Twain and Columbia, July 7 1961

It seems incredible to me, but this photo of the Mark Twain at its loading dock is unlike any other that I have! And I have plenty of pictures of the Mark Twain at the dock. The angle is unusual, and even dramatic! Maybe there's a bit more empty asphalt than I would normally want. Notice our girl with the fluffy hat to the right.


There goes the Columbia! Look at all the masts and spars and ropes and sails and stuff. In its day the original "Columbia" was probably the state-of-the-art in high-tech travel. Imagine going around the globe in this thing!

New York World's Fair, 1964

Ford's "Magic Skyway" and GM's "Futurama" got a lot of press, but Chrysler had a pretty awesome series of exhibit's at the World's Fair too. One of the stranger offerings was the Autofare "Zoo", which featured fanciful sculptures of animals, entirely made from car parts. There was a porcupine (I see him in the background!), a frog, a mantis, and whatever the hell these two things are supposed to be. Caterpiggles?


Here's a great shot of Avis' "Antique Car Ride". Did Arrow Development have anything to do with this attraction? This must have been an "off the shelf" ride (don't get me wrong, I'm sure it was still fun). Wouldn't it have been cooler if the cars were all futuristic atomic cars? The Ford pavilion is in the background.


There's the familar Moon Dome, part of the Travel and Transportation pavilion (I call it the T&T pavilion, please don't go to the T&A pavilion by accident). Among the features seen here was a film sponsored by United Airlines about the miracle of jet travel; a flying saucer show (complete with a visit by martians!); "Around the World With The Navy" (another movie); and the attraction that you would see within the Moon Dome, "Beyond The Moon", which explored man's environment from the nucleus of an atom to outer space. Sounds very "Disney"!


First of all, I labeled this image "Timex", for reasons not clear to me. It was right after I bumped my head. This giant clock is not quite as cool as the Clock of the World at Disneyland, but it told you the time, and (judging by the number "10") also served as a landmark on maps (please correct me if I'm wrong!).

As always, stay tuned for more New York World's Fair images!

Entrance & Main Street, September 1963

Today's first image was taken from a speeding Monorail as the photographer pointed his camera toward Main Street Station (and the exit). Somehow there is no blur at all! Well, maybe a little bit in the lower left, but still, I'm impressed. The grassy areas and rose beds are all long-gone (as are the water fountains, I presume). Bike racks show that some lucky kids lived near enough to not need mom and dad to drive them to the park. Imagine being able to ride your bike to the park whenever you wanted!


The Disneyland Band performs a noon-day concert, but the thing I like the best is the banner in the background: "Disneyland Welcomes Benny Goodman". For all you young'uns out there, Benny Goodman was famous for making adorable animals out of felt and googly eyes.

Special Guest Monday! Knott's Berry Farm (part one)

For today's "Special Guest Monday", GDB reader Bill Youmans was kind enough to share some of his family's color photos from Knott's Berry Farm, circa June 1966.

Let's start with the great picture of Bill's sister Barb (age 5 here), standing next to her new friend. From the look on his face, he is enjoying having his noggin scratched; if only she had a carrot, everything would be perfect!

One of the sturdy little mine trains is just about to enter the Calico gold mine! Did you ever get the feeling that everyone is looking at you?


These guys are getting pretty fresh, but Nell and Belle have seen it all and can take care of themselves. In fact, they seem to be enjoying themselves. I emailed Bill to ask him about these follows, and here's what he had to say: "...that's my dad Ray on the left, and his buddy Rich (with glasses) on the right. They are both professionals (dentist and college professor), so its really funny to see them so out of character. And since we have the slides, my mom must have taken the picture!! They are really enjoying themselves! We drove to California from Kansas to visit Rich and his family, and they took us to KBF while we stayed with them in Long Beach. My recollection is that my father and Rich had known each other since the Army, and Rich had lived in Kansas near us and had moved to California in 1964, so my folks decided to visit them on our summer vacation in 1966. I believe my parents still get Christmas cards from Rich and Lois, so they are still in Long Beach and doing well!" It's so great that everyone is still around, and that they've been friends all these years.


Here comes the Stage Coach! They only lost 2 passengers on the journey this time - they were being chased by a pack of hungry wolves, and the guy who is waving pushed two nuns off the top of the coach. They were gobbled up in a trice, and the coach got away. When you think about it, "waving guy" is a hero.


You can't have photos from Knott's without a picture of Handsome Brady and Whisky Bill, loitering in front of the Gold Trail Hotel as usual. It's a good place to pick up half-smoked ceegars. Bill (our contributor) is to the left in his stylin' straw hat, his mom (Marian, now age 87!) is in the middle, and Barb has climbed way up Whisky Bill.


MANY THANKS to Bill Youmans! I'll have more of his Knott's slides to share with you next week.

Flower Mart & Matterhorn, September 1959

The Flower Mart on West Center Street would not have enticed me at all, as pretty as it was. But there were bathrooms at the end, and those would have enticed me. Mr. Handyman is in the foreground, complete with his high school wood shop toolbox, his spirit level, and a handful of stakes (for vampires!).


Here's Christopher D. Miller's window; he was Walt Disney's grandson (born in 1954), and Walt was obviously pleased as punch. I'm guessing that he had visions of his grandson playing little league baseball and Pop Warner football, which made the gym an appropriate location for the tribute. I want my name on the massage parlor! How can I make that happen?


A daring climber can be seen at the peak of the Matterhorn; I am reminded of the Grinch lurking atop Mt. Crumpit. The structure in the foreground hid the boat storage area for Storybook Land; since this view was visible from the Disneyland Railroad, I am surprised that the powers-that-be seemed OK with the jumble of ladders and scaffolding.

Anything Goes Saturday - Pleasure Island

Today I have four photos (from October 1968) Pleasure Island, in Wakefield Massachusetts! This park opened in 1959; and who gets the credit for designing it? None other than C.V. Wood, the same man who helped Walt build Disneyland, and then tried to take most of the credit for it!

Pleasure Island was even billed as "The Disneyland of the Northeast" - Walt must have loved that. The park was 80 acres, and offered such things as a Space Rocket ride, a Pirate ride, a Moby Dick ride, a Western Land (complete with the "Diamond Lil Theater", sponsored by Pepsi - sound familiar?), a narrow gauge railroad, and best of all, Monkey Island. I defy you to name anything that isn't improved with the presence of monkeys! Can't do it, can you?

This first photo shows the fun (but modest) entrance, including a sign informing visitors that state law prohibits the park from opening until 1:00 PM on Sunday.


Here's another shot of the entrance, and ticket booths. Notice the giant rocket... I wonder how similar that attraction was to Disneyland's "Rocket to the Moon"?


Unfortunately, the pix I have from inside the park are not great. Sorry! This looks to me like it was the equivalent of Town Square, only there's nothing there. Except for the Shutterbug Shoppe which I guess sold bugs.


This wonderful attraction featuring a barn with a slide is called "Barn and Slide". BAM! Fun Fact: some scenes from the Cliff Robertson movie "Charly" were filmed here? Check out all of the orbs in this photo, each one is a real ghost. All buildings over 2 stories should have a slide (on each level) for emergency evac. Who's with me?

You know what's funny about Massachusetts? It has long, cold winters, which makes it hard to run an amusement park and stay profitable. Sadly, Pleasure Island went belly-up in 1969, to be replaced with an equally fun office park.

"Fantasy" Shop, April 29 1956

Happy friday the 13th, everyone! You've got time to spend a minute or two in Fantasyland, circa 1956, haven't you?

Walking through Sleeping Beauty Castle puts you right in the thick of Fantasyland. The three guests in the middle of the picture are wondering which direction to go, since they've never been to Disneyland before! I've always liked the way the building in the background jut out from the castle walls (just like in real medieval towns, apparently). Notice that the shop is called "Fantasy of Disneyland" - eventually renamed "Tinker Bell Toy Shop".


Here's a closer look. First of all, that lady is rockin' the head scarf or babushka or whatever it's called! I wonder if she is Russian Orthodox? The shop window has three creepy mannequins, modeling tasteful fashions for girls. "Marsha"!


You know it, you love it, it's the Chicken of the Sea pirate ship! I call chickens "fish of the land", which is weird and annoying.

Entrance & Main Street, June 1968

The Mickey Mouse floral portrait is one of more famous icons of Disneyland, but it's looking pretty bare here... apparently it had just been freshly planted. Give it a week or so! What, you're not coming back in a week? The fence looks sad and naked without the colorful attraction posters that used to adorn it; I guess that they stopped displaying those around 1967.


Here's a lovely shot looking north. As much as I love the olive trees in the hub (especially at night, with their twinkling lights), they are obscuring most the castle here. The shadows are getting longer on this summer afternoon.


Turning to look south towards Main Street Station, the clock tells us that it is almost 5:30. I wonder what that banner over Town Square was for? I'm going to guess that it said "Disneyland Welcomes Major Pepperidge". Notice that the gas streetlights are already lit though it won't be dark for hours. Let's go to the Main Street Cinema and watch Lillian Gish do something old-timey.

Calico, California - March 1963

Today we'll drive about 2 hours, headed northeast to San Bernardino County (way out in the Mojave Desert) to Calico Ghost Town! I've blogged about it before, but as a reminder I'll mention that Walter Knott purchased Calico back in 1951 (having worked there as a laborer back in his youth) and began restoring the former silver-mining town; it attracted tourists for miles around.

I love this sign!


Here's a picturesque shot of the parking lot. And I know how much you all love photographs of parking lots.


There's silver in them thar hills! Or at least there used to be. Just imagine being here in the middle of the summer, digging in a mine all day. Sweaty? You bet! I would've opened a Slurpee stand and watched the money come rolling in.


This appears to be some sort of little funicular railroad that I wasn't previously aware of. It used to shuttle people from the parking lot up to the ghost town, and I'm pretty sure it's no longer in operation.


This kid is getting in touch with his inner Munster by sitting in the driver's seat of an old-fashioned hearse.


Stay tuned for more photos from Calico Ghost Town!

Family Snapshots, 1958

The old black and white family snapshot... my mom has boxes full of the things! None from Disneyland though, boo hoo.

Here are two nice images from some other family, circa 1958. Let's start with this photo of the Midget Autopia - one of the few strictly kid-sized rides at Disneyland. The genius who thought of putting two steering wheels in each car should have been made honorary President of the United States. It must have been kind of exciting for small children, taking this winding drive through picturesque countryside while leaving mom and dad behind.


The Astro Jets prove that everything is better with the prefix "Astro" added to it. It's a scientific fact. This slightly blurry picture shows - mom and daughter? - big sis and little sis? - aboard the "Capella". The other rockets were named Arcturus, Altair, Antares, Canopus, Castor, Pica, Procyon, Regulus, Rigel, Sirius, Spicus, and Vega.