Mark Twain, 1955

I have a Twainaganza for you today! Not that you have been clamoring for such a thing, but don't you worry, old Major P. knows best.

Let's start with this photo, taken from the bandstand that used to adorn the bank of the Rivers of America. It's from August 13, 1955, when the park was less than a month old. It's almost shocking to see how little is along the shore; those hills are bare and weedy, with only the dock to the right (and the mostly-hidden "ice house") to compete with the ornate steamboat. 

Right above the nose of the Twain is a cleft in the hills, I believe that the Stagecoaches and Conestoga Wagons used to load near shore and head back into the "wilderness". Could that white shape be the top of a Conestoga Wagon? Maybe it's just a rock!

I chose a few previously-shared photos so that we can compare the first photo to how the same shore looked later. This one is from December of 1960. With the addition of Nature's Wonderland and the improved Rainbow Ridge, it feels a lot more like a prosperous little town.

This Twainless view from 1963 gives a better look at what was going on by the shore. 

And... here's a colorful and lovely shot from July, 1966. So much going on, it's hard to beieve that it's the same area as photo #1!

From the same photographer (as the first photo) comes this shot of the Friendly Indian Village as seen from the bow of the Mark Twain. This one is dated "August 14, 1956".

The Last Disneyland Paris Pix From Huck

Today I'm wrapping up the last of the photos from Huck's 2016 visit to Disneyland Paris. They were fun while they lasted!

Many of these are Casey Jr.-related, and that's OK with me. Folks are boarding one of the circus trains - the "Poneys" car looks much more roomy than Disneyland's old "Wild Animals" versions. And I need plenty of room to flail my arms around.

Here's an intimate, not ready for prime time look at Casey's firebox. He runs on churros and popcorn. That sticker is no bueno.

Ooooh! The Beast's Castle is pretty impressive, and on this gray rainy day (I'll bet France has a lot of those) it looks especially glowering and uninviting. For some reason I find myself looking for a tiny pumpkin coach on that ramp (probably stairs), even though it makes no sense at all.

Well, at least in this section you can't accuse DLP of not being pretty! All that rain has lead to very lush green landscapes. In the upper left there appears to be a hedge maze, is that part of Storybook Land? Or is it part of an "Alice in Wonderland" scene?

I appreciate that they went to the trouble of making that wall that flanks the tracks wavy instead of dead flat, which would undoubtedly have been a lot cheaper. We can see the unusual "Return to Oz" scene. That movie is so strange! That's why I like it. Notice the "ticket booth" depot that appears to be a fraternal twin to the one in Disneyland.

Here's another nice general view. I don't really see a track beneath the water, I wonder how the boats are guided? Those guys in the pinkish-orangish boat are craning their necks to see... something. What could it be? It's funny how the Dwarf's cabin (upper right) is such a familiar shape that it is instantly recognizable even when it's 1/4" tall. 

Now we've left the park proper and are outside the "Hotel Santa Fe", which I was completely unaware of. The official Disney website describes it like so: Discover this oasis of comfort on Route 66, where a Santa Fe-themed Hotel delivers classic Disney value and hospitality. It's just a 20 minute walk away... I could do without the billboard featuring Lightning McQueen and Sally, but that's just me.

I'd like to thank our friend Huck for generously sharing so many wonderful photos over the years, including these photos from France - a place I will likely never see with my own eyes. Thanks Huck!

Sunday Snoozers

I'd like to wish our good friend Irene a very happy birthday!

Here are two photos that are not amazing - but they are just fine for a lazy Sunday.

From May 1963 comes this look at the Autopia, as seen from the Skyway steps. I am guessing that the photographer was trying to catch that girl in the blue vehicle. Granddaughter? Daughter? Either way, she's heading on out onto the highway of the future. The three cars in the lower left are out of commission - maybe it wasn't that busy. We can just see a small portion of the Tomorrowland train station in the upper right. Am I the only person who likes those miniature street lights? I can only assume that they were custom-made for the park.

Next, from November 1967 we have this shot of the marching Dwarfs from "Snow White". The crowd seems too light for it  to be part of a major parade, so it is possible that this was just something that happened a few times a day; perhaps they were following the Disneyland Band (which would have been playing "Heigh Ho")?

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Today I am sharing two photos from the venerable Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. California used to have a number of seaside amusement parks; the Venice Amusement Pier; the Fraser's Million Dollar Pier; Ocean Park Pier; Rainbow Pier; Silver Spray Pier; San Francisco's Playland, and more. But they are all gone - except for the Santa Cruz Boardwalk (SBC)! It goes all the way back to 1907. 

GDB friend Ken Martinez is something of an expert on the SBC, because he lives in Santa Cruz and worked at the Boardwalk personally, so I asked him for his help - and he came through, above and beyond the call of duty.

This first fun overview is from 1972. Ken says: I worked in this area in the late 1970's.  What a fun job it was.  I operated the Eli-16 Ferris Wheel and Chance Trabant in the background as well as work at the Casino Arcade and the Arcade No. 2 inside the yellowish façade.  Not the best paying  job, but working at an amusement park on the beach on a sunny day was pretty great.

This area has completely changed over the years.  The Casino building in the background was rebuilt in the 1980's and the entire building to the right was razed recently and updated with a modern replacement, a new more colorful entrance to the Boardwalk and high-tech thrill rides replacing the classic flat rides.  Even the concrete structure the people are walking on was rebuilt.

Beyond the yellow arcade façade but before the Casino building was the Skee Roll/Skee Ball and Pokerino section of the building.  Lots of great memories there too.  All gone now in the name or progress.

Note:  The Boardwalk is basically like a giant building the entire length and the walkway is built on top of that "building/structure".  Below is a network of tunnels, storage rooms, ride maintenance rooms and the Cave Train ride "show area" all underneath the Boardwalk.

Hey, it's a little car ride! Just like the Autopia! More from Ken: Here's the Autorama which was part of the Cave Train/Autorama complex at the end of the Boardwalk near the mouth of the San Lorenzo River which empties out into the Pacific Ocean.   You'll notice that the Autorama track goes downward here.  That was necessary so the Cave Train could pass under the Autorama  to go to the show area underneath the Boardwalk.   Walt Disney once visited the Boardwalk to check out the center guide rail on the new Autorama when he was considering adding it to his Autopia attractions.

Note:  this area as well is no longer and replaced with a lot of flat rides, a revised Cave Train and a children's coaster.  This image was also  taken before the Logger's Revenge flume ride was built above the Autorama tracks.  I really do miss this attraction.  As a child this area felt like a little bit of Disneyland at my home park.

Thanks SO MUCH to Ken Martinez for his kind and generous help with today's post, his knowledge and expertise turned this post from "Here's two pictures" to an actual fun learning experience.

Some Rescans

I tried my hand at some more rescans, with pretty satisfying results! But don't take my word for it. Ask a trusted adult. 

Back in 2011 I shared this scan, a neat view from a Skyway bucket; our photographer was actually heading toward Fantasyland, which is behind us, but they snapped this photo giving us a nice overview of Tomorrowland. Everything looks a little brownish, though.

Here's the unrestored scan - that brilliant magenta is pretty tough on the old eyebones.

Here's my latest restoration attempt, and I am reasonably happy with it. The hardest part was the trees, which wanted to stay a reddish-brown. But a little fiddling at least got them to look somewhat greenish. The blue of the lagoon also gave some problems, and it looks kind of "warm", and I could have continued to fuss with it, but decided to leave it be.

Way back in 2007, I posted this photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle, circa 1956. Looking at it today, it has an unpleasant gray cast, and it's also too warm in tone.

Here's the redo! I'm much happier with the colors now, and it's just sharper and clearer.

You probably noticed the princess waving (I think she's looking directly at us!) from the upper level - not something that appears in any other Castle photos in my collection (and I have a LOT of 'em). Some have speculated that it could be Annette Funicello, and as much as I would like that to be true, I don't believe it is her. However, Daveland does have a picture of Annette on the second level of the front of the castle.

I hope you have enjoyed today's rescans!

More From the Pitchur Gallery!

It's time for more scenes from Knott's Berry Farm's "Pitchur Gallery"! First up is this example, nicely hand-dated "March 17, 1951" on the back. St. Patrick's Day! And what better way to celebrate than to spend a little family time in a saloon? Green beer and whisky for everyone! I like the inclusion of physical props, such as an earthenware jug of moonshine (the three "Xs" let us know that it is very high-octane). I'll bet grandma can hold her liquor, and she makes the best brownies.

Well, what do you know, it's the same scene! Only this time we have two charming ladies, and two bleary-eyed kids. You can see the sign, "Spit on the ceiling, anybody kin spit on the floor". Don't tempt me. One amusing detail is the lady on the left, who has altered her silhouette (I assume she did it, anyway) with a blue ballpoint pen. Having two kids is tough on a girl's figure. We like you just the way you are!

And now for some SPECIAL GUEST PHOTOS, courtesy of GDB pal TokyoMagic! (see his excellent blog "Meet The World"). The first three are from 2015. TM says ...here are those pics from the first year of the Boysenberry Festival.  This first one is kind of neat, because they brought back Crafty Coyote from Knott's Bear-y Tales.  This was 5 years ago, when they were working on the construction of "Iron Reef" in the former Knott's Bear-y Tales/Kingdom of the Dinosaurs space.  Now five years later, Bear-y Tales is replacing Iron Reef. I wonder if the management regrets removing the original Bear-y Tales? Maybe if it had survived it would have undergone an upgrade or two and would still be entertaining generations of guests.

TM continues: I guess this is supposed to be a "Family of Boysenberries."  Notice the fourth cutout for a "baby boysenberry," being held by the "mom."

And here's a third example, you can pretend to be boysenberry farmers, just like Walt and Cordelia Knott! Cordelia always liked a nice pair of overalls and some Doc Martens.

This last one is from 10 years ago: This next one is the photo-op that was outside of Pink's (formerly and now, once again, the Cable Car Kitchen).  I took this in April of 2010, so I guess this was already there when we all went to the Knott's Preserved event.  This was removed when Pink's pulled out of Knott's. A family of hot dogs brings a tear to my eye, what could be more American?

Many thanks to TokyoMagic! for sharing his fun images of these latter-day "photo op" props. Don't forget to check out his blog!

A Pair From June 1960

The mighty Matterhorn was only a year old in today's first photo - you can tell because of the high snow line. I have no real proof, but it seems to me that the overall color of the mountain used to be darker too; it would make sense to lighten it to give a sense of aerial perspective (simulating the effect of atmosphere on far-away objects). Wave to the kid in the yellow Skyway gondola!

Notice that work was already needed on the bobsled tracks; twice a year, bear grease is applied to the metal to reduce noise and increase flavor. The broom is there to keep stray cats away.

Next is this nice view of Tom's Treehouse (on Mr. Sawyer's eponymous island). Folks are lining up to see Tom's luxury penthouse! I guess that's a water fountain in front of us? Handy for those hot days when you've worked up a sweat. The tree-trunk thing to the left of it is a mystery to me; I don't think it's a trash can. Maybe it's a place to put spent cigarettes?

More Vintage Brochures

It's "Vintage Brochure Time"; not a national holiday - YET. But I'm working on it. Soon it will be bigger than Halloween.

I definitely have the "collectors bug", and that includes trying to get as many variations of a particular thing as I can manage. Normal people might not be very interested! I've already shared a number of these "IMPORTANT!" gate handouts, and here are two more. 

This first one is from 1957's Fall season. It's not new-mint, but it's pretty nice - you'd be surprised how hard it is to find these without at least one fold, and they often have edge tears. 

My theory is that they were given to guests as they paid for parking - giving them some time to figure out which ticket plan worked best for them. The $4.00 15-coupon book for adults is the equivalent of $40 today (incredibly), so taking your family of four was expensive for most people.

I'm a little surprised that there are no special events listed for the Fall season; no fireworks, no parades, that sort of thing. 

This next one is from 1958's Winter season. The peachy pink is unusual - this one is really hard to find, presumably because there just weren't that many visitors in the off-season. I'm still trying to find a Winter brochure from another year; one came up on eBay and I didn't buy it because it wasn't in very good condition, but I regret it now. I could always upgrade!

Unlike now, the prices were unchanged after more than a year. 

Just like the previous example, no special events are listed. Maybe they didn't list them here, so that these could be handed out for months? I'm pretty sure that guests were often given several flyers or brochures before they stepped through the turnstiles.

I have more of these to share, so I hope you're not sick of them yet!

Walt Disney World, June 1979

I recently delved into my box of Walt Disney World slides and scanned a bunch, skipping the usual photos of Cinderella Castle or anything else I deemed to be boring.

This first one is unusual, a shot of two of the steamboats that would take guests back and forth across the Seven Seas Lagoon, from the parking lot to the park. It appears as if they might be out of commission for the day, there's a workman doing something mysterious. From what I have gleaned online, there were two "classes" of steamboats - one was the Kingdom Queen class (consisting of the "Richard F. Irvine" and the "Admiral Joe Fowler") , and the other was the Magic Kingdom class, the "General Joe Potter".

There's the good old Mickey Mouse floral portrait. I hope that they someday replace this with a storm trooper.

Here's a fun photo of a busy Main Street, with lots of 70's fashions to enjoy. What are you staring at, lady?! You too, grandma! There's an Omnibus trundling down the street, full of guests.

I don't recall ever getting a decent look at the mini-posters on the sides of Magic Kingdom Omnibuses before, so I was interested to see these. Zooming in only helped a little, so I looked on Google to see if I could find better images.

The only thing I found was a series of pins from the park's 40th Anniversary in 2011 (they released a LOT of pins for that occasion). I could see that the designs matched up with the posters quite well! I cropped off the characters that popped up above each "poster", though I couldn't do anything about Zazu on the Tropical Serenade pin. I'm sure that the Jungle Cruise pin is a match, but the colors look quite different. The Haunted Mansion graphic is interesting because they used such a cartoony ghost, something that seems to have been considered (and rejected) from the actual attraction (see THIS POST from the Long Forgotten blog).

Our photographer must have wanted to capture the general hustle and bustle of Main Street. There goes a Horse Drawn Streetcar, without so much as an empty seat. I love that people wanted to ride these classic A-ticket rides back then!

Stay tuned for more Walt Disney World/Magic Kingdom photos!

Autopia in Black and White, August 1960

As a rule, I am a fan of any and all vintage photos of the Disneyland Autopias. Even if the photo is a black and white photo print. If the photos are blurry, however, all bets are off! I'm fickle that way.

All three of today's pix are from August, 1960, and all were taken as vehicles returned to the load/unload area, where there was always an inevitable mini-traffic jam. In this first one dad (or gramps?) rides shotgun while his son Skeeter drives with an intensity usually only seen when transporting nitroglycerine.

Skeeter's plastic Keppy Kap not only looks good, it keeps out unwanted microwaves that are broadcast from nefarious sources. No more need for tinfoil linings, so Keppy Kaps are "doctory-recomended, and mom-approved". 

Fooled ya! This one is actually in focus, for the most part. A pretty girl and her brother (?) have gently nudged the car in front of them - the universal signal to "move it, already"! Lulu Bell held her paper souvenir hat so that it didn't blow off during their brisk journey around Tomorrowland, while Jebediah enjoyed radio silence in his brain.

In spite of this being August (or maybe even July or June), just look at all those vehicles that are sitting unused. It must not have been very crowded that day.

I have more black and white snapshots for you, coming soon.