Randos

I have two nice RANDOS for you today, starting with this swell view taken from the Skyway as our gondola approached the Tomorrowland terminal (date stamped "September, 1959"). I have a number of similar views, but there's always so much to look at, and it makes me miss the Skyway all over again. So... bittersweet. Beneath the nearest pale yellow gondola, there seems to be a lot of people heading toward the restrooms. When ya gotta go! There's a fire hydrant, easy to see. To the left, Tomorrowland Station, which was pretty new in '59; and of course the Autopia, a favorite of so many.

Next is this unusual photo taken from the middle of the Plaza (right near where the "Partners" statue is today), looking down Main Street toward the train station November 1968, not long after the sun had set. All the lights were on, and the sky took on various hues of pinks and violets. The warmth of the lights is somehow comforting, as if the shops and restaurants are more welcoming at that time of evening. A few brisk walkers have been reduced to blurs!

More From the Big Bag Of Pins

I have no idea how much the Junior Gorillas like looking at random old pinback buttons, but it is hopefully an entertaining diversion from the usual stuff on GDB. I'm still going through the "BIG BAG OF PINS", which is actually two bags, but I can't count that high. As a rule, all of these pins are 3" in diameter or larger. I have many "better" pins that I might get to eventually, but the random subjects are part of the fun. 

First up is this neat "3rd Mate" button for Pops Pirate Club. What is that? PPC was a children's radio show that aired on CBS for only three days back in June of 1932, sponsored by Wheat and Rice Puffs cereal. Three days! There was also a cool-sounding "dagger premium", apparently. I need more daggers in my life. Anyway, there were at least four pinback buttons given out - 1st Mate, 2nd Mate, 3rd Mate, and Coffee Mate. Just kidding, there was also "Captain". Weirdly, I see the 3rd Mate button fairly regularly, and the other three have only shown up on specialized auction sites. I'd love to get those!

Next is this button from Nevada's Centennial - not the State, but a town in Ohio! It had its 100th birthday in the summer of 1952. What is a "shave permit"? For some reason unexplained by science, many places around the country had "whiskeroos" and other similar contests in which the local men could show off their facial hair, with prizes awarded for things such as "Best Mustache", "Longest Beard", and "Smelliest Beard". OK I made that last one up. Aren't people crazy?

Oh, if only I'd seen a launch of one of the wonderful Space Shuttles! No such luck, though. But, almost as good, I have this pinback button so that I can lie that I DID see a launch. These were made in different colors for different launches, but I only have this one example.

Some people ❤️ New York, but I ❤️ Kmart! The once-ubiquitous store was a place where you could buy affordable goods of all kinds. To be honest, I didn't really go to Kmart that often, but I miss it now that it's gone (apparently there are still some Kmarts around, somewhere?). Don't miss out on that blue light special.

These next two items are not pinback buttons, but instead are "pocket mirrors", which were popular advertising giveaways years ago. You could find pocket mirrors for just about anything, from beer to Coca Cola, from farm equipment to political candidates, and so on. I only have a few pocket mirrors, while other collectors specialize in them and have hundreds. This first mirror is for "White Cat Union Suits" from the Cooper Underwear Co. in Kenosha, Wisconsin (I've been there! Kenosha, I mean). A union suit is a type of one-piece long underwear, most often associated with menswear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

And finally, another pocket mirror, this one for The Travelers Insurance Company. I would guess that this item is from the early 1900s, though I don't know for sure. The color and lithography on this example look pretty dazzling, and it's fun to imagine that we are about to be flattened by a steam locomotive. Travelers Insurance is still around today, and some of you might recall their distinctive pavilion at the 1964 New York World's Fair.

I hope you have enjoyed today's pinback buttons and pocket mirrors!

Fantasyland, 1973

Here's a pair of pretty good Fantasyland views, circa 1973. Starting with this photo of Alice, the Walrus, the Mad Hatter, and the White Rabbit. The whole gang! They're walking past Alice's ride, which makes sense (as much as anything involving her story can make sense). It's like a mini parade, I wonder where they were all headed? A few kids had to approach the group - when are they ever going to have a chance like this again? "I like the part where you shrink and talk to the Caterpillar!".

Meanwhile, over at the Storybook Land Canal Boats, a guide tells everyone to keep their head, hands, arms and legs inside the boat at all times, or they'll regret it. There's something about the look on her face that lets them know she's not kidding. It looks like broad-brimmed hats were part of the costume at this point (though one CM is not wearing one), perhaps it was during the hot summer months. This is kind of an unusual angle, and I like the quality of light, with the warm sunlight contrasting with the cooler areas of shadow.

Special Guest Post: Knott's Berry Farm Locomotives - Part 1

I'm happy to present a Special Guest Post - the first of three - from GDB pal Steve DeGaetano. Normally you'd expect to learn some cool facts about the Disneyland Railroad, but for this Special Guest Posts, he's focusing on the narrow-gauge locomotives from Knott's Berry Farm, primarily in postcard form. This is right up my alley, so I was thrilled when Steve came up with the concept, and did  all the work (which allowed me to watch more daytime TV and eat bonbons)! Let's get to it. Here's Steve:

While the Disneyland trains are personal favorites of mine, the trains just a few miles up the road in Buena Park are very close seconds! Knott’s Berry Farm’s narrow-gauge trains hold a special place for me, because of their amazing histories and because of how close to the locomotives you used to be able to get—close enough to feel the heat from the boilers! The big locomotives of the Ghost Town & Calico Railway also allowed me for the first time to closely examine the mechanical parts of a steam locomotive in operation, as I was able to walk beside the departing train for 100 feet or so watching the rhythmic action of the side rods and valve gear.

Though I predominately collect DRR items, I have amassed a small collection of Knott’s postcards featuring the trains. I have no doubt my collection is incomplete, but through these we can follow the history of this small railroad through the years. This isn’t meant to be a definitive history of the Knott’s trains, and actually focusses on the locomotives. Some of these cards are hard to date, but I’ll try to post them in a more-or-less chronological order. I am no Knott’s or postcard expert, so please feel free to correct me or add to the discussion! But first!

Knott's 1: I thought it might be fun for us to see one of the Knott’s engines in its “native habitat.” This is No. 41, Red Cliff, on the Rio Grande Southern Railway (RGS) in Colorado as she appeared around the time Walter Knott might have first seen her in the early 1950s. There are RGS history books that indicate the name Red Cliff was original to the locomotive when built.

Knott's 2: Red Cliff was originally numbered 409, part of an order of 12 identical “Class 70” locomotives from Baldwin built for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (They weighed about 70,000 pounds). The engine was re-numbered “41” when RGS bought the locomotive from the D&RG in 1916.

To my knowledge, this is the earliest postcard from the GT&C. Engine 41 and the passenger cars are painted in the predominately yellow and black “Bumble Bee” scheme, popular at the time and perhaps meant to tie in with locomotives in the movie “Denver & Rio Grande,” which would be released in May, 1952. The GT&C RR. was built in late 1951, and dedicated in January1952 with a “Golden Spike” ceremony. The engine has been converted to burn diesel oil instead of coal.

Knott's 3: This card seems to predate the Calico Mine Ride, placing it in the mid-to late 1950s. This also seems to be the most numerically available card out there, probably appearing 10 times for every other card, at least on eBay. We can see the first passenger car, parlor car Chama, hasn’t yet been converted to a combination baggage/passenger car. Chuck, I apologize, but you’re about to see MANY postcards of the locomotive in this particular paint scheme, which I know is a personal favorite of yours.

Knott's 4: I have no idea about the date of this card, and am unfamiliar with the western building on the left, but it does seem to predate the Calico Mine Ride as well. We get our first view of No. 40, then named Gold Nugget. I couldn’t find much history on No. 40. She, too, was part of the initial order of 12 engines for the D&RG, originally No. 400, but was later renumbered 340. Knott’s probably renumbered her to No. 40 to keep her in sequence with No. 41. Unlike No. 41, No. 40 wasn’t sold to the RGS and remained a D&RGW locomotive until purchased by Knott’s.  I don’t think Knott’s purchased it at the same time as No. 41, but perhaps a year or two later. She’s mentioned (and photographed) in a 1953 Knott’s booklet about the railroad.

Knott's 5: It’s almost like no new post cards were made until the 1960s, but this may just be a gap in my collection.  Hand-dated 1964, this card features No. 41, and even thought we can’t see the number, we know it’s Red Cliff not only from the paint job, but from the straight brass handrail across the front of the smokebox. Caption reads, “The Ghost Town Marshall at Knott’s Berry Farm gets a big assist from two of his ‘deputies.’ They have just captured the bandits who robbed the narrow gauge passenger train, the Ghost Town & Calico Railroad.”

Knott's 6: This next card is dated 1966, and features the elaborate, if not quite authentic, paint scheme that Chuck is so fond of, with a false diamond smokestack and box surrounding her cylindrical headlight. The caption reads “Old 41 pulling her load of passengers on her daily run steams and puffs past Boot Hill at Ghost Town at Knott’s Berry Farm, Buena Park, California.”

Alright! This ends Part One, with Part Two coming next Tuesday. MANY thanks to Steve DeGaetano for taking the time to scan his postcards and to do such an excellent write-up to accompany them. I admit that I am now feeling the urge to collect some of these postcards! I have some KBF cards in my collection, but I never acquired them in an organized manner. And of course Steve's context makes them much more interesting!

1956 Flyer

Today's piece of Vintage Disneyland Ephemera may look humble upon first glance. But it's pretty hard to find - I'd been looking for one for many years (after seeing an example in Mr. X's collection), with one or two failed "close calls", until I finally got the one you see today.

There it is! The Rainbow Caverns Mine Ride was ALL NEW! As you know, this attraction was not on the list of "opening day" options, in spite of the fact that some pre-opening artwork depicted canyons and appropriately "frontier-ish" landscaping in the general area where the ride eventually went. It took almost a year to get it ready, debuting on July 2nd, 1956.  

The pre-Nature's Wonderland Mine Ride had the Rainbow Desert, with its buttes and natural arches, balancing rocks, crazy cacti, culminating in the spectacular journey through RAINBOW CAVERNS! They knew that this was the main event that dazzled guests. After the ride, why not head over to the Mineral Hall for more fun?

The other side of the flyer advertises Professor Keller's Jungle Killers - 13 killers, each deadlier than the last! And there was the brand-new Jr. Autopia, by popular demand.

Many years ago I shared a series of black and white photos of some nice folks. Aren't they swell?

The lady in the middle is holding some flyers, and one of them is the Rainbow Caverns Mine Ride piece! I believe that the one closest to her is one of these Tinker Bell brochures, and the outermost piece (FOLDED!) is a 1956 ticket plan flyer, I have five or six variations that I still need to share with you.

Snoozle Snapshots

Vintage photo prints, i.e. "snapshots", can be a mixed bag. For some reason they tend to be of inferior quality to slides - not just in actual clarity and color, but in composition too. Maybe it was the cheap cameras and cheaper lenses. Anyway, I have some real Snoozles for you today. 

Mitch grew up in the Arizona desert, and he's never seen a body of water bigger than an inflatable kiddie pool before. "Dang!", he exclaimed. Dang, indeed, Mitch. He wanted somebody to take his photo while on the top deck of the Mark Twain so that folks back home didn't think he was pulling their leg about the Rivers of America.

Photos taken from Storybook Land can be charming, OR they can look something like this. I guess the little structure is one of the Little Pigs' "house of sticks", and even though it would sell for $1.2 million dollars in SoCal these days, it is almost lost among the grass and miniature shrubs.

Why? Just.... WHY?? What inspired the photographer to take this picture, I ask you? This is presumably another Storybook Land pic. "Alice in Wonderland used to drive past this tree on her way to 7-11". There is a structure in the upper left, I can't quite place it.

More Universal Studios, May 1979

I'm using up the last (well, almost the last) scans from a batch of May 1979 slides from Universal Studios. Hollywood, that is. They're not the most exciting things in the world, but the price is right.

From our Glamour Tram we look across a canyon toward some typical SoCal hills. It's pretty green (being May) actually, I'm sure in a few months this looked much browner. There are some houses up on that ridge, I am told that the Studio owns them and lets directors and certain powerful bloggers stay there, which would be pretty cool. I'd watch the trams go to a fro while talking to my agent on my three pound cellular phone.

Looky looky! There's another tram far below. Or is it us, viewed through a time warp? The tram is right on the edge of a pond (any idea what it was called?), with a production going on in that little excavated canyon, where there is part of a plane fuselage. I sure wish I knew what was being filmed.

Here's a more-familiar sight, an elegant mansion that is nothing more than a façade. It's like Hollywood itself, am I right? ZING! Thank you, Bruce Vilanch, for that joke. I need all the help I can get. Next to the mansion, a log stockade, and some random double-decker buses.

Ah, the Western Stunt Show, full of punching and shooting and guys falling to their doom after being plugged full of lead. These stuntmen were so tough that there were no airbags or foam cushions, just that  half inch-thick rubber mat.

Who among us has not been on a slow bus from Vescovato to Bastia? Well OK, not me. I had to look up both places; Vescovato is just south of Milan (Italy), while Bastia is on northern tip of the island of Corsica.  There are several routes available, both involving a ride on a ferry. The bus seems fairly prominently placed (right next to the tower from "The War Lord", I have no idea if it was used in a significant movie of the moment. "Ciao, Bastia!"??

And finally, here's a photo of a woman regarding a gigantic automobile, which turns out to be from "The Wiz", a 1978 film from director Sidney Lumet. In spite of the fact that the Broadway musical had been a huge hit, the movie was a commercial failure - I haven't seen it for decades, but seem to recall that it was a tough hang - it's possible my opinion would be different now. 

My supply of Universal Studios slides is getting slim, but there will be more!

Nice Randos!

Happy Friday! I have two very nice randos for you this time.

This first scan is from a slide hand-dated "April 12, 1968" - which means I can refer to Jason's Disneyland Almanac for some fun facts. April 12th was a Friday; the park was open from 9:00 AM 'til midnight. The high temperature was a pleasant 69º, dipping to 54º in the wee hours. In the photo, our photographer was in Tomorrowland, right next to the multi-trunked Senegal Palm. That flowerbed is full of colorful blossoms. Asters? Or some kind of fancy daisies? I have no idea, really! This angle is unique in my collection, I like the way the Skyway is angled overhead, passing (seemingly) above Rolly Crump's souvenir stand, while the blue Monorail sits at the station, waiting to zoom into hypersonic speeds.

Next is a nice photo from July, 1972. I'm kind of surprised that I don't have more good pictures of the Alice in Wonderland attraction, especially since a portion of the ride was outside, ready for any photographer to snap a pic. Here's a "snooty caterpillar" vehicle in lilac, with an impressive six guests aboard. I've always liked the detail of the "false eyes" on the sides. Most of the kids look sort of zonked out, but the girl with the orange top had fun, anyway. 

More Stuff From The Box

O yez, o yez! All rise for more STUFF FROM THE BOX! The honorable Judge Pepperidge is presiding. We're still enjoying (?) items from the tiny Westinghouse Automobile Lamp Kit box that you saw fairly recently. 

Our first item is this cool lucky coin from Aku Aku - a Polynesian restaurant in the venerable Stardust Casino in Las Vegas. Aku Aku debuted in 1960, and was there all the way until 1980, so it had a good long run. This coin has an Easter Island moai on the obverse, and as the reverse tells us, rubbing his nose brings good luck. Always a desirable attribute in Sparkleberg. I have several of these, the others being silver in color.

Here's a beautiful vintage photo (scrounged from the interwebs) of the large moai in front of the Stardust Casino - he's wearing a Santa Hat, just like the moai on Easter Island originally wore (needs verification). 

It's nice to meet the actual artist who carved that fairly authentic-looking moai - she isn't named, but clearly has much talent, as all of you can see.

I've mentioned my fondness for little employee pins before; it's actually been a while since I've bought any, but there was a time when I snatched up quite a few. They tend to be not much bigger than .5" or .75", and are sometimes made of 14 karat gold (I forgot to look to see if this was marked "14k"). This one belonged to a Phillips 66 Company employee (a multinational company headquartered in Houston Texas), given on the occasion of this person's 10th year with organization.

This next item is a vintage ID badge from the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation. Undated, but possibly from around WWII? The thing that gets me about this one is that photo. I'm sure the man was a fine, salt-of-the-earth fellow, but that picture is creepy. He looks like a ghost! Or maybe a zombie. Or a zombie ghost. "He's coming to get you, Barbara!". 

This next tiny brass-and-enamel pins (about .5" in length) was a mystery to me, but it only cost $20,000, so I bought it just for fun. There are several radio stations that used the WEEI call letters (including one in Rhode Island), but the lightbulb shape was a helpful clue: The Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston built and signed on this station as the first incarnation of WEEI, from which the call sign was derived. It was established... as a public relations vehicle... highlighting the usage of the latest and most advanced radio equipment. I am unsure of the "BEBBC" letters on this pin, perhaps one of you can figure that out. There's a lot more history than I can relate here, so click on THIS LINK if you are interested.

And lastly, here's a very nice little brass (or bronze) coin featuring the profile of Benjamin Franklin. It's a souvenir from the Benjamin Franklin Memorial (aka the "Franklin Institute") located in Philadelphia, which is one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States. While I have no date on this item, I would not be surprised if it was produced in the 1930s.

Stay tuned for more STUFF FROM THE BOX!

 

Parade, September 1985

Everybody loves a parade! Especially JG, who would never use the opportunity to hit some rides with shorter lines during the spectacle. NEVER, do you hear? 

Meanwhile, Sue B. has scanned more slides taken by her dad, Lou Perry - these are from Disneyland's 30th Birthday Parade. These are sort of random views of the parade and of Main Street area; it's a lot for one post (10 images), but they felt as if they belonged together, rather than split up.

I would imagine that dancing on top of a moving parade float takes some getting used to. And what if the float slams on its brakes because a deer runs across the street?? I'll bet it happens more often than you imagine. I've read that these dancers are trained to "tuck and roll", so that they incur no damage more serious than some mussed hair (but not too mussed).

The Queen of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland" is mercurial, temperamental, and pusillanimous. Well, OK, she's not pusillanimous, I just wanted to use a big word to impress you all. Did it work?

A Poppins Penguin has hopped out of a chalk painting and into our hearts. "Mr. Pepperidge, after studying the X-ray, we've determined that you have a penguin in your left ventricle, and we'll have to operate ASAP". "Jeepers!". The Tweedles are nearby. 

Hey! It's the Queen of Hearts again! Holding a bouquet of balloons, purchased at Party City. The Queen knows that balloons are the international symbol of friendship. There is a character in a blue dress behind the balloons, but we will never be able to identify her, and it is a fool's errand to even try.

I would expect the Town Square flagpole area to be packed with guests during a parade, and yet there is room to swing at least two mid-sized cats, much to my surprise. Since this was September, perhaps the crowds were a bit less than they would have been in July or August, since kids would be back in school (except for the lucky few whose parents were willing to pull them out of class for a day at the park). 

Whoa, what's in those shopping bags? Something bulky, and hopefully expensive. The lady in the pink ensemble looks like she walked off the set of "Miami Vice" (she played Sonny Crockett's love interest, Belinda Bikini, a forensics scientist & fashion model). 

It looks like this was the tail-end of the parade, you can see the Rope of Sadness being deployed by cast members. Don't be sad that the parade is over, be grateful that we had it to begin with. Bogdan and Alexei Tweedle, the Queen of Hearts, more Poppins Penguiins, and even Winnie The Pooh can be seen.

Other than the balloons, this corner of Town Square looks pretty "normal". I like that two Skyway gondolas are visible! 

Lou had a good view of the Opera House, which featured Wagner's most famous opera, The Walt Disney Story. If you have 9 hours, you can watch the entire thing. In the end, Walt drives a magic sword into an evil (and smelly) ogre named Fronk. SPOILER ALERT.

And finally, here's a kind of neat look up Main Street as the final float heads toward the Castle. It's fun to see it with everyone milling in the street. Look closely, you can see Mary Poppins' hat at the base of the float.

MANY THANKS to Lou and Sue!!