S.S. Priscilla, Great Danbury Fair, October 1958

Today's "Anything Goes Saturday" images were a mystery to me; we see a small, unusual-looking sternwheeler on a glassy body of water, with the name "S.S. Priscilla" visible on the life preservers on the upper level (the "hot dog deck", I believe). It turns out that this was enough of a clue - the "steamboat" was at the Great Danbury Fair, in Danbury, Connecticut, circa October, 1958. We've visited the Danbury Fair before, take a look HERE and HERE. I love the modest, charming look of this boat - it's almost a piece of folk art.

I have no doubt that the Great Danbury Fair was a beloved event for folks within driving distance. In the background of both photos, we can see tantalizing hints of other offerings, such as the barn in the first pic, of the Cider Mill or "Eagle Hose Co." in this image.
 

This vintage postcard was what helped me ID the two vintage slide scans!

Nice Randos

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. 

It's surprising how often photos of the park are practically devoid of kids; but there are a few in this picture, leading me to believe that this was probably a Saturday. Who knows! Up on the train platform, there appears to be quite a crowd waiting for the next ride.
 

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. 

Enchanted Tiki Room Brochure, 1963

Oh boy, vintage Disneyland ephemera! My favorite. Today I am featuring a wonderful 1963 brochure printed for the "World Premier Engagement" of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (which debuted on June 23rd of '63). These are rare-ish, but usually fetch high prices on the collector's market, often over $200. The cover graphics show talking tikis, a hint to what guests would see inside the attraction.

Unfolding the brochure once, we see an add for "Papotin's Revue", a "unique musical fantasy starring the incomparable puppet-master, André Tahon”. It was an "E" coupon attraction! For a puppet show! I gather that Papotin's Revue was only at the park (in the Fantasyland Theater) for a few months.

Unfolding it further, you can now see both sides of this item. We'll take a closer look!

It's fun to think of how amazing the Tiki Room show must have been to audiences in 1963, when "Audio Animatronics" was something new. I'm so glad that we can still enjoy it, 63 years later!

They pulled out all the stops for this paper item, with full-color on this page - it's probably not the first use of full color in a Disneyland brochure, but it has to be one of the first. See! Hear! Enjoy!

While the "Papotin's Revue" version of this brochure is the most commonly seen ("common" being a relative term), you'll sometimes find one (if you are lucky) with this ad for the 4th Annual Dixieland at Disneyland event, which included Al Hirt and His Band, The Dukes of Dixieland, Kid Ory and the Young Men From New Orleans, and MORE! I'd say the Papotin version is the one you'll find 90% of the time.

And, just as rare, or perhaps rarer, is a version of the brochure with a blank back. A mutual friend and I agree that they should have printed something there. And yet, here it is, with nothing at all. Collect all three and be the hero of your neighborhood (like me)! 

New Orleans Square, 1960s

Somebody was awfully impressed with the ornate wrought iron of New Orleans Square, which had presumably opened relatively recently. We all need more wrought iron in our lives! Think about it. They should have had an animatronic Walt open those shutters and poke his head out of the window, maybe he could even wink at the people below. I've got ideas.

OK, OK, technically this water tower was located at Frontierland Station - it would not be renamed "New Orleans Square Station" until 1996. But give me some slack (and send me some money while you're at it!). If you time things just right, you might see four beautiful sisters bathing in the water tower (yes, the roof is removable, thanks for asking).
 

More Big Thunder

"Hey, Mysterious Benefactor! Do ya gots more photos of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad?". "Sure thing, Major Pepperidge!". Gosh, what a guy.

 It's hard to believe that Big Thunder has been with us (at Disneyland) for around 47 years, opening on September 2, 1979. The much-missed Rainbow Caverns Mine Train/Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland was only there for 21 years.

After seeing so many vintage photos of Rainbow Ridge, certain buildings are like old wooden friends who never borrow money (the best kind of friend!). That pointy-roofed structure used to be the El Dorado Hotel, and the "adobe" structure mostly out of frame was "Miner's Hardware". 

Nobody does crusty old wooden buildings like Disney. The crustier, the better. Just look at that filth! It makes me smile just thinking about it. 

This next one went pretty dark, and my attempts to lighten it only got me so far. I guess I'd forgotten that Big Thunder was "the biggest little  boom town in the West". I thought that was Oxnard! (Sorry, I couldn't resist).

I wonder if this lettering and decoration was all done by hand, in the finest pin-striping tradition? Or is it a mere decal? 

The next two feature guests on board their soon-to-be-runaway mine train; the people have a 1980s vibe, at least to me. I hope the guy with the hat didn't lose his chapeau along the way, though he has nobody to blame but himself, since the spiel warned people to "hold on to their hats and glasses".

The thing that stood out to me the most in this picture is the building in the background, which (I suppose) is Casa Mexicana (formerly Casa de Fritos), I honestly don't ever remember seeing those pointed, thatched roofs before.

MANY THANKS to the Mysterious Benefactor for sharing these scans with us!

Two From August 1962

Here are two fairly standard scans from August 1962; not particularly exciting, but nice enough that they could have appeared in a publication of some kind. They didn't, but they could have!

A lonely Streetcar driver wonders why nobody loves him. "I'm polite, I bathe once a week, and I sing Johnny Mathis songs to my passengers. What more do they want from me??". I'm happy to report that later this same day, the driver met a woman who was wearing a "I ❤️ Streetcar Drivers" button, and they lived happily ever after. 

It seems crazy to describe a scene of a Submarine in a tropical lagoon with a yellow Monorail overhead as "standard", but it's standard for Disneyland. There's a traffic jam on the Autopia!

Snoozles™ From December 1962

I just scanned a batch of slides date-stamped "December, 1962", and there are some very nice photos in the batch. Mostly! Today I'll share two of the problematic pix. 

I give the photographer credit for attempting to take a picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle at night, presumably without a tripod. It's a little bit blurry, but honestly, it's not that bad!

Earlier in the day, the Oom-Pa-Pa band marched through Fantasyland; or is it a band?? Only one of the costumed fellows seems to be holding an instrument (What is it? A French horn? A mini-tuba?). Maybe the other guys yodel. Again, not a bad photo, but it could be better! 

Vintage People

Sometimes it's just fun to look at Vintage People. You get a sense of what life was like 50 or 60 years ago.

We'll start with this photo (dated June 1966) of some family members posing in front of their post-War home. The dog must be snoozing in the backyard! Mom leans on her son for an amusing tableau, while sis looks cool on her motorcycle. Right after this photo was taken, she drove downtown for a rumble!

Next, from August 1968 comes this portrait of a pretty woman enjoying some time at the shore. The sand! The sound of the waves! Seagulls! Colorful umbrellas! Hopefully there was a snack shack nearby where she could go to get a hotdog and Coke, the perfect thing for a day at the beach.

 

Two Nice Ones

Here are two nice Randos for you on this warm Friday. We'll start with this great view from April, 1973, as guests exit the park. There's still plenty of daylight left, so I can only assume that they all remembered that they left the stove on. It's the only excuse I'll accept! It looks like April (of 1973) would have been a great time to go to the park, it's a perfect day. You can just see a sign for the GAF Photo Trail to the left (the blue sign). "GAF - Our Film Is Terrible!". That should have been their slogan, anyway.

It's quite amazing to see a rare photo of Waldo himself, minus his knit cap and glasses (at some point he'd had lasik surgery).

Next is this nice portrait of Screechy the Iggle as she soars (?) above the Fantasyland Autopia queue, circa June, 1967. I like that a guest appreciated the noble magnificence of Screechy and wanted to capture this awesomeness in a photo.

November, 1961

I realized that it's been quite some time since I shared some scans of slides that were very faded and pink. As usual, I attempted to color-correct them, and they definitely look better, though they still leave something to be desired. 

So... here's one, in its unrestored state. Pretty bad!

The restoration improved things a lot, we even have a bit of blue in the sky. There's still a pinkish cast to some of the buildings; after fiddling around with it for a while, I decided that this was about as good as I was going to get. Imagine going to the park on a November day (presumably a weekday), and seeing it so empty! Walt was surely not happy about it, but the holidays were approaching, and I'm sure tens of thousands of people would show up soon.

Next: Fantasyland, right next to Merlin's Magic Shop (to the right). There's not a child to be seen! 

Well, there might be a youngster or two on King Arthur's Carrousel. I'll call the truant officer immediately!  There are some fun details, like the Keppy Cap in the window of Merlin's (above a sign advertising Kodak Film); the funny little ticket booth; the sign telling us that the Carrousel was 10 cents, and the yellow sign with general ticket information.