River Boat Cargo

Some of the best theming at Disneyland is the boxes and other cargo that sits on the Mark Twain/Columbia dock ready for passage to other places. Now most of the cargo has an inside joke with the names of imagineers, hometowns and other such personal touches. However in the 1960's, the names and places were just jokes. Some of my favorite ones in the photos are Ezra Catch in Fishtown, USA, Tom Cat Pet shop, Sticky Glue Works in Tacky North Dakota and Rattle Snake Oil. In the first shot you can see the construction of New Orleans Square with the construction wall up.

Souvenir Friday- Coney Island Postcard plus a Mary Blair Piece

Today I thought I would show two recent purchases. The first is of the Bobsled ride at Coney Island. The postcard shows the front of this nice roller coaster ride located at Coney Island. The card has a Coney Island postmark for 1944 and written greetings Having a Big time here. Shore is a nice day.

One of the reasons I decided to post this image today is that I read an article yesterday that a large chunk of Coney had been purchased by a redeveloper and he was planning to revitalize Coney. One of the fears is that he wants to put housing on the land, leading many to believe that the nature of Coney will be lost and the amusements will eventually be gone. Although not the place it once was, Coney is still an amazing slice of life. With new activities such as the Mermaid Parade and the world famous Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest, the area has seen a resurgence of people and activities. Let's hope the redeveloper will do the right thing and restore Coney to an amusement location rather than a housing development.

The second image is a Little Golden Books advertising postcard from the Mary Blair book I Can Fly. I love the graphic of the girl on the swing. I found this at a postcard show and was thrilled to get it. I hoped for other cards, but the dealer only had this one.

Walt and Sharon Visit Owen Pope at the Pony Farm

A very nice image from 1957 showing Sharon and Walt Disney visiting Owen Pope at the Pony Farm backstage at Disneyland. Owen appears to be feeding one of the mules and in the background is one of the Conestoga Wagons with Oregon or Bust written on the canvas. A nice publicity shot I have not seen before.

Disneyland Schedule 1966

Located outside of the Main Street Police Station and City Hall was this sign featuring the entertainment schedule for Disneyland. It appears to be winter as most of the outdoo entertainment such as the gun fights, Nature's Wonderland Balladeers happen on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays.

Douglas Rocket to the Moon 1966

When TWA dropped sponsorship of the Rocket to the Moon ride, Disneyland found a new corporate sponsor in Douglas. Douglas was a name to be reckoned with in the Military Industrial Complex building many components and vehicles not only for space exploration, but also for combat. The rocket icon was painted and marked in Douglas colors and logo as well as new signage for the ride. The ride itself was a C ticket at the time which seems a little low as I always thought of the Rocket to the Moon during this time period as at least a D ticket ride. Douglas would continue to sponsor the ride, even after the 1967 reconstruction of Tomorrowland. Their name is on the cool 1967 Rocket to the Moon poster.

Monsanto Home of the Future August 1960

Wouldn't you love to live in this house and make it your home?

Skyway and Advertising Sign 1956

One of the neatest methods of advertising new attractions in the early days of Disneyland were giant billboard with great graphics. I have seen them for the Rainbow Caverns Mine Trains, Disneyland 1959, Nature's Wonderland Railroad, Flying Saucers and this nice one for the Skway to Tomorrowland. The photographer managed to squeeze most of everything into the image.

Black Bart at Rainbow Ridge

A nice image of the Frontierland villian Black Bart hamming it up at Rainbow Ridge. The people in the background in line do not seem very interested in the character and are not even facing them. The excitement of riding Nature's Wonderland Railroad is just overwhelming.

Souvenir Friday- Story of Walt Disney

This is a fairly recent addition to my collection. It is the Diane Disney Miller and Pete Martin book The Story of Walt Disney. The book was available through all bookstores throughout the world, but this one does have a Disneyland connection. When the book was published, the Disneyland Mail Order division convinced Diane and her Dad Walt Disney to sign copies of the book and make them available for sale. This is one of the books autographed by Walt and Diane and sold at Disneyland.

A friend of mine found this at an estate sale and then sold it to me.

Interior of Wurlitzer Music Shop

Where Dee Fisher played and made wonderful music, the Wurlitzer shop on Main Street in Disneyland. Not really a store where one could purchase a musical instrument, but rather a showcase where interested customers could look at the instruments and then their names and addresses would be taken down and sent to their hometown stores. A lot of the early lessee's worked the same way.

Pele in Enchanted Tiki Garden 1966

A nice image of Pele in her original colors. Now all those people who purchased the knock off version from Big Lots a couple of years ago can now paint their Pele in the appropriate colors.

North Pole Colorado Christmas In June

With the hot weather (almost 100 degrees here on Sunday) I thought I would cool off with two 1960 dated images of Colorado's Santa Claus themed land: The North Pole. Located on the slopes of Pikes Peak this park is still in existance and remains remarkably intact. Some of the rides seen in other Santa's Villages are still operating like the Christmas Tree ride, the frozen North Pole, and of course a visit to Santa.

I promise to return to Disneyland soon.

Knotts Berry Farm Visit 10-15-48 #3

Three more photographs from the visit to Knotts in 1948. The last one was taken in the Ghost Town Pitchur Gallery at Knotts Berry Place. Enjoy!

Knotts Berry Farm Visit 10-15-48 #2

Second set of four black and white photographs from a visit to Knotts Berry Farm and Ghost Town in 1948. The first image that caught my eye is the Mule and Horse barn. I may be incorrect, but I think the sign changed over the years. I also like the first image showing the character photo shot, but with the view of people taking photos of the characters.

Knotts Berry Farm Visit 10-15-48 #1

A series of black and white snapshots showing the Ghost Town at Knotts Berry Farm in 1948. Some of the best shots I have seen for Knotts for this time period. All of the images show how crowded the Ghost Town would become while patrons waited for a Fried Chicken Dinner and a piece of pie.

Souvenir Friday- Disneyland Masonic Club Badge

Here is an esoteric employee piece, a name badge for the Disneyland Masonic Club. Back in the late 1950s, there were many clubs and organizations for the employees of Disneyland. They were all organized by the Disneyland Recreation Club. The DRC published the employee magazine The Disneylander and featured many of these clubs. The clubs included bowling, basketball and softball teams, shooting club, skiing club, knitting club and the Masonic club. There was also organized trips that an employee could take. I like the use of the Disneyland blue and yellow and the traditional Disneyland logo.

Boats From Around Disneyland

The photographer of these images really liked to take pictures of the boats. Some very nice and unusual views. I think my favorite is the view of the Storybook Canal Boats and Monstro the Whale. The Mark Twain does look awful nice with the red, white and blue bunting. And of course the Jungle Cruise launch is always a welcome sight. This appears to be a fairly unusual day as the Ucayali Una was not used often. (Note for trivia fans- the Ucayali is a river 70 miles from Lake Titicaca and is a branch of the Amazon river.)

Small World Interior September 1971

A bit later than the other slides in the collection but still from the same family comes this series of five images of the interior of It's A Small World. Some nice shots, I especially like the Hippo and the sun. Enjoy!

A Disneyland Parade and Noah's Ark

A slide dated 1971 from a later trip by the same family features a moment of a parade. By this time, the costumes are fairly sophisticated and actually appear like the characters.

The second slide is undated but circa early 1960s of what I believe is Children's Fairyland in Oakland California. The color on the slides is amazing!

A Scenic Trip to an Amusement Park

More slides from the family that poses at Disneyland and went to POP, this time a local or small amusement park. It appears to be a park where carnival rides have been permanently installed. If anyone has any idea where, let me know. It could be California, or Arizona or somewhere in the west.

This last image is my favorite, the happiness on the face of a child while riding a roller coaster.

The Family That Poses Together.....

Continuing with the same family as they visit Disneyland and the requisite group poses at various locations. All I can say is that in every photo someone is doing something different. Some definitely Vogue and strike a pose, others just seem to be in the space and not really paying attention to the photographer. I do have to say that the gold lame purse is quite fashionable as is the ticket book.

And here is the family in front of another amusement park. I like the Popeye Mattel Geetar.

Have a fun Sunday and if you are anywhere near family, go ahead and pose for a picture with the family. Just make sure you smile and say cheese. Oh and look at the camera!

The Family Visits Disneyland

A couple of more images from the same family that visited POP. Now, they are at Disneyland. The family was able to make it to Disneyland because Dad's company had a party at Holidayland. Here they are waiting to get their free drinks before heading into the large striped tent in the background to eat some scrumptious picnic food- hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob and more. I really do like how the lady is checking out her fingers. She just does not seem interested in being photographed.

After their picnic lunch, they decide to go spinning on the Tea cups. The lady stil does not look that interested...and I am getting dizzy just looking at the picture.