I love a good rando, and I have two of them for you today. Let's begin with this great shot from the parking lot, from sometime in the early 1960s, I believe. We don't get a super good look at any of the cars, though the red convertible to the left is hard to ignore. It's a bit overcast, but perhaps the clouds will burn off.
This next one is from the 50s, and is an unusual look down Main Street from the Plaza; the park looks so empty! It's nice to see the way things looked before the "Partners" statue was installed.
In that first pic, the young man in the parking lot looks like he’s wearing women’s two-toned dancing shoes. Those heels are going to get really uncomfortable in a couple hours.
ReplyDelete:op
Major-
ReplyDeleteWe certainly get enough of the red car to id it. It's a 1955 convertible Buick, probably in Cherokee Red. There appears to be a green renewal tag on the license plate, so that would mean the image dates from 1958. However, the grey car just to the right of 'junior' is definitely a 1959 Pontiac. So... maybe the image is from late 1958, or the vehicle registration is expired, in which case all bets are off.
Love the image looking down Main Street, USA from the hub, with what appears to be a workman niggling-around in the flower beds. It's all very relaxing.
Thanks, Major.
I bet that little cowboy in the red hat in the first two pics is named Leon—and he’s eating a PB&J sandwich. (Want some?) IYKYK
ReplyDeleteThanks, Major….very nice start to our Disneyland day.
The color red is playing a significant role in this image. Just like in the movie "The Sixth Sense". There's a kid on the right wearing bright red to help balance out the red of the car on the left which, as you said, is hard to ignore. Just above the red car are a couple of people in red. To the right of them is a little kid in a bright red hat. Near the center is another guy in red. And then there are all the red flags waving in the breeze. SOMETHING EERIE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN! I think the station clock says 10:26. Gee, it sure is light out for that late in the evening! ;-p
ReplyDeleteIn the close-up, Those letters above the ticket booths seem to be spelling out something... "SELAD"??? Anybody? :-D
3rd pic: Wow, Sleeping Beauty Castle sure looked different in the early years! Kind of dark and sinister. No wonder they painted it magenta and electric blue in more recent years! (haha). I really like this photo. The lighting is perfect. What a serene scene. Main Street and the Station at the end, look like a painted backdrop that you'd see on a movie set. The colors don't quite match up.
Sue, those shoes really do look odd. Maybe that's not his bare feet with a strap. Maybe he's wearing Dutch wooden shoes! It really does look strange.
Nice Randos, Major. Thanks.
___ Lothar.
Major.....NICE Randos! Did you just have them stuffed?
ReplyDeleteI think that kid is wearing wedgies!
It's always nice to see that central planter in the Plaza before the addition of the Partners statue, but also before the planter was raised. I don't remember it when it was flat like this. I wonder why they felt the need to raise it up? Maybe it was so they could add more seating in the area with the built-in concrete bench seat? I wonder how long it will be before they remove the concrete seat from the current planter, the way they removed the concrete bench seats from the Castle's bridge and the ones underneath the PeopleMover beam in Tomorrowland? I guess they don't want guests just sitting around, not spending money.
Thank you for the Nice Randos, Major!
Would you all look away for a bit, I'm gonna steal that license plate for my son's collection. I'll be quick.
ReplyDeleteMy dad worked for SP RR so his Pass allowed us to ride the train for free in the early years. And there's the SantaFe logo again.
Thanks as usual, Major
Zach
These are good pictures of the old Park. Quiet enough to see some details, not too crowded. We will never see their like again.
ReplyDeletePhoto 2 shows a double row of plain green trash cans marching off as far as the eye can see, maybe as many and 10 or 11? The plain green cans argue for a mid-late 1957 date for this pic.
Photo 1 doesn’t seen to have any cans at all. There’s an object on the platform at extreme right that might be one, but it’s too blurry to be sure.
Thanks Major. This looks like a good day to be a local and just get general admission and enjoy the scenery.
JG
That last photo is just so picture-perfect. It actually does look like a tree-lined 1900s thoroughfare. So relaxing.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the flagpole in the third photo with sentinel trash cans in the foreground, a popcorn cart, I think, and I wonder what is on the A-frame sign.
ReplyDeleteThanks again, Major
Zach
@ zach-
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget the drinking fountain on the left, to the left of the trash can; and possibly one on the right near the [leftish] yellow umbrella.
Lou and Sue, I can’t tell what that kid is wearing on his feet, it almost looks like clogs! But I’m sure they are not really clogs. I hope he’s not wearing heels.
ReplyDeleteNanook, that Buick is pretty sweet, and the color is awesome, I wouldn’t mind having a vintage Buick. With your clues, you are probably right about these being “late 50s” rather than 1960s - sometimes I just have to guess. The Main Street photo looks like it was taken practically right after opening, and it really does look wonderful.
Lou and Sue, I’m afraid I “don’t know”!
JB, it’s so funny, my mom loved glass things of all kinds, and when they showed a closeup of that red crystal door knob in “The Sixth Sense”, the movie suddenly jumped up about three points in her opinion. She loved that door knob! We’ve pointed out red stuff at the park in the past, it’s funny how that color was a “trend”, but not an overwhelming one - you’d see a nice uniform sprinkling of tomato red throughout. “SELAD” spells “DALES” backwards. COINCIDENCE? The light looks strangely warm in the second photo, as if there’s a nearby brush fire. Probably my fault, since I can alter that in Photoshop. But it makes me nervous!
TokyoMagic!, to this day I don’t know what “wedgies” are, the Beach Boys sing about them in one of their songs. I wonder if that central planter was raised because some guests just walked right through it, even though it was full of flowers? It wouldn’t surprise me. Although the bench-seating is a nice bonus. The current park hates benches! I once got a churro and a bottle of water and it took me quite a while to find an available place to sit. So dumb.
zach, ha ha, I’ll cause a distraction so that nobody looks your direction! There’s a guy on YouTube who buys old beat-up license plates from the 30s and 40s and he restores them. Hammers out the dents, primes them, etc. Kind of fun.
JG, every once in a while I’ll see a YouTube video with the headline, “The park is empty!”. I suppose it must happen once in a while, but boy wouldn’t that be great. I guess with the recent heat there have been a few days with slightly lighter crowds. I wouldn’t think that Walt would want trash cans marring the first view of the park, though I’m sure there are cans near the two tunnels.
Steve DeGaetano, I really love that second photo - folks who aren’t vintage Disneyland fans probably would think that it is boring!
zach, I’ll bet those trash cans were needed for all the people who stop to eat their hotdogs and popcorn and need a place to NOT LITTER!
Nanook, boy on boy, I sure didn’t notice those drinking fountains. EAGLE EYES!
I’m sure they are not really clogs. I hope he’s not wearing heels.
ReplyDeleteI bet his parents didn't get him the cha cha heels that he really wanted for Christmas, so he went on a wild crime spree through Disneyland.
TokyoMagic! OMG, can you imagine a John Waters movie with Divine in Disneyland???
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic! OMG, can you imagine a John Waters movie with Divine in Disneyland???
ReplyDeleteMajor, now that you mention it, I can! They could have had Divine chasing Tony Curtis through all of the various lands and attractions! :-)