Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Final Set of Fuzzy Freedomland

The last two out of focus fuzzy pictures of Freedomland (well at least this set of snapshots.) First up is a nice view from the Ore Buckets of the circle of Conestoga wagons, the Stage Coach, an Ore Bucket and in the distance is the Borden Farm. This is where you could meet Elsie and her calves.

Next up is an image of the Indian Village with teepees in the background and war canoes in the foreground. A note on the back of the photograph states this was taken from the steam ship.

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

More Fuzzy Images of Freedomland

Two more snapshots that are just out of focus featuring Freedomland. First up is a shot of their Stagecoach in a rather barren landscape filled with rocks and sage brush. I believe this photograph was taken from the Ore buckets, which was Freedomland's version of the Skyway.

The second image is of the building that could be set on fire in Old Chicago. Note the burn marks on the building on the left hand side. The location was well placed allowing the water to run off into the Great Lakes of Freedomland.

Note that the image of the Pikes Peak racer should have been posted on my 20th Century image blog, Corner Cafe Images. If you enjoyed that photograph, check it out.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Pikes Peak Hill Climb- Getting Ready to Race

Freedomland in a Soft Focus

Let's take a trip to the New York City area to visit Freedomland. First up is an overhead view of Old Chicago with quite a crowd on this day. They may be waiting for the theatrical show of the burning of Old Chicago.

A really badly focused image is this one of the steamship and a tugboat on the Great Lakes. I wish there was a focus button in Photoshop.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Souvenir Friday- Paul Hartley Illustrations

Straying a bit from the Disneyland souvenirs is this post about interesting Paul Hartley illustrations for a Los Angeles Sheriffs booklet about the problem of youth drug use- Darkness On Your Doorstep. The booklet was published in 1963 and then reprinted in 1969. This is the 1969 reprint. Paul Hartley was the art director for the Mickey Mouse magazine in the 1950s, as well as the book Our Friend the Atom and several attraction posters. Some interesting quick illustrations to make points about drug use and abuse in Los Angeles. First up is the cover illustration.

Inside front cover illustration.

A full page illustration.

Inside the back cover.

Back page with credits to Paul Hartley of Walt Disney Productions.

For more information and more illustration, check out Kevin Kidney's blog post. I have posted only the Paul Hartley illustrations, the book is filled with information about drugs and also some posed photographic images including one representing an LSD trip.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Two Leftovers

Or as Major Pepperidge states, leftuglies. But,neither of these images are ugly, but not worthy of a post on their own. First up is a nice landscape photo of it's a small world as seen from the Peoplemover. The image shows the great Mary Blair designed facade for the show building.

The second image is of a nice Frontier town street. I thought it was a small amusement park, but in reality it is the street scene from the Hotel Last Frontier in Las Vegas, Nevada. The image is a rare view showing the entire street as most images I have are of people posing in front of the cars and wagons. I do like the Ripleys sign on the left hand side and way in the back is a Conestoga Wagon with the Hotel Last Frontier sign on the canvas.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Matterhorn Mountain 1970

Two nice views of the Matterhorn at Disneyland in 1970. First up is a view at the entrance of Tomorrowland with the Alpine Gardens in the foreground. There are some fun touches including the top of the head of one of the Dwarves, and characters on the right hand side. The juxtaposition of the palm trees with a snow covered mountain in the background is great.

The next image shows one of the Skyway buckets entering the Matterhorn. I will always miss the Skyway and the wonderful views of Disneyland.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Mary Blair In Tomorrowland 1970

Two great views of the South mural at the entrance to Tomorrowland. This mural features energy in it's many forms. The building that housed the mural was the Adventure Through Inner Space show building. This mural was replaced with a mural featuring StarSpeeders. The first image is from the interior of a Peoplemover car.

The photographer liked the image of the sun and snapped this shot of the mural. Note the Mary Blair children playing in the sun.

My only wish was that these snapshots were in color.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Tomorrowland Views 1970

Two views of Tomorrowland from the Peoplemover. The first image is one of the lovely and oh so mid-Century Modern planters and fountain at the front entrance to Tomorrowland. A nice touch is the patterned background that is on the building. You can see a bit of Tomorrowland and another Peoplemover on the left hand side.

The second image is a peek of Adventure Through Inner Space. The image shows the great graphic of a molecule along with the title for Miniaturization Control. You can see some of the work lights on the upper portion of the photograph.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Souvenir Friday- Another Adventureland Magic Slate

A new addition to my collection of Disneyland Magic Slates is this mid-1960s version from Adventureland. The colors are great and very tropical featuring the fauna of the jungle and a nice image of a Jungle Cruise launch. This is a slightly smaller version of the 1950s magic slate. It is missing the wooden "pencil" used to write on the slate.

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Global Van Lines

A nice portrait of the Global Van Lines truck sitting in front of the lockers on Main Street. This is one of my favorite Gurrmobiles (who am I kidding, I love them all...) It looks like the boy is carrying a tape recorder. I wonder if he was taping the various ride soundtracks?

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Seven Dwarves, Snow White and Gus and Jaq in Tomorrowland

A group of characters at the front of Tomorrowland in October 1970. The characters are all seven dwarves, Snow White and Gus-gus and Jaq from Cinderella. The first snapshot features the characters marching in a line.

The second image is of the group of characters interacting with guests and each other. The guests in the background seem a little perplexed that the mice from Cinderella are playing with Snow White.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Man Cub and Friends in Disneyland

A cool and rare shot of the Jungle Book set of characters entering Disneyland from the East side. The image was taken late 1960s when the Jungle Book was newly released. Mowgli, Baloo and King Louie march onto stage while observed by guests and a tour guide.

Let's take a closer look at the costumes, especially the body suit worn by Mowgli. It appears they are all singing and marching.

Here is the delighted expression by the tour guide.

And for all my fellow sign aficionado's, the sign for the Baby Station and Stroller Parking and in the background the First Aid sign.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Posing With A Character

Two different snapshots from two different locations of families posing with a character. The first is marked for the location of Lookout Mountain in Golden, Colorado. Lookout Mountain is the home to Buffalo Bill's grave and there is a cool trading post and museum located at the top of the mountain. In 1955, there was a small Indian village where tourists could pose with an Indian Chief. Note the TV tower in the background as the mountain is home to the transmitting tower for local Denver TV stations.

The second is from Disneyland and features a very skinny and scary looking Mickey Mouse. The photograph was taken in 1960 on a very cold day.

Friday, September 11, 2015

Souvenir Friday- Vinyl Matterhorn Wallet

Some of my favorite souvenirs are those featuring the Matterhorn attraction. This is a nice vinyl wallet with an interesting shield design. The design features three great rides, the Skyway, the Monorail and the Matterhorn. Although the wallet is used, the condition is still nice. I think a T-shirt featuring this design would be fantastic.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Frontierland Directional Sign In Front of the Golden Horseshoe Saloon

One of my favorite styles of directional signs are the ones with a number of signs for all the attractions. These signs remind me of the TV show MASH with it's directional sign in the camp. This is a great sign featuring a listing of the many attractions in Frontierland. In the background is the Golden Horseshoe Saloon with its many signs. Unfortunately this side of the contact print is the dirtiest, but as a Facebook group loves to post pictures of Disneyland dirt, I post actual Disneyland dirt (from the paint shop.)

Wednesday, September 09, 2015

Rainbow Mountain Desert Route

A nice image of a lovely sign featuring the list of attractions that head out through the Rainbow Mountain Desert Route. Riding these attractions would have been a fun way to spend parts of my ticket book. In the background is the ticket booth for the Conestoga Wagons and Pack Mules.

Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Stage Coach Attraction Ticket Booth

A similar ticket booth to yesterday's post of the ticket booth for Conestoga Wagons and Pack Mules is the Stage Coaches ticket booth. The ride was one of the highest cost ride at the time period needing a D ticket. (E tickets were not yet in existence.) Two fun details are the next window arrow sign and in the background a Stage coach (you can see a horse through the windows.) I also like the striped canvas on top of the porch.

Monday, September 07, 2015

Frontierland Pack Mules and Conestoga Wagon Ticket Booth

Another image from a contact print of various signs in Frontierland and Adventureland is this view of the ticket booth for the Conestoga Wagon and Pack Mule attractions. The wagons were a bargain only costing 25 cents or one B ticket with the Pack Mules cost doubling for adults. Note the dirt and large splotch of Disneyland sign paint on the print.

Friday, September 04, 2015

Souvenir Friday- Market House Ashtray

A very early Disneyland souvenir is this glass ashtray with a graphic for the Disneyland Market House on the bottom. The ashtray is made out of clear glass and the design is just a paper label with green felt behind the label. Since Disneyland was not a guaranteed success, many of the early souvenirs were generic with just Disneyland on the item. The graphic is one I would expect to appear in Knott's Berry Farm souvenirs.

Thursday, September 03, 2015

Davy Crockett Arcade Frontierland

The largest store in Frontierland in the 1950s was the Davy Crockett Arcade. Now the Pioneer Mercantile, the store carried all the Davy Crockett merchandise of the time period, along with other Western themed merchandise. There was also the BoneKraft store that made decorative items carved from bone. I like the themed lights for the sign and also Gaston's decorative antler touch. I know the image is dirty, but that is Disneyland sign shop dirt so I left it.

Wednesday, September 02, 2015

Adventureland Direction Sign

The backside of the Frontierland Direction sign I posted yesterday is the sign directing guests to Adventureland and the Jungle Rivers of the World. The image features a nice look at the transition of building designs and theming of both Frontierland and Adventureland. Gaston was also here as noted by the use of antlers for decoration. A nice touch is the restrooms sign. Note the image has some yellow paint on it, which is vintage Disneyland sign paint so I did not remove it.

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Frontierland Direction Sign

At the juncture of Adventureland and Frontierland this sign directed guests towards Frontierland and the Frontiers of America. The photo also offers a neat peak at the various lights used to illuminate one of the Frontierland buildings.