Vintage photo prints, i.e. "snapshots", can be a mixed bag. For some reason they tend to be of inferior quality to slides - not just in actual clarity and color, but in composition too. Maybe it was the cheap cameras and cheaper lenses. Anyway, I have some real Snoozles for you today.
Mitch grew up in the Arizona desert, and he's never seen a body of water bigger than an inflatable kiddie pool before. "Dang!", he exclaimed. Dang, indeed, Mitch. He wanted somebody to take his photo while on the top deck of the Mark Twain so that folks back home didn't think he was pulling their leg about the Rivers of America.
Photos taken from Storybook Land can be charming, OR they can look something like this. I guess the little structure is one of the Little Pigs' "house of sticks", and even though it would sell for $1.2 million dollars in SoCal these days, it is almost lost among the grass and miniature shrubs.
Why? Just.... WHY?? What inspired the photographer to take this picture, I ask you? This is presumably another Storybook Land pic. "Alice in Wonderland used to drive past this tree on her way to 7-11". There is a structure in the upper left, I can't quite place it.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat first image is "really a challenge": poor resolution and chromatic aberrations. The Sierra Tower in the distance is a plus, though.
The white lighting "tower" poking up in the back of the second image is actually sitting back near the entrance to It's a Small World. Undoubtedly, it's the one seen HERE, without the flags, nearest to IaSW.
Thanks, Major.
I wonder if Mitch visited the ocean while he was on his California trip?... MIND... BLOWN! Of course, the folks back home would never believe that so much water could ever exist, "Trick photography!" they would say.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of fishermen on the fishing dock fishing for fishes. Mitch has probably never seen a fish before either.
That little wooden shack that the Little Pig built looks pretty flimsy. No wonder the Big Bad Wolf could blow it down so easily. We can see the Old Windmill over to the right. This must be before the storm hit.
I'm not sure which direction we're facing but, is that the Skyway tower sticking up above the trees? It must be something else because it looks to complex and weird to be the tower.
Hmm, that structure in the "why?" pic is a head scratcher. The gingerbread along the eaves makes me think it's the Skyway Chalet, but the color is all wrong on the rest of the building. Is it a Storybook Land miniature? It's not Toad Hall.
Nanook, Ah! You solved it! It is indeed that lighting tower. Now I can get a good night's sleep.
OK, they're Snoozles. Whatcha gonna do? Life isn't always unicorns and cotton candy. Thanks, Major.
The guy in the first shot looks kind of like a young Heino, but he's not albino enough. But, I'll bet could bust out into a Sunday Schlagger at any moment!!
ReplyDeleteLove the old SB shots... It was hard to pass up taking pictures while cruising Storybook Land, especially back in the days of Kodak or Fuji film...
Thank You Major!
@ Anon-
ReplyDeleteNow, when was the last time we had a 'Heino' reference in these pages-?? Too long... that's how long. More Heino, please-!
In the first pic, we can see the construction wall and pile of dirt that would become New Orleans Square. But are we also seeing the Plantation House service window thingy that replaced the Plantation House Restaurant, to the left of the man's shoulder?
ReplyDeleteI think they should have had aerialists suspended and performing off of those Small World light towers. They remind me of a support tower that you'd see inside of a circus tent.
That last pic is baffling. None of those background structures look like Storybook Land. And those rocks are kind of large, and so is that pine shrub. Could this have been taken along the Rivers of America from the lower level of the Mark Twain, or from a Canoe or Keelboat? Even then, I'm not sure what those structures would be.
Thanks for the Snoozle Snapshots, Major!
Mitch definitely got the memo, wristwatch, sunglasses, stylish shirt with ticket books in the chest pocket… ticks all the boxes. He looks pretty sharp for never having been near water.
ReplyDeleteYes, that’s an IASW light pole, the House of Sticks is on the island to our right as we exit the whale’s… er, well anyway…
Cannot make sense of photo 3, looks like a gable end roof beyond with some scrollwork, but that’s not the Skyway Chalet. It’s a GDB mystery, Major.
Thanks for these enigmatic pics.
JG
This looks like it was one of those days that dad let the kids have the camera.
ReplyDelete….or possibly the last two were taken by the Worm family that Major introduced us to, a while back…
ReplyDeleteNanook, we can see the Disneyland Hotel in plenty of old Skyway images, but I don’t think of it being so prominent in pictures taken from the Mark Twain. And I agree about that lighting tower!
ReplyDeleteJB, when my niece was a tiny tot, I told her that the Pacific Ocean (very near where she lived) was installed in the 1930s. She didn’t buy it. I can’t even fool a three year-old! The ocean is kind of mind-blowing, it’s quite a thing to drive along the coast and see that vast stretch of water and the varieties of coastal features. The wooden shack may look flimsy, but was actually rated to withstand a force five hurricane, thanks to the liberal use of Gorilla Glue (no relation). See Nanook’s comment re: that tower. I agree, that looks like some sort of gingerbread detailing, could it be the Matterhorn chalet? I really am baffled. Oh, you did see Nanook’s comment!
Anonymous, er… who’s Heino? What’s Heino? WHY Heino? I feel like everyone will know but me. Some photographers were really excited by Storybook Land, and would take tons of photos, no matter how many precious frames of film they had left. They could always buy more film at many locations in Disneyland!
Nanook, I honestly don’t recall the mention of “Heino”, but it’s been nearly 20 years, so I forgive myself, and also bought myself a Ferrari.
TokyoMagic!, I was thinking that the area to the left of Heino looked particularly barren, as if construction might be happening there. I’m not sure we can see the Plantation House service window, it’s awfully blurry. Isn’t that just the Mark Twain dock that we are seeing? Aerialists are always a good feature, but I can’t help thinking that someday, one of them might slip. And then… well, you know. I suppose it’s possible that the last photo isn’t Disneyland, I’ve sure had plenty of lots of photos that sneak in one image from the Disneyland Hotel, or even Busch Gardens or Capistrano, or some other SoCal landmark.
JG, Mitch almost looks like a NASA-guy employee. “Young man, you’re hired”. “Huh? I’m just here to meet Winnie the Pooh”. The whale’s what? WHAT?? I’m starting to think that maybe that last photo is not even Disneyland.
Dean Finder, ha, you could be right! That would explain a lot.
Lou and Sue, I hope that someday the Worm Family will be honored at a place such as the Museum of Modern Art. Mrs. Worm will show up with a fur stole and Mr. Worm will wear a tuxedo.
No matter what I do, I can’t make sense of that last photo. Turning it sideways, squinting, doing hopscotch - nothing.
ReplyDeleteThus defeated, I shall sadly slink back into my cave. I hope Mrs. Chuck has some gruel on the fire.
Major-
ReplyDelete"I honestly don’t recall the mention of “Heino”, but it’s been nearly 20 years, so I forgive myself, and also bought myself a Ferrari".
HEY... why stop at just one-?? Heino - if you're not pulling our [collective] legs - is, according to our good buddies at Wikipedia: Heinz Georg Kramm (born 13 December 1938), known professionally as Heino, is a German singer of Schlager and traditional Volksmusik. Having sold a total of over 50 million records, he is one of the most successful German musicians of all time. So there. And if that isn't great-enough acclaim, he also bears a striking resemblance to the 'Alan Tracy' puppet on the animated series Thunderbirds. LOOK HERE.
And for the record - I'm unaware of a Heino reference prior to today - I was just pulling your leg-! So consider today a Red Letter Day-!
Chuck, if you can’t make heads or tails of that last photo, I don’t feel so bad!
ReplyDeleteNanook, I am pulling no legs! Does EVERYBODY know traditional German Volksmusik? I’m more of a Rammstein guy. Or Einsetürzende Neubauten! I’m sure I watched Thunderbirds as a kid, but all of those Gerry Anderson shows sort of mush together in my brain. I always liked it when a character broke out in a sweat, and little clear beads appeared on their foreheads.
I first became aware of Heino when my amazing German mom brought home one of his albums from Deutschland on one of her many visits... Anyhow, Heino is retired now, but there was a time when he could 'take over a room' so to speak :D
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sJxxikKk8Q
Thanks Major-- as always!