Snapshots, July 1971

Here's a small group of only three vintage snapshots from July, 1971. Nothing great, but they'll do. They all have a common theme: music.

First up is this photo taken at the French Market in New Orleans Square. with guests protected from the summer sun by those swaths of cloth - kind of an ingenious solution, since a single piece of cloth would act as a huge sail on a windy day, and would probably exert a lot of force on whatever it was tethered to. Anyway, in the distance the Straw Hatters (I think) are performing. 

At first I thought that the little girl in the foreground seemed surprisingly interested in that Dixieland music, but then I noticed that Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox are just to our left!

Now we're over at the Carnation Plaza Gardens, with Harry James and his orchestra performing for  enthusiastic dancers. Take a look at these photos from a previous post to see Harry in the same location circa 1972.

I almost skipped this one because of the blurry quality, but what the hell. It's parade time in Town Square, and Mickey Mouse is leading the Disneyland Band; a few Dwarfs can just be seen behind the Band - perhaps this is "Fantasy on Parade"? If so, this was the final year for that iteration (though it would return a few years later), since the Main Street Electrical Parade would debut to huge success the following year.

Roadside U.S.A.

For lack of a better idea, I decided to post two rather random photos which fit neatly under the broad umbrella of "Roadside U.S.A.". Hop in the old station wagon and let's go!

Let's start with this photo from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, circa September 1960, at the corner of US 191 (aka Broadway)  and Glenwood. Nowadays, Jackson Hole is pretty touristy, being a popular ski town in the winter, and on the way to Yellowstone National Park. If this really was taken in September, the town looks pretty sleepy. A few classic cars are parked outside "The Roundup"; I need the biggest cowboy hat they have in stock! That way everyone will know how important I am, being a world-famous blogger and all.

Here's a screen grab from Google Maps showing the same corner as it looks today. The Roundup is gone, sadly. 

Also from 1960 (November) is this photo of a tidy li'l motel - the "El Palomino". It looks pretty cute, you could probably do a lot worse. And they have TV, so you won't miss your favorite 1960 shows, like "Maverick", "Walt Disney Presents", "The Ed Sullivan Show", "Dobie Gillis", "Wagon Train"... so much to choose from.

I was unsure of the location of the El Palomino Motel, but after a bit of searching, I am relatively confident that it was (is) on Illinois Street in Sidney, Nebraska, which is roughly 120 miles northeast of Denver as the crow flies. The architectural details seem to match, in spite of the new paint job and sign. But where-oh-where are all the trees?

Two Nice Ones From September 1963

I have just a few photos left from a lot from September, 1963 - but they're nice ones!

Take a look at this great shot of the entrance to Tomorrowland. What's not to love? Blue skies, the flags of all 50 states waving in the breeze, the Clock of the World, the Douglas Rocket to the Moon, some attraction posters, an ice cream vendor, and even a Kodak Picture Spot. Not to mention all of those great vintage people!

This afternoon photo of the Mad Tea Party (aka "The Teacups") shows the results of thousands of shuffling feet during that crazy time when kids loved to put sandpaper on the soles of their shoes. One teacup has a tarp over it; I'll bet the people inside it are annoyed. Look at the cast members to the right in their silly outfits - shorts, red vests, a Tyrolean cap, and black socks. That's how I dress every day! 

Vintage Hershey Park Postcards

It's been a few months, but Ken Martinez is back with more scans from his collection of vintage amusement park postcards! Here's Ken:

Hershey Park before it was Hersheypark

If you love amusement parks, the State of Pennsylvania is a great place to start.  There’s Kennywood, Lake Compounce, Dorney Park and Hersheypark.  In today’s post Hershey Park is featured.  For those who’ve wondered why there are two different spellings for the park,  the park was known as “Hershey Park” during its traditional park era and changed to Hersheypark” in 1970 when it went through redevelopment changing it into a modern theme park..

Featured here is the “Lost River” attraction water ride.  This attraction existed as the “Old Mill” from 1929 to 1962.  Then for the 1963 season it was remodeled with an African theme and named “Lost River”.  This lasted until 1972 when a strong hurricane ripped through the area damaging the attraction beyond repair.  It was replaced the following season by an Arrow Water Flume called “Coal Cracker.  The main footprint that the “Lost River” existed on is now the site of the B&M inverted coaster “The Great Bear”.

Turnpike rides seemed to have sprung up all over the U.S. after the success of Disneyland’s Autopia and like Disneyland, Hersheypark had five different turnpike rides throughout its history.  The first one was the “Kiddie Turnpike” complete with bus bar.  Pictured here is the third turnpike attraction at the park simply known as “Turnpike”.  The load area had a toll booth theme and there were two bridges that crossed over Spring Creek.  (Notice there is no guide rail on the turnpike road).  The “Turnpike” operated from 1960 to 1973.  It’s the “Twin Turnpike - Classic Cars” and “Twin Turnpike - Speedway” sponsored by Sunoco that operate at Hersheypark today.  The bridges of the old “Turnpike” were converted to pedestrian bridges after closing. 

One of the things I love about the older parks is their older midway rides, but they seem to be disappearing along with the sky rides.  Here we have the “Tip-Top” which operated at the park from 1966 to 1979.  If I remember correctly, the platform rotates and lifts up and down at an angle while you spin your individual ride vehicle.  By the way, all three of today’s postcards feature the attractions in the area known as “Comet Hollow” at the time Hershey Park was known as a traditional park.

Hope you enjoyed today’s vintage visit to Hershey Park! 

Information Source material: 

parkhistories.com

hersheypark.com

Thank you Ken! I lived near Hershey when I was a kid and had some great times at that park. 

Stay tuned for more vintage postcards next week!

Random Stuff From Steve Stuart

Here are more photos from Nanook - I mean, Steve Stuart! It's a mini-mix this time. Let's hear it from Steve:

Well, here I am sometime in 1954 at the famous Beverly Park with another childhood friend, Bonnie. And we seem to be riding in the petite version of the Astro Jets – but these are beautifully equipped with front & rear-facing, on-board weaponry-!  Now we’re talking.

For those unfamiliar with Beverly Park, it occupied less than once acre, on the SW corner of Beverly Blvd & La Cienega Blvd in Los Angeles, and operated from 1943 to 1974. (Adjacent to Beverly Park was the separately-operated Beverly Ponyland or just plain Ponyland - which opened in 1945, but remained there thru 1979). Ultimately both properties, along with others contained within the entire block were razed to make way for The Beverly Center Shopping Center. I need not mention all the memories and birthday parties, along with divorced Dads having a weekend fling with their kids, held in this little oasis right in the middle of the big city...

The connection between David Bradley (the owner) and Walt Disney was more than just casual, and an internet search will yield many tidbits about David, Walt and of course, Disneyland.  And if the name Bradley seems to ring a bell, it’s the same one as in ‘Bradley & Kaye Amusements’ – famous for manufacturing children’s rides.  [It was purchased by Chance Rides Manufacturing back in 1986].  I encourage those with interest to search it out.  David Bradley made a lasting impression in the amusement park business. 

In the meantime – here’s a wonderful quote about Beverly Park from a 1993, LA Times article describing David:  “Bradley was everywhere in the little park, switching on the tiny motorcycles on the minibike race course, running the kid-sized roller coaster, and, through a remote microphone, projecting the voice of the blue hippopotamus that talked to children outside the Haunted Castle. Inside the castle, two giant freak faces rolled their eyes, and a bat flapped up and down in front of visitors. Young children sometimes came out sobbing.”  

Now that’s what I call a man after my own heart-!  It’s not that I think children should live a life in fear, but in today’s world, which seems to be brimming-to-overflowing with ‘disingenuous unctuous good cheer’, a few more young children sobbing would help right the ship.  There’s entirely too much ‘forced happiness’ for my taste.

If we could widen-out the image just a bit, we’d spy that “nasty” Haunted Castle, off to the right.  And on the opposite side of the red & white striped food stand (evidently featuring Coca-Cola and Dad’s Old Fashioned Root Beer), would be a small oil derrick and Smokey Joe’s Hickory Wood Barbeque, seemingly sandwiched-in beneath it.  I believe the last time I ate there was in late 1969, with my aunt (who you might remember from her days lounging on a raft in the cool blue waters of the Howard Manor Hotel pool), and we were on our way to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to see Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  And if the image in the distance were just a bit sharper, I’m betting that barely-discernable ‘tan orb’ sandwiched between the white pole & dark utility pole, popping-up behind the “Standard Stations Inc.” sign, we could more-clearly make out the end of the “bun” of the original location of the Tail ‘O the Pup hot dog stand – not to mention the Islander Restaurant – if it was open in 1954.

Unfortunately this seems to be the only image I found from Beverly Park, but I spent many a sunny day there, not to mention having and attending birthday parties there, too.

Jump forward to April, 1962, and we’re now at Marineland of the Pacific.  And just who might this dolphin be-?  Were they into naming them back then-?  I suppose so.

This turtle looks downright gigantic.  I blame it on the magic glass surrounding the tank, designed to keep us dry – or so they promised.  But I always managed to get wet somehow.

THANK YOU to Steve Stuart for sharing his photos, and for all the Beverly Park research, which I would have been way to lazy to do! Stay tuned for more from Steve.

Tomorrowland Construction

We're getting down to the last few scans showing the construction of the New Tomorrowland. 

As usual, I am unclear as to what we are looking at, exactly - in this case it appears to be the "backstage" area of a show building. But which show?? Granted, it's difficult to get one's bearings when there are few clues. It's round, but I don't think it's tall enough to be the Carousel of Progress structure. Notice the worker (next to the column).

This next one is another mysterious round building, most likely taken on a different day than the first one. What in the world are those holding tanks to the left? I can't even imagine what they would be for. Coke syrup? Pressurized pixie dust?

More From DrGoat

Here are two more great photos from the personal collection of DrGoat! I really love this first one, and can't think of any other photo in which I've seen people climbing up that gangway (or whatever it's called) to board the Columbia). Cool! Peter says:

(This photo shows us) going up the gangway to the Columbia. Same group - mother Mary, her sister Louise, and Dad with the bag of goodies we were allowed to buy and fawn over when we got back to Tucson.

Next is this photo of a classic parade led by Mickey Mouse himself, marching down Main Street with the Disneyland Band.

(This next one) I believe was in '61, Main Street obviously. I do remember the weather was beautiful and the same kind of summer feeling you get that was perfectly described in Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine.

"Dandelion Wine"! I have many fond memories of reading that wonderful book when I was a kid.

THANK YOU, DrGoat!

The Jungle Cruise, 1957

Well, today's photos aren't going to be making any headlines (except here, of course) - these are kinda dull pix of the Jungle Cruise. 

First up is this view; I suppose the photographer was interested in that little grass shack, and at least this is an unusual angle. But it's still not that thrilling. The jungle itself looks pretty lush, though some of the palms have a "just transplanted from the path of a highway" appearance. The skipper is probably singing Dean Martin's version of "Sway".

There's a mysterious little temple, with a mysterious little bronze statue of Buddha (I think). Not long before this photo was taken, scruffy twitching monkeys could be seen in the branches, but they went to heaven at some point. Trust me, they're better off there.

Old vehicles.

How about a few random photos featuring old vehicles? Since this first one has a Volkswagen "microbus", I can't really call it a "car" because I would go to prison. The slide is undated, but almost certainly from the 1950's - in fact there were other slides in the lot taken in Korea, and I believe that this image is also from that country, presumably during the war. "USAF"... well, nobody will ever figure out that acronym. But maybe the other markings will tell a story to somebody with a little knowledge. I am not that person. 

This guy's nickname was "Radar", because he spun around in circles and made beeping noises.

Here are two beauties with 1948 Massachusetts license plates. Somebody really liked burgundy red. Both cars have a lot of similarities, though they are different. Come on, car nuts, tell us what these are!

Look at those white walls, yowza. And I like the optional searchlight on the side (I'm always searching for something). It looks wintery, but both cars have their convertible tops down. What does it mean?!?

Two From July, 1958

What? Frontierland AGAIN? Yes, it's true. What can I say, I have a lot of Frontierland photos; if I stopped posting those, this blog would end in about a month.

Here's a pretty picture of the Mark Twain. In my mind there is Dixieland music playing somewhere in the distance (with plenty of banjo strumming of course). Which is WAY better than the discordant xylophone music that usually plays in my head. Another thing I love about the Mark Twain is the big slow "chuff" of the "steam engine". Fun fact: It's actually powered with baking soda and vinegar.

Why not zoom in for a look at the guests?

Now we've left Frontierland (finally!) and are in Fantasyland, in the courtyard. There's Merlin's Magic Shop (to the left), and the exit to Tomorrowland, as well as the exit from the castle walk-thru. The Disneyland Band serenades folks who have just walked through the castle.

Once again, a closer look at the guests. Those ladies are dressed so nicely!