In Frontierland, September 1966

Hey lady, I don't mean to be rude, but you're getting that cool, extra-large shopping bag all wrinkled up! Knock it off! Only seconds after this photo was taken, she waded into the river (fully clothed), and swam 10 full laps around Tom Sawyer Island before she was apprehended and thrown into Disney jail.

Thanks to mind-bending "blur-O-rama", this photo makes you feel as if you are really in Disneyland but forgot your glasses. I've never seen these nattily-dressed dancers before; at first I thought that they might be Kenny and Teddy (only older than we're used to seeing), but that is clearly wrong, since K&T were still young kids in 1966. 

The "Fred Gurley", October 1967

I've always liked the trains at Disneyland, but over the years my appreciation has grown considerably. They're just cool, that's all there is to it!

This first image is a nice photo taken near the exit - be sure to get your hand stamped if you plan on returning ( always got my hand stamped even if I wasn't returning... it was like a temporary tattoo) - and there's the "Fred Gurley"; named for the then-chairman of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Fred Gurley went into service on March 28, 1958. It was the third of Disneyland's five locomotives, and the oldest, built in 1894. Hey, that's when I was built too!

There's the brave, dependable, and lovably crusty engineer, making sure that everyone is safely aboard before getting underway.  Notice the water tower, which still has the Santa Fe logo! Most of you probably already know that this picture was taken as the train paused at New Orleans Square's station, which makes you super awesome.

Two From SeaWorld

SeaWorld in San Diego is still going strong after 48 years of operation. It's the original! You can still visit other "SeaWorlds" in Orlando, San Antonio, and Dubai (!) - one in Ohio closed back in 2001. But for me, there is only one. Because I don't get out much. Here's a picture of the original entrance, with the "tiki-moderne" (my term) building. 

If you like leaping sea mammals, than this is the place for you. Dolphins, porpoises, seals, and of course, lovable Killer Whales. They're like pandas that live in the ocean. Here's "Shamu" (I assume). You may remember him (her?) from "The Shamu Prime-time Comedy Hour" back in the 70's. It was clobbered in the ratings by "The Flip Wilson Show", but is still legendary for its cutting edge political humor combined with biting (get it?) social commentary. Shamu really told it like it was, man.

I wish I could find a photo showing what the view below looks like today. Something tells me that the acres of empty land are not so empty any more.

Magnolia, Arkansas - 1950s

I have never been to the southern part of the US (I'm not counting a few months in Georgia when I was a baby), but I sure would love to explore it someday. 

Take a look at today's photos, featuring Magnolia, Arkansas (only about 20 miles north of the Louisiana border), from sometime in the mid-1950's. A trio of army nurses passed through Magnolia, and stopped to snap a few photos - the man in the photo below is (I think) from the local gas station.

Magnolia looks like it was a nice little town! It was founded in 1853 and started out primarily as a farming community. Later on oil, natural gas, and other industries became important to the economy. 

Using Google's Street View, I found a pretty close match to the picture above... there's the McAllister Building, looking very much the same as it did 60 years ago. The rest of Jackson Street has lost a bit of its vintage charm, but then again, so have most places.

There's all 3 of our gals, aren't they cute? Today, Magnolia is home to the world's largest charcoal grill, as well as (appropriately) the "World Champion Steak Cookoff". 

I hope you've enjoyed your visit to Magnolia!

Instamatic A Go-Go

Recently, I was the lucky recipient of a nice batch of vintage Disneyland photos, given to me by a friend who was going to throw them out! They are all negatives from a Kodak Instamatic that he used when he was a kid; Instamatics were not exactly the finest cameras in the world (they had plastic lenses, and recorded their images on lumps of photochemically sensitive whale blubber), but  there are some real winners in the lot. The negatives were all in a jumble and undated, but he said that they were from between 1963 to about 1968. So.... THANKS to Mr. X!

Check out this unusual view, taken from the Skyway as it was about to go through the Matterhorn. The four-car red Monorail passes below us, and just a little bit of Tomorrowland is visible in the distance. If you look really carefully, you can spot yellow and blue Peoplemover vehicles, and even a molecule of one of the Mary Blair murals. I guess the yellow tent structure was a souvenir stand? That or you could give blood before riding the Autopia. On the horizon in the upper right is the space-age Anaheim Convention Center, which opened in 1967.

It was sunny and bright, with a vivid blue sky, but the overcoats tell us that there was a chill in the air when this picture was shot. We've certainly seen a zillion pictures of Sleeping Beauty Castle, but not many from this angle... and the people add a lot to the vintage quality.

And finally (for today), here's the Disneyland Band, in vivid red uniforms, as their leader in spotless white leads them around the hub and back down Main Street USA. I'm so used to seeing Vesey Walker leading the band that it is something of a jolt to see somebody else with the baton.

Oh boy, there are lots more Instamatic A Go-Go pictures to come!

Keel Boat and Mark Twain, September 1963

I miss the sight of the little Keel Boats on the Rivers of America; I can't imagine that they were very expensive to run or maintain, and yet it was removed - supposedly because it had been deemed "unsafe" after one of the boats overturned. How about a bit more ballast, guys? Or insist that the pilots never rock the boat (apparently a popular activity)? The fact that the removal happened during Paul Pressler's tenure is fishy.

Oh well, we still have the Mark Twain, thank goodness. It will never go away.... OR WILL IT?!?

Jungleland USA, April 1959

Happy 4th of July, everybody! Today seemed like a good day to visit a wonderful piece of Americana... Jungleland USA, in Thousand Oaks, California! As I have mentioned before, I was lucky enough to visit Jungleland when I was a kid; and years ago my family moved to Thousand Oaks - but Jungleland had been long closed by then. The empty animal enclosures could still be seen as you passed by on the freeway, but even those are gone, replaced by a monolithic "civic center".

Today's photos date back to 1959; first up are a few pictures of the elephants putting on a show. Here's Jumbo and, um, Todd? engaged in a tug-of-war. Or maybe they are just shaking trunks. We are the world...! The oak trees and familiar hillsides in the background bring back fond memories. And as always, I love the old cars.

Awww, I hate seeing those amazing heffalumps chained up like that. But if they weren't chained, they would play three-card monty with the guests and fleece them. I seen it with my own eyes!

Bears, lots of bears! Well, three anyway. Polo Bears, how can they even sit on a horse? And yet that's what they're called, so who am I to argue. I hope you are all taking notes.

This little amphitheater was where you could watch some less-dangerous animals performing amazing tricks. Tightrope-walking goats and stuff like that. I still remember sitting in one of those seats (years after 1959!), and being distracted by a squirrel running back and forth on an overhead wire. Goats, shmoats!

I'll have part two of this series next week. If I remember.

Balloon Sellers, July 1965

If I didn't know better, I would swear that this guy is holding 99 luftballoons. Disneyland went the extra mile and sold luftballoons instead of plain old balloons! This first pic is another example that was shot on Disneyland's 13th birthday, July 17 1965. Somewhere in one of my boxes of junk I have a deflated Mickey ear balloon just like the kind you see here (mine is yellow) - only mine can't have been from the 60's. It's sort of dried-up and crusty, but I still love it.

From the same photographer, this picture was taken on July 15 1965. Is he somewhere up closer to the castle? This fellow's balloon technique is totally different from the other guy; he holds them close so they don't tangle and make that bumping balloony noise. YOU know what I'm talking about.

It must be entertaining to watch these guys when the Santa Ana winds are gusting at 40 miles per hour. Maybe they suspend balloon sales on those days?

Knott's Berry Farm, June 1958

I love this first photo, a wonderful look at Doctor Mal De Mer's Medicine Show, from the summer of 1958. I had another photo of this show recently, but this one is much better. The curvy showgirl is smiling so sweetly that I'll believe anything she says. You can see the Doc himself to the left, which is rare. I wonder if folks could actually buy some sort of souvenir bottles of snake oil? What an amazing artifact that would be!

From the same lot comes this rare interior of the "Little Red Schoolhouse" (see the exterior here). This genuine Kansas schoolhouse, built in 1879, was purchased by Walter Knott and relocated to the berry farm, complete with all of the original paraphernalia inside. Teacher stands near the cast iron stove while two young ladies look like they have done something naughty! The picture is a bit blurry, but considering how dark it was, it's a miracle that it came out at all.

Casey Jr. & Storybook Land, October 1967

Here's a nice look at the patchwork quilt hills and banks of Storybook Land; I like the cross-stitching and variety of patterns, just like grandma's old quilt. That's right, grandma made her quilts out of dirt and stone and plants. She was an odd duck, but we loved her. After years of only riding the canal boats, I think it's high time I took a Casey Jr. Circus Train around this charming area.

And speaking of Casey, there he is ...coming down the track, with a smoky stack! He's here to thrill every Jack and Jill, don't you know. This photo gives you a good idea of just how big the miniature Cinderella's Castle is.