunt growth by giving kids a bottle of gin every day, not cigarettes. I guess you haven’t read my best-selling book, “Stunting Your Child’s Growth For Fun and Profit” (with a forward by Nicole Kidman). I didn’t notice the little girl’s grasping hands, I am not sure she wants candy, or to pull her brother’s hair. That bag in photo#2 looks like a popcorn bag, probably at least two days old. I’d love to see the photos you mentioned! I do think that the Chief must have directed the kids (or whoever) to stand just like the Indians they’ve seen in old movies. Sort of like Disneyland, this “old West” was more based on the movie version than real life.
Chuck, I feel guilty, as if you are going to have to undergo some sort of therapy so that you can enjoy life again. I’m sorry you wake up three times a night in a cold sweat, screaming “Noooo! Those colors are horrible!”. Luckily your wife gives you a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and that will calm you. I suppose the older boy’s outfit is a bit unusual, but my guess is that his mom made him add layers for the rainy (and chilly?) day. The younger boys could fend for themselves. Did you really dress your two boys alike?
JG, I truly do wonder why nobody in this family wanted these fun pix - except that the boys would be in their 70s now, and maybe they have “a house full of stuff” and don’t want any more. I look around my mom’s house and think about how much will have to be gotten rid of, there is not room enough in anybody else’s home. Even the MANY boxes of cherished photos might need to be purged to some degree. Is the photo of you in a feathered headdress from KBF? If so, we must see it. I think Steve Martin once mentioned that one of the Chiefs at Knott’s drove home in the evenings in a Porsche. Nice.
Major, yes, we really did often dress them alike. Sometimes we’d do a variation where the patterns were the same but the colors were different, but it was definitely obvious that they were together. We did it partly because it was cute and partly because they were the same size for years and it simplified laundry. Additionally, my oldest is adopted and was born in a non-Caucasian-majority country, so having a quick visual cue that they belonged together saved us from well-meaning bystanders interfering with us “kidnapping” a kid.
ReplyDeleteWe had an incident at the Magic Kingdom when the oldest, who was just shy of three and not very verbal with strangers, got separated from the rest of us waiting in line for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. When I found him, a young cast member was leading him away. When I told him he was my kid, the guy looked at me suspiciously and said “these people said his parents walked away.” “These people” stood there, mute, and just looked at us. I repeated “he’s with me,” took my son - who looked terrified - by the hand, and gently pulled him my way. He broke free from the CM and hugged my legs, which I guess was good enough for the CM. After that, we always dressed the whole family in identical shirts whenever we went to a crowded place like an amusement park or a Federal prison.
I’d love to see the photos you mentioned!
ReplyDeleteMajor, I just remembered that back in 2017, I had already scanned and posted a 1966 photo of my uncle with Chief White Eagle. There were actually two pics, this one that I posted of the Chief putting the headdress on my uncle, and then one of both of them facing forward, with my uncles arms crossed in front of him. I remember that I deliberately chose to post this one, instead of the one of him in the "stereotypical" pose. But since then, I have come across images of my grandmother in 1962, my aunt in 1967, and my cousins in 1978, all posing with their arms crossed, with one of the two Chiefs.
Here is that previously posted pic of my uncle, from 1966. Now that I have a better scanner, I will rescan this slide and also the other one showing "the pose." And maybe I will combine all of the photos together into one post titled, "When Posing for a Picture with a Native American, Don't Do This!"
Chief White Eagle at Knott's - 1966