Frontierland
When you think of how many Frontierland scans I've already shared from the Mysterious Benefactor (MANY hundreds), it's shocking to know that there are still hundreds to go. The gift that keeps on giving. I'm grateful to him for entrusting me to share them with you.
Most of today's scans are "Golden Horseshoe" related - except for this first one. Based on the costume that this Cavalry officer is wearing (complete with authentic polarized frontier sunglasses), we can assume that this photo was taken on Tom Sawyer Island. Does he have a gun holster?? I can't tell what he's doing, the guest is getting the third degree.
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Here's an artistic night photo of the sign above the entrance to the Golden Horseshoe. It almost looks like a "day for night" effect. This was probably taken by Helmet Newton (not to be confused with Helmut Newton).
"Yes, ma'am, there is plenty of rootin' and tootin' in the Golden Horseshoe Revue". "Do you think that my six year-old can watch so much tootin'?". "You have my solemn word as a member of AAA that he will be fine". "Bless you, sir" (tears flowing). This is known as The Disney Difference.
You don't have to say a word, Cliff, I understand completely. His break is in three minutes, and he knows he's going to spend the next 15 talking to this woman.
Well well well, I see that the purty gals aren't just in the show! This young lady is admiring the claws on the hand of another woman out of frame to our left. "How do you get them so thick and yellow?". "I never wash my hands!". "I would have never thought of that!".
And finally, who doesn't love a rare look at a performance of the Golden Horseshoe Revue? The stage is so little that it almost looks like the crowd is watching a puppet show, but those aren't puppets. The dancers are flesh and blood like us.
THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!
15 comments:
Major-
"... it almost looks like the crowd is watching a puppet show, but those aren't puppets. The dancers are flesh and blood like us".
Major, I don't wish to tell tales out of school, but the last time I visited my doctor...
Thanks to the M B-!
The Cavalry guy looks like the frontier version of an ICE agent. (Sorry, but the way he's standing, the sunglasses, and poking his finger at the little old lady (I think we see her purse) looks threatening.) Anyway, strange angle, strange scene. Maybe that's a flashlight on his belt.
The Golden Horseshoe sign has a very classy and sophisticated look. Like something you'd see outside a reputable bank.
The "purty gal" holding the claw looks like the Frontierland version of Snow White; "Snow White and the Seven Gold Miners".
"almost looks like the crowd is watching a puppet show, but those aren't puppets". I dunno, Major. I think the dancers are doing the "I've got no strings" number.
Thanks, M B and Major.
Oh, the dancers are real aright. It's the audience that are the puppets. Disney is controlling their minds, so they become like puppets-on-a-string.
They return year after year and eventually develop that pixie dust brain rot and buy Annual Passes to complete the Diznoid puppet transformation. A Diznoid's diet consists of churros and Dole Whip. Are we not men? We are Diznoids!
It's been a long night and I've just derailed. Thanks M.B. and Major for these FRO pics.
That’s a radar gun hanging from the security host’s belt. “I clocked you going four miles per hour in a three mile-per hour zone. Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? There are children present. Someone could have tripped and scuffed a knee. Now, I’m going to let you off with a warning this time, but you need to slow down, OK?”
The woman behind him looks like she’s dressed for a day on the fjords.
All the good Pinocchio references are already taken, but I had the same immediate thought.
Ken, are you sure these were taken at FRO? This doesn’t look much like Norway’s Florø Airport to me, although maybe that lady is dressed appropriately after all…
A revue? On stage? With dancers? What a great idea. I always wondered what else you could do with that big round snack stand ; -)
MS
Lewis and Clark carried sunglasses like that on the Voyage of Discovery. Officer Furbush is providing directions to that guest, but his sidearm is ready just in case. Was that a cap pistol like the JC Skippers carried? I’m fairly sure I remember CM costumes like these, but not this specific fellow of course.
Cliff has his vest fully buttoned, too bad we can’t read his name tag. He is freely dispensing that famous Disney hospitality.
Snow White moonlighting in Frontierland, who would have guessed? I think the dwarves came along with her and that’s why everything in Rainbow Ridge is so tiny. It all makes sense now.
The GH interior is so cute and perfect, its abandonment by the current overseers is completely understandable. And that photo of the sign is beautiful. There’s something in the foreground seen in silhouette, any ideas?
Thanks Major and MB!
JG
It sure does look like that guest is being scolded! And the Officer is doing a 'no-no' by pointing his finger. We were to always use two fingers to point things out. Otherwise, it has the appearance of having a pistol being pointed at you. And JG...I'm not sure just what they carried in those holsters but as far as JC "cap-guns"...not in my era. We had S&W .38s. OK..so we used blanks, but that gun was the real deal. KS
Nanook, I told you not to get that x-ray!
JB, yeah, there’s something weirdly aggressive about the way that security guy is pointing at the guest. A one-finger point! “I pretty much run this place, so you better shape up, or ship out!”. I’m sure there were many concepts for Golden Horseshoe signs, I wonder if any of those are still in the archives? And the gal definitely looks like she could have played Snow White on other days. I was thinking of hand puppets, not so much marionettes!
K. Martinez, hmmm, you have some interesting theories. VERY interesting!! I remember the days when I wished I had an annual pass, but I don’t think I’d want one now, even if they weren’t so darn expensive. Glad you liked these!
Chuck, think off all the tragedies caused by speeding mules. Laws are created for a reason! I never got a scuffed knee on TSI, but I did get a nasty scrape on the top of my head inside the caves - those walls are like course sandpaper. I dress for a day at the fjords all the time - you just never know. Only Chuck would know that Norway’s Florø airport had the code “FRO”!
JG, Lewis and Clark knew how important it was to look cool while looking for the Northwest Passage. They also had septum piercings, not something most people know. I was thinking maybe the security officer had a walkie talkie in that holster, though I do not see a talkie in the photo. I’m glad that at least Cliff has his vest buttoned, unlike every other CM. I like the idea of the Seven Dwarfs visiting Rainbow Ridge! They are miners, after all. Could the silhouetted thing in that GH sign photo be a lamp? It doesn’t really look like one, I admit.
KS, maybe security officers did not get the training about the two-finger point? I wonder, did those guys come from a security company, or did Disneyland hire and train them? I’m glad that (as far as I know) there have been no freak accidents involving those .38s; even blanks can be dangerous at close range.
That TSI "Agent" is definitely giving off some vibes that I think has something to do with the apple slices that mangey guest smuggled in through the Main Gate. NO FOOD ALLOWED!! What an odd photo. I am vexed. I don't remember this guy, but I've said before that was a great costume. A very interesting shot of the Horseshoe...that is a light fixture shadow it seems...check out a "real" photo and you will probably see it there on the bottom past the edge of this photo. Cliff I do remember from my days, these aren't really great photos of him, and that costume was another good one too...actually, most of the West Side costumes were very well conceived overall. I don't remember the girl, but she's wearing a "30th" name tag which puts her in another era from Cliff. I do miss that the show is defunct, and the space is not used properly in the scope of its historic provenance. A theatre used for fast food makes me cringe more than a "deactivated church" used for a retail space. Just seems not right...but I digress...thanks MB and Major for another trip through rootin tootin Frontierland!
Major, Security was an internal department with Disney employees. A number of them were teachers who were used to handling an unruly individual. Can't recall if some were off duty police. They had good training and there was an APD presence backstage. KS
The silhouetted item in front of the Golden Horseshoe sign is one of the up-light lanterns that normally illuminates the marquee. Over the years they have been manufactured for Disneyland by various companies including SHALDA THEATRICAL LIGHTING and GEORGIAN ARTS ( both long defunct) and KIRKMAN LANTERNS ( lighting) .
It’s interesting that Harper Goff used the interior saloon from the movie CALAMITY JANE to replicate for the interior of the Golden Horseshoe, it’s exterior is inspired by the Downy Block once located North Main Street , Los Angeles … an complex built in the early 1870’s on the site of the original Bella Union Hotel - LA’s oldest hotel.
@KS, I did not know those were real guns on the JC, I just assumed they were “safe” accessories. Thanks for correcting me!
JG
Bu, I suppose it’s possible that the guest that is being grilled by the security guy did something really bad, but it seems unlikely. Maybe it’s all very innocent. “That’s a lovely brooch you’re wearing”. I’ll have to look at regular photos of the GH sign to see what that silhouetted shape is. Cliff looks OK, neat and tidy at least. I’m sure most of us don’t look our best when a photo is taken of us just “doing stuff”. Good eye on the 30th tag, weren’t you there for the 30th? “Deactivated church” is a perfect description for the Golden Horseshoe, it just feels kind of sad and WRONG.
KS, OK good to know! I think early-on they did use security from a service, but they perhaps proved not to be a good fit for the Disney way.
Mike Cozart, I assume you must have in-house documents for the names of those lighting companies, and didn’t just have those at the tip of your tongue!!
Mike Cozart, I think that the exterior of the Golden Horseshoe is nice, but that the interior *really* impresses… maybe that was done on purpose? So that the guests really got that “WOW” factor.
MAJOR: while I’ve seen documents with those companies and other materials in the past , I’m very aware of them and some of the newer companies … the defunct ones supplied the Disney studios and all of Hollywood, museums , renovators and shopping centers for many decades …. And literally “illuminated Disneyland and Walt Disney World “ … in the past decade as these now 50-60-70 year old lighting fixtures wear away newer companies like Kirkman, recreate the old ones or provide acceptable replacements. Sometimes it becomes an urgent situation for Disney like when the legacy manufacturer of the DIETZ PIONEER street light ( used in all Frontierlands /westernlands around the Disney world since 1955 - and in Hollywood even longer went belly up! And it was a big deal when a new company solved the problem. Today you’ll see fewer and fewer DIETZ Frontierland lampost and lanterns and more of the newer - more historically accurate versions popping up. It’s sad when things that have always been available and at the ready suddenly disappear…. Straw boaters from Ponce of Venice …. The foam used for muppets ….the Cel vinyl Disney studios used …. Amana Radar Ranges lol.
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