Random Snoozers, May 1978

It's not easy being a big star. Tigger was riding a wave of popularity after appearing in "Winnie the Pooh And The Blustery Day" in 1968. Here is he, exiting "The Walt Disney Story Featuring Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln With A Special Introduction From Tom Bosley", and his fans are already on him like a tick on a hound dog. The girl with pigtails looks like she just said, "Tigger, you are so full of baloney!" (only she didn't say baloney). Be skeptical, little girl! The other girl is literally jumping up and down in sugar-fueled frenzy.

Depending on where you sit, it can be hard to take a good picture on the World Famous Jungle Cruise. Case and point: this example.

Vintage People

People. There's been a lot of them. Some of them lived a long time ago. Let's take a look!

The date: August, 1953. The place: Palo Alto (California). That sure looks like a nice little post-war housing tract (the trees are still saplings, the bushes still need a few years to fill out). Snug homes for families with a mom, dad, and a couple of kids! Thanks to the writing on the slide, I can tell you that the little girl's name is Debbie, the boy's name is Mike, and their mom is Olga. I hope that dad grills a few steaks for dinner later and the family can watch Candid Camera, or maybe Dragnet, or even (zoiks) I Love Lucy.

Looks like these fellas are reliving their days when they were in the Army. "Look hon, the uniform still fits!". I'd love to know what the story was - the slide was undated but is probably from the 1950's, so I guess it's possible that these guys served in WWII; if they are in their 60's (which seems likely), they could be veterans of WWI.  Either way, thank you for your service, boys!

And finally, here's a house full of kids, circa 1951 - probably from some sort of church group (based on other slides in the batch). So much squirming! I don't know why, but I get a kick out of looking at these faces, and how some personalities come through over 60 years later. Freckle-faced jokesters; the boy with the cowboy hat; the future movie star to the right (in blue, with the pearls), or the glum girl with the bangs just below her. I can't help thinking about how their lives might have played out. Who went to Vietnam? Who got caught up in the counter culture of the 60's? Who got married and had 2.4 kids? And so on.

I hope you have enjoyed today's vintage people!

Knott's Berry Farm, October 1975

Sue B. (of "Lou and Sue" fame) sent me a big batch of 35mm slides from 1975 - photos of Knott's Berry Farm taken by her dad, Lou Perry. There's some nice stuff, and it'll take me a few posts to get through them all!

It's hard to say for sure, but I'd wager that Lou went to Knott's to check out the new "Roaring 20's" area that had opened in '75. The Roaring 20's replaced the less-than-successful Gypsy Camp. Here's a nice detail of a sign! I wonder what other themes were considered, and rejected? I believe that Marion Knott (daughter of Walter and Cordelia) spearheaded the addition of this new area. 

One of the most beloved attractions is "Knott's Bear-y Tales", an imaginative and colorful dark ride with lots of crazy scenes, such as the "Weird Woods", the "Frog Forest", the "Chug-a-Chug machine", and the "Preserving Dept.", with bears making boysenberry preserves. Folks still talk about the delicious scent of boysenberries in the ride!

A clock - not to be confused with the "Dreger Clock". But it still tells the time, and looks good doing so. And isn't that the most important thing?

Just in case you forgot where you are, you're in The Roaring 20's, ya goof! Knott's Berry Farm scored a coup by debuting the "Corkscrew" roller coaster. 

The "Corkscrew was "...not only the first modern inverting coaster in the world, but it also was the first coaster to take riders upside-down twice". Nowadays the experience of going upside-down on a coaster is commonplace, but it was a big deal in 1975! Eventually 10 exact replicas of this ride were built for various amusement parks.

And here's one last look at the general "Roaring 20's" area known as "Charleston Circle"; does anybody have an idea of what that building is (slightly to the right of center)? The tall fountain was used as a prop in the 1969 film version of "Hello Dolly", or so the legend goes.

Never fear, there are more Knott's Berry Farm photos from Lou and Sue coming up! Thanks as always to both of them for sharing these wonderful images.

Around the Plaza, July 1969

Some visitors arrive at Disneyland, walk through the tunnels beneath the train tracks, and know right where they are headed. Tomorrowland! The Haunted Mansion! Indy!

But others haven't planned things out in advance, and they might get to the Plaza in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, and linger a little while while they confer in a huddle. Might as well take a few photos while your there, right?

The balloon vendor looks like some kind of alien creature, an amorphous blob of constantly-shifting drupelets. Don't get too close, or it will absorb you! I can't tell, are red Mickey balloons not popular (because there are still so many left) or are they so popular that they need to have five times as many on hand at all times?

It seems hard to believe that only three years before this photo was taken, the wonderful Monsanto House of the Future was in the location of this pond, with its fountains and pretty gardens. Why, it's the "Alpine Gardens", as the sign to our left tells us. I understand that the HoF had become dated, but it seems a bit of a shame that they couldn't think of something to replace it with.

Disneyland Flowers, June 1974

Disneyland has been famous for its beautiful landscaping for decades. In the earliest days, the grounds still looked pretty raw - a work in progress. But after a few years, many folks noticed the care taken to create a place that would please the eye and calm a frazzled soul. 

Here's a happy fellow, he's not even through the turnstiles (I refuse to consider that he is going home already!) and his wife or girlfriend wanted to take his picture next to that flowerbed full of white and pink blossoms. 

I think I'll mosey on over to the postcard rack in the background, there's probably some good stuff there. Notice that they provided drinking fountains (a tall one and a short one) outside of the park as a courtesy.

The Flower Market doesn't count as landscaping, but it's pretty anyway. I guess prosperous turn-of-the-century towns could have had flower markets like this, though it feels more European to me. Calling Eliza Doolittle! Or maybe small towns had their version of garment districts, meatpacking districts, and so on? 

If you don't want artificial flowers at home, how about some bunches of plastic grapes (as seen hanging from that awning)? Sorry, no plastic 'nanners for the junior gorillas.

Special Guest Photos!

Today I am very happy to be able to share some photos that were generously sent to me by Sandi Rosner Baldwin, who was a cast member when Walt was there at Disneyland from the mid 1960's - and beyond! It was really fun to correspond with Sandi and hear a little about her days at the park.

This first photo is from 1967, with Sandi in her "Alice in Wonderland" costume, which she wore working the "Alice in Wonderland« attraction. She said, The other themed attraction that you wore a costume was for  "Snow White’s Scary Adventure".  For the  Peter Pan attraction we wore our regular Storybook costume. Most of the attractions in Fantasyland  were mostly operated by females,  King Authors Carousel  and Casey Junior Circus Train were operated only by male cast members.

This next one is from 1968, and Sandi is wearing her Storybook costume having a fun shot on a Carousel horse.

Also from 1968 Sandi is working as a ride operator for the Storybook Land Canal Boats. She said, ....we worked hard, but we never thought of it in that way. We had so much fun and did so many crazy things, that you couldn't possibly do today. We took pride on how we looked and how we greeted our guests, we were always smiling.  I remember my cheeks were sore at the end of the day from smiling so much.  Yes, indeed it was a very special time with very special people, who most of us are still in contact with today.  

Here's a very dark one with Sandi working Storybook Land again.

Here she is, looks like she's tearing a ticket out of a ticket book! The Storybook costumes in the 60, 70's were also used as the Fantasyland costumes for the girls.  Remember I mentioned that Alice and Snow White had their own costumes as well as it’s a Small World, which opened in 1966, the last attraction that Walt Disney dedicated. The Storybook/Fantasyland costume colors for the girls were, Pink, Green, Yellow and Blue.

And here's Sandi in the 1980's! The photo of me in the 80's was taken during the Teamsters strike when I returned back to help out. Actually, it was fun working with my old friends that have long left the company or were now working in management. The costume in the 80's as you can see has been updated and now used on all the attractions, except “it’s a Small World".

After a break, Sandi returned to the park: I came back to the park 13 years ago and I'm currently in Guest Relations.  I have wonderful friends today as well, but the mid 60's, 70's and early 80's were indeed the Golden Years ...I was very fortunate to be working at the park during it's golden era, however, every era has something special that makes it Disney. 

MANY THANKS to Sandi Rosner Baldwin for graciously sharing her photos and personal memories, it sounds like she has had many wonderful experiences in her years with Disneyland and continues even today. 

More Casa Mexicana

Here are three more nice photos of Casa Mexicana - formerly "Casa de Fritos", and now Rancho Del Zocalo.

Rustic touches such as that wooden cart, crumbling faux adobe, and thatched umbrellas transport us back to Old Mexico (or early California when it was still under Mexican rule?). Notice the bottles of hot sauce on the cart, for those who needed to add some zip to the un-spicy Disney cuisine.

Must be early, with those long shadows, and no people. Looks like a lovely place to relax and refuel. The stacks of the Mark Twain peek up in the distance.  

The hot pink blossoms on the bougainvillea vines adds some dazzling color to the scene, as well as some welcome shade. So pretty.

Thank you, Mr. X!

Random Snoozers

You know how sometimes you get a meal that isn't that good, and you just sort of eat it, and it's not that satisfying? That's just like these photos!

Here's an unusual (but not pretty) view of the Matterhorn as seen from the Peoplemover. I believe that the vertical sign with the stylized traffic symbols is part of the Fantasyland Autopia queue. It's not the worst photo I've ever seen, just kind of "blah". But... just pretend you're on the Peoplemover!

And here's a perfectly acceptable photo of Drooling Skull Rock. 

Chinatown, Los Angeles

When I was a kid, it was always a treat to visit Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles with my grandmother. She shopped there enough that some of the store owners knew her; she loved the wooden furniture, and had stacks of glazed ceramic bowls of all sizes in her cupboards. 

The Chinatown that we see in today's pictures was founded in 1938 after the original historic Chinatown was demolished to make room for Union Station (a beautiful art deco train station that is worth a visit). I love this first photo, from the 1950's! You can't tell in these photos, but the buildings are outlined in neon, to dazzling effect.

Here's a contemporary photo, scrounged from the Internet.

The next two photos are from July, 1964. I believe that the building in the distance is next to the East Gate of Chinatown. The area includes restaurants, shops and art galleries but also has a residential neighborhood with a low-income, aging population of about 20,000 residents.

There are two schools and a branch library in Chinatown, as well as a city park and a state park. Many motion pictures have been filmed in the area.

Now we're looking the other direction; using my incredibly deductive powers, that would mean we're facing west! I used to love to buy things like sparklers and smoke bombs here, as well as little cellophane "fortune-telling fish" (they curled in your hand, but how they did it was important!, little clamshells that you'd drop in a glass of water - after a time, they'd spring open and small pink flowers would float to the top. Strangely, I don't ever remember eating in Chinatown, maybe my grandma thought that we'd be too picky. We definitely ate Mexican food at nearby Olvera Street!

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Chinatown in Los Angeles.

More Photo Phixes! June 1974

It's time for more "photo phixes"! Everyone's talking about it. A group of slides had  turned the usual shade of magenta, some worse than others. My Epson scanner did about 50% of the restoration in today's examples, at least getting the images in the neighborhood of being acceptable. Photoshop helped me get them the rest of the way.

SO... here's a nice shot of Main Street; I'm thinking our photographer was standing somewhere near the front of the Crystal Arcade? The image isn't horrible, but it does have a weird pinkish-grayish cast that is unpleasant.  

And here's the fixed version! Looking at it now, I think I maybe have gone a little overboard with the cyan levels, but somehow life will go on. With the long shadows pointing east, it's safe to say that this was in the morning - everyone is heading toward the castle. Don't you wish you were with them? Across the street is the Market House, and the Hallmark store with its golden crown above the entrance.

Again with the pinkish-gray? We've got a Skyway view of Fantasyland, with the Teacups (now surrounded by those decorative arches (they looked good at night, with their hundreds of popcorn lights), along with the Fantasyland Theatre and the Carrousel.

Flipping between the two versions (which I can do in Photoshop) is like flicking a light switch on and off. Things look somewhat busy, but hey, it's June, what do you expect? The Theatre is showing a "color festival" of classic shorts, possibly all starring Mickey and Minnie. As long as they have "The Brave Little Tailor" (one of the best Disney shorts ever), I'll be a happy camper.