Random Amusements
Happy Valentine's Day! I didn't really have anything for this occasion, and then I remembered this photo in the collection of images from Irene, Bruce, and James. It is a window (somewhere on Main Street - perhaps the Candy Palace?) with Roger Rabbit dressed to the nines. I have the feeling that the red shiny heart on Roger's chest pulsed out in rhythm, cartoon-style! And no wonder, with Jessica as his sweetheart. He holds a framed portrait of Jessica in one hand, and a box of chocolates in the other.
This next slide, date-stamped "July 1978", had me baffled. "Whaler's Wharf"? Was that at Sea World? Or even Six Flags Magic Mountain? No! This was Ports O'Call Village in San Pedro, CA. Ports O'Call was an outdoor shopping center that featured souvenir and gift shops, along with restaurants, sweetshops, fish markets, and quick-bite eateries. The "seaside village" encompassed 15 acres of shops, restaurants and attractions. A meandering promenade of cobblestone streets connected the specialty shops, which had an "improbable mix of New England, Spanish Colonial, and Asian themes," stood from 1963 to 2020. I remember going here when I was a kid, my grandma liked to buy lemon-pepper seasoning from one particular store. But all of the charming architecture has been completely erased from my brain.
This next one, date-stamped "September, 1979" is a bit baffling to me. I thought it was from Knott's Berry Farm's "Roaring '20's Airfield" (there was a little airplane ride over there); but I found a photo of a ride that looked essentially identical to the one in the photo, complete with the checkerboard "control tower", from Six Flags Great America in Illinois. It's called the Red Baron, and it looks way too scary for me.
This last one, dated "September, 1970" was also a complete mystery to me. I asked friend of the blog Chris Merritt if he had any idea where this could be (because I mistakenly thought it might be Knott's again), and he thought it might be Sea World San Diego as they had this Cap’n Kidd’s play area at one time in the late 70s/early 80s. That's sounds like a pretty good guess!
I hope you have enjoyed these oddball slides.
6 comments:
Major-
Based on the reflections in the glass of the 1st image, it could very well be the Candy Palace.
Happy Valentine's Day, Major.
1) Ah, the lovely and alluring Jessica. But of course, she's "just drawn that way". Major, I think you're right about Roger's heart. It looks like there is a cartoon-type spring peeking out from behind it.
Looking at the reflection in the window glass, one of our Jr.Gs might be able to confirm that this is indeed the Candy Palace.
Thanks to the Dream Team for this photo.
2) I can understand the logic of the person who wrote "Disneyland" on the slide. There's a monorail track... it HAS to be Disneyland! I also suspect the person doing the writing was not one of the people who was on that trip, and has probably never been to Disneyland, or they would know that it isn't.
3) "Whaler's Wharf". If whalers were the only ones allowed on the wharf, then nobody has set foot on it for close to 200 years. And yet, the woodwork looks to be in fine shape for having been abandoned for that long. Besides the shops and restaurants, I wonder what sort of "attractions" were present at Ports O' Call?
4) Those 1979 kids aren't much interested in the Red Baron ride. They're scrolling through pornographic cat videos on their smart phones, "They aren't wearing any clothes!"
5) After being soaked by playful dolphins leaping high into the air, you could hang your kids out on this clothesline to dry. Genius!
Ah, I see Nanook looked at the reflections in the Roger Rabbit window. We still need a confirmation!
A nice selection of Saturday Randomness. Thanks, Major.
The Whalers’s Wharf was located at PORTS O’ CALL village in San Pedro. That is indeed the first version of San Diego’s SEA WORLD “Captain Kid’s World. It opened in 1976 and had several “remodels” over the years …
Those kids in the Bi-Plane aren’t even paying attention !! They just are looking down on their Cel phones!!!
…. I just noticed you said the date of the last slide is Sept 1970 ( the people look much later than that ) but if it is 1970 - that could not be Sea World - as that opened in 1976 - however those are the same apparatus and amusements Sea World had. At one point the giant bop-bags had cartoon pirates on them as if you were fighting your way through a hoard of marauding buccaneers. I don’t think there was ever a visit to Captain’s Kids world where there wasn’t a kid with a bloody nose … scraped knees or crying kids after colliding heads into each other. One amusement was a series of sloped vinyl “tents” made to look like waves that kids would attempt to climb and become “king of the wave” . Another was a series of wooded towers connected by tubes made of thick rope. Kids were constantly having their arms slip through the rope netting … and getting intense rope burns, to reach the towers kids had to climb rope netting like that of a ship! Despite the injuries, bumps , falls and bruises , KIDS LOVED CAPTAIN KIDS WORLD!! Each renovation it became more and more tame. In the winter mass amounts of snow were trucked in from San Diego’s Laguna mountains and part of the area became “Snow World At Sea World”.
As Columbo would say: “oh just one more thing!” ; another amusement at Captain Kids World was a series of very wide slide made up of stainless steel rollers ( like what a warehouse with use to move boxes on) as you rolled down you’d pick up quite a bit of speed and I remember the metal rolling sound as each kid rolled down… HOWEVER, often your fingers would get pinched between the rolling rods and O U C H ! ! !
Mike, those "attractions" sound like fun... until you lose a finger or two... or break a bone or two. 8-\
I'd probably have a blast doing those things as a kid, but my adult self would be saying, "YOU IDIOT!!!"
How did they ever allow these sorts of 'amusements' to be built as late as the 1970s?!? O U C H, indeed!
Post a Comment