Vintage Postcards - Schwarzkopf Speeders

Today, Ken Martinez mixes things up a little bit! Here's Ken:

Schwarzkopf's Speed Racers

For today's post I'm featuring a specific kind of coaster that appeared in four different theme parks in the United States during the 1970's. Only four of these were built and only two are left standing and operating, one in its original location in the United States and the other in the country of Columbia.

Anton Schwarzkopf, one of the pioneers in modern coaster developments, had designed what was to become known as the Speed Racer roller coaster. All of these coasters utilized an electrical spiral lift with vehicles that contain electric motors in them to assist the trains in climbing up the spiral to the top and releasing them through the circuit. In addition the curves were severely banked at the bottom of the ills. The Speedracer has its origins in the earlier portable coasters like the Jet Star and Jumbo Jet coasters. Pictured here is the Jumbo Jet coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

The first of these custom built custom known as the "Big Bend" opened in Six Flags Over Texas in 1971. It was unique in that it featured two spiral lifts of 81 feet and 57 in height.

Here on the Texas coaster you can see the lap style seating with three seating areas per vehicle. I've seen photos of Big Bend with moth two-car trains and three-car trains in operation. The coaster thrilled park visitors for nine seasons before closing in 1979.

Zambezi Zinger in the Africa section of Worlds of Fun in Kansas City opened in 1973. It had a four train operation with three cars per train for a total of 18 riders per train. It thrilled riders at Worlds of Fun for nearly a quarter century. After closing in 1997 it was moved and rebuilt at Parque Nacional Del Café in Columbia in 1999.

When the Marriott Corporation decided it wanted to build theme parks it opened two in the same year coinciding with the bicentennial in 1976. Both theme parks were nearly identical with the same theme areas and attractions. Here's an image of the spiral lift on what is supposed to be "Willard's Whizzer" in Santa Clara. It closed in 1988. This along with its sister coaster in Illinois had a three-train operation with four cars per train. Apparently they used the same photos for both parks.

Here's a supposed image of "Willard's Whizzer" in Gurnee, Illinois. Can you tell the difference between the California and Illinois coasters? Of course not. It's the same photo. When Marriott first opened their theme parks they used the same pictures for both parks and even later published them as interchangeable between both park's publications even when the parks grew differently. There was a campaign to save the speed racer coaster when it was going to be torn down for a more modern mega-coaster. The campaign worked as the "Whizzer" as it's now known was saved and is the only one standing and operating in its original location.

One of the things you might've noticed is that the track style for the Speed Racer is the same as found on the looping roller coasters like the Revolution at Magic Mountain. That is because they were designed by the same company. I hope you enjoyed this bit of coaster history.

Information Source material:

Roller Coaster Database: http://rcdb.com/

Thank you Ken! I know very little about the companies that design so many of our famous roller coasters, so this was an interesting lesson in the Schwarkopf Speeders.

Sleeping Beauty Castle, 1959

Here's a very nice photo taken on the bridge over the moat, as guests head toward Sleeping Beauty Castle, circa 1959. It's especially colorful thanks to those banners, and Miss Red Pants! The sun has temporarily been hidden by clouds, and based on the number of sweaters its safe to say that this was taken during the Winter. Notice that the shield over arch does not have the Disney family crest yet. 

You know what would make this photo even better? Lots of pink paint on the castle!

The lady with the babushka stands out! You'll see her in photo #2 at THIS POST. The lady to the right is gazing into the moat with an expression of disapproval. "Why, in my day this would never happen!".

That's right, nothing is less appealing than an infestation of swans. Even pigeons hate them. 

The Pirate Ship, November 1955

Here are two swell photos of the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship when it was only around 3 months old (remember, it opened in August, not July). As is usually the case in 1955, the guests are nicely dressed - and they're ready for cool weather. 

This one was taken from the less-photographed side (around back), and looks great with the web of masts, spars, sails and rigging. I wonder how often the ropes needed to be replaced, since they were exposed to the harsh California sunshine every day?

Snapshots, March 1974

It's snapshot time! These aren't the greatest, but they'll do.

Groovy people stroll past the Corner Cafe on an overcast day... it makes me wonder if these weren't actually taken months earlier. We'll never know.  The gentleman to the left... I am digging his lilac-colored outfit! Very cool. 

All of the food at this restaurant is square or rectangular, so that you are actually eating corners. Brilliant!

I went to Switzerland years ago. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that they do not actually travel by Skyway. I looked forward to passing through the Alps, thousands of feet in the air. Switzerland... ya blew it. I can't ever forgive them, never mind that the hotels were the cleanest and most comfortable, and the food was good. A guy can only put up with so much.

Much like trying to take a photo of Bigfoot, this attempt at photographing a passing Baloo resulted in a blur.  Some say that he is just a hoax - a man in a costume. But I believe in him!

Random Uggies

Today I have a few genuine "uggies" for you! These are not often seen in the wild, so we are all very fortunate.

Here's an OK "you are there" photo taken aboard the Nature's Wonderland Mine Train as it was about to pass beneath Big Thunder Falls, tumbling down Cascade Peak. I can almost feel it and hear it! Back in 1972, people were very blurry because of the hippies. Notice the pack mule in the distance.

Man, those topiaries were a popular photo subject! Ya got yer teddy bear (?), a roly-poly elephant, a giraffe, and a... um... er... a totem pole? 

San Francisco Cable Cars, 1954

It's hard to imagine San Francisco without the wonderful cable cars trundling up and down the steep hills - they're as iconic to 'Frisco as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. Without even trying I've acquired a bunch of photos of the cable cars; all of today's are from 1954, from completely different lots. Did something happen around that time that made everyone want to visit The City by the Bay? I thought it might be Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo", but that wasn't released until 1958.

This one might be my favorite of the bunch, though it is a close call. You might disagree! There's something about the color and the the people in their vintage clothes. And Woolworth's! Another thing all three of these photos have in common is that they were all taken at the Powell Street terminal;  notice that the cable car rests on a circular turntable, which was so finely balanced that the whole contraption could be turned by two men.

This one's pretty neat too, since we get a nice look up Powell.  The tall building in the distance is the famous Sir Francis Drake Hotel. You can see that one of the uniformed men to the left has a change machine on his belt - as a kid I always thought those were cool! 

And... here's one last view, with the cable car being turned so that it can head back up the street. While the much of the original cable car system has been removed over the years, you can still ride the Powell Street line. It's popular with tourists of course, but I wonder how many San Franciscans use it as real transportation?

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to San Francisco!

Tomorrowland Construction, 1966?

All of the remaining Instamatics from my friend "Mr. X" are photos showing the construction of the "New Tomorrowland". 24 of them! Which is pretty cool; it will be a nice sendoff for this incredible collection of photos that I have been sharing for years (literally). I shared one of them two years ago, you'll see it at this post.

Let's start with this photo, taken from the Disneyland Railroad; I am a bit discombobulated, but the Matterhorn is pretty far away, so we must be close to Tomorrowland Station. Maybe. In the foreground is the Truck of Tomorrow, along with some mysterious wooden sheds and 2 X 4's. For you fans of dirt, today is your lucky day. I love that Mr. X caught the Yellow Monorail as it came swooping by.

This was probably taken before the first photo, as it looks like we might be more in Fantasyland at this point - is that the Richfield Eagle from the Fantasyland Autopia to our extreme right? In any case... more dirt, and more Yellow Monorail!

Vintage Postcards - Six Flags Over Texas

Ken Martinez's collection of postcards from Six Flags over Texas has been especially popular, so today he has part four from that park! Here's Ken:

Six Flags Over Texas - Confederate Section

So far I've posted about the themed sections of Mexico, Spain and France and today will feature postcards of the Confederate section of the original Six Flags Over Texas. This section represented the Confederacy from 1861 to 1865.

With this postcard, I'll let the BOC (back of card) speak for itself. "COLONEL AND HIS LADY - - Confederate Section - Here in the Confederate section the colonel and his lady relive the romantic charm that was the Confederacy at Texas' fabulous $10,000,000 entertainment center."

Featured here is a Confederate drill team. The park would put on daily performances of civil war reenactments including the execution of captured Yankee spies. The Confederate section focused heavily on military themes. Interestingly, this section and the Texas section contained a lot of reenactments of public executions. In my next article for Six Flags Over Texas I'll share postcard images of these reenactments when I post about the "Texas" section.

Here's the famous Spee-Lunker's Cave, often referred to as the "Cave Ride" by locals. Passengers would board circular tubs and float down a river into a cave featuring the legendary spee-lunkers. The original spee-lunkers were evicted from the cave in 1992 so the Warner Bros. characters could move in. Today the cave ride is known as "Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure".

Like Disneyland, Six Flags Over Texas had rafts that took park visitors over to an island with various physical activities that kid visitors could focus their extra energy on. Not quite Tom Sawyer Island, but it probably entertained the kids just the same.

This grim grinning skull watches over Skull Island at night. It appears that a giant slide has impaled his jawbone.

Today this section is called the "Old South", is combined with the "France" section and is represented by the Southern Palace Theater and Runaway Mountain indoor coaster. I'd say it isn't quite the same and that the Confederacy theme has been all but removed from this theme park.

Information Source material:

Funland U.S.A. copyright 1978 by Tim Onosko

www.Parktimes.com

Oh, I especially love that spooky skull! All parks need giant skulls, in my opinion. Thank you as always to Ken Martinez for sharing his collection and writing this fun article!

The Devlin Family Goes to Marineland

We've enjoyed many vintage photos of Disneyland from the Devlin family; and while those are done, I have more photos from other SoCal attractions from them! Like today's selection from Marineland of the Pacific, circa 1964.

Great leapin' dolphins! Actually that appears to be a pilot whale; the short-finned variety, if you must know. One of Marineland's premier stars was "Bubbles", presumably this is her, jumping gracefully for a sardine just the way I would. 

Marineland opened in 1954, and was built on the beautiful Palos Verdes peninsula. If you could have somehow looked in the opposite direction, you'd see the Pacific Ocean - one of my "Top 20" oceans. I have fond memories of going there; what kid doesn't like marine mammals? 

OK, now THAT'S a dolphin. Or is it a porpoise? I can never tell. As you can see, this dolphin (?) is leaping through the Flaming Hoop of Death. After 15 or 20 jumps, the dolphin was cooked to a nice medium rare, and was served with soy sauce and wasabi. Dee-lish! 

I guess it was perfectly OK for guests to wander into the empty stadium to see the critters up close. Either that, or each of these children is a hardened criminal with no respect for the rules. Among the children are Patrick and Mary (Pat's sort of hard to see), while the two boys to the right are Tom and Mike. 

Marineland closed in 1987.

Thanks to the Devlin family for sharing these sunny photos of Marineland!

Swiss Family Treehouse, The Magic Kingdom 1971

Today I have three nice photos of the Swiss Family Treehouse in Orlando, back when it was brand new. 

Here's a nice portrait of the treehouse - an impressive bit of Imagineering. That tree is pretty convincing! They didn't opt for the reddish leaves that were used in Anaheim; I wonder why. What kid (or adult) wouldn't love to have a treehouse like this! Notice the little stream to our right, along with the lush green plants that really add to the "tropical island" theme.

Moving in a bit closer, we can see more of the elaborate "clockwork" contraption that provided fresh water to the upper reaches of the treehouse. I can't remember, was something like this in the 1960 film? It's been a while! 

And here's one final look; notice the "bromeliads" growing on the trunk of the tree. You can also see some bits and pieces of the shipwreck being put to use. Tiki torches (hard to see in the broad daylight) help to keep tigers and pirates away.