Random Photos

I have a folder of new scans featuring Mr. X's photos - possibly from around 1967 or '68 - from some Kodak Instamatic negatives that he found recently. Today I picked some random views.

The more I see photos of the old Nature's Wonderland attraction, the more I miss it! I am actually crying right now (big gulping breaths, runny nose, annoying whining, the whole deal). For instance, this photo shows the familiar scene of bears catching trout in pool; but it looks so great! Hey, I want to catch trout with my teeth too. One of my favorite details is the "creek" that heads off into the upper right - it is easy to imagine it heading all the way up to some snowy mountain passes. In fact, the creek points in the general direction of the Rainbow Caverns show building, I believe.

Mr. X mentioned the following tidbit to me; "...there was a powerful waterfall back in that corner to the left just along the Mule Pack trail.  I used to take breaks up there at the top of the falls, though I was very careful to stay out of view". Doesn't that sounds amazing?

Here's a nice shot of the Royal Street Bachelors performing on the steps in the Court of Angels. Nothing like a little live music! One of the things that occurs to me is how subtle the colors are. Later on, those steps and the bannister were painted a vivid blue, probably on the theory that guests "like color". Everyone likes color, that doesn't mean you have to hit people over the head with it (so to speak).

The presence of the papier-mâché figures in the lower right indicates that this is from the earliest days of New Orleans Square. 

This next one was going to go into the "reject" pile; some mysterious object (a camera strap?) fell across the lens while young Mr. X was trying to capture a photo of Old Unfaithful. But I might as well post it!

Extra! Extra! Mike Cozart generously contributed these neat photos of two New Orleans Square signs; one indicated "Le Grand Court", and the other "The Royal Courtyard". Thanks, Mike!

Knott's Berry Farm Assortment

I have an odd assortment of snapshots and scans from Knott's Berry Farm that I am going to share with you today!

Let's start with this undated snapshot of a mother and 3 kids aboard the wonderful Log Ride. I believe that they are just starting their journey along a log flume, where they will eventually wind up at a saw mill, and will narrowly escape being sawn into kindling.

I might as well take this opportunity to repost a photo from one of my early trips to Knott's - there I am, young Major Pepperidge, second from the front. I think that we were at the park for my birthday.

Here's another snapshot (undated), with a couple posing in front of the Dreger Clock - it's strange to see the clock painted white with red trim - I think it was dark green whenever I saw it.

From 1961 comes this too-dark photo of one of the old San Francisco cable cars that used to run along a track at Knott's. I think it was pretty amazing that Walter Knott took advantage of the fact that San Francisco was scrapping most of their legendary cable cars... what a great idea for an attraction.

Some of you have long memories, so you may remember seeing this family before, both at Disneyland and at Knott's. Maybe the homemade yellow and white dresses on the girls will ring a bell. I am relieved to learn that Sedaville is only 17 miles away.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Knott's Berry Farm!

Submarine Voyage, July 1959

The title of today's post is "Submarine Voyage", but the stars of the first photo are the members of the family who have just completed their exciting voyage through liquid space. But first I will point out that they are about to pass beneath the exit ramp from the Monorail platform above them - did people walk down on their own, or was there a speedramp? Spiny, leathery plants retrieved from the surface of the planet Mercury are planted nearby.

I'd say that little boy had an amazing experience! Maybe he's talking about the wacky sea serpent that was the grand finale. It looks like he is wearing a miniature six-shooter in a tiny leather holster from a sort of bolo tie thing, while his brother (? behind Dad) might be wearing a similar tiny pistol on his hip. 

This second shot almost feels like an "oops", but I like the view of the distant Autopia cars crossing the Lagoon.

Random Snapshots

Sorting through some old scans of snapshots, I found a few that had been skipped for being too boring. Perfect for Sunday! If you are looking at the blog today, well... I apologize in advance.

How about a dark and murky photo of Skull Rock? In 1960 it magically appeared in Fantasyland one morning, no one quite knows how it got there. If you look closely you can see two boys dutifully waving at the photographer.

Hey, it's those meddling kids again! I tried to scare everyone away from Disneyland so that I could buy it for a pittance, but those kids foiled my plans when my glowing rubber mask (purchased at Merlin's Magic Shop) fell off. Don't think I won't try again!

I have plenty of pictures of the Burning Settler's Cabin, but this one is not among the best. Somebody needs to trim those trees, you can hardly see anything. Still, I miss this non-PC feature, even though I have finally come to terms with the realization that it will never return (I sort of hoped that a version of it might appear on Tom Sawyer Island when the Rivers of America reopened in July of 2017, but... no such luck).

Mt. Cranmore Skimobiles, 1958

The four slides that I am sharing today were a mystery to me - it appeared to show some sort of ski lift, or tiny funicular railroad, or... something. What is it? Where was it? With little to go on, it took me a while to figure it out! 

What we're looking at is the Mt. Cranmore (New Hampshire) "Skimobiles", designed and built in 1936 by local mechanic George Morton. According to one website: Morton’s lift featured 60 cars that ascended a wooden trestle, pulled by a cable under the track. Gibson named the new lift the "Skimobile", and the ski world was introduced to a new form of uphill transportation.

The Skimobiles turned out to be a popular Summer attraction as well, taking visitors to the top of Mt. Cranmore to take in spectacular views. The first Skimobile trestle ascended Cranmore to the halfway point, and its popularity in its first season, as well as Hannes Schneider’s insistence, led to the construction in the summer of 1939 of an upper trestle that reached the summit of the mountain.

It really does look like fun!

At the transition point between the upper and lower trestles of the Skimobile, passengers had to change cars. This elaborate platform and pair of buildings was located where the two trestles met. This was the only Skimobile ever built with two trestles, although a similar lift, called a trestle car, was built at the Homestead Resort in Virginia.

According to another website, The skimobile continued to be a popular lift for years drawing both winter and summer visitors. In 1989, most likely to make room for more modern lifts with greater uphill capacity, the Skimobile was dismantled. Its cars can be seen in front of various businesses in the North Conway area. There is also a car at Cranmore Mountain and another at the New England Ski Museum.

YouTube has some grainy home movie footage of the Skimobiles in action. We miss you, li'l Skimobiles!

Merms, August 1967

Happy Friday, junior gorillas! Why not spend a few minutes in Tomorrowland? What, you got something better to do??

For a few wondrous years (1959, and then from 1965 through 1967) there were real live mermaids in the Submarine Lagoon. How did they get there? Did they communicate with each other using a series of high-pitched clicks and chirps? What did they eat? Is it true that they gave off a soft bioluminescence at night? So many questions.

Meanwhile, look at how beautiful the lagoon (and the rest of the park) looked. Wowee! So bright and shiny and new. The yellow Monorail peeks out from behind the station, and Howard Johnson's is visible just to the left of the turquoise Peoplemover train. Would it be bad form to go and have some fried clams at HoJo's? I don't want to disappoint the merms.

Suggestion for krazy kollege kids: Pour bubble bath into the lagoon over near the waterfalls.

Suggestion #2: Don't get caught!

I'm zooming in, because why the heck not? It is well known that merms loved to wave (and be waved at). They learned the behavior from friendly fiddler crabs. If you look closely at the Monorail platform, you can see the CM in his gray jacket and cap - a pretty awesome uniform.

I assume there will be no complaints if I share a second image. Even merms (with their supernatural strength) can't wave all the time. Sometimes they have to comb their greenish hair, admire their reflections in a mirror, or play the lyre. Hey, I do all those things too!

We miss you, mermaids! Don't let Nemo keep you away, we'd love to have you back.

*I'll be flying home today! I'm looking forward to talking to all of you soon.

Disneyland Hotel Instamatics

A young Mr. X took today's photos over at the Disneyland Hotel, probably from around 1966 or '67 (please correct me if I'm wrong). 

I don't remember that fountain at all, so it was kind a surprise to find this picture. The railing that surrounds it is kind of ugly (we can be grateful that there is no chain link), but I suppose clumsy people might have fallen in without it. I wonder if it was just temporary? There appears to be some work being done, possibly having to do with the expansion of the Sierra Tower, which was done in 1966. There is a sign just at the base of the palm trees that reads "Disneyland Hotel Tower Annex". 

Now we're looking up at the neon sign atop the expanded Sierra Tower (remember when it used to read "Hotel Disneyland"?). The giant (16 feet tall) letter "D" was recently in the auction of Richard Kraft's collection at Van Eaton Galleries.

I took this photo of it when I went to the exhibit! It made quite an impression when standing so close to it. Someone bought it for around $86,000.

*Note: I am still out of town, but not for much longer! Thanks for checking in each day.

Flower Market, October 1963

The good old Flower Market; it was a favorite photo location for years. As an all-American boy, you wouldn't catch me anywhere near all those flowers. Everyone knows flowers are for girls! 

This nice lady would agree, and her husband (the photographer) might too, because he took at least five precious film frames in East Center Street. In 1963, nobody wanted sunflowers in their natural hues. Yellow? UGH! They needed them in Neptunian shades of blue or purple, or Martian reds. 

Notice that our gal is wearing a triangular paper tag, indicating that she had taken a guided tour. She is channeling her inner Henry Gibson*.

Bulletin: Fake Fruit Fools Friends and Family! Film at Five. It's a veritable cornucopia of plastic fruit, including oranges, lemons, apples, bananas, mangos, avocados, cherries, grapes, casaba melons, pears, and possibly figs and plums too. In other words, every kind of fruit that exists. You can't name another, can you?? I didn't think so. And don't give me that "tomatoes are fruit" nonsense either, I'm not buying it.

*Here's Henry Gibson!

*NOTE! I am out of town this week, but there will be new posts for you every day. I'm going to be very busy, but I will be sure to read all the comments when I get home!

In Fantasyland, May 1966

Today I have two fun photos of Fantasyland for you!

We'll start with Polly Holliday's sister Molly, looking stylish and elegant even while eating an ice cream bar. Meanwhile her husband is yukking it up as usual. You could do better, Molly! I tried to figure out what was in her handbag, but it might just be a Kodak box of some kind, and not a rare Disneyland brochure as I'd hoped.

This angle gives us a nice look at the entrance to the castle walk-thru (still so glad to have that feature back!); the baby in the stroller doesn't look so good... I hope it wasn't hit by a curare-tipped arrow while on the Jungle Cruise.

Oh yeah, Fantasyland when it was at its Fantasylandiest. The colors, man, dig the colors! The little ticket booth for the Casey Jr. attraction has shingles in Mary Blair pinks and blues. The Pirate Ship looks impressive as always; and with practically no line for Dumbo's Flying Elephants, I definitely want to go for a spin.

*NOTE! I will be out of town this week, but there will be new posts for you every day. I'm going to be hella busy, but I will be sure to read all the comments when I get home!

Tomorrowland, July 1972

A helpful CM uses hand signals (learned on the deck of an aircraft carrier, no doubt) to instruct Fun Mom in the art of getting out of an Autopia vehicle. Unlike many grownups, she actually let the kid "steer". She gets an extra 350 points for those dark glasses with the blue frames. Notice the tookbox on the curb in the background - I think I see a metal mallet. You had to whack on those engines to keep them going! There's also an air hose for handy tire inflation, just like at your local service station.

Not too far from there, the same boy is now with his sister in a red Peoplemover car. Sis is done trying to smile for the camera (she looks tired, and after all, Fun Dad took a lot of photos), but little brother is still willing to put on his finest grimace that reminds me of half of the photos of my niece and nephew.

*NOTE! I will be out of town this week, but there will be new posts for you every day. I'm going to be so busy, but I will be sure to read all the comments when I get home!