Monorail! November 1964

First up, because I happen to know about it, Happy Birthday to our friend Andrew who turns 16 today! Ah, to be 16 again...

Today's first photo is unusual and fun, taken out in the immense parking lot. A Piper Cherokee airplane was on display - would the Disneyland Hotel have been behind us? I think I've seen boats on display in other pix from around the same era. The photographer either waited patiently for the Monorail to pass by (offering a nice juxtaposition), or he just got lucky. The couple checking the plane out think that it is just the thing they need to impress the neighbors, especially when they rev it up at 6:30 in the morning and taxi down their suburban street.

The "standard" version of the Cherokee was $8,500, which is the equivalent of  around $72,000 today. The "super custom '52'" at $10,820 would cost almost $92,000. I'll take two!

It's too bad this one is so dark, because it's a neat photo as it is, but would be even better if it didn't look like some kind of armored sea monster. Love those "erector set" metal beams pierced with hexagonal holes. 

More From 1937Fan

Here are three more photos from 1937Fan! The first two pix were shot by her Aunt in November of 1964.

What a scene! I've always wondered if the Imagineers built scale models of the lagoon, and the curving Monorail track, etc, so that they could get an idea of the wonderful views that would be possible in this area. Of course the lovely calm water of the lagoon, the blue sky, the bright sunlight... all of those things just added to the beauty.

From above we get a tantalizing hint of the abundance of life in the sea. Corals of many kinds, seaweed and kelp, anemones, sea stars, turtles, and various fish such as the red and black fellow that I believe is supposed to be a California Sheephead. Or not. Who am I, Jacques Cousteau? 

This next one is from a group taken sometime in the 1970's, and shows a late-afternoon look at a Matterhorn bobsled (before the sleds were doubled up) right around "splashdown". Love it!

THANK YOU, 1937Fan!

More Pitchur Gallery!

It's time for another selection of souvenir photos from Knott's Berry Farm's "Pitchur Gallery". While I generally like to find examples from the 1940's and 50's, these are much newer.

Here's the front of the protective paper envelope that held each souvenir photo. I think this dates from sometime in the 1970's.

This is a very weird scene! Sonny Bono is about to hang Anne Bancroft for an unknown crime; I'll bet she plugged an evil varmint full of lead, but he was the son of ol' Jeb Pritchett, who owned the largest ranch in the territories. Poor Anne is going to pay the ultimate price, even though she's a hero to the townfolk.

The conestoga wagon scene was still popular after 30 (or more) years!

And last, but certainly not least - here a photo, courtesy of GDB pal Mike Cozart! It features Mike and his friends, from around 2015 or 2016. Mike's friend Peter is the cowboy in the middle, while the other four pose as some of the most "interesting" looking saloon girls ever. Whatever they're doing, it's working - they have a pile of cash, maybe from the local stagecoach, or a trail carrying the payroll. Mike is to the right of Peter, with the curl placed fetchingly over his forehead. I've seen some silly Pitchur Gallery photos, but this one might win the grand prize!

A BIG THANK YOU to Mike Cozart for sharing his personal photo with us!

Rescans

As part of my community service, I promised to rescan a bunch of old slides. Think of the benefits to society! And I really tried. I tried, you guys! I poured my heart and soul into the project. No half-assing it for ol' Major P. 

Example numero uno: this scan, which first appeared on GDB way back in 2008 (the slide is dated "December, 1960"). What was I thinking? It looks like they had one of those food-warmer heat lamps just out of frame, keeping the guests hot and crispy. I'd chalk it up to drugs, but I'm just not that cool.

Here's the rescan, and it looks a lot more normal! In fact I could see this photo appearing in a vintage guidebook. Maybe it's even POSTCARD WORTHY now? I redid this scan weeks ago, and looking at it now, I feel like I could have retained a little more of that rosy glow seen in the first example, since the picture was clearly taken just as the sun was setting. But I'm not going to lose any sleep, don't you fret none!

Numero dos is this pretty nice view of the Rocket Jets and Peoplemover, circa 1974; I wound up cropping off some of the sky, for better or worse. It has an overall warm cast, which I don't really mind, but the bottom third of the photo went really dark.

Here's the rescan, and it just looks sharper and nicer in my opinion. Should I have cropped it again? Either way, what a wonderful scene of Tomorrowland! 

Pendleton Shop, June 1978

It's time for another installment of photos, graciously contributed by the Mysterious Benefactor! Today we'll be loitering around the Pendleton store, circa 1978.

The Davy Crockett Arcade and Fun Time Pizza Parlor was a good place to play genuine frontier video games such as "Racoons" (like "Space Invaders", only with trash pandas), and "Mike Fink Kong", which was just like Donkey Kong only with more keelboats. The machines only operated if you fed them coins from the early 19th century. Say, what's that handsome green building next door? Why, it's the Pendelton store! Buy a nice, itchy wool blanket why don't you.

This family is looking pretty pooped; you'd think one of the grown men could let the little girl have a seat! She looks exhausted, but I'm sure there's a twinkle in her eye and a Disney song in her heart.

Was it something I said? Notice the sign for a "Pendleton Exhibit", I wonder what that was. I'll bet you 10 Canadian quarters that there was a photo of the Beach Boys wearing Pendleton plaids.

Maybe this nice lady will talk to me, I feel comforted by the mysterious light that surrounds her. Sometimes people feel awkward speaking to a person they've never met before, so I always break the ice by asking them for money. 

The woman to our left (almost out of frame) is carrying a 3-ring binder, which seems odd. Maybe she was a CM?

For Zach, this might be the pinback button that is on the purse of twin #1.

Technically these kids are outside of Davy Crockett's Arcade, but Major Pepperidge apologizes to nobody! This is a sweet scene, big sister is taking good care of her baby sis, who has had about enough of Disneyland for one day. I once went to the park with a friend and her two young kids, and by the time it got dark, they were so tired that they spontaneously began crying. Time to go!

A big THANK YOU as always to the Mysterious Benefactor.

Sunday Snoozers, December 1977

Do you like elderly women in trench coats? Wearing dark glasses? WITH RED NECKERCHIEFS? Then today's photos will be super awesome and the best ever! If not, well... come back tomorrow.

Here's a pair of groovy chicks. Mother and daughter? Who can say. I recognize the brochure in the Mom's hands, it's one that advertised the Christmas parade, with marching toy soliders, silly reindeer, and gingerbread men. Even though we can only see a smidgen of the train station, it is surprising that no obvious Christmas decor can be seen.

By 1977, the framed attraction posters had been removed from the fence in front of the Mickey Mouse flower portrait and Main Street Station. My theory is that too many of them were dated, and producing new examples was an expensive proposition (silkscreened versions, at any rate). So... bye-bye, posters. 

When I was a kid I liked seeing Tigger at the park; the orange plush was practically day-glo, and I was into that sort of thing. Tigger is friendly, but not overly so, he doesn't want to make Grandma uncomfortable. 

Long Beach Pike

Here's an oldie for you on this 4th of July Saturday! Check out this clear, colorful photo of kids aboard a typical children's car ride, the kind you might see at scores of amusement parks, carnivals, and fairs. It was labeled "Long Beach, June, 1949" - over 70 years ago. It's so clear and colorful! It didn't take much brain power to put this little ride at the Long Beach Pike, one of a number of wonderful seaside amusement parks that dotted the California coast. I wondered what the sign in the upper right said - all we can see is the letters "...NIA". California? Dipsomania? Petunia? After a little bit of research, I discovered that part of the Pike was known as "VIRGINIA PARK". Bingo!

Here's an undated postcard view of The Pike, with the Virginia Park area in the lower half. Notice the building in the distance that says "VIRGINIA" on top. I am not 100% certain, but I think that our go-around little car ride is in the lower right of this photo. The famous "Cyclone Racer" roller coaster is in the upper right.

Here's a screen grab of a clipping from an October 4, 1952 article in Billboard Magazine annoucing that The Nu-Pike had acquired Virginia Park. Notice the mention of Dave Bradley, creator of Beverly Park in Los Angeles, and friend of Walt Disney (apparently Walt sought Bradley's input while planning Disneyland):

I was very intrigued by a Billboard Magazine article about Virginia Park from July 12, 1952, with a mention of a new attraction called "Whispering River", created by a man named Elmer Velare. Here's the description: Velare has gone all out in the creation of new effects. To the left of the entrance and extending from the ceiling is a large cage skeleton on which is a band of six monkey figures. The cage structure turns with the “band” remaining stationary. They “act” during the playing of a popular record. The lights dim as those behind a screen come up to show hulas and a bongo player, who “perform” during the playing of exotic music. The cycle is completed when the back lights dim and those in front on the monkey band brighten.

To the right of the entrance is a water wheel with the figure of a miller waving to the crowd. Waterfall effects are created with automatic floods and cellophane strips. The front is a blaze of specially blended bright colors. There are many modernistic designs carrying out the over-all effect.

The interior figures are placed at every turn, and Elmer Velare is now working on the final trick. It will be three skunks located near the exit. They will perform their well-known trick with H2O being substituted. 

Sounds pretty awesome!

Meanwhile, here's a later photo (must be post-1952) where the sign for Virginia Park has been removed.

Just for fun, here's a few other vintage postcards featuring The Nu-Pike (the post WWII name):

I hope all of you have a safe, wonderful 4th of July!

Box Full o' Fun

Today is something of an experiment - we'll see if it is successful or not! Most of you probably know that ol' Major P. is a collector. But I don't just collect Disneyland stuff. I collect World's Fair items, pinback buttons (LOTS of those), employee badges, advertising items, and about 100 other categories. I like small things because they don't take up a lot of room. 

Here's a photo of an old cigar box that has many treasures (?) in it - I blurred the contents so that no surprises are spoiled! Digging through it reminds me of going to my grandparent's home and looking through their "junk drawers" or random desk drawers, or my grandma's cedar closet. I figured I'd start with a very random assortment of items from this box, and find out if anybody is even remotely interested in seeing more.

First up is this Davy Crockett penknife; it's less than 3 inches long, and the plastic handle is yellowed to resemble old ivory or bone (I suppose), with Davy's portrait "scrimshawed" on to it. The small blade is a little rusty, but it is very sharp! Davy could skin a small 'bar with it.

I have a small batch of items featuring various movie and TV cowboy heroes, such as this brass horseshoe pin from the "Buck Jones Club", from sponsor Grape-Nuts Flakes, offered as a premium in Sunday comics. Buck Jones was a popular star in silent oaters, along with Ken Maynard, Tom Mix, and Hoot Gibson. He managed to make the transition into talkies, and there is a lot of merchandise with his name! He died in a tragic Coconut Grove (Boston) fire that killed nearly 500 people - the story goes that Buck got out, but went back in to rescue others, costing him his life. John Wayne idolized him.

The cigar box has more than a few World's Fair items, but this is the only one that is from the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. This is where the original Ferris Wheel was introduced, to enormous success. It's also where the famous and beautiful "White City" was built (Walt Disney's father Elias was one of the construction workers); it was electrified, and looked incredible with all the lights at night.

This one is a little bit of a mystery to me. "I'm for FORD" - presumably the automobile company. I think the "UF" with the torch stands for "United Fund", but I'm not really sure. What do you call these things anyway? They're not pins. Tabs? "Badges", probably. While I have some tin badges that go back to the 1930's, this style seemed to come into favor in the 60's and 70's.

And lastly for  today is this bracelet (or a necklace for a goose) of faux pearls (or maybe they're real, who am I, Cartier?) and a golden medallion that says "NIXON". My grandparents were supporters of Richard Nixon (we even have a signed letter he wrote to them when he was a Senator), and had a number of pins and other campaign items in a box; I saved this one because it was so unusual. 

I am in the process of learning how to take decent macro photos of small items, hopefully I will improve as I go. Let me know if you enjoy seeing this stuff! If you do, I'll get to work and you'll have more posts of it in the future.

Disneyland Hotel Garden Apartments, 1957

From the team of Lou Perry and his daughter, Sue B. we have these neat photos of the "garden apartments" over at the Disneyland Hotel. While some of the rooms did overlook nice manicured gardens, I admit that from this angle it doesn't look that different from the many motels that lined Harbor Boulevard. Still, I love these early views, check out the old cars!

These were originally color prints, but they'd turned to an eye-splitting red, beyond my abilities to restore unfortunately. I can't help wondering if Adobe doesn't have some crazy tech that could even bring old red photos and slides back to life? Anyway, here's a look at the parking lot. We love parking lots, don't we? Whoever designed this building made this side of the guest rooms with minimal windows (only some tiny panes to admit a bit of natural light during the day). I approve.

Oh yeah, the swimming pool! Olympic sized, that is (funny, it doesn't look that big here). Not a person in sight either, it must have been chilly. There were beautiful lily ponds nearby, and the Coral Club, where all the most fashionable coral gathered. I believe that the Sierra Tower was eventually built to the left of where this pool was.

THANK YOU to Lou and Sue!

Disneyland Paris

Once again, GDB pal Huck Caton has generously shared some of his personal photos! This time the pictures are from DISNEYLAND PARIS - as far as I can recall, this is the first time that park has appeared on GDB. Huck has worked on many of your favorite movies (it's pretty impressive), and when he was part of the crew of Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk" back in June of 2016, he had some time to take the train ride to Chessy, which Wikipedia describes as a "new town, 32 km (20 mi) east of the centre of Paris" and visit the only European Disney park.

Huck's opinion of DLP is less than glowing - it is poorly maintained, with peeling paint, lights missing, and could use a good scrubbing - but he must have been somewhat charmed by the French version of Storybook Land, or "Le Pays des Contes de Fėes" ("The Land of Fairy Tales") and "Le Petit Train du Cirque" (you guys can figure that one out!).

This sign appears to be massive, or else it's just a trick of perspective. It has a circusy look to it, and a version of "purple and pink", my least favorite color combination. Nice gold leaf though!

I'm so unfamiliar with DLP that I don't have a lot to add to the photos - I'm as much of an interested spectator as you are! I assume that's a CM in the red shirt, somewhat evocative of Timothy Mouse's circus uniform. Notice the teargas canister on his hip! ;-)

If there's one thing I know about the French, it's that they like big books. BIG, I tells ya! While I like the giant props, it seems strange; as if WE have been shrunk to the size of mice. And yet, all of the tableaus seen along the way are miniatures. Mice miniatures! Brain... melting... need... candy...

This is a pretty scene, I like the canal boats and the green water, and the bridges and grass and lamps. But I don't like the wrought iron! Just kidding, I like it just fine. As you can see, the canal boats in France do not require a living, breathing host or hostess to narrate your journey through the various fairy tale scenes, which is kind of a bummer. 

There's that big book again!

Since I am a dork, I recognized the scene on the right-hand page as being from the "Happy Valley" sequence (also known as "Mickey and the Beanstalk") from the 1947 package film, "Fun and Fancy Free".

The miniature buildings, tiny plants, and convincing rock work all show a nice attention to detail. I question the necessity of the little storybook sign "Blanche Neige et les Sept Nains"; can't folks figure out that this is a scene from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"? Unlike the Anaheim version of this ride, guests will see characters in some scenes. If you look closely, you can see a tiny Dopey at the entrance to the mine (above the book).

One interesting aspect of the French version of Storybook Land is that they included different scenes such as Rapunzel from "Tangled" (see her long golden tresses hanging from the tower in the upper left), and Hansel and Gretel - they appeared in the 1932 Silly Symphony, "Babes In The Woods".

And lastly for today, here's a very nice scene from "La Petit Sirene". I love the miniature sailing ship. Was Prince Eric's kingdom ever named in "The Little Mermaid"? Maybe it was Freedonia.

There's LOTS more photos from DLP to come! Many thanks to Huck Caton for his generosity!