On the Freeway, and Buying Tickets - October 1965

I have an unusual view to start with today - a photo taken by somebody with a speedy shutter finger as they drive along Interstate 5 toward Disneyland. The traffic is light! Since I was unsure as to whether our driver was heading North or South (the United Airlines building to the right might be a clue for somebody out there), I wasn't sure what time of day it was. The warm tone says "afternoon", but film can fool you. In any case, there is that fun billboard telling us that Disneyland is 8 MILES STRAIGHT AHEAD. The park is open Wednesday through Sunday.

Well, our group has arrived and folks are waiting in line to buy their tickets. $5 for an adult "Deluxe 15" ticket book! What a value! But I have to be honest, these people look like "Big 10 Ticket Book" types to me. Just saying. Now we can see that the sun was in the West, meaning that it is afternoon. Meaning that they were driving South in the first photo. I'm a regular Sherlock Homey!

 

Many Mark Twains

I have another selection of scans, courtesy of the Mysterious Benefactor. While undated, I am guessing that most of these are from the 1970s, or possibly the early 1980s. These were taken for potential publicity use, and most of these are "postcard worthy"! I should add that the folder of scans that I am working through is almost exclusively pictures of the Mark Twain, scores of 'em. So gird your loins!

I love this first beauty, taken as the sun was setting. The Mark Twain is mostly in shadow, but the stacks and taller trees and the hoodoos of Big Thunder Mountain glow with warm sunshine. Was this photo taken on one of the days that the park was closed? Did they even do that anymore by the late 1970s?

The park was certainly not closed when this picture was taken, the steamboat is packed with hu-mans!

Here's another pretty photo, it reminds me of the pictures in "The Magic of Disneyland and Walt Disney World", by Valerie Childs, published in 1982. It is full of nice pictures of the parks in glorious saturated colors. You can also buy books by Ms. Childs only featuring Disneyland, or only featuring WDW, but I couldn't find those on Amazon. If I had my copies at hand, I'd definitely look to see if this picture was published in one of them.

And finally, here's a lovely image taken from Tom Sawyer Island, as a family crosses the Pontoon Bridge, with the Mark Twain in the distance. Look at how lush and green Frontierland is!

THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!

Valentimes Day

It's the mushiest day of the year! I call it "Valentimes Day", just because it makes me chuckle. What, who said I'm weird?? WHO? Well, you're right. I had nothing special for this day, but our friend Sue B. came to the rescue with two vintage slides that she scanned. These photos were not taken by Lou Perry, just FYI. 

We'll start with this first one, from 1959. A young man poses in front of Gordon's Jewelers for some reason. Did he work there? Is HE Gordon? He appears to be in a shopping mall (location unknown) ... malls were still a relatively new phenomenon (1955 seems to be the date I find online for the debut of enclosed, traditional malls). Or maybe he's just standing on a city street! Who knows. What I DO know is that this fellow is a love bug, and I don't mean Herbie. 

Next is this 1964 photo of a classroom full of kids who seem to be enjoying Valentine's Day (I spelled it right this time!) treats. Heart-shaped cookies? Little tubs of ice cream? Paper cups with sauerkraut in them? It also appears that each desk has a Valentine holder made out of construction paper. My school had us use the cylindrical cardboard Quaker Oatmeal cartons, which we customized with glitter, paper hearts, and other classy stuff. 

MANY THANKS to Sue B. for providing these fun vintage scans!

The Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad in Black and White!

Whoo-hoo, the SF&DLRR! I think it's safe to say that most Disneyland fans love the trains; as a small child I just thought they were "kind of neat", but as the years went by, I learned more and more about them, and my appreciation for them continued to grow. They are truly wonderful! 

GDB friend Steve DeGaetano is a fan of old steam locomotives, and is an expert on the history of the SF&DLRR (maybe "SF&DRR" is more appropriate?). Why, he's even written some books (see HERE and HERE, I highly recommend them)! So you know he's the real deal. Recently, Steve contacted me and said that he had acquired some black and white negatives featuring the trains, and - he GAVE THEM TO ME! Yes, gave. For free! Amazing. And he generously offered to provide some insight into each photo. How could I pass that up? So here we go, let's enjoy the photos and commentary:

This is a fantastic shot of the Fred Gurley taken from the viewing platform that was positioned near where the locomotives would stop that used to be at what was then Frontierland Station. The engineer is just visible inside the cab, wearing his Lee hickory-striped overalls. The young lady in the car seems to have been lulled to sleep by the swaying of the car’s motion. One of my favorite things about this picture is that we have a very clear view of the air ringer on the bell. A small air cylinder on the side of the bell’s cradle is connected to a crank; the fireman merely presses a button in the cab, and the bell will ring in a rather monotonous, “ding-ding-ding” manner. When a bell is rung by hand, the fireman’s character can come through, resulting in a syncopated “ding-DING, ding-DING, ding-DING” rhythm. I’m not sure when the air ringers were removed; probably not long after these photos were taken.

A dark photo of No. 4, the Ernest S. Marsh rolling into the station, pulling the original freight train,  nicknamed Holiday Red. This one also appears to have been taken from near the observation platform.

Number 4 taking on water. I really like this is a nicely composed scene. The fireman, standing on the tender, controls the tank’s water flow using a  chain-activated valve in his right hand. The other chains are connected to counterweights to keep the spout upright when not in use. The density of the foliage in the background belies that this scene was shot in the middle of Anaheim, CA. While difficult to see, No. 4 also still has her air-ringer attached to the bell.

The Marsh slowly chugs away from Frontierland Station. The sooty exhaust stains on the tunnel stonework remind us that these are indeed real steam locomotives. An interesting detail can be found in the window behind the engineer—to open the windows, the entire window frame drops into a pocket in the cab wall! (The side windows on the pilot house of the Mark Twain function in a similar manner).

To close, we watch as the caboose silently rolls away, save for the “clickety-clack” of the wheels on the rail joints. We get a glimpse of the observation platform on the right. On the left, we can see the stone steam funnel that vents boiler “blow downs” away from the engine (The engines “blow down” on a regular basis, ejecting high-temperature water which turns almost instantly to steam at atmospheric pressure, and carrying away sediment and sludge than can be harmful to the boiler). A red lantern hangs from the caboose railing, glowing softly at night. The block signal at the edge of the tunnel opening has already turned to red as the train enters the block. Happily, in five minutes, another train will be by!

MANY THANKS to Steve DeGaetano for sharing these beautiful photos with us, and for his awesome commentary!

1960 Guidebook Special Insert

I have a very nice vintage Disneyland paper item, this time from 1960. It would have been included as an insert to the 1960 souvenir guidebooks - as far as I know, they only did such a fancy insert once before, the previous year. And this one seems to be quite a bit harder to find, for some reason.

As you can see, the item announces "The Story of Nature's Wonderland" on a folded-over panel. It essentially traces the concept of this attraction back to Disney's Academy Award-winning series of "True Life Adventure" films, such as Beaver Valley, Bear Country, The Itchy Skunk, and The Living Desert.

Folding the panel back reveals a beautiful full-color overview of Nature's Wonderland. Wow, what an attraction! As always, I'd love to know who painted this fantastic piece, perhaps it was Paul Hartley. If anybody knows for sure, please chime in!

Flipping the piece over, another new attraction is promoted - America the Beautiful, brought to you by The Bell Telephone System. In CIRCARAMA! Everything is better with "-arama" added to the end (it's almost as good as "a-go-go"). What an exciting time to visit Disneyland.

SNERZLES

In Belgium, Snoozles are called <i>Snerzles</i>, and as an honorary Belgian, I thought it would be fun to mix things up. Are you having fun? ARE YOU??

Today's first Snerzle is from October of 1971. I was probably excited about wearing my Snoopy costume with the blinking light on the nose for the upcoming Trick-Or-Treating; yes, it was a big hit, especially with the ladies! We're about to be run over by a Horseless Carriage, and I am vacillating between not wanting to die and bemusement over the absurdity of the situation. I don't have many good pictures of the Horseless Carriages, but this one went too dark. A common problem with slides from the 1970s I have found.

Another Snerzle is from March, 1963. It's a very boring photo of you-know-what. I can't say the name of the mountain because I am already being sponsored by Mount Kilimanjaro and I don't want to give up those sweet, sweet Benjamins. This picture is too dark, and we don't get a bobsled (OR DO WE?) or even the Skyway. 

As we say in Belgium, "The horse must graze where it is tethered". Think about it!

Sea World, San Diego

I have scans from Sea World in San Diego! I went to Sea World a few times when I was a kid, and enjoyed all of the typical marine mammal shows that we are familiar with today, with orcas, sea lions, and dolphins (or are they porpoises?) leaping and performing tricks.

I love this first view of the entry structure and ticket booths, with the large A-frame building giving off a tiki vibe. This one is from October, 1972. Incidentally, the sign clearly says "Sea World", but apparently the park is now called "SeaWorld'.

Wikipedia sez: SeaWorld is located on San Diego's Mission Bay. SeaWorld was founded on March 21, 1964, by four graduates of the University of California, Los Angeles. Although their original idea of an underwater restaurant was not feasible at the time, the idea was shifted into a 22-acre marine zoological park along the shore of Mission Bay in San Diego. After an investment of about $1.5 million, the park opened with 45 employees, several dolphins, sea lions, and two seawater aquariums. It hosted more than 400,000 visitors in its first year of operation.

This next one is interesting (from August, 1968); King Neptune, formerly holding court over at Pacific Ocean Park, is now glowering at guests in Sea World! I like to put my chair in the water too, so in a way I am very much like King Neptune. POP closed less than a year before this photo was taken (in October of 1967), and all of the rides and props were auctioned off to the highest bidder. I wonder how long King Neptune was on display in San Diego?

I scrounged two publicity photos of King Neptune when he was in his Courtyard at POP. While I am distracted by the leggy babes, there was an impressive scene with many denizens of the sea surrounding the King.

It's clear that King Neptune had some work done by the time he lived in San Diego, presumably so that he would be suited for outdoor display. Hey, another pretty gal - it's good to be the King!

Monorail at the Hotel, August 1962

The Simpsons can laugh all they want, I love me a Monorail! Especially the Disneyland version, naturally. Today's photos were taken in 1962, about a year after the track had been routed from the park to the Disneyland Hotel (I was unable to find an exact date for when the expanded route debuted). In this first photo, a couple poses at the top of some Hotel steps (presumably near the Hotel station) as a sleek Mark II passes by in the background. I wonder how long they waited for it to come by? It's possible that Grandpa served in a war (which one?), while Grandma looks like she's from the Old Country. She looks kind of stern here but I'll bet she was warm and loving and made delicious food for her family. 

Notice the colorful back of the Disneyland Hotel sign to the right. 

This next one is a little dark (in case you hadn't noticed), but it's still a swell view of the yellow Monorail as it pulls into the station. No need to tip the uniformed attendant! He's happy to help. I enjoy small details like the sign for Western Airlines in the distance, and the car with the impressive tail fins in the lower left.

More Bupix™

Before we get started, I wanted to salute our Boy Scouts, since today is National Boy Scout Day. Our friend DW sent me this wonderful photo of him and his Mother, circa 1968. Such a great photo! Thank you for sharing, DW! Let's all BE PREPARED!

And now, on to our regularly-scheduled blog post:

You have waited long enough - it's time for more Bupix™!  I chose four from a visit to Disneyland, from sometime in the 1980s (more on that in a bit). Bu was accompanied by a charming young woman with a dazzling smile. Once again, Bu was kind enough to provide a great commentary, so sit back, relax, have a sip of lemonade, and enjoy!

Ahhh…Kara…such a sweet girl.  The quintenscential girl next door, who’s dad is a CEO, and marries the captain of the football team.

Kara was a lead in Guest Relations and these photos were taken on one of the “audit tours” when we “inspected what we expected” from our guides.  As I’ve said before, this caused a lot of anxiety in the group, leading to poems (really) being written and much discussion.  When the price of the tour was raised (doubled to $8…it was $4) everyone wanted to make sure that guests got their money’s worth.  VIP tours at that time were $25 an hour, and then increased to $30…then to $40.  I hear the prices (and the experience) is different now.

There were a few years of Circus Fantasy, so I would have to do some forensics to see what this year was…perhaps ’86. (Looking it up, the Circus Fantasy "spectacular" ran in the Spring of 1986, 1987, and 1988, so I'm going with Bu's guess of 1986).

Circus Fantasy!  What an odd promotion, but I suppose guests liked it, and the elephants and other live elements: including a trapeze and high wire across Main St…and let’s not forget the “wheel of death” where the Walt statue sits today in Central Plaza.  Wheel of death was a motorcycle in a sphere.  It was loud and kind of scary to watch.  There was a cannon that shot a guy from the mainland to Tom Sawyer Island as well.  That is a story in itself, and for another time- but one of the best leadership lessons I’ve learned in life.

Looks like they are re-doing the windows on Main St, with the “go away beige” and branded barricade.  Looking at the clowns: I guess they gave them name tags (?)  Kind of odd…but I suppose we need to know who is “Boffo” and who is “Klutzi”   Clowns usually creep me out, but these ones were especially “Disneyfied” and very cleaned up, with perfect makeup and very clean and tidy costumes. The second orange hair clown was one of the face painters.  The kiddie winkies love face painting.

There’s Mickey: not much to say there, and I forgot who was inside.  There was a Mickey who was there forever…since Walt times…I forget what his name was, and older guy…and the only other one I remember is a girl with blonde hair…yes, girls play Mickey too.  I think she also played Peter Pan…will have to think about that...  (I know that there was a Mickey performer that Walt particularly liked, but I can't seem to find his name at the moment).

The fourth photo looks kind of odd and strangely situated because it was.  As we were walking to Bear Country, a guest: a handsome, tall, blonde, “matinee idol” type with Pepsodent teeth was walking past us….Kara stopped in her tracks and said “TAKE MY PICTURE!!”   The words kind of came out of nowhere, then I saw the guy and said to myself…Ohhhhhhhhh…. don’t take a photo of “me” take a photo of “ME”. Wink wink.  Alas, my brain was half a second off, and we only got a hair shot.  The story is kind of funny, and Kara: the ultimate professional, is smiling like her Ambassador head shot.

She made it to the top 4 for Ambassador in 1984.  We all thought she was an awesome choice in the Disney branding dept. (clearly), but another TG ultimately got the gig, who we all chums with too.  It was a rather emotional walk to Club 33, where the “after ceremony” was held…Kara…with her bouquet of roses knew she HAD to smile widely, and put on a brave face…her dad was not happy.  Of course, whose dad doesn’t want his perfect daughter to be Disneyland Ambassador.  Kara, with her Disney TG smile, looked at me and said “don't look at me!”….knowing that the emotions may spurn a a Disney smile to disappear.

If you made the top four, then you were already schooled in the “image” dept by Cicely, and with the press there…you didn’t muck around.  This was a big deal back then, (don’t know if it is now.)  At the club, it was frowned upon (read: VERBOTEN)  for any of these ladies to have a cocktail.  Kara told her dad that “I can’t” and her dad said “YOU ARE MY DAUGHTER AND YOU ARE HAVING A COCKTAIL!”  Hee hee…he was great.  A big mountain of a man.   We were all very close back then, and everyone knew everyone's parents/family/etc.  Then you all move on to other things.

These photos are fun, but Bu's commentary makes ALL the difference! Thanks to him for sharing his pictures and memories!

Peoplemover & Skyway, April 1974

I'm presenting two more scans from a batch of "too dark" slides, circa 1974. And in spite of their murkiness, they are still worth a look.

We're aboard the Peoplemover, and as the track curved to the left to enter the building that housed "Adventure Thru Inner Space", our photographer had the good idea to take a picture of the train in front of him. To this day I love the graceful track supports (are they pylons??), I'm sure it would have cost considerably less money to make them vertical columns. Down below - a trashcan! And a kid with a blue Mickey ear balloon. The Plaza is mostly obscured by trees.

Now for a Skyway view; I truly wonder why these slides turned out so dark, when you know that the scene was bright and sunlit. I blame cigarettes. Four kids pass us in the yellow gondola, with one throwing us a friendly wave. An ice cream vendor is set up with a trash can right in the way, which is weird. Beneath the yellow gondola we can see the pathway to the dining area behind the Pirate Ship, along with a bit of Skull Rock waterfalls.