A Selection From 1957

Welcome to 1957. It was a very nice year! "The Cat in the Hat" was published, the Frisbee was first produced by Wham-o, and Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.

How about a ride on the Mark Twain? You never get to see photos of it, so soak it all in!


Just look at how many people could fit in an Indian War Canoe! It's the frontier equivalent of the uptown bus. If a lady boards, it is polite to stand and let her have your seat.


Here's a slightly different look at Town Square, including the Opera House and the Bank of America. I've always loved the ornate facade of the Opera House, and hope that someday the folks at Disney will perform my operatic interpretation of "Steamboat Willie". It's three hours long.

Souvenir Thursday: Donald Duck Art Corner Postcard!

Everybody loves a good Disneyland souvenir! Even hippies. Today I am presenting you with a humble, yet wonderful, postcard. It's one of my favorite items in my collection! This postcard was sold at the venerable Art Corner (and elsewhere within Disneyland, I'll wager) for a mere 15 cents. Since then I have seen them fetch hundreds of dollars!

As you can see, Donald Duck is the engineer on this miniature railroad, with Chip and Dale along for the ride. This is presumably a reference to the 1951 short subject entitled "Out of Scale", in which Donald has a backyard railroad layout. This in turn was a reference to Walt Disney's own "Carolwood Pacific Railroad", which ran in his backyard.

This is the only "mechanical" Disneyland postcards that I know of (unless you count the lenticular "wiggle" cards, which I don't). Donald is currently in Frontierland, but turn the wheel and...


... he's in Tomorrowland, with a new hat and a new sign!


If there's a pith helmet, than it must be Adventureland.


And finally, a Tyrolean hat, much like the one that Pinocchio wore, for Fantasyland.


Here's a look at the back of the card. For you folks who need to own every variation, I can tell you that there is a version with a box around the word "stamp". This postcard is so appealing, and how can you not love the simple-yet-clever design?

More New York World's Fair

It's time to delve back into the New York World's Fair slides (1964, that is).

The photographer had quick reflexes and an eye for an interesting composition when she (he?) took this one. This dramatic upshot of the Unisphere caught an airplane as it passed through a curve of steel representing the orbit of one of earth's satellites. It looks like it is not a jet either, could this be a Lockheed Constellation?


Yep, there's Rolly Crump's "Tower of the Four Winds"! I'm always happy to find pictures of it, even if this one is a bit far away. Recently, night photo of it turned up, but you'll just have to wait for it. Always leave 'em wanting more!


Here's an unusual (i.e. wonky) angle of a pylon outside of the Progressland exhibit that lets you know who paid for all of this. General Electric! Notice all of the high tension wires to keep the thing from blowing over and making mincemeat out of Fair visitors. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the ramp in the backround took guests up to where the actual "Carousel of Progress" show took place. The bottom level consisted of "Medalion City": "Intriguing homes, stores, a town hall, civic and industrial buildings, and even a newsreel theater invite your inspection. The magic of Progressland bewitches you -- behind the exciting stylized facades are all the electrical products now changing the world we live in."

Lion Country Safari, April 1972

Today let's go on a little detour. We'll head on over to Irvine to visit Lion Country Safari! I went there at least once... I mostly remember the novelty of riding our car alongside all sorts of animals. Giraffes, zebras, ostriches, various kinds of antelope, lions, hippos, and a few woozles. I was very disappointed that a lion didn't climb on our hood or anything cool like that!

I wish I had more information for you about this entertainment area... maybe you could go see Robert Goulet singing "Born Free". The sign is surrounded by all kinds of authentic looking African totems, fetishes, and knickknacks. Might as well stop and buy a hot pretzel to really get that African feeling.


At Disneyland, you could ride a crummy old mule. You couldn't ride a lion at Lion Country Safari, but you could ride a genuine elephant! I did, and can still rememeber how it felt to be up there (it seemed higher from the elephant's back!). They sure didn't go overboard with scenery to look at, did they?

Midget Autopia, August 1959

The popularity of the Autopia must have surprised everyone, even Walt Disney. Folks just loved those little cars and the pee-wee highways and cloverleafs. It wasn't that long ago that you could ride on either the Fantasyland or Tomorrowland Autopias (they were combined into one much longer ride back in 2000). And there was the Junior Autopia, which was there for a mere 3 years.

Anyway, today we celebrate the Midget Autopia, aimed at satisfying the small fry who were too short to reach the pedals on the larger Autopia cars. In fact, it was for kids only; adults who attempted to ride were promptly executed. In this photo you can see the little yellow barn that had "crash doors" that opened as a vehicle approached, sort of a "Mr. Toad" idea. I love those little cars, kind of a dinky Studebaker. Or something. Notice Fantasyland Station in the background, both the Midget Autopia and that station would be removed when "It's a Small World" was built.


Now that's a hairpin turn! If you see photos of typical "kiddie car" rides from that same era, they were generally on a featureless flat surface, with little attempt at a theme. Kids aren't very picky, let's face it! But Disneyland took the time to landscape the thing until it looked respectable.

Frontierland 1964

Lucky guests prepare to take Huck Finn's Turbo Raft across the shark infested waters of Death River, to take their chances on Murder Island. There are hunters on the island - hunters who only want to track and kill The Most Dangerous Game! I really don't understand the appeal of this attraction at all.


Now isn't this purty? I don't know how often the Mark Twain operates at night anymore, but I have a fond memory of going to the park in the winter - no Fantasmic - and finding that the steamboat was still chugging away even though it was dark. I was thrilled! I dragged my puzzled date onto the attraction, where I froze on the top deck, happy as can be. The river was quiet, Frontierland was deserted, and I soaked it all in. It was the best ride on the Twain that I've ever had!

Random Saturday

Happy 4th o' July, everyone! Please don't blow your fingers off. I'm being lazy today, so that means it's time for more leftovers.

This 1956 shot shows Casey Jr., apparently having some mechanical trouble. He appears to be stopped away from the loading depot, and there are a couple of concerned looking men standing around hoping that they don't get blamed.


Here's a slightly different look at the Submarine Lagoon; we're peering down into the shallow water, I'm not sure where the photo was taken from. The lagoon is full of abalone, giant clams, coral, anemones, and various seaweeds. Not a clownfish in sight.


Uh oh, it's one of those gangs that I've heard so much about. Just give them your money and don't crack wise, or you'll wake up dead.

POP friday

Pacific Ocean Park; it was called "POP" for short, but not for long! (I stole that line from Ralph Story, thank you Ralph!) Please check out the first two installments of POP photos here and here.

Today's first photo is a complete mystery to me. I can find no record of a ride like this at POP, and yet it is with a group of POP images. It's basically a version of Disneyland's Motor Boat Cruise, only it's kind of cool the way the little boats skim along the surface. My readers are good looking AND smart, so I know that somebody out there will solve this mystery. If meddling kids are involved, so much the better.


"Where the deuce is everybody?", wonders this lad (yes, he sounds just like Stewie). I guess we can see why POP didn't survive for very long, you could literally fire a cannon up this part of Fisherman's Cove and not worry about hitting anybody. You can definitely see that the architecture lacked the charm and detail that were present at that other park.


Here we are outside the Westinghouse building, graced by the statue of the Pied Piper (I guess?) with his balloon pants. Inside, you'll see the Enchanted Forest: "Jack and Jill are our guides as they show us a world of wonders with a Dream House and tomorrow's Atomic City and a reproduction of the 'Nautilus', the world's first nuclear submarine with its Westinghouse atomic engine". You'd also get to see Electro, the robot (and very big star) of the Westinghouse exhibit from the 1939 New York World's Fair!

3 Frontierland Views, April 1962

I've salvaged these three photos of Frontierland from my old boxes of slides. Desperate times call for desperate measures. These were considered rejects back in the day, but now they don't look so bad to me!

There's that wacky suspension bridge on Tom Sawyer Island; the boy with the close-cropped buzz cut is our hero. The kid that he is right behind is real Krelborn, daddy-o! Nice shoes though.


People are just ka-razy about the Mark Twain, the boat is carrying a full load, and there's a big crowd waiting for the next opportunity to board. Even that raft in the distance looks crowded. If you could only see to the extreme left (out of the frame), you'd see Frontierland is nothing but piles of dirt.


And lastly, a look at brother and sis looking mighty pleased with themselves, having braved the caves and the circuitous staircase up to the top of Castle Rock. I haven't been on Tom Sawyer Island for a while, I hope it still evokes that sense of exploration and adventure that it used to!

Monorail and Rocket in Black and White

Many of the best movies (ever!) are black and white, and that goes for photos too.

This is presumably one of the photos from one of the "Fun Foto" scenes in Tomorrowland. I've never seen this one before, but it's great! This happy couple is enjoying their trip on the futuristic Monorail (with the woman wearing her souvenir hat).


From September 1955, this is not a souvenir photo, but a lovely portrait of the Moonliner as taken by a guest. The perforated ends make me think of Polaroid photos, but I don't think that it is a Polaroid.