Indian Dancers, December 1960

If you had any idea how many vintage photos I have of the Indian Dance Circle - - it's crazy. I don't even know what to do with them all. I keep finding more. Remember that scene in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", where Mickey is beseiged by brooms? Well, that doesn't have anything to do with anything. Why are you thinking about that movie? Anyway, one way or another you're gonna be seeing a lot of dancing Indians. Forgive me.

First picture: the last rays of sunlight dimly illuminate the Indian Village. A meager crowd, unafraid of the zombies who will soon emerge from the darkness, await the final display of tribal dancing.


My mom taught me to never run with scissors, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be too thrilled about dancing with a bow, either. Those children in matching blue coats at the foot of the "stage" are watching with mute horror.


Let the wild rumpus begin!

Mono & More

It's a "twofer" Tuesday!

This first image is from a tiny slide, roughly 3/4" by 1/2" (but still in a standard 2" by 2" cardboard mount). It was undated, and I have labeled it as being from the 70's, although it could be from the late 60's as well. I always thought it was exciting when the Monorail would swoop past above our heads, looking graceful and cool. The idea of a working monorail system in a real city setting has become something of a joke (thanks, Simpsons!), but I can't help thinking that it would still be a cool solution to some of our commuting problems.

One more thing, notice the Douglas "Flight to the Moon" poster on the 3rd pylon!


Here's a nice overview of the Sub lagoon and Monorail station. Hey, what's that guy doing up on the roof? Somebody call the cops - - terminate him with extreme prejudice! I miss being able to see views like this for myself... little details are visible that you might not see from any other angle. Note the resevoir above the Sub's waterfalls; who wouldn't want to swim in that! It's hard to see at this resolution, but the Sub load area has several Frontierland attraction posters on display, which seems like an odd choice. Also notice the mystery box at the end of that pier, similar to an earlier version that eventually vanished (see this post).

"Up, Up, and Away..." with TWA

Speedy the intern returns today with two beautiful images for you, featuring the TWA Rocket to the Moon.

Here's a fantastic photo circa 1957, and yes, there is the thrilling rocket, poised to leap into outer space as soon as that shiny red button up in the cockpit is pressed. Speedy asked me to Photoshop out that Skyway cable, but I gently reminded him that it wouldn't be kosher to do that. It's OK Speedy, we understand! Meanwhile, I love the 50's families below, especially the girl in her floucy skirt. We also see the shades over Hobbyland, where so many rare Disneyland treasures were sold.

Almost as interesting is the view outside the park. Anaheim really was still farm community back then, see for yourself.


Next up, Speedy wanted to share this spectacular travel poster from TWA. If you can't have one of the original silkscreened attraction posters of the rocket, than this is the next best thing. It is a lithograph, although the bright pink/red on the rocket and the yellow lettering both look silkscreened on if you ask me. Check out the inaccurate depictions of the castle and train station...artistic license, or was the poster produced before those buildings had actually been built? The rocket itself was certainly portrayed accurately. Meanwhile, up in the eye-popping sky, we see a classic four engine, propeller-driven Lockheed Constellation with its distinctive triple tail. Introduced in 1943, it was an extremely popular aircraft, but jets eventually made it obsolete. The "Connie" still has legions of fans around the world.


Great job, Speedy! At this rate, it won't be long until your promoted to vice president of Gorilla Industries.

Sunday Mash-up

Happy sunday, everyone. Let's all look at a few random pictures of Disneyland, shall we? If I call them a "mash-up", it makes my blog seem hip and cool!

First up is a photo of the Skyway station in Tomorrowland. I posted this image before, way back when I had my first crummy scanner. When I tried rescanning it to see if there was much of an improvement, the answer was a resounding "Si!". Since so much of the image was empty sky, I cropped it just so. Someone out there once asked if I had a full-frontal all nude image of the Richfield eagle, and this one is a pretty good (if candid) view.


There's nothing that says "the world of tomorrow" more than a marching band, with the colorful uniforms and gleaming brass. They don't let obstacles affect them, note how they slip around the trash can and sanitation cart like a river passes around a rock. The TWA logo is gone from the Rocket to the Moon, you might have noticed.


And lastly, but not leastly, it's that wacky barrel bridge again. Look at the size of those pontoons! No no, I really mean the pontoons. They're big. There's some construction going on in the background, apparently the suspension bridge needs work.

City Hall and the Fire Station, 1956

The sun is low in the West, and the shadows are stretching further and further across Main Street in this 1956 photo. Back in those days, sunset meant that a lot of people headed home. Crazy, but true. The Surrey is in the foreground, and there's City Hall. Please don't try to fight it! In the distance, the Fire Station...


...upon closer examination, there appears to be a figure of Smokey the Bear, and a mysterious dalmatian (um, "Sparky the Spastic Firedog"?) wearing a suit and a fire helmet. This is just weird! But oddly familiar, I wonder if one of my fellow bloggers had a picture of the same thing at some time? There are also (I think) a few firefighters keeping watch over things, or goofing off!

"I Hear Those Things Are Awfully Loud...."

"It glides as softly as a cloud!"

It's hard not to think of the classic "Monorail" Simpsons episode when I see pictures of Disneyland's attraction. The guy who took these two photos was fascinated, since I have at least eight more photos of the Monorail from this location alone. Do you care enough to see them all? Whichever the case, you will see a lot of photos from this 1961 lot, there were around 200 Disneyland slides in the bunch. Stay tuned.

Anyway, here it comes, that funny looking one-legged train. And it's yeller...YELLER!


It's close enough to throw your chewing gum into one of those open windows. I double-dog dare you.

Tom Sawyer Island Bridges, August 1958

The designers of Tom Sawyer Island knew that a rickety bridge or two would add a whole lot of fun and visual interest to this land within a land.

Here's the suspension bridge, see how popular it is? Adults are obviously enjoying the experience as much as the kids. I can almost feel the swaying, the vibration of dozens of other footsteps, and the sound of laughter. Look at the hillside beneath the bridge...are those some kind of rustic steps for gardeners and other maintanance people to use?


Early photos of this floating barrel bridge amaze me, mostly because there is nothing to prevent people from falling through those wide-open sides. It HAD to have happened, seriously. Kids being kids (and adults being just as clumsy)...


Apparently mom decided she would be happier on solid ground, so she took one picture through the foliage. Notice how wet the wooden planks of the bridge are...I've seen more than a few kids jumping up and down on the bridge trying to make as much splashing as possible.

Jungleland, part deux

If you ever passed through Thousand Oaks back in the 50's and 60's, there were so many sights to see. Sheep! Cows! And lots of rolling hills covered in (what else) oak trees. But there was Jungleland too! I posted a few photos before, take a look at those if you want.

Here's something you don't see every day! A heffalump standing on two legs. What's the big deal, I do that all the time. This picture really brings back those faint memories that I have when I visited Jungleland as a child. Here's a specific odd memory...as the rare and exotic animals entertained us in the caged arena, I found myself entranced by a squirrel running back and forth along a wire overhead. Kids!


This lucky lad is someone we've seen before at Knott's, Disneyland, and Santa's Village, although he is a bit younger here. I'm pretty sure that the big cats did their thing in this cage, and have no doubt that if you got nice and close, one of them could have reached through the bars and taken your head off. Now that's entertainment!


While you can't see much of Jungleland itself in these final photos, you can still sense the kind of place it was. Kids could burn off some energy playing on some of these simple rides under the shade of oak trees. Some of those trees are certainly still there, I drive by the former location of Jungleland fairly often, since my folks live in Thousand Oaks. Now it's a performing arts center with a neighboring shopping mall.


What is that critter in the cage, a hyena? Anyway, dad finally makes it into the picture...he must have been quite the amateur photographer, preferring larger-format slides. I feel a fondness for this family, having seen them in so many slides, looking for all the world like the ideal California family!


And finally, there doesn't seem to be much Jungleland stuff out there, but I do have this fun pennant, probably from the 50's.

Space Station X-1 poster

Today I am showing off one of my favorite attraction posters of all time...Space Station X-1! Not only is it a fantastic 50's design, but the attraction itself is mostly forgotten. And, since I am very immature, it is not hard for me to imagine being that kid with the silly helmet; mom and dad have somehow managed to get tickets aboard the new space station, and this is our first view from orbit, looking down on the southwestern edge of the U.S. (with a bit of Mexico for good measure). I think I can see our house!

The poster has a bit of wear on the lower left edge, but it doesn't bother me. I've posted a large jpeg for you, so prepare yourself!


Back in June 2006, Matterhorn1959 (of the "Stuff From the Park" blog) posted a photo that amazed me, a picture showing a variation of the X-1 poster that I had never heard of before. He was generous enough to send me a nice jpeg of his photo and allowed me to show it again here (thank you, Matterhorn!).


In 1958, the attraction's name was changed to "Satellite View of America". Maybe "Space Station X-1" was too vague to entice guests to come inside? Seems hard to believe. Whatever the reasoning was, new posters were created. I grabbed the image of the poster and attempted to adjust it as much as possible, correcting the perspective. As you can see, the entire upper right is now a black semi-circle with the new name of the attraction in bright yellow letters (the purplish, wavy shape is a reflection off of the plexi that protected the poster while it was on display). It's super rare, and I have never seen one of these for sale. I would flip if I could find one, but am very happy to own the original "X-1" version!


Many thanks to Matterhorn1959 for sharing his great image!

Subs, 1960 & 61

Submitted for your approval...feast your eyes on this nice photo looking down on load building for the Submarine Voyage and the Monorail (from a stereo slide, as is the second image). I love the saturated colors! In the distance, you can see Tomorrowland Station; were plans ever made for a more elaborate station than the one that we wound up with? It resembles a car port when you compare it to Frontierland Station. Out on one of the docks of the sub lagoon, in the shadows, you can see the covered enclosure where I believe that the mermaids changed. There even appears to be towels waiting.


A year later, that enclosure is gone. Probably by then the cast members changed into their mermaid costumes out in the open for all to see because in those enlightened days the sight of unclothed ladies incited no comment. You can see a little platform there too, presumably for divers who maintained the lagoon.