Carousel of Progress

Well today is my 2 year anniversary of posting images to the blog. And I wanted to showcase an amazing set of images from Carousel of Progress. All the images are from the early 1970s. Now lets relive the GE Carousel of Progress. I know you all know the words..There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining through at the end of every day. There's a great big beautiful tomorrow...

Characters at Disneyland 1972

Out of all the theme parks in the world, Disneyland does best with walk around characters. The costumes are very nice and look like the chatacters. It seems there is always a line for the characters. The demand is so great, Disneyland finally created special lines and attractions for the most popular. If your young daughter is into the Princesses, you can take them to the Princess Fair in Fantasyland. If your young children are into Winnie the Pooh, the characters can be found in Critter Country. And of course Mickey's Toontown is a whole land devoted to the classic cartoon characters with Mickey's house a way to guarantee a good photo and meet and greet with Mickey. In 1972, the characters were not as popular and could be found on Main Street. The costumes do not appear to have changed much from this time period. I know there are still characters that come out on Main Street, in fact on my last trip I watched Alice, the Mad Hatter, and Pluto playing charades with a group of kids.

Souvenir Friday- Wacky Saying Plaque from the Art Corner

I have a small collection of these wacky saying plaques from the Art Corner at Disneyland. These were all sold at the Tomorrowland store and feature various characters and sayings. During the 1950s these types of plaques were very popular showing up as signs, postcards and even gum cards. The material is a nice particle board with the design silk screened on the front. On the reverse is the mailing label with the great Mickey Mouse in his artist outfit. A while ago I posted the original art to one of the designs.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Mural

One of the hardest views to find are of the murals for the load area at the various Fantasyland dark rides. This one is from my favorite Fantasyland ride Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. I vividly remember this mural and the sign posts in anticipation of riding the vintage vehicles and laughing at the devils.

Tomorrowland- 1970!

Some more views of what I remember Disneyland being. The first is the McDonnel Douglas vibrating seat ride of Flight to the Moon. The sweeping wing on the front of the building is nice, I wonder where that McDonnel Douglas sign is at now?

The second is the Mary Blair mural World of Transportation. This mural was on the building housing Adventure Through Inner Space and is now covered up with the Star Tours mural.

Two Obscure Views

I just got a nice large collection of slides from 1970. The photographer definitely had an eye for some obscure shots. The first is a slide of the old entrance/exit vignette for Pirates. This is the scene from my childhood without the squawking parrot and the led lit map, or the new Isle of Tortuga set piece.

The second image is from the entrance area to the Opera House featuring Mr. Lincoln and a quote from Gettysburg. I do not think very many people snapped an image of this piece.

Christmas Time at Disneyland

Well we got back from spending a long weekend in California. We went to Disneyland every day and it was very crowded, even the threat of torrential rain did not stop the crowds from showing up. Several of the days we were there at opening at 8 AM and the lines were across the esplanade to California Adventure. And opening was never truly at 8 AM, but rather 8:10 AM. The park was nicely decorated for Christmas. There was the usual Christmas Tree and decorations on Main Street. We did ride It's A Small World Holiday and it was very festive (we were the only ones on our boat and probably only one of about 5 people in the entire ride.) The castle effect was pretty interesting by day, but night definitely was a let down. From what I had read and heard it was supposed to be spectacular, but it fell flat. It looked like the icicle lights you can purchase at your local Home Depot. Maybe with some tweaking, the park will get it better. In order to start the Christmas season, here are some vintage images of Disneyland at Christmas. The first is a shot of the Main Street Christmas tree from the Emporium. The images are all circa 1965.

Of course Christmas is not Christmas without Santa Claus. Here he is in the finale of the parade.

An image of my favorite part of the parade, the march of the toy soldiers.

And finally a shot of a strange creature (dragon?) being beat by a lady weilding a rolling pin! I don't think they have this character interaction any more.

Chicken of Sea Pirate Ship Signs 1961

A nice image of the Chicken of the Sea pirate ship at anchor at Skull Rock Cove. From late 1955 until 1961, the Pirate Ship was docked at a small pond with just some trees. Then in 1961, a brand new scene was created. The skull rock from the movie was added along with a landside dining area which was themed to a pirate beach. Due to increased crowds of hungry guests, the construction in this area expanded the dining capacity. And made one of the coolest spots in Disneyland. Of course both the ship and skull rock are gone. But there is a homage at the Disneyland Hotel pool.

On a side note, the blog updating may be a bit sporadic as I am off to visit Disneyland.

Berry Farm Slides for the Knott's Fans

Some interesting Knott's Berry Farm views for those who love the vintage Knott's items. The first is of the Totem Pole which sat on one of the islands in Knott's rustic version of the Indian Village.

The second image is of the loading area for the steam train. It appears this was loading line number 3. I like the gate and the signage on the lantern.

The third image is of the horse drawn carousel. The slide is a bit funky looking, but it does give that effect of you are on the ride.

The final image is of the exit area for the Stagecoach ride. The Knott's stagecoach ride always appeared to be more authentic, using antique coaches.

1973 It's A Small World

A selection of slides taken in 1973 showing the old It's A Small World prior to the pastelization and then whitewashing of the facade. It is interesting to note that the ride was loaded reverse to the loading method of now. I am sure this was done to funnel all the crowds through the Mattel store. The first slide is a little funky and I do not know why. I do enjoy the tie die pants on the lady in the foreground. Enjoy!

Disneyland After Dark

I usually do not find night photographs of Disneyland. And when I do find them, the shots are usually unusable. But here are two nice images of Disneyland after dark. The first is of Main Street Station from the parking lot. The slide is 1959 by the new attractions banner over the tunnel as well as on the station itself.

The second photograph is of the castle all lit up. I always felt that night time was a magical time at Disneyland with all the lights and the dark shadows some how making the park seem even more real, especially in Fantasyland and Main Street.

I do want to let everyone know that a great friend of mine has started his own blog on Vintage Disneyland Paper. Check it out for some great vintage goodies.

Two Views of Fantasyland

Today's post shows two unique views of Fantasyland. The first is of the photographic icon the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship restaurant. The uniqueness of the view is of the intricately carved stern of the boat with the famous Mermaid logo.

The second view is a you are there on King Arthur's Carrousel.

Souvenir Friday- Adventure Town New York Brochure

A vibrantly colored brochure for The Real Old West Adventure Town located in Alexandria Bay, New York. The site is in a major summer tourist location in the 1000 Islands area on the St. Lawrence seaway. I do not think the park lasted long as there is no mention of it any where on the web. The town of Alexandria Bay is the home to the Boldt Castle, an unfinished millionare's mansion that was being built in the early 1900s as well as the site of a large Pirates Day festival. The brochure itself extols the attractions of the park, especially the hold ups of the train and the stagecoaches. During this time period there were a large number of roadside attractions in New York state. The park even had an authentic brand. I would love to hear more about this park if any one has any memories.

Carnation Gardens Disneyland

A wonderful image from the same photographer from the last two days is this photo of the Disneyland band in their blue uniforms giving a concert at Carnation Gardens. You can tell it is Carnation as the kids are drinking Carnation milk!

The other picture is of Sleeping Beauty Castle. One of the most photographed icons (I think the Pirate Ship in Fantasyland is a close second!), this image still evokes in me a great nostalgia for the 1950s era theme park. Be sure to check out the Ice Cream vendor in the right hand corner and in the background are the Skyway towers.

Two Main Street Views

Continuing with the selection of slides from the same photographer are these two images of Main Street. The first is an iconic view of the Horse Drawn Trolley heading up towards the castle. The image screams the 1950s in Disneyland with the clothes worn and no one walking in the street.

The second image is of a rather deserted Town Square. I wish that the Disneyland of today was as un-crowded as seen in this photograph.