Fantasyland, June 1965

Here's a particularly crisp and clear shot of the Matterhorn as seen from the Skyway... since we are on the left side, we are heading towards the mountain, and will pass through to Tomorrowland. The Skyway buckets are painted in wonderful metallic shades of copper, bronze, and pewter, appearing warmer in the late-afternoon sun.


Meanwhile, up on the summit, Hans und Franz discuss how to prevent their lederhosen from chafing. Hans prefers talcum powder, while Franz thinks that corn starch is the best.


If this scary scary skull was still there, they could have converted it into a "dream suite". I definitely would have wanted to stay there in spite of the cramped quarters... just give me a hammock and a small black and white TV.

A Trip To Disneyland, July 1958 - Part Nine

Today we'll spend a bit more time in Frontierland, down by the ol' river, as we continue our visit to Disneyland, 1958 style.

You might be lucky enough to spy a Stagecoach, carrying passengers, the U.S. mail, and the a few lock boxes full of money. Look at all those kids on top! Hope they are hanging on tight.


You might also see a conestoga wagon, named after General William P. Conestoga. OK, that's a lie. Please don't use that information in your next history report. These wagons wouldn't be around for too much longer...


Say, that's not just a friendly Indian Village, it's THE friendly Indian Village! I hope that they don't mind if I crash for a few nights, just until I get a money order from my rich uncle William P. Conestoga. Oh, and I want flapjacks for breakfast.


And there's Chief Friendly himself. He spends a lot of time watching the river, because he doesn't have a television. The passing Mark Twain is the most exciting thing in his life. His pals are shy, and remain higher up the hill, hoping that he will ask one of them to join him. But he never will.

Four From July 14, 1964

July 14, 1964: mere days from Disneyland's ninth anniversary. Which doesn't have much to do with these pictures, it just gives me something to write about.

Town Square looks like a nice place to relax, too bad it is the first thing you see when you get to Disneyland! All I'm thinking about is getting to my favorite attractions, I'm in no mood to relax. One time I stopped in at the Wurlitzer store and I bought a piano. Nothing crazy, just a modest upright. I didn't want to pay for shipping so I pushed it around with me all day. By the evening, I started to think that was a mistake.


The Surrey is waiting for someone - anyone - to hop on board. Come on folks, what else are you gonna do with those "A" tickets? I like the contrast between the black surrey and the snow-white horses. I'll call them "Edgar Winter" and "Johnny Winter".


Here's a fairly decent photo of the Disneyland Hotel (although I wish there was more hotel and less blue sky). The name on the sign, "hotel Disneyland", has a continental flavor, as does the restaurant, "Le Gourmet". You can see le Monorail track, where you could hop on board and go directly to le park.


All of the churros in Disneyland use flour that was ground at Harper's Mill. As far as I know. A zoom lens has flattened the perspective, making the Mark Twain feel like it is mere feet behind Tom Sawyer Island (I guess it was pretty close, anyway), and the brand-new Haunted Mansion façade looms right behind the Twain.

Hoagies, July 25 1961

Some people call them "subs", but I call them "hoagies". It's a throwback to my years living in Pennsylvania! Today I have two views of the hoagies at Disneyland.

How can you look at this scene and NOT want to ride this attraction? Maybe the long line kept some people away, that's understandable. Claustrophobia is another good reason, sure. And hydrophobia and icthyophobia (fear of water and fish), those are good too. Wait a minute, I have all of those phobias, I'm never going on this ride!


See ya, suckers! While you're down there, terrified, I'll be up here dry and unmolested by fish.

Two From June 1960

Yo homies, I'm back from a few days off, it was nice to take a little break. It's time to start revving up the old scanner so that I can get some new images ready for you. Today's photos are not very exciting, but they are better than a poke in the eye with a burning stick.

Main Street Station, elevation 138 feet. Good to know. I can't quite make out the population, it might be 15 million (people, not tribbles). It's 3:26, and the wind is blowing from the southwest. Humidity is at 30 percent. Maybe. Who knows? I'm not the Amazing Kreskin. I sure wish I owned one of those flags with the blue castle and the word "Disneyland" on it!


There's just something about fishing! My parents used to take us to a trout farm in a place called.... Troutdale (in Agoura), and we used bamboo poles, with corn niblets for bait. There was no way you would be skunked, you always caught a fish. And that's probably the way it was at Disneyland. Folks didn't want to carry their cleaned-and-wrapped fish around all day, understandably. I would have set mine free in the Jungle Cruise river or the castle moat, where it would have mutated into a gelatinous Lovecraftian monster.

1000th POST!

Yessirree, today marks the 1000th ever-lovin' post on "Gorillas Don't Blog". There's just something about the number 1000 that is very satisfying, it feels like a real milestone. ONE THOUSAND! Say it slooooowly. Oh yeah, that's the stuff!

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I have some supa-cool pictures to share with you.

Check out this oddity... there's some sort of show going on in the middle of Fantasyland. Hmmmm, two ladies in bathing suits; one is a bulky old fashioned wool thing, like great-grandma might have worn. The other, a sparkling silver, shape-hugging, eye-popping little number. One of the red parasols solves some of the mystery, since it says "Cole of California"; CoC sold bathing suits, and they had a shop on Main Street briefly (no pun intended). This must have been some sort of attempt to drum up interest in the store... so odd that it is in Fantasyland, though it would have been just as odd on Main Street. I love that leer on the guy to the right, he is having the best day ever!


Now take a look at this beauty taken from the Tomorrowland Skyway station. The Skyway must have been brand-spankin' new; Snow Hill looks very raw and relatively unplanted. There's the Yacht Bar (in its original location), and Tomorrowland Lake to the right (where the Phantom Boats used to play). In the distance...


... there is a big old tent. I might even be bold enough to say a big honkin' tent. The Mickey Mouse Club Circus used to live in this tent; but they took their toys and went home, leaving Professor Keller and his ferocious felines to hold down the fort for a little while longer. One lone Junior Autopia car can be seen here, the two boys in the Skyway bucket are completely entranced!


Speaking of the Skyway, here's a nice moody photo taken at dusk, looking up towards the buckets being launched from the Tomorrowland station. I've always loved the "Eamesy", fanciful windcatchers and whirligigs that added color and movement to the area.


Looks like the ol' TWA Moonliner is getting some fresh paint. Or something. I originally thought that this might be a pre-opening image, but I am not so sure anymore. In any case, it is a pretty fantastic shot of the rocket.


Here are two Main Street Vehicles, a Horseless Carriage and an Omnibus, far from their usual haunts. They are both about to head around Snow Hill, through the west corner of Tomorrowland, and back to more appropriate territory. Looks like there is a restroom right in front of us, thank god. Based on this photo, I think that a Viewliner station is out of frame to our right.


And finally, a photo that is a tribute to the very first image that I posted back on May 12, 2006. I have a better scanner now! We'll see a bit more of this mom and her kids, circa 1957. Don't know why I didn't scan them way back then...


As always, I'd like to thank all of the regular readers who stop by day after day, and a very special thanks to those of you who take the time to comment. I've gone through a considerable portion of my Disneyland slide collection, and am not sure how much longer I can keep the blog going, but I can pretty much guarantee that there won't be another 1000! You'll probably notice an increase in non-Disneyland slides as I try to pad things out. Hopefully you will still find them interesting...

Meanwhile, I'll be taking a few days off, so please come back for a new post on Saturday!

4 Knott's Beauties, 1950's

Here are four super nice pictures from everyone's favorite berry farm, circa the nineteam-fittys.

When gas prices go back up (and they will), I predict that the humble stagecoach will make a comeback! We will see the freeways clogged with 'em. I love this very rustic load area, made of logs and palm fronds. And look at the beautiful trees and greenery everywhere. What an inviting place to be! I would imagine that a ride on the stage would have cost somewhere in the neighborhood of two bits - maybe less.


Here's another nice photo of the Stage (two of them, actually). Even now I can imagine the smell of the lovely eucalyptus trees, such a shame that they are all gone now. The stage is about to pass one of the genuine San Francisco cable cars; some of them actually went around the park, I believe. This one looks pretty decrepit!


The seals are in a playful mood here, probably whipped into a frenzy at the prospect of eating little dead fish! I get the same way. Two of the seals rest on an artificial iceberg, while the others swim gracefully through the geen water.I wonder if all of those small black boxes on the fence were trash receptacles so that people wouldn't throw their cigarette butts and gum wrappers into the water?


What are you lookin' at, kid? He grew up to be one of the Sex Pistols, judging by that sneer. The outfit that he is wearing looks just like what I am wearing right now! Old Betsy, the borax mine special, is what I like to call a "fixer upper". A little elbow grease, some Bondo, and she'll be as good as new.

Babes in Disneyland, 1969

Today's photographer enjoyed many things about Disneyland, and that definitely included pretty girls! There are more than a few pictures of lovely cast members and (in today's case) fellow guests. Ya can't blame him for looking!

This woman is dressed fairly provocatively, even for the late 60's. She's baring her midriff, as is her friend behind her. I'm trying to decide if this is a European look, or a Southern California look. It is easy to imagine her dancing the frug or the watusi by an open fire on the beach on a summer night! The boys waiting in line don't mind what the view.


There she is again, leaving the Golden Horseshoe Revue. Our photographer needs to stop following her around, it's just getting sort of creepy.


This attractive blonde might be auditioning to be Alice in Wonderland. Well, OK, probably not. There are two other very pretty blondes in her group - sisters? - so he got three birds with one photo.


And lastly, he surreptitiously snapped this picture of three stylish ladies waiting for Godot. Or something. Two of 'em like plaid outfits and upswept hairdos.

Random Sunday

Like the title of the post says, things are random today. Leftovers with no particular theme are on the menu.

Here's a nice shot of the old Astro Jets as they spin and spin, and then spin some more. Look at those crazy hot shots who have exceeded the maximum altitude! Without supplementary oxygen, they are sure to black out and lose control.


I like the detail in this panorama taken from the top of the Mark Twain... to the left you can see the crude wooden souvenir stands of the Zocalo Market, and beyond that is the Mineral Hall, Assay Office, and entrance to the Mine Train queue. To the right, the Trading Post.


"If you look to your left, you'll see a guy in a blue windbreaker; you might remember him from, er, Pinocchio."

New York World's Fair Re-revisited!

Welcome back to the '64 World's Fair. "Peace Through Understanding", baby!

Here's a view of the roof ("Moondeck"!) of the Eastman Kodak pavilion, which had hills and valleys, and resembled some strange Martian city with an awesome skate park. Rad! You had many great views of the Fair from up here, and hopefully used lots of rolls of Kodak film.


The Westinghouse exhibit displayed a replica of the time capsule that was buried during the 1939/40 Fair. That little girl is scratching her name into it! GET HER! Elsewhere, there was a new capsule that documented the latest notable inventions and information: "... television, wonder drugs, nuclear explosions, the exploration of space. The new Time Capsule will include 50,000 pages of microfilmed information on these and other scientific and social advances. Visitors may sign a book that will go into the capsule."


Here's a view that may have been taken from the Swiss Sky Ride, looking towards the New York State pavilion. The open-air rotunda had a suspension roof made up of huge colored plastic panels, and the floor was a giant terrazo map of the state.


The U.S. was space-crazy in the 60's, with the goal to reach the moon by the end of the decade. I wonder if we ever made it? Over at the U.S. Space Park, you could feast your eyes on all kinds of sexy hardware designed to take man higher and faster than ever before. Like this X-15 rocket plane, which set speed and altitude records ... reaching the edge of outer space and returning with valuable data used in aircraft and spacecraft design. Even today it still holds the world record for the fastest speed ever reached by a manned aircraft.


Also on view over at the U.S. Space Park, you could see "... a Project Mercury spaceship which has orbited the earth, a Gemini two-man spacecraft, a model of the Apollo, which will carry men to the moon, and a Mercury capsule in which youngsters may take a simulated space ride. Also shown are... lunar and interplanetary satellites, and Thor-Delta, Atlas and Titan II rockets. College science majors act as guides." College science majors, WOW!


EXTRA! EXTRA! If you are curious about what's left of the '64 World's Fair, please check out this EXCELLENT writeup, courtesy of Ed Crimmins at his "Daily Kos" blog. I am happy that he used a few of my photos for his well-researched photo essay. Check it out HERE!