Vintage Amusements
It's time for more scans from the general category of "Vintage Amusements"! Not amusement parks, necessarily, you see. this first scan is from 1955, with the added note, "Favorite ride". I wish they'd included the location, but what can you do? I thought this might be the LA County Fair in Pomona, CA, but that's just a guess - it could be anywhere. That looks like a eucalyptus tree in the distance! We see three classic "spin around" rides, with the thrilling motorboats in the foreground (each with three wooden ship's wheels), a "flying fish" (?) ride, and a merry-go-round.
This next one is an undated 1950s photo of an unusual and very cool little train ride - I've never seen a train like that before! It's pretty distinct, maybe it dates back to the 1930s? I could almost imagine the same train running at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, though that's just my imagination going strong. Perhaps one of you recognizes it and can add more to the conversation. I was dying to know where this could be; notice the fezzes on some of the youngsters. Could this be the Indio Date Festival? If you look in the upper left, you can see some Moorish (?) arches that seem to confirm my theory.
Here's what is known as "The Magic Carpet Stage" from the Date Festival, as seen in a modern photo. Since 1947 the annual festival has been held to celebrate the Date Palm harvest in the Coachella Valley. The event is held in February on the Riverside County Fairgrounds. The fair is located in Indio, California, a city in the Colorado Desert, approximately 130 miles (210 km) east of Los Angeles.
I hope you have enjoyed these VINTAGE AMUSEMENTS!
4 comments:
Indio for sure Major...
The date festival “magic carpet stage “!!! This and the MGM Thief of Baghdad film was the inspiration for Euro Disneyland’s / Disneyland Paris ADVENTURELAND entry gate.
Major I added a response to yesterdays question you had about the RAINBOW RIDGE / THUNDER RIDGE / RAINBOW RIDGE #2 regarding the originals and the 2015 new replicas.
Major-
I love that child in the last car of the train, who is either waving goodbye, or is warning us to stay back. It's possible the train was made by the Miniature Train Co.; acquired by the Allen Herschell Company in 1956, but...
Thanks, Major.
Love these vintage whatevers! I think the 'flying fish' ride might be a Bulgy the Whale flat ride. Looks like there might be a Ferris Wheel behind the 'flying fish' ride. Or maybe it's a Scrambler... can't really tell. On the left edge (in front of the merry-go-round), we can see another ride similar to the flying fish, it's not the same thing, but I'll bet it does the same movements; up, down, round and round.
In the second pic, I guess we're looking at the 'caboose' of that neat-looking train. I wonder what the engine looked like? That eatery, advertising "Good coffee, eats, cold drinks" is doing much better business than the eatery just out of frame which is advertising "Bad coffee, eats, cold drinks".
Wow! That's a beautiful photo of the Magic Carpet Stage. Interesting architecture, blue sky with puffy clouds, graceful palms, and whatever that derelict vehicle is in the bottom right of the photo.
"Vintage amusements" is one of my favorite categories. Thanks, Major.
Post a Comment