Rainbow Ridge, March 1961

Rainbow Ridge gleams gleamily under the bright early-spring sun. There are more puffy clouds than you can shake a stick at. I don't think I've ever seen a photo of Rainbow Ridge at night, but I imagine that it was beautiful.


The bright sunlight has been partially obscured by a plague of locusts, but that won't stop these guests from riding the li'l Mine Train. Just as the train leaves, a flock of pack mules returns from the wilderness.


I just added this closeup of a sign on the reddish building to the left; reader Chiana was curious about it, as it seems to show Cascade Peak. It looks like a mashup of two scenes from the attraction poster. If anybody has a better photo of this sign, Chiana and I would love to see it!

Plaza Gardens & Pavillion, 1958

What do you do if you've walked to the north end of Main Street and have already worked up a fierce appetite? Never fear, there are a couple of places to eat!

Howabout the Plaza Gardens? There's not much in the way of actual gardens, but why quibble. All I care about is the food. They'd better have chocolate milk, dammit. With that little bridge in front of us, I can only assume that the castle is behind us? Notice the still-not-very-hidden fire hydrant. I like the triangle on the sign for the Plaza Gardens, just like ma used to clang on with her spoon when the chow was ready. "Come and git it!".


Or we could eat at the Pavillion ( 2 L's, really?). I wanted to eat lunch there last time, but it was closed. Which is why I am suing the Disney company for 12 million dollars. Back in '58 I believe that actual waiters and waitresses took your order and brought your food to you. No counter service shenanigans!


Here's a happy family, grateful to take a load off of their aching feet. I thought dad had a bottle of beer for a second, until I realized it was ketchup. Why he would drink ketchup is beyond me, but hey, I don't judge. Junior is admiring his Zorro hat, and so am I.

Fantasyland, February 1969

Here's a nice photo of old (but not too old) Fantasyland. The Skyway chalet is behind us, and as you can see, the rectangular vehicles have replaced the original buckets. All of the Dumbos are resting for just a moment (dizzy, I'd imagine), while the Matterhorn, as always, dominates the picture.


Pirate Ship. Yessirree.

Around the World's Fair

One of my favorite sights at the 1964 New York World's Fair is this green cheese moon dome that covered part of the Travel and Transportation pavilion. I'm sure it looked great at night, presumably lit up by strategically placed spotlights. I'll go see the "Sea Hunt" show, and you can check out "To The Moon and Beyond" - in CINERAMA! (I sure would love to see a DVD collection of all of the films that were shown at various pavilions around the Fair).


As long as we are at the Travel and Transportation pavilion, let's take a look around. See those tires? They are not ordinary gigantic tires! They were known as "M-6 Rolling Liquid Transporters". Here's what that sign says: The Rolling Liquid Transporter makes it possible for Army units to more than double their operating range. Carrying up to 500 gallons of fuel or water in each of their huge tires, RLTs can be towed singly or in tandem over any terrain which trucks, tanks or amphibious vehicles can negotiate. Five of these Army transporters can hold enough gasoline to supply the average motorist's automobile with fuel for eight years.


I believe that this photo was taken from the Monorail; you can see part of the track and another Monorail vehicle in the distance. We are zipping past a part of the Amusement Area, including the Log Flume Ride. I guess New Yorkers were way too cool to ride in a hollowed-out log, there are two "empties" floating down the trough. I have no idea what "Franksville" was; maybe they sold hot dogs!


Here's a little somethin' for the ladies! Somebody's nekkid. For a microsecond I thought that this might be from General Electric's "Magic Skyway", but thanks to nywf64.com I know that this scene is from the Travelers Insurance's "Triumph of Man" show, which was a series of 13 dioramas showing the progress of humans from grunting goons to smart-alecky astronauts. This photo shows the first diorama - The Dawn of Man! This is East Africa and man; your ancestor of a million and a half years ago. He is ape-like. Clothed in coarse hair. But he stands upright. He can think. He can learn. Early man uses rocks and clubs to kill animals for food. He fashions small stone tools to help him cut through tough hides. His world is violent; cruel. But he survives. And this simple pebble tool is the beginning of a technology which will take man to the stars.

Fun Around the U.S. of A.!

Let's start at this unidentified kiddie park, Somewheresville USA! We're lucky to get a glimpse into the childhood of two of the greatest rock musicians ever: I'm talking about Matthew and Gunnar, better known as Nelson! They've already developed a taste for classic Harleys, and who can blame them.


I have to admit that I thought that Mount Rushmore was a lot bigger than this. Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint must be tiny. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum (Gutzon??) and his son Lincoln removed at least 10 cubic feet of granite (using M-80s and nail files) to create this portrait of George Washington, Conan O'Brien, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

"Busch Gardens": the name evokes a lot of memories, but not of the park that is pictured below. My memories are for the Van Nuys park (long gone); this photo shows the Florida Busch Gardens. I believe that Florida is somewhere in Canada. Man, that is one funny looking mule those kids are riding. Maybe it was pregnant. In the background runs the Monorail, an uncool hanging variety that I encourage all of you to point at and laugh.

J. Cruise, October '55

Sorry in advance about today's lame post! My dog ate my other really great post.

Three stealthy crocodiles lurk menacingly in Willy Wonka's chocolate river. They keep the factory free of sick or elderly Oompa Loompas. Doopety doo!


Speaking of lurking, that's what these two cannibals do best. Some days they return home after long day, completely exhausted, only to have the wife and kids expecting them to lurk at home too. Give them a break!

Random Knott's!

Here's a great early photo (1952) showing the load area for Stagecoach and a Conestoga Wagon ride. I didn't know Knott's had a covered wagon ride, but there it is, three years before Disneyland opened. You can see the Music Hall and the Bottle House as well.

Here's Maxine, Patty, and LaVerne (not their real names!) having a swell time in a different covered wagon (circa 1962); this one didn't go anywhere. Instead, it was part of a circle of wagons that surrounded the faux rock amphitheater where musicians performed. Lucky people could get a seat in one of the wagons.


Speaking of not going anywhere, this Indian remained floating in that pond for many years. He wasn't a "people person". I believe that this lovely reflecting pond is long gone, since reflecting ponds don't generate any money.

Tomorrowland, March 1958

Like most of Tomorrowland, I never seem to get tired of photos of the Autopia. At this point the kids are still driving their Mark III sports cars on the road without a guide rail. For some reason I am fascinated by the changing colors of certain vehicles (mostly the Skyway and the Autopia) since they reflect "fashionable" hues of the times. Here we see lots of blue and turquoise, with a few white and pale yellow thrown in. I like that lady's "umbrella hat" over to the left. Hey, what's that I see in the distance?


Well, it's barely visible, but there's the Viewliner. I'm always happy to see the Train of Tomorrow... unfortunately this lot of slides does not have a better view. Rats!


From the same batch comes this nice shot of the Flight Circle, with the TWA rocket and the Art Corner. The rocket looks especially huge from this angle, doesn't it?

More Madurodam, September 1964

For those of you who are wondering what the heck Madurodam is, please see previous posts here, here, and here.

We've seen shipyards, amusement parks, and all kinds of other miniature wonders at Madurodam. Today we'll take a look at the bustling train yard. Below is a train station that is functional and severely modern (Mies Van Der Rohe?), nothing like the ornate stations of the pre-war era. Itty-bitty people loiter on the platform, waiting for their tiny trains to take them to their teensy jobs.

Here comes one now! Or is it going? Much like an earthworm, it's hard to tell which way it is headed.


Wedged between the airport and the train tracks is a soccer field. I can practically hear the vuvuzelas. The incredibly annoying vuvuzelas.


This photo isn't train-related, but this li'l chateau is almost as adorable as Malibu Barbie's dream house.

O Tannenbaum, 1965

How can it be December already? Yeesh. Maybe if I was at Disneyland, I would be filled with the Christmas spirit. Maybe. This tall tree, decorated and thoroughly flocked, is quite a sight. In fact, I've never seen such a flocking tree! Disney Christmas trees are genetically engineered in a lab thousands of feet beneath the Matterhorn. They grow to their enormous height in just one year, being fed a special diet of hormones and radium. At the end of the season, each tree lays a single glowing egg; the circle of life continues.


Santa cheaped out this year, I would expect a much better haul under such an impressive tree. And I can tell already that I didn't get my Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time.


Like the rest of Disneyland, the Christmas tree looks even better at night. Not so great in the photo, however.