Fantasyland 1958

Pirate Ship photo number umpty-zillion and three comin' atcha! The glossy black and red makes me think of a two-tone car (maybe a Rambler) from the 50's. The sails have been sent out for dry cleaning.


Nearby (the Pirate Ship pond is in the foreground), Cinderella's castle pokes up above Storybook Land. It makes me think of the castles you see at miniature golf courses.

A Few Random Views From 1974

Today I've got more groovy fun from the 70's for you!

Pop is looking cool in his 70's threads and aviator glasses. He and his shy daughter and standing near the souvenir stand that was built near the entrance to "It's a Small World", I believe. Mostly because...


... all of the merchandise seems to be IASW-related. Lots and lots of dolls, giant pencils, paper fans, and many more quality items that make life worth living.


Junior poses for a quick portrait in an apparently-deserted Frontierland restaurant. Is this the River Belle Terrace? Whoever is the first to tell me I'm wrong (because I'm always wrong) wins... an old postage stamp or something.


Ah, the hub before the "Partners" statue was there. Don't get me started!

Knott's in the 50's

Photos from the 1950's just have a certain je ne sais quoi that makes them more fun to look at. This goes for Disneyland photos, family vacation photos, and of course, visits to Knott's Berry Farm.

Look at the happy families in this photo, they look like they're dressed up for Sunday dinner (at the Mrs. Knott's chicken restaurant, of course). The girl to the right is skipping happily (or spastically?)! Imagine being at Knott's on a pleasant day as the sun sets, exploring the ghost town and all of its wonders while waiting for your table (the wait could be hours). No wonder people flocked there in spite of the crowds! Meanwhile, they obviously hired Alfalfa to paint the sign on that conestoga wagon. He never could remember which way an "S" or an "N" was supposed to go.

More folks are enjoying the pool full of seals. I can't help looking at the people and making up little stories about them, like the mother resting her chin on her hand, or the men with their panama hats, or the boys to the right. Seals are just fun to watch!

Main Street Station, October 1975

I've been spoiled. Spoiled by my grandma? No, spoiled by seeing so many old photos of Main Street Station. It still looks fine in this 1975 photo, but it is so strange to see it without the Santa Fe logo (Santa Fe ceased its sponsorship the year before). Nope, I don't like it. There's no colorful posters either; maybe they seemed dated to the "powers that be" at that time.


Pluto has a kind of crazy look in his eyes. Is that foam I see around his mouth? He's RABID! The blond woman and her child are screaming in terror.... I have to look away because it's too awful.

Marineland, September 1967

If you love leaping sea mammals, than Marineland was the place to be.

Our photographer timed this one perfectly, capturing the dolphin (or porpoise, or monkey, or whatever the hell that thing is) just as it passed through the flaming hoop of death. You can even see the reflection of the flames on its skin. After jumping through about 25 times, the dolphin was medium-rare and ready for eating.


In another nearby tank, Bubbles the psychic pilot whale smiles for the camera as he makes an impressive jump. In spite of his many talents and subsequent stardom, Bubbles remained the humble whale-next-door that he always was.

Monorail Blue, 1960

I've got a beauty for you today! Check out this wonderful shot of the 3-car blue Monorail as it takes on a new load of passengers. Poor shnooks down below wait for the Submarine Voyage, whilst the cool kids prepared for a smooth, quiet ride into the future.

Look, the Typical American Family has just boarded! They're not in the front though, they're riding in the back.


This photo of the nearby Matterhorn surprised me when I scanned it - see the climbers? Even now they are practically invisible. They're not wearing their traditional red shirts.

Knott's Railroad, 1955

I love good pictures of Knott's from the 1950's!

OK, we've seen plenty of photos of the trains at Knott's, but this one is pretty swell. I'm guessing that the ol' "Red Cliff" is out of commission today, but it is still great eye candy for those who appreciate vintage steam locomotives. And as much as I love Disneyland's scaled-down trains, the full-sized examples at the Berry Farm are impressively huge.


Here's a rare look at the old round house. I'm no expert, but something tells me that this building isn't actually round. It looks appropriately ancient, though it couldn't have been more than about 4 years old (track was being laid for the railroad in 1951). Just think how nice and cool it must have been inside during the summer months! I can only assume that a different structure is now used for housing and refurbishing the trains; if anybody has details, I'd love to hear them!

Frontierland, January 1974

I'm not sure that 1974 would be considered a "golden age" in general, but it was a pretty sweet time to go to Disneyland! Today we're going to hang out in Frontierland - specifically Tom Sawyer Island.

This girl had the pontoon bridge all to herself! It seems that whenever I'm on that bridge, there are at least five kids jumping up and down, making a ruckus. I always yell at them to stop having so much fun! Then I make sure that this event goes on their permanent record (no Harvard for you, punk!). Without rules, we might as well be wild animals, am I right? Sometimes I accidentally tell them to get off my lawn. Embarrassing!


I still think of this as the fishing pier, but there are no fish to be caught anymore. It had something to do with Watergate. HA! Get it? Fish? WATERgate? Hello? Is this thing on?


Oh my gosh, those look like Yippies! They're storming Castle Rock again. Shoot to kill, security guards, shoot to kill.

New York World's Fair

Let's keep on exploring the Fair!

First up is this great shot of the Avis Antique Car Ride. As you can see, there is a prominent guide rail; it just so happens that Disneyland added guide rails to the Autopia in '64 as well. Just a few miles from the World's Fair, Freedomland's similar "Horseless Carriage" ride was about to close forever.


The DuPont pavilion looks like a miniature baseball stadium here. Each of the globe lights that surround the building are surrounded by "atoms", making them into stylized molecules. This pavilion sounds like one that I would want to visit... among its wonders: You'll see a performer place on his hand a piece of metal heated to 1800 degrees, protected by a sheet of insulating material only one-eighth of an inch thick. You will witness curious and startling reactions, such as the mixing together of two clear liquids which suddenly and on signal turn black. You will see a liquid change colors many times as it is poured from one container to another, and you will marvel at the strange and beautiful effect of chemiluminesence. Chemiluminesence, yeah!!

And, just because I love him, here is Mr. T. rex from Sinclair Oil's "Dinoland". I recently watched some video that showed many dinosaurs from this exhibit, and lots of them had movement. It didn't show the T. rex, but I think it's safe to say that his arms and jaw moved, and it's possible that his head moved as well.

A Pair from August, 1958

The Astro Jets (and later, the Rocket Jets) were Tomorrowland's answer to Dumbo's Flying Elephants, which is so popular over in Fantasyland. I've actually never been on Dumbo, ever. If I want to fly around in circles, I'll do it in a rocket, thank you very much!


From atop the beautiful (um...) Snow Hill we see a familiar view of Fantasyland, with the new Alice ride down below. Not much of a line considering that it had opened only two months before this picture was taken.