1950s Randos
Abraham Lincoln once said, "Let our Nation reflect on the abundance of Randos, because they are totally rad." Inspired by Abe's words, I have two randos for you today.
This first one, from "sometime in the 1950s" is a swell view from a luxury Skyway gondola looking down upon the Autopia load zone, with hard-hatted NASA guys (they carry slide rules in their pockets because you just never know), and Screechy the Lonesome Iggle flying toward us for a hug. I love those old Mark I (or Mark II or Mark III or Mark IV) vehicles (those all looked essentially the same), and that Richfield billboard with the wheel-shaped space station. But what I mostly love is the views of Anaheim, just farms and farm roads and farm bugs.
Just for yucks, how about a zoom view?
Next is another undated slide, taken on what appears to be a gloomy day (or is the photo just too dark?). Guests walk from the parking lot toward the ticket booths, with Main Street Station acting as a beacon to lure them in like moths. There's a tram right in front of them, but they presumably didn't need it.
14 comments:
Major-
I also love the view in the 1st image for all the reasons you mention - especially the view of America Beyond the Berm. It's so hard to believe that area was ever like that - but then, here it is.
Thanks, Major.
Like pretty much everything else in Disneyland at this time, it's kind of startling to see so much bare dirt instead of lush landscaping. It looks more like the Autopia cars are driving through the Sonoran Desert.
In the close-up, the NASA guys look more like service station guys here. What are those white things scattered around outside the berm? Looks like a cemetery with gravestones.
I count only two (easy to see) kids in the last pic. I have a theory that early Disneyland was intended mainly for adults. Case in point; Grandma, in the foreground, in her shawl and hat, surrounded by other adults. We can see some shadows, so it couldn't have been too gloomy.
Randos are some of my favorite photos; so much variety! And early photos of the Park, especially so. Thanks, Major.
Nanook, I guess most folks don’t love these photos as much as I (and you) do! I agree, driving around Anaheim today, you can hardly imagine that it used to be all farmland and orchards.
JB, photos like that first one are my favorites, when you can really feel that Disneyland was in its early years, and that it hadn’t affected Harbor and Katella too much yet. But… SOON. I can’t tell what those white things are… beehives? Did they do that back then? Admittedly that’s a lot of beehives. It’s true, so many early photos of the park show mostly adults, with a few kids along for the ride… I wish we knew the percentage of adults to kids from back then! That gloom looks like it might be burning off, which will make it a nice sunny day for those folks.
Ancient memory of that Richfield billboard, and feeling annoyed that we were only getting a picture of a space station. How hard could it be to build a real space station in Disneyland?
Oh yes, farm land. Farm land has lots of weeds, dust, and bugs, I can confirm. A lot of money was made converting those farms to motels and coffee shops. I hope those farmers were among those benefitting. We used to talk about the strawberry farm where Mickey and Friends car park is now. I hope that guy held out for top dollar.
I doubt that those white things are all beehives, because hives are usually placed in groups at the ends of a row of trees where they are easy to drop off and pick up, separated from one another by a few yards, and not scattered out through the field like we see here. However, orange trees need bee pollinators and orange blossom honey is highly prized, so there are probably hives around somewhere. I used to pay a fee to get hives brought into our orchards during bloom. The beekeepers would bring them in and then remove them a few weeks later. My Dad kept a few hives before my time, but eventually it was just easier to outsource them.
Based on the regular spacing of the white blurs, these might be the cardboard nursery cartons used to protect sapling trees. The cardboard is white to reflect the sun and keep the tender trees from sunburn. We might be seeing a newly planted orchard here.
I notice two other missing things; no fire extinguishers visible, and not a single trash can. Seems like Autopia ALWAYS had an FE on a light pole. And usually one of those bullet-cap trash cans in the queue. Maybe this pic is so early that this SOP wasn’t yet formulated? Or these things are there and not visible?
I remember making the calculation after parking… is it faster to just walk, or to wait for the tram and ride? These folks made up their minds already.
Great pictures, Major. Lots of good things to see and question. Thank you!
JG
Major, it sorta makes sense that early Disneyland was more appealing to adults. Walt made the Park the way he did mainly to please himself.... and make money.
JG, Saplings with protective covers was my second guess. We have a lot of new(ish) hazelnut (filbert) orchards in our area, and almost all the young trees have those white 'shin guards'. Still, I like the idea of a cemetery right next to the "happiest place on earth". :-p
JB, I hope the Disneyland-adjacent cemetery had a "See Ya Real Soon" sign visible from the highway as you left the park.
JG, your beehive story brought to mind something from grad school. In an econ class, the professor used bees as a "positive externality" for farmers (things that benefit them, but they don't pay for). A student who apparently was or knew farmers pointed out that beehives were placed in orchards and farms under extensive contracts and payment. I guess the professor had to come up with a new example.
DBenson, it *would* be very cool if they could have somehow done a space station attraction in the 1950s or early 1960s!
JG, if you want to be neat and tidy, don’t work on a farm! I have extremely limited experience with farm work, having only done a bit while at my aunt’s farm in Wisconsin, but it was always hard work! We had fun too, but we were kids, so some of it seems idyllic now. I agree with you, I hope the owner of that strawberry field got a fortune - goodness knows Disney had coveted that land for a long time. I knew that “beehives” was no probably, but I had no other theories. I’m fascinated by honey bees, sometimes I’ll watch videos on YouTube. My nephew got into beekeeping for a while, but lost interest when he got older. Cardboard nursery cartons seems like a good guess! Good point about the fire extinguishers, which really are almost always visible. And it is odd that there are no trashcans! That group wasn’t very far from the entrance, I would have hoofed it just like they did.
JB, I’m sure the info is out there somewhere (annual reports, for instance), but I’d love to know how profitable Disneyland was that first year or two. It seems like there were plenty of days with very low attendance, but there were obviously very busy days too! Maybe it all averaged out. It would be cool to have a big cemetery right next to Disneyland, all the ghosts could have moved into the Haunted Mansion. I image some developer pulling a “Poltergeist”, and buying the land but not moving the coffins.
Dean Finder, ALL cemeteries need that sign! I assume that the professor you mentioned thought that crops were pollinated by bees that were just “out in the wild”? Maybe it never occurred to him that beekeepers brought hives to farms to let them do their thing. Which is surprising for somebody theoretically educated!
JG is right! Not a single trash RECEPTICAL is visible!! No Miller Engineering model C , not a single HB INDUSTRIAL “bullet” can … and no angular vestibule double sided swing cans ….but we also don’t really see any trash either … people were tidier back then - or we like to think so ….. I’m sure some Disneyland trash cans are in the shadows somewhere in the scene ..
Dean, this is a great example of city folk knowing about farming. Thanks for a good laugh.
JG
Old Disneyland photos are the best!
There is a silver plate mounted to the side of the skybuckets. Does anybody know what it is for?
I would think that is there to keep the paint from getting worn off Scott by the rub rails inside the stations where they send the buckets around to go back out. Scott Rhodes
I don't know how the extra Scott got in the text! Scott Rhodes
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