More Universal Studios, March 1985

Welcome back to Universal Studios!

Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" made a ton of dough for Universal pictures, so it's no surprise sharks could be seen in several places around Universal Studios. This big fella made for a dramatic photo op... I assume that this is roughly how large the shark in the movie was supposed to be. I think (but am not sure) that you can still have your photo taken in front of a dead shark!


Another giant shark, this time just the head. "Jaws 3-D" (a fairly wretched sequel - but in 3-D!) had been released in 1983, and this display resembles the poster image, snaggle teeth and all.


Moving away from sharks, take a look at this picture from the backlot... I'm sure that this area was used in zillions of TV shows and movies, as it could pass for just about any inner-city location. Any idea what the metal scaffolding that runs parallel to the tops of the façades is for? Maybe it held lights, or water was pumped through for rain.


This one is a bit soft 'n fuzzy, but it's worth a look anyway. The little European town square is, I believe, one of the oldest surviving parts of the backlot (assuming that it hasn't burned down and been rebuilt multiple times). The tram tour used to say that those very buildings were seen in the original 1931 "Frankenstein" movie. It's easy to imagine a mob of angry villagers marching with torches and pitchforks and hockey sticks!


More Universal Studios stuff is on the way....

Two From June 1960

Maybe it is a mood thing, but sometimes when I see the Mark Twain it looks less like a floating wedding cake and more like the skeleton of some strange beast - perhaps a massive whale with two black horns. That's right, I'm a "the glass is half empty" kind of guy! Occasionally.


I'm always happy to see the Monsanto House of the Future, even if it is mostly obscured. Just imagine all that modern stuff inside! Favorite detail on the Matterhorn: the single bobsled that can be seen halfway up the face of the mountain. Wheeeee!

Some Souvenir Stuff!

Here are some more vintage artifacts from Disneyland!

Did you know that the Upjohn Pharmacy on Main Street gave away vitamins? Here's some to prove it! The cute little bottle is about 1.5 inches tall, and still contains it's jelly bean-shaped pills. They still smell like vitamins, too. I dig the graphics on the little boxes.


GDB pal Steve Stuart sent scans of his souvenir menu from the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor. Presumably these were made to help prevent the mysterious disappearance of the full-sized menus. For a mere 3 cents you could send one of these to your friend back home.


Are you getting hungry? Not long ago somebody was selling one of these on ebay, and a potential buyer commented that there were something like 34 variations! Who knew.


Lady, Tramp, Jock, and Trusty are hanging out at Disneyland; "Lady and the Tramp" was released just before Disneyland opened, so I wonder if this card dates from 1955? My understanding is that this is a fairly scarce postcard.


I hope you have enjoyed this odd collection of stuff!

New York World's Fair, 1939

It's time to go back 73 years in time to 1939 and the New York World's Fair!

First up is this photo of the Westinghouse building, where exhibits "... show how man has utilized the tremendous, indefinable forces of electricity. Among the wonders are a riderless bicycle that steers and balances itself; the world of the invisible, where micro-animals lead their lives; and the Westinghouse Robot - an 8-foot metal man that talks, sees, smells, sings, and counts with his fingers." Ha ha, the robot smells, maybe he needs Irish Spring. The sculptural element in the forecourt resembles a prop from "The Bride of Frankenstein"; I believe that at the base of the cone of concentric circles you would find the famous Westinghouse time capsule, which won't be opened until the year 6939. See you there!


For those of you who were curious (Hannahx2!), here's what the robot (named Electro, and seen here with his dog Sparko) looked like!


The entrance to the "Electric Utilities Exhibit Corporation" involved a dramatic walk through a waterfall. To the left you can see the base of the 150-foot transmission tower. The main exhibit was a show with a live cast, showing "The Forward March of America". "Life with and without electricity is contrasted in two actual streets. Time moves backward to a street of 1892... portraying the life of the era. Then time spans the years to a modern street, showing how electricity has contributed to the tremendous progress made in the past 50 years."


The huge stainless steel lightning bolt in front of the General Electric building represents "... the taming of the savage natural forces of electricity to serve the needs of men." One exhibit showed man-made lightning, 10 million volts arcing over 30 feet. Inside the "House of Magic", you would see a solar-powered motor, "great whirling discs, synchronized with light", and a "metal carpet floating in space" (whatever that means!). There was also a huge mural by Rockwell Kent, and a complete television studio. Television in 1939, wow!


And finally, the obligatory shot of the Trylon and Perishpere. The Unisphere from the 1964 World's Fair was built on the site of the Perisphere!


Stay tuned for more...

Skyway, May 1961

Oh how I miss the Skyway; the simple pleasure of being transported high above Disneyland, smoothly and quietly.... it can't be beat. Based on this photo, how high up are the buckets at the Matterhorn (which I believe was the highest point)? I'm guessing about 60 feet, which is just about perfect. The Swiss Sky Ride at the New York World's Fair was almost twice as high, which would be impressive, but then you would be so far from the stuff below you. I suppose it just depends on what you want out of your sky ride.


Here's the beautiful view you would see on the Tomorrowland side of the Matterhorn. I wish the photographer hadn't included so much sky, but somehow I'll manage to forgive him (her?).

Sleeping Beauty Castle, September 1963

Ho hum, more pictures of Sleeping Beauty Castle! I love it as a thing, but photos of it do get repetitive...

Still, this first one interests me because of the park-like grassy areas in front that are long gone... they sure gave that area a different effect.


And an obique view from your oblique blogger! Graphic "Eyvind Earle" leaves trail down from the top of the frame.

Haunted Mansion Hearse

Today I have a fun bit of Disneyland trivia for you!

Last week I posted this photo, from the Last Frontier casino in Las Vegas. Remember?


Well, just a day or two later, I received a message from reader Rick West, and here's what he said:

My co-workers and I were just looking over your additional Last Frontier images, when we came across the one of the General Store Museum and the white hearse in front of it.

We're almost certain that hearse is the one that years later, would find a home in front of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. Bob Baranick, who purchased the hearse from Dale Rickards, who had purchased it from Dobie Doc, brought the hearse to Disneyland and installed it at the Mansion in 1995. The wheels in the image are larger than the ones that would be on the hearse that Bob bought, and the lamps appear to be better quality in the image than on the hearse when it was purchased.

At the end of the day, we're all sitting here in agreement that your image may definitely contain the now-famous Disneyland Haunted Mansion hearse in one of its earlier "resting places" right there in Las Vegas!

Isn't that COOL? Here's a closer look:


It's amazing that this photo was taken 40 years before the hearse would find its way to Disneyland. Dave over at the excellent Daveland Blog was kind enough to let me share a couple of his more recent photos of the hearse as it looks these days. One additional obvious difference is that, in the older photo, at the base of the front corner "columns", there are round ornamental carvings on the underside of the vehicle; these are not present in the Disneyland photos, but I imagine they could have been removed when the wheels were changed.


One more photo from Daveland...


Many thanks to Rick West (founder and editor of ThemeParkAdventure.com, and a Creative Show Writer over at Thinkwell in Burbank) for letting me know about this fascinating bit of Disneyland history!

Das Blue Lagoon, May 1964

I am mighty fond of this picture of the sub lagoon, with the primrose-yellow 4-car Monorail ("What's that word?") zipping along the beamway overhead. I am also mighty fond of waffles with butter and maple syrup (with a side of bacon). What are YOU fond of?


Another view, taken from somebody wearing a jetpack. Or maybe they're on the Skyway, who knows. I prefer jetpacks, and silver jumpsuits, and cool helmets, and adoring babes waiting for me to land.

Knott's Berry Farm, June 1962

More fun from Knott's....

Granny is falling hard for Handsome Brady, and who can blame her. He's the strong, silent type, and he doesn't even smell bad. And I'm guessing that the sack next to him is full of gold dust. GOLD!


The Chicken Dinner restaurant is what made everything else possible at Knott's. Who knew that people were so crazy about fried chicken and pie? I like this twilight photo, with the warm lights inside luring us like moths to a flame. Meanwhile, I'm not sure when I started loving vintage station wagons so much, but I would gladly own either one of those babies in the middle.


The Wagon Camp was where many a performance took place. Cowboy music, square dancing, jello wrestling, stuff like that. Those stone benches were formed by millions of years of water and wind and UFOs.


Hmmm, I'm not sure what that building is behind these folks. The Saloon? If anybody knows, please share!

Baloo & Louis

"The Jungle Book" was the last animated feature that Walt Disney was personally involved with; it opened in 1967 to huge success! In this photo from 1970, Baloo and King Louie (arguably two of the most popular characters from The Jungle Book) confront each other somewhere in Adventureland. I think one of them has a switchblade! Why don't they solve their differences with a "dance-off" the way everyone else does?

Now we hop forward to the 1980's (when I had my "Flock of Seagulls" hairdo) for a look at "America Sings". There's the Swamp Boys, performing "Polly Wolly Doodle" in the first act of this all Audio-Animatronic show. I confess that I was not a big fan of America Sings - I missed my "Carousel of Progress" too much!