Bonnie, August 1961

I have a fun one for you on this Thanksgiving Friday! It all begins with this humble photo print, hand-dated "August 1961" on the back, with the name "Bonnie" helpfully included. She looks nice! Bonnie is a Cast Member (I presume) who worked at the news/souvenir stand that was just outside the East tunnel into the park. Is she wearing sneakers? I started to try to see what sort of items were for sale, and got carried away. Of course there are some that I never could ID, but it was an entertaining exercise anyway.

Here's a key for the items on the left side of the photo that I managed to identify:

#1 - This was a bit tricky, but I recognized the shape of those awesome little travel totes that had the wonderful Monorail graphics on the side. These came in a variety of colors (the webbing on the handle and between the vinyl panels, I mean), and are very popular collectibles today (as I'm writing this, there's one on eBay for an $888.00 "buy it now"). Notice the price tag hanging down in the Bonnie photo, just like the one in the hand of the kid below.

#2 - Coloring books, paper dolls, and other "activity books" were produced by Whitman Publishing in huge quantities back in those days; this is a coloring book with a pretty portrait of Annette on the cover.

#3 - This one was surprisingly hard to find, considering how large the actual book is; it must be at least two feet tall. It's another activity book from Whitman, with various Disney characters on each page. Punch them out and stand them up in your rumpus room! Then knock them down with a dart gun. That's what I would do, anyway.

#4 - Pana Vue must have sold zillions of these slide packets over the years - they changed as time wore on, and one unfortunate change is that they almost always faded to various shades of red - because they are from GAF and use their crummy film. These are the bane of Disneyland slide collectors. 

#5 - I'd never seen these attractive paper parasols until a few showed up in some well-publicized auctions. They were offered in a variety of colors. The first one or two auctions fetched pretty high prices, but I could have bought one more recently. I just didn't want to have to store a big item like this.

#6 - Of course the souvenir stand would offer the wonderful guidebooks. This 1961 example has a particularly bold cover design. I believe that one of these would cost 25 (or possibly 50) cents back in those days. A bargain!

# 7 & 8 - Dell sold Disney comics from 1940 to 1962. It took me a while to figure out the two specific issues on the newsstand, but here they are!

#9 - This one puzzled me a bit; of course Walt Disney had a smash hit with his Davy Crockett miniseries in 1954-55. And Crockett star Fess Parker eventually portrayed Daniel Boone on NBC from 1964 to 1970 (a pretty good run!). But this Daniel Boone coloring book is from years before the NBC show. What I did not know is that Walt had produced a four-part Daniel Boone TV series for "Walt Disney Presents" in 1960, starring Dewey Martin (who was also in "The Thing From Another World", as well as episodes of "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits").

Here's the key for the items on the right side of the photo:

#10 - One Hundred and One Dalmations was a smash hit when it was released in January of 1961; it became the eighth highest-grossing movie of the year, though "The Parent Trap" and "The Absent Minded Professor" were #4 and #5 - Walt had a great 1961! Here's a Whitman coloring book.

#11 - Here's another coloring book, not from Whitman Publishing. I could only find two images of similar books; believe it or not, this was the best example.

#12 - Oh boy, the iconic and wonderful souvenir wall maps, drawn by Legend Sam McKim! You can tell that this is the 1961 version by the pink border, and also by the addition of the Flying Saucers.

#13 - The humble and popular felt pennants - I don't happen to collect these at all, which is just as well, since there are MANY varieties. I like them, I just don't want them!

#14 - Years ago I shared a photo of my Disneyland "Magic Pencils", on their original card. Purchased in Owatanna, Minnesota! In Bonnie's photo, we can see similar pencils, offered individually. I no longer have my set, having sold them on eBay. Oh well!

As an avid collector of vintage Disneyland postcards, I was very interested in that display rack on the counter. Here's a quick look at the cards I recognized:

How much time did I spend on today's post? DON'T ASK. Still, as I said before, it was kind of fun.

That's it for now, I'm still out of town, but I look forward to reading your comments!

THANKSGIVING, Nov 27

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! The Day of the Turkey. I have some fun vintage scans for you, starting with this first example, shared with us by Sue B. You can see the family resemblance between these women! They've begun serving dinner, a drumstick has been claimed already; the daughter seems to have some pieces of cooked potato, perhaps she's about to whip them into the mashed variety? Seems a little late in the game! There's cranberry sauce, stuffing (I think), and... something I can't identify in that shallow dish to the left. Love that vintage kitchen! Thank you, Sue.

Next I have some of my own scans from Thanksgiving, 1957. Location unknown, sadly. Gramps is carving the bird, serving up big slabs of white meat. I hope there's lots of gravy! I'm not sure how to interpret Gramps's expression, perhaps he's blinking to avoid being blinded by the camera flash. Grandma (to the right) has dressed to match the Delft china. I see that a bottle of ketchup is on the table, which makes me realize that my whole life has been a sham.

A bronze bust of Elvis watches over the festivites; what in the world is that sculpture to the right? Little sis has been helping herself to the cooking sherry in the cupboard, but it'll be just our secret. 

Most people have glasses of tomato juice, but Gramps has a giant bottle of Schaefer beer. When you think about it, it is just liquid bread. Seeing the basket with sliced bread makes me think of my grandparents in Minnesota, they always had bread and a tub of margarine on the table for every meal.

The big meal is over - perhaps the TV is on, and the tryptophan is starting to kick in. Soon everyone will be sprawled on the floor, snoring loudly - the sign of another successful Thanksgiving! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to each and every Junior Gorilla!

Mine Trains and Mad Hatters

I have two undated scans for you, though both are certainly from the 1960s. The first one features a nice "you are there" view from aboard a yellow Nature's Wonderland mine car. The ride is much more fun if you do your best to imagine yourself as a pile of ore. "So THIS is what it was like!". The guy next to you isn't even trying, and it shows - what a derp! It's a full load today, and the train is just about ready to move forward, through the tunnel up ahead, and into Nature's Wonderland. 

Young women who had long blonde hair could count on being cast as Alice. Was it necessary to fake a British accent? Just study films of Dick Van Dyke in "Mary Poppins", and you'll learn from the best. I like that they gave the Mad Hatter a somewhat threatening expression, children love people with eyebrows like that. Notice that the top rim of his hat is very frayed, evidence of many falls. Probably from when he tackled a guest with no warning!

Folks, I will be out of town for a few days. You know, stuff and such. Of course there will be new posts for you while I'm away. I'll talk to you soon!

Town Square & Castle, November 1961

Here's a pair of "nice but not spectacular" photos from the holiday season, 1961. We'll start with this look at Town Square and Main Street, as seen from the steps of Main Street Station, on a clear November day. An uncrowded clear November day!  Just look at it, it bring a tear to my eye. The Horse Drawn Streetcar is loading up, but the lady with the gray sweater was kicked off because she kept grabbing the microphone and cursing. Her mistake is that she didn't wait until the Streetcar was already in motion, the Geneva Convention stipulates that they must go all the way to the next stop!

Speaking of the next stop... here we are, with a particularly pretty view of Snoozing Beauty Castle. The color is so nice! Obviously it was later in the day, the shadows don't lie. OR DO THEY? The Dent is hard to discern, but I feel as if I can still see it when I stand on my head. To the left, a white-flocked Christmas tree. Just look at that flocking tree! To the right, giant gophers have been digging up Walt's grass. 
 

Frontierland

Well, what do you know, it's more scans from The Mysterious Benefactor! As usual, these show details from Frontierland.

Here's a random kid, climbing on some random rocks. He's up to no good! Maybe I'll report him to Disney security. "No, he didn't sass me, but he could have!".  "Don't worry sir, where he's headed, he'll never sass anyone again".

I have no idea what's going on here, and I don't WANT to know. But you have to admit that you don't see four men hugging on a log every day.

I'm guessing that those kids are on Teeter-Totter Rock, named after Sir Albert Teeter-Totter. Or are they on Bad Smelling Rock? It's nice that the little girl is giving the young woman a helping hand. Before she bites her! Notice the Columbia passing in the background.

A family has just deplaned from a Huck Finn Raft, and aren't sure what to do next. The little girl is content with her box of popcorn, but Dad will need an hour or so to look at his complimentary map of the Island (held by Mom), so that he can make a full itinerary. I believe that the man with the yellow sweater is wearing an early version of a park passport around his neck.

And finally, more teeter-totter action! So many kids waiting their turn for such a simple thing. But there was a risk of injury, and so it had to go bye-bye. Let's just be grateful that we got to experience it for ourselves.

 As always, THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!

Snoozles™

It will be no mystery as to why today's scans fall into the "Snoozles™" category. The most controversial category of all?? "Colliers" magazine wrote a piece about it, and Colliers hasn't even been in print since 1957! The article was titled, "Are Snoozles™ Corrupting Today's Youth?". The answer is YES.

Yeesh, this one is pretty lousy. It's the familiar African Veldt tableau, which always reminds me of the scene in "The Lion King", where all the animals gather at Pride Rock to see baby Simba. Only the Jungle Cruise has some lions munching on a dead zebra. Maybe the other animals are just glad it isn't them on the menu? "I never liked Zoltan anyway".

From a different lot we get this "meh" look at Castle Rock, an incredible natural rock formation caused by tectonic forces, erosion, and bugs. Seeing this image make me have the overwhelming desire to plant a Yippee flag at the top and be a general annoyance (more than usual, I mean).

Freedomland USA - "Colossus" show, August 1961

I finally scanned the last of my Freedomland USA slides - not that there were that many to begin with. As you probably know, Freedomland was located in The Bronx in New York, and was intended to be the east coast answer to Disneyland. The project was headed by C.V. Wood, who had been instrumental in the development of Disneyland, until he and Walt had a falling-out. Wood even hired away many people who'd helped design the Anaheim park, presumably with larger salaries. It opened on June 19th, 1960.

All four of today's scans were something of a mystery to me, but a little bit of research told me that these are from a show called "Colossus" that was only performed during the 1961 season. As you can see, the show featured riders on horseback - from what little I've found online, it seems to have been an odd mix of cowboys, Roman-style chariots, and so on. One website said that a man named Ben Rossi was in the show and played an American cowboy; he later became part of Disney entertainment. I wonder if that's Ben in this first scan? 

It's hard to see, but one fellow is wearing an Arab keffiyeh, two others are dressed as Mongolian warriors (I think?), and the rest are too indistinct. It seemed to be a bizarre combination of disparate cultures, but I found a mention of a segment of the show called, "The Greatest Horsemen in History". 

 

"Ben Hur" had been a sensation at the box office in 1959, so it makes sense that a thrilling chariot race would be a part of this horse show. Gladiators glare from the distance, yelling curses in Latin. The one guy isn't dead, he just yelled "I am Spartacus!". WRONG MOVIE. So he was hit over the head with a rolling pin. Much to my surprise, there is one lady on horseback to the right. She played Gladys Khan. 

It looks like the performers could have been in some real danger, those horses are galloping at a furious pace. I hope they each get an apple and a sugar cube after the show (the horses I mean), and if they need volunteers I will give those treats to them. I'm glad to have these photos of this short-lived show!

Freedomland USA closed forever (after its fourth season) on September 13, 1964.

Fantasyland and Frontierland

Here are two scans from a lot that only consisted of this pair. But they're worth a look.

First up is this fun one with two ladies excited to see Pinocchio. He looks as if he was caught by surprise. For some reason I'm imagining that both women are from Italy, they have a fun 60s European vibe - I'll bet they were extras in "Love Italian Style". Henry Mancini go-go music could be heard whenever they were nearby. Or… they lived in Fullerton. The woman in pink (with the crop top) probably got a lot of looks! 

Two photos could hardly be more different, but that's how it goes. This one is from the Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland, we're passing through the mysterious Saguaro Forest. A recent (and rare) rain has caused the saguaros to bloom. Saguaros can live up to 150 years, or even more! Sometimes they take on strange shapes, and sometimes they talk to me.

Main Street Views, July 17, 1980

It's time for more photos from Lou Perry - Sue B's father (she scanned these). Lou apparently took a ton of photos during Disneyland's 25th anniversary, and these pix were taken on July 17th, 1980 - the actual anniversary day. 

If you happened to visit the park and didn't already know that it was the park's 25th "birthday" (having somehow avoided the avalanche of publicity), there were banners along Main Street to inform you. I was also there, yelling the big news to people passing by. Don't worry, it was friendly yelling (i.e. less spit flying).

There's some low-key bunting on City Hall, and Old Glory was flying as usual. Some say guests might see a pale, haunted face in one of those round windows, but it's too scary so I'll never look.

Looking at the shadows, this is well into the afternoon, but the crowds don't seem as crazy and I would expect on such a significant day. You'd think that many locals would stop by to take part in the celebration.  Looking through the trees in the Plaza, it appears that there is some sort of giant "cake" on display. Chonklit, I hope.

We're outside the Coca Cola Refreshment Corner. Why yes, I'd love a refreshment. Not too much ice, I ain't paying for frozen water! That vertical sign always makes me think of a thermometer. 

And finally, here's a nice view as seen from Main Street Station. The giant cake is gone, guests ate it like piranhas eating a water buffalo. They all had chocolate on their faces for the rest of the day. Pooh is in the lower left corner, greeting some fans. It looks like it was a fun day!

MANY THANKS to Lou and Sue!

Uggies. LEFTuggies, that is.

I grabbed two "Leftuggies"™ from my stash of scans. First up is this August, 1969 look down Main Street, with the Main Street Cinema and the Wurlitzer store - well, not exactly, since Wurlitzer vacated the premises about a year before. The space eventually held the exhibit, "Walt Disney: A Legacy For the Future". I wish I had more of these nice big 120-format slides, the image is bright and clear. And we get a good look at the handsome devil to the right, with his camera mounted to a monopod. No Blurzles™ for him!

Next is a fun picture from August, 1968. A whole bunch of guests are posing with Mickey Mouse in Town Square. Do all the people belong to one family (there's a lot of blond hair)? Or did everyone try to get as close to Mickey as possible, no matter who was manning the camera? We'll never know. I like the late-60s fashions, including a colorful floppy hat on the girl to the right. She's far out! You can't really make it out in this jpeg, but the girl holding hands with Mickey is wearing a souvenir hat with Mary Poppins' likeness on it.

Frontierland, August 1970

Before we get started, we have to address the mouse in the room. "Hello, mouse". Ha ha ha ha! See what I did there? Why aren't you laughing?? Today is Mickey Mouse's birthday, something I would have never thought about, but Sue B. is always thinking. One time she said something about an isosceles triangle, and she might as well have been speaking Esperanto.

Anyway, she remembered that November 18th is Mickey's big day - his 97th big day, in fact! She sent along two scans of photos by Lou Perry (her dad), from a parade. Sue said that these are from Mickey's 50th Celebration, which was in 1978, which explains why everyone is in disco clothes. There's the mouse of the hour, looking pretty spry. I need one of those big crutch thingies for emergencies.

Behind him, at a court-mandated distance of over 100 feet, rides Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck. They are riding with a giant Hallmark Card, purchased at the last minute just up the street. "Have you got anything BIG?". They filled it with balloons from the "Fun With Latex" shop next door. Two CMs carry a rope that might ward off evil spirits, or else that's the end of the parade. Two floats? TWO??

*****************************

Given the occasion, I feel kind of bad, there have been a lot of very MEH scans on GDB lately, but it's just the way things worked out, as far as going through my current box. I promise there will be more good stuff! Meanwhile here's a standard view of Rainbow Ridge, looking deserted and a little spooky if I'm being honest. 

Like most GDB readers, I miss Cascade Peak, and I'm happy to see photos of that long-gone landmark (torn down 27 years ago), even if it's not the greatest picture!

This one almost wound up in the Snoozles bin, but I didn't want to upset its parents, who I know pretty well, so I'm just placing it with the other two scans. The woman to the right wants us to see how her shampoo has left her hair bouncy and manageable, but she did it right when we were trying to take a photo of Old Unfaithful and the Devil's Paint Pots.