Main Street 1950s

I scanned some glass-mounted slides, those always present unique problems. Trapped air and dust are there forever; and sometimes (like these), they aren't as sharp as I'd like. I'm always so tempted to remove them from the mounts, but that feels so wrong.

Anyway, here we are in the Plaza; it's an unusual angle, I don't have another like it in my entire collection. We're somewhere on the east side of the Plaza. Notice the back of the Monsanto sign to our right, dating this to "after 1958". All that grass is taking up space when a cart could be selling bubble-blowing toys. This is why I hate grass! And trees! We can also see two Horseless Carriages and one Horse Drawn Streetcar, not to mention the Carnation Plaza Gardens.

Next, a classic popcorn cart, with a boy trying to make up his mind, even though the cart only offers one thing (I don't see any signs mentioning peanuts or Fritos brand corn chips). The sweeper looks like he's about to perform a song and dance routine. Anything can happen at Disneyland! The popcorn vendor spends most of his time looking at pretty girls, or his shoes, depending on the situation. 

Here's a random thought: are the "crenellations" on top of the popcorn cart a sort of anti-pigeon measure?

Birthday time!

Hey, did you know that it's our pal Stu's birthday? Well it is! And Sue B. provided us with yet another great vintage birthday photo (date unknown). Presumably the boy wielding the fork is the honoree, and judging by the candles he is turning 39. A great time in any boy's life! The kid to the right is upset that it isn't his birthday. Too bad, clone, you don't even have a birthday! The name on the cake appears to be "BOA", which, let's face it, is a pretty badass name.

And now, onto some LEFTUGGIES™! There's always room for them. First up is this nice photo of Main Street Station. It's undated, but Daveland has a photo or two with those same flags of the world on display, and he says his date from August, 1959.  Just a month or so after the "New Tomorrowland" made its debut, though I don't know if the flags had anything to do with that.

Next is this beautiful shot looking north on Main Street as people relax on benches in Town Square. Bunting courtesy of The Bunting Boys. The Castle is sort of hidden behind a few strategically-placed leaves, you'd hardly know it was there. Why this could just be an exceptionally neat and tidy real main street! 

O little drinking fountain, dost thou dream? For whence and whyfor? Man, I'm poetic as heck. I enjoy seeing those 48-star flags on the lamp posts. Why would any country need more than 48 States, I ask you? Notice the three men in white shirts in ties heading toward us as if they were meeting up with the other Reservoir Dogs. 

 

Disneyland Ephemera

You know how you sometimes crave certain foods? Potato chips? Vanilla ice cream? Ritz crackers? Well I suddenly had a craving for vintage Disneyland ephemera. Not to eat (that would be crazy!), just to look at and appreciate. 

First up is this rather scarce flyer; this side advertises Disneyland After Dark, "Where the night is bright with the glitter of lights and live entertainment". The Royal Tahitians! The Space Men with Kay Bell! The Ward Gospel Singers! Yes, I know you can read too, but I like to show off. While I assume that Disneyland After Dark ran for most of the busy Summer months, this flyer specifically mentions mid-July for Music Made Famous by Glenn Miller.

The other side advertises the Starlite Ticket Books, special books for guests arriving after 6:00 PM, with two admissions so that you can bring your sweetheart with you to dance the night away. Happily, the text on this side helps to date this item to 1963. Meanwhile, a "Deluxe 15" book for adults was $4.95 - which sounds incredibly cheap, but adjusted for inflation, it was the equivalent of nearly $50. A bargain by today's standards, but perhaps a bit much for your average high school or college student. You could just pay for general admission after 6:00 and go see all of the live performances at no additional charge!

Next is this unusual envelope (why did somebody save this for over 60 years??) from Pacific Telephone with a fun stamp as part of the postmark. "See the BELL SYSTEM Exhibit at Disneyland". By golly, I'll do it! 

And finally I love this clever mailer from the Disneyland Hotel. Were they free as a courtesy to Hotel guests? That would be my assumption, but I don't really know. In any case, what you are seeing is the side with printing, including color photos of the Hotel. As you can see, there is a space where this mailer could be addressed. On the other side, you could tell your friend or loved one all about your exciting and fun time at Disneyland (and your side trip to Knott's Berry Farm). Then.... just fold it, add your stamp, and drop it in the nearest mailbox. I think this is from the 1980s, but perhaps one of you knows for sure.

I hope you have enjoyed today's selection of Disneyland Ephemera!

Super Skyway, May 1960

You probably haven't seen a photo of Disneyland as taken from the Skyway in at least 20 minutes, so here are two to keep you from going bananas. They're from May, 1960, when the Skyway was less than a year old.

I'm not sure why, but I always like photos where we get a feel for what it was like to be way up in the air, with so much to look at down below. Meanwhile, gondolas heading the opposite direction pass by close enough so that you can hand a jar of Grey Poupon if you wanted to (yes, you'd have to stretch). Our photographer was facing back towards the Tomorrowland Skyway terminal (where the line is considerable), and was heading backwards. The Autopia is beneath that red gondola, and the Space Bar is to our right. The berm does a great job of blocking the outside world.

Perhaps the guest did a round trip, because now they are headed backwards towards the Tomorrowland terminal. There are no visible bobsleds on the mountain, so don't buy a lottery ticket today. As always, I love those original metallic gondola colors!

Adventureland Snoozles™

You should know by now that Snoozles™ are generally problematic. Not offensive, just flawed. Which is why they have been relegated to a slow Sunday.

Let's start with this way-too-dark phot of the Swiss Family Treehouse. I'd like to tell myself that the silhouetted tree is artistic, but... who am I fooling? Nobody! It does look pretty spooky though, which makes me think that it could make for a fun Halloween overlay. Tasteful, not dumb, please! Perhaps the walkways are too confined and the elevated platforms would be too risky to have ghost monkeys (See? Tasteful!) jumping out at guests.

I know that Swiss Miss makes great hot cocoa. "Zambesi Miss" also makes great hot cocoa, only it has those little marshmallows. See what you learn here on GDB? I don't want to go into that jungle, it is way too dark and scary. Vampire Elephants and Zombi Giraffes might leap out at any moment! 

Birthday and Sub Lagoon (March 1965)

Before we get to the Disneyland photos, let's wish our buddy Ken S. a very Happy Birthday! He and his friends will be going to a laser tag place, and then they will get pizza at Shakey's, and then it's home for cake, ice cream, and hours on the Nintendo. Sounds pretty good, eh? 

As usual, Sue B. has kindly provided a vintage birthday pic, complete with Mickey Mouse paper cups and plates. Could this be around the Bicentennial? They seem to be in a restaurant, which is unusual. The kid to the extreme right is on his fifth cigarette and his fourth cup of coffee, so he's pretty jumpy. I'm assuming that those paper bags contain party favors of some kind (more cigarettes?). Favorite detail is the girl to the right, I'm sure she would be thrilled to know that this picture is being seen by at least nine people on the Internet in 2023. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next I have two photos of the old Sub Lagoon, just the way I like it! I don't hate the way it is now that it has been "Nemo-fied", but it's a lot smaller, which is not great. However I admit that when you are in one of the subs on a bright sunny day, the lagoon looks very pretty. Plenty of color and some fun gags. 

Meanwhile, look at the line snaking around the Matterhorn - Fantasyland looks pretty crowded. We can just see the tippy-top of Fantasyland Station, as well as the pylon with the international traffic signs in front of the Fantasyland Autopia.

Our photographer panned to the right a bit to capture the Skipjack. Be sure to capture my ABC movie of the week, "Capture the Skipjack!", starring Ernest Borgnine and Ava Gardner! The Motor Boats can be seen beyond that "sea wall" that separates the"clear water" system where the Submarines cruised, and the "dark water" where the Motor Boats putted (yes, they played golf, leave me alone). 

Well, I had to do it. I photo-merged the two pictures into one, but I had  to do a little bit of cheating in the lagoon (lower right) and in the sky (upper left), since I didn't want to leave big white blanks. I don't feel too guilty about it though! 

Tahitian Terrace, July 1964

The Tahitian Terrace is one of those Disneyland features of which few people have memories - it was open from June of 1962 through to April of 1993, so it has been gone for 30 years. At the time, I don't think I was really aware of what went on inside (and sadly I never experienced it). Order yourself some Ko'aia Haia Kahiki, l'wi'ao'ao; or maybe the Kuke Ka Moa Momi, and while you're eating, enjoy a show with singers and beautiful dancers.

Nothing is happening yet, but our photographer must be focused on that waterfall for a reason. Perhaps the guests were told to expect... something. 

The water magically parted to reveal a beautiful - and scantily-clad (for Disneyland, anyway) dancer, while to her right is a woman on a microphone. Singing, I presume. I'm kind of shocked at how nobody in the audience appears to be paying the slightest attention!

I love me a hula dance. Pretty women in grass skirts! What's not to like?

Oops, I forgot to eat and now my food is cold. WORTH IT.

If I'd been a cast member at Disneyland in 1964, I would have spent all my spare time hanging around the Tahitian Terrace!

Fantasyland, November 1974

It's Fantasyland, by golly. Not Babyland, or Snakeland, or Scabland (three ideas I gave to Walt that he rejected). I guess Fantasyland turned out OK, though I am still a little bit sore about it. Both of today's photos were taken from the Skyway, which is par for the course - I honestly feel as if a good 25% of the photos in my collection were taken by shutterbugs as they zipped along the steel cable that stretched between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.

So, down below is the "filet" of Fantasyland... the juiciest, nicest bit, with the Carrousel, the dark rides, the Dumbi, and the Mad Tea Party Ride. Delicious! Now I want a baked potato and a Caesar salad. 

One of Anaheim's land whales got permanently stuck in Fantasyland, but Walt figured out a use for him. Monstro is kind of a divo (did you know that the male equivalent of a "diva" is a "divo"??) but four truckloads of sardines every day will do wonders. Li'l Casey Junior is coming 'round the track, hooray.

Main Street and Plaza Gardens, October 1967

September 6th? It's my mom's birthday, but it's also Melissa's birthday! Let's all wish Melissa the happiest of days! As usual, Sue B. is really on top of things, birthday-wise, she sent this wonderful vintage scan of a rollicking party... somebody call the cops. All the kids are enjoying their party favors, I can hear the grating sound of all those blowers as if they are right next door. I like their woven party hats too, very festive (are they from Mexico?). 

And I forgot to add this shot of this cake, specially provided by Sue for Melissa! My apologies to both of them for forgetting.

__________________________________________________

On to today's regularly-scheduled images. October, 1967! So many things of note happened. "The Jungle Book" debuted. William J. Knight flew an X-15 aircraft to a record speed of Mach 6.7. Pacific Ocean Park closed forever. "Hair" debuted on Broadway. The famous Patterson-Gimlin footage of Bigfoot was captured. Expo '67 closes down. AND... somebody took some nice photos of Disneyland. Most importantly. 

We're looking north on Main Street, probably not too long after the rope was dropped (or whatever they did back then - the electric fence was turned off?) in the morning. Everyone's heading away from me, but I don't take it personally. Trash can counters, do your thing!

And yes, I know that this photo needed some fixing. Now it's all better.

Next is this nice and unusual shot of the Carnation Plaza Gardens, with a decent crowd of guests relaxing and enjoying their lunches.

There, I fixed this one, and now it's all better.

My guess is that most folks don't really remember this area, even though it was just west of the Plaza. During the day I usually didn't see many people over there, though admittedly the window service was closed on those days. I'm not sure why I find the striped tent and wood-slat decorations to be charming and not chintzy, but I am very complicated and deep.

 

Adventureland Souvenirs, 1960s GRANTS BIRTHDAY

Let's start out today by wishing our friend Grant McCormick a very Happy Birthday! Sue B. is the head of the Birthday Squad, and she kindly provided the following vintage birthday scan, featuring a fabulous party in a fabulous basement. It's super fun to look at each kid, like the little cutie in her red dress, or the girl in pink with her hands together, or the boy with glasses and the New Wave haircut. Two girls are already displaying maternal tendencies. Check out that turquoise cake! What flavor could it be??

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are two fun pix featuring a pretty lady and her kooky hat. You've seen them both, at Universal Studios, at a MYSTERY LOCATION, and at the Dutch Mill Inn Motor Hotel in Ontario, Canada. She's practically family. 

There she is, looking very stylish as she peruses the tropical wares in Adventureland. A whole bin full of flowered leis! Why don't they sell those today? I'll bet they'd sell a zillion of 'em. Put blinking LEDs on them too, for extra annoyance! I wonder if the lady was at the souvenir stand seen in this picture? It's fun to get a glimpse of the tchotchkes made from seashells, woven (and possibly beaded) items, everything a girl with a hat could need.

Yes, yes, you look fabulous, we all get it!