Walt Disney World at Night - Barber Shop and City Hall

Let's continue with some nice nighttime photos from the Magic Kingdom, from November 1971! 

I love that Florida's Main Street U.S.A. has a working barber shop - a feature that was never at Disneyland (which, in retrospect, surprises me). My theory is that the heat and humidity in Orlando causes hair to grow quickly and luxuriously, so a tonsorial parlor is a necessity. An old-fashioned barber pole is prominently displayed, so you can probably have a nice bloodletting to drain off the bad humours. Bring a friend!

There's a fella getting his ears lowered. I am amazed to learn that you can still get your hair cut at the Harmony Barber Shop today. "How would you like your hair cut, sir?". "Surprise me, George". Can you have your own personal shaving mug at the ready (as seen to the left)? Or are those just for display purposes?

I've been through more than a few small midwestern towns, and some of them bear a passing resemblance to Main Street U.S.A. Not many of them have a city hall as fancy as the one at Walt Disney World, however. It is what my grandpa would have called "A lulu". Like Hemingway, Gramps had a way with words.

Stay tuned for more night shots of the Magic Kingdom.

Even More from Huck!

We're getting down to the last of the fun cast member photos (circa 1979) that our pal Huck Caton has been sharing with us - there's one more post after today's!

This first one feature's Huck's then-girlfriend Diane; he labeled this photo, "Diane and the rodents"!

Next we get another photo with the Fab Five and the whole Bell crew.

This one shows Diane and another Bell employee in front of America the Beautiful. Huck says, "You can see all the other Bell people waiting their turn, reflected in the glass! (I have no idea why that cat has his hand in Donald's mouth. Whoa!)".

PS: Peoplemover alert!

Here's is Diane and another girl working at the theater exit / Phone Center position.

MANY thanks as always to Huck for taking the time to scan his personal photos and share his memories. These are so much fun!

Rediscovered Treasures

Here are two more rediscovered slides, rescued from the ol' reject bin thanks to unicorns and my new scanner. But mostly unicorns.

Like this view of Storybook Land as seen from the Skyway; I did a search on Google (and elsewhere), and I'll be damned if I can find this exact photo. Maybe you can! But I am operating on the assumption that this is the first time we've seen it. Those scrawny trees probably didn't last long - were they removed when the Alice in Wonderland attraction was added in 1958? I always get a kick out of seeing the backstage area beyond the berm.

Zooming in to the right... what do you think those boys are so excited to see? Many of the rides that come to mind were not yet there in '56.

Based on the picture-book style billboard near Monstro, I think it is safe to assume that this is from 1956. 

After another Google search, I found similar photos taken from nearly the same angle, but not this exact image. The slide was undated, but I believe that it is from 1959. The Columbia is in Fowler's Harbor (it spends a lot of time there), with one Keel Boat to the left of it, and another docked (?) at Tom Sawyer Island. In the foreground, guests line up on a dock next to the Chicken Plantation, awaiting a raft that will ferry them over to the island.

Stay tuned for more rediscovered treasures!

New Scans From Old Slides

Today I present two slides that (as far as I can tell) have never been posted on GDB before, even though they were found in boxes of old, previously-scanned images. 

This first one was probably omitted because it had turned a terrible shade of deep pink; even now, my attempt at color correction is only just passable. But I like the early (August 14th, 1956) look at the entrance to Adventureland. It reminds me of the old two-strip Technicolor films, with the "not quite right" hues. The white wire fencing surrounding that planter seems to have only been used in the first year or so. Two ladies are about to enter beneath the crude archway, followed by a man who I am almost certain is a priest (or parson!). We all know (from decades of "New Yorker" cartoons) that priests who enter the jungle will inevitably wind up in a giant cast iron pot.

This next one is from May, 1958, taken in (or rather, in back of) Main Street Station. Perhaps all of that bunting is present because of Memorial Day? Notice the sign for the Grand Canyon Diorama. My favorite detail is the man with the movie camera as he films two stylish ladies pretending not to notice him!

Vintage People!

Today I have two slides (plus details) with vintage views of vintage people!

Let's start out with this first one, featuring a gaggle of kids decked out in various costumes. The slide is hand labeled, "Parade of Children of Beaconsfield, 6-1957". There is a Beaconsfield, Iowa (population: 15), but that doesn't seem to match up to this photo at all. The only other place in the U.S. that seems to make sense is a neighborhood in Brookline, Massachusetts (which is a part of Boston). 

I was a bit baffled by the combination of the American Flag and the costumes, but Flag Day is on June 14th; I am unaware of children dressing up for Flag Day, but hey, it could happen.

Aw, just look at those li'l ragamuffins. Is that one of the Olson twins to the right?

This next one is unlabeled and undated, which is frustrating. I had hoped that the license plate on the automobile would at least give us a State, but it is not clear. Anyway, it is still a neat portrait of the congregation of St. John's Lutheran Church; there are a lot of "St. John's" churches, in places like Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Maryland, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and so on. The name of the State (on the car's plate) appears to be two words, so one of the Carolinas seems as likely as any.

Zooming in, we get a better look at these folks, mostly in their Sunday best (ignore those little boys). 

I hope you have enjoyed these vintage people!

More Fantasyland Construction, 1982

Here are two more scans of some photo prints, circa 1982, as construction continues in preparation for the "New Fantasyland", which debuted on May 25th, 1983.

This first one isn't too terribly different from one that we saw in the previous post; only this time we are closer to the building that will house "Pinocchio's Daring Journey".  

It is very apparent that those buildings next to the castle are just big industrial sheds - "Peter Pan's Flight" is just an empty barn. I think that the hexagonal structure is a planter for a tree, but I could be wrong. It is odd to see the "stone" walls stripped down to reveal the wooden 2 X 4s beneath. 

Vintage Postcards - Coney Island, Ohio

Today is the eighth installment of GDB featuring vintage postcards from the collection of Ken Martinez! This time we're visiting Coney Island - but (perhaps) not the one you are thinking of! Here's Ken:

Before Kings Island there was Coney Island

Not the Coney Island of Brooklyn, New York, but of Cincinnati, Ohio. Coney Island was built along the banks of the Ohio River which allowed riverboats to bring patrons to the park. Because of its location it was also prone to flooding. Edward Schott, the owner and son of the original founder of Coney Island, always stressed cleanliness in the park by making sure trash was not left lying around and the landscaping was manicured and well kept. When Walt and Roy Disney visited amusement parks across the country in 1953 for ideas about Disneyland, one of the parks that impressed them was Coney Island, Ohio. Due to Schott's efforts, which gave Coney Island, Ohio the clean amusement park image, he was one of several key men consulted by Disney during the planning of Disneyland.

The Land of Oz was the kiddie-land section of the park. Later, Kings Island would feature a theme area for children called the "Happyland of Hanna-Barbera".

Here's an example of the beautiful and meticulous landscaping throughout the park. The architectural style of the Skee Ball building is pretty cool too.

The Shooting Star was an L-shaped out-and-back wooden coaster built from the original lift hill and final spiral of the old Clipper coaster.

Here the Sky Ride travels along the Coney Island Mall. The park looks great with the formal landscaping and beautiful central fountain.

This last postcard sort of reminds me of Disneyland with the Sky Ride gliding across while the fireworks explode in the sky.

In 1969, Taft Broadcasting purchased Coney Island and announced it was building a new theme park near Cincinnati. Following the 1970 season, the park was closed and many of the rides were transferred to the new theme park known as Kings Island. (One of the theme areas of the new park was "Coney Island" which recreated the look and feel of the old park). Coney Island was popular right up to the end and some of its components still remained open after the amusement park was closed. The park still exists today and is an amusement center once again, albeit on a smaller scale.

Hope you enjoyed!

Information source material:

The Great American Amusement Park, copyright 1976 by Gary Kyriazi

Funland U.S.A. copyright 1978 by Tim Onosko

The American Amusement Park copyright 2001 - Dale Samuelson

THANK YOU as always to Ken Martinez for sharing his awesome collection of Vintage amusement park postcards with us! Stay tuned for Part Nine, coming soon.

Rescan Theater! Clock of the World, 1957

I have rescanned more slides (with my fancypants new scanner) that have already appeared here on GDB - sometimes they were originally seen as long as nine years ago. For now I am generally redoing the slides that have turned magenta to one degree or another. In some cases the results have been quite nice!

Here's one that I originally posted back in 2006. At the time it seemed OK to me. What a fool I was!

Here's the redo; what a difference! It's not perfect, but still, a huge improvement. Some of this is due to the fact that I am more proficient with Photoshop than I was back in 2006. But I love seeing the blue skies again, and that weird orange cast is gone. 

I can't help pointing out the orange tree in the background - for some reason I always enjoy seeing those. Jimmy Durante is fascinated with the Clock of the World, while I am fascinated with those rare attraction posters.

Just beyond Jimmy we can see that the House of the Future is in the early stages of construction. Pretty cool, no?

I thought I was rescanning this next example, but after doing a search on my blog, it seems that I must have skipped it originally. It's possible that the big lamp globe in the foreground bugged me, though it doesn't any more. Anyway, we've got a wonderful (undated) look at an early Town Square. Those two custodians near the flagpole are placing bets as to whether that guy is about to drop his cigarette butt. 

Zooming in resulted in a soft image, but we can still see the banner that says, "Disneyland Welcomes The Santa Fe Ry Directors". Meanwhile, there's a sign on the horse drawn streetcar that says "Santa Fe Ry Director's Special".

Stay tuned for more rescans and rediscovered treasures!

Vintage Disneyland & Santa Fe Railroad Tickets!

Years ago, I shared some of my vintage tickets on the Vintage Disneyland Tickets blog (where else?) - one of my favorite Disneyland blogs, which has now gone the way of the dodo. Anyway, I figured that I could certainly share those same tickets here without too many complaints.

Both of today's tickets are for the Santa Fe & Disneyland R.R., and are quite scarce, especially in this never-used condition. Notice the "conductor's check" at the far right - this is the part that was usually torn off by the ticket taker.

Mr. Vintage Disneyland Tickets estimated that these are from 1957, and who am I to argue? Each ticket stub lists only three depots - Main Street, Frontierland, and Fantasyland. No Tomorrowland Depot, which opened in 1958. Love that "Globe" watermark!

Here is a pink version - both tickets are for adult riders, so I'm not sure if the color had any significance. Other than the hue (and the serial number) they are essentially identical. I still remember when these were offered to me - - I was not going to buy them; a good friend of mine told me that I would be crazy to pass them up. He was right!

I have a few additional DLRR tickets to share in a future post.

Vintage Black and White - 1955-ish

Here are two fun, early scans from large-format negatives! Let's start with this interesting photo of one of the Horse Drawn Streetcars resting somewhere backstage under a very humble structure; does anybody know where this location is? Of course my favorite detail is the two ladies in their Main Street cast member garb, probably eating lunch on the front seat. That's what I would want to do!

The next image, featuring the wonderful C.K. Holliday locomotive, is supposedly from 1955, though there is no proof; however, I do believe that it is very early, and you can see some red, white and blue bunting on the side of the freight car - possibly left over from opening day.