A Pair From April, 1973

I have a pair of nice scans date-stamped "April, 1973". The colors are oddly subdued, but they still have a generally-pleasant appearance.

In this first one, we're looking north on Main Street USA, with the Market House to our right, the Hallmark Communication Center beyond that, and the GAF shop after that (replacing the Kodak shop). Usually people want to capture the unusual sight of a fairytale castle at the end of a turn-of-the-century American main street, but it barely squeaks into this image, so I am wondering if that group of folks directly in front of us could be the photographer's family?

Next, a nice look at the Rivers of America, with folks bustling about on shore. The Mark Twain is in Fowler's Harbor, having a Wankel engine installed. But don't worry, you can still ride The Columbia! It's a good thing I told you, you were about to cry, admit it. Being April, at least one Keelboat and one Raft are sitting unused, but another Raft is loading up to return to the mainland. Peter Fonda is enjoying his popcorn!

Omnibus, May 1972

I hope I never meet a person who hates the Omnibus. Talk about a red flag! "You, sir, are disturbed!". I walk up to at least six people a day to tell them that very thing. We've lost our Surreys, and the old Chemical Wagon is out of action inside the Firehouse, but by golly, we still have our Omnibuses. I finally rode one about two years ago, after one failed attempt (they don't let guests up to the top level if the steps on the spiral staircase are wet from rain). It was fun! As you can see, Donald Duck is aboard this Omnibus for a ride, much to the amusement of the guests (and even the sweeper). 

We get a great portrait of a nice family just before they deplaned, and we also get an excellent look at those beautiful mini-posters on the side. I'm not sure if those were silkscreened or hand-painted onto steel panels, but either way, they are awesome. They occasionally show up at auction, and fetch thousands of dollars apiece. I was going to pick a favorite, but realized that I just couldn't do it.

Jungle Cruise Snoozles™

It's BIRTHDAY TIME again, and this time we can send our good wishes in STU's direction! I feel a little guilty that today is a Snoozle day, but it's tradition, and Stu has a sense of humor about such things, so I don't think he'll be too upset. I'm really having a hard time guessing a date for the picture that Sue B. provided. 1970s? I guess there's aren't many clues. How about that "harvest gold" naugahyde upholstery? Sue thought that this picture might be flopped, but the girl and birthday boy are both using their right hands, so I'm guessing that it's OK. Unless they're lefties! The cake appears to have tropical trees snails on it, which provides some delightful crunch. And slime! Happy Birthday, Stu!

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The poor Jungle Cruise; it didn't do anything to hurt anyone. It brings people joy and happiness day after day. BUT... the fact remains that there are a LOT of Snoozles from that attraction. Today's scans come from a batch of slides that I am reasonably sure are from not long after Disneyland opened, based on clues from some of the other photos that you will see soon. As we've learned, the plants for the Jungle Cruise jungle were planted as early as possible in order to give them time to fill in and mature as much as possible. It looks pretty good, though of course it would only get better and better over the years. 

Why did the guest take this picture? Maybe they thought they saw a critter. But all they captured was some bamboo, various palms, and other assorted stuff. The eucalyptus trees in the distance really sell "tropical jungle"! For a "photo of nothing", it's actually sort of pretty.

Next is a mis-timed photo, although I could imagine somebody thinking that the flowering tree was novel enough that it was worth a precious film frame. Any idea what that plant is? Behind it is the abandoned temple with a golden idol. You can steal the idol, but because the temple is small, only a bowling ball-sized stone will roll out after you. Just hop out of the way! I like the sighting of a scruffy monkey up on the branches, those were only there for a short time; in old footage, we have seen that some of the monkeys would shake the branches, because that's what monkeys do.

Vintage Cars

As long-time readers of GDB might know, I am a big fan of vintage automobiles - but I don't know much about them! I just love the way they look, and the way certain styles from certain years evoke something about the culture and the nation. I chose three scans for today, but am going to have to rely on the expertise of the Junior Gorillas as far as ID-ing the cars. I made a bit of an effort, but got nowhere. 

First up is this 1950s photo of a station wagon down by the ocean. It sure looks like Florida, or somewhere  on the Gulf Coast. It also looks like a beer commercial. Perhaps the dock is where you could catch a fishing boat. Get out there and get some tarpon, or even a barracuda! Mmmm, toothy. 

Might as well stick with the "down by the water" theme; I think I see mangroves, so perhaps this is Florida again. I can imagine a family leaving their frozen home up north to enjoy the relative warmth of the south. 

And finally, a man poses with his pride and joy, a bulbous (yet streamlined!) beauty that I just couldn't ID, as much as I tried. The Indiana license plate is from 1948. 

Nice Tomorrowland, April 1962

Boy, I sure love some vintage Tomorrowland pictures, yessiree Bob! I was just saying so to my Aunt Florence, and she agreed. 

 SO... I labeled these files as being from "April, 1972", which is clearly wrong. Sure, I could dig them out and check again, but I assume that the year should have been 1962. Notice the old round Skyway gondolas; seeing how tiny those get as they near the Matterhorn really helps convey the size of that structure. It looks like it was a pretty busy day, perhaps it was Spring Break? Or just a weekend, I suppose. I'm wondering where our photographer would have been standing in order to get this elevated view, do you have any ideas?

Speaking of the Skyway, now we are aboard our own gondola, and are helping other people get a sense of the size of the Matterhorn (it's nice to be helpful). The Yacht Bar is bustling, though I do see a few empty seats. That funny little bandstand where The Yachtsmen would often perform is silent, though I hope the musicians will show up later in the day. "Sloop John B! Sloop John B!". That's what I would yell, while waving a churro that doesn't exist yet.  

Two 1950s Views

I don't have a ton of pictures of the old Midget Autopia (is it the ride with the most unfortunate name?), so I'm always happy to see it. A little girl has just gone through the yellow garage's crash doors, which I believe was the grand finale of this strictly-for-kids Autopia - in mere moments, she would be back at the load-unload area.

The same girl holds her classic popcorn box with a kung-fu grip. Just try to pry it from her, I dare you! Her family got prime seats at the prow of the Mark Twain which was about to return to the dock in Frontierland. I'm looking at the pattern on that woman's dress. What the heck is it? Luggage? Furniture? She holds a 1957 guidebook (it has to be 1957, because that's the year that the Midget Autopia opened, and the design changed in 1958).

Fun Photo Gallery Souvenirs

It's GDB pal KS's birthday! And you already know that Sue B. provided a fun vintage photo to help celebrate. It's four boys versus one girl at this party! Big sis is cute. I love the paper-and-crayon artwork that adorns the window shutters behind them. Christmas bells on the chandelier tell us that this was around the holidays. Check out those classic 50s anodized cups! I used to have a bunch in every color, but finally sold them off. I hope KS has a party as swell as the one in this picture.

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I recently rummaged through a box with assorted Disneyland artifacts; some have already appeared on GDB, others have not. I decided it was high time that I scanned some souvenir Fun Photos that were produced at (I believe) several places throughout the park in the 50s and into the mid-1960s. There are quite a few different scenes, some that are very rare that I don't have. But I do have a little stack of them!

The Fun Photos were put inside a mailable paper envelope that doubled as an inexpensive frame (stay tuned), there were several different variations of the envelopes.  

As you can see on this 1964 souvenir "fun map", one of the locations for Fun Photos was in Tomorrowland, right next to the "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" walk-thru. I am pretty sure that the Opera House (pre-Mr. Lincoln) was also used on occasion, though this is not indicated on any old maps that I am aware of.

You'll see these souvenirs fetch occasional high prices, and I was always too cheap to pay very much. BUT I also found it hard to resist buying an example that I already had, if the price was low enough. So today I am sharing multiples of the same scene - an old-fashioned flivver, careening out of control. Just like the Mr. Toad ride! This one was perfect for couples (other scenes lent themselves to groups of three to five people).

Here's another one; this boy was solo, and it's interesting to see examples like this... painted faces fit into the open holes for just such an occurence. 

When removed from the envelope, you can see that the photo was a Polaroid, stapled to a piece of cardboard. Sometimes these old black and white Polaroids show weird streaks and blotches, I don't know if they always looked like that, or if the passage of 60 years did the trick.

I remember buying this one on eBay, with a young fellow and his sweetheart...

But when I took it out of the envelope, there was another different photo stapled inside! I have no idea how this happened, and speculate that some other collector put them together and eventually forgot that there were two.

Here's this one, presumably it was removed from its original envelope long ago.

OK! That does it for this first batch of Fun Photos. I hope you found it somewhat interesting! I have 15 more (with a few duplicates), so stay tuned!

In Frontierland, April 1963

Here's a nice pair of 1963 photos of a family (and friend?) in Frontierland! Starting with this fun portrait of a happy family in front of Rainbow Ridge and right next to the sign for the El Zocalo marketplace. The queue for the Mine Train looks about as busy as we ever see it!  

A second photo seems to have been taken by Mom, and now family friend (I presume) is there. Maybe the two men were school chums? In the background, to the right, is a bandstand that moved around the park, I seem to recall that I had at least one photo of it in Adventureland. Or was it Fantasyland? You can see a 1962 photo with it HERE.
 

Riding "Big Thunder"

Let's continue with even more Big Thunder Mountain Railroad pix, courtesy of the Mysterious Benefactor. These pick up right where the last batch (from July 28th) left off. 

When your job is to capture images that might be used for Disneyland's publicity, you'll probably go bananas and take multiple pictures of basically the same thing. One might have that "special sauce" that the others lack! That explains the next three pictures, probably taken within the space of a minute or three. 

Most people enjoyed their ride on the runaway mine train, but that lady to the left lost her mind. I mean her brain literally popped out of her ears! I've seen it happen. Luckily she will still live a full and happy life, and she'll even write some romance novels.

That guy with the red shirt can't fool me - he's playing it cool now, but 20 seconds ago he was shrieking like a child. His friend isn't going to let him live it down.

Big Thunder has just the right amount of thrills for families; it's not too crazy. One mother covers the mouth of her child, he has a tendency to blurt of bad words. Just like me! Perhaps he will grow up to be a powerful, influential blogger too. Dad has chosen this odd time to have "the talk" with his young son, he won't remember a word of it.

A conscientious Cast Member is making sure that a lap bar is securely lowered. The guy with the glasses is one of those people who puts his arms up for the entire ride, you know what I mean. I'm not sure what the girl to the right is up to, but she'd better sit down pronto.

This next one truly looks like could be right out of a print ad for Disneyland. Wholesome people having wholesome fun. The color and clarity is pretty nice!

Nearly everybody is looking directly at the photographer, he must have been very conspicuous. "If I take off my clothes, they'll face this direction". And it worked! You have to admire his ingenuity; Ansel Adams wouldn't have thought of it. Notice the steps, where guests could walk if (for some reason) the ride stopped partway through.

THANK YOU, Mysterious Benefactor!

OK-zles™

Let's start today off by wishing GDB friend Melissa a very Happy Birthday! She was gone for a long time, but now she's back, and it's great. Sue B. (another GDB friend) kindly supplied some vintage birthday photos for the occasion. 

It must have been a nice warm day, maybe June (hey, just a guess), and kids are enjoying cake and ice cream. I hope that's milk in those cups, and not fruit punch, which should never be eaten with cake.  The Birthday Boy has to share a chair with his baby brother, how humiliating. Party favors are strewn all over the table, including paper hats, noisemakers, crayons, a roll of tape (my favorite!), and a few books, including"Fairy Tales to Color", with Snow White and the Practical Pig on the cover.

I found a jpeg of it! 1977 is the date on this item.

This one's a bit fuzzy, but we get a wider view of the shenanigans. Mom appears to be scoopiing ice cream, I think. Check out the Wonder Woman tablecloth! Kind of an odd choice for a boy's birthday, but hey, Wonder Woman is cool. I remember when I was a kid, my mom would invite all of the neighborhood children, and somehow they all showed up! I guess it was just the thing to do back then. Maybe the liked free cake, or hoped to get the gold in Olympic "pin the tail on the donkey" competition. Happy Birthday, Melissa, and thank you, Sue!

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Today's Snoozles™ cannot be easily categorized, so I will place them in the blurry "OK-zles" slot for now. This first picture (from May, 1960) would be nice if it wasn't for that little tree, which was obviously a relative of Charlie Brown's tree. The family resemblance is clear. I sure wish we'd been treated to an unobstructed view of the three-car red Monorail ("Li'l Stubby"), but that tree came out of nowhere and frightened me. Meanwhile, the park is nearly deserted... we can just see a few guests in the distance, but it's like a ghost town, otherwise.

And from August, 1962 comes this dark-ish, kind of boring photo of Sleeping Beauty Castle. If you stand on your head you can see the dent, though it is subtle. I dunno, I can't think of much to say about this one!