A Mixed Bag of Images

All of these images came from the same photo album, but are definitely of different places. The first is a great image of the end of the Alice In Wonderland Ride with two different smug caterpillar cars on the track. Unfortunately the photo was not mounted in the photo album and has some wear.

The second image is of a cute play ground area. I believe this may be the Santa Ana Zoo as on the same page was some images from Knott's Berry Farm. It may be Los Angeles but it does not look like San Diego. The little flying saucers do look like they were fun to play in.

Finally I believe this image is from the San Diego County Fair. It does look somewhat like Knotts, but not as permanent. Notice in the far right corner is a hanging. I also like the shuffle board building.

Color Snapshots of A Day at Disneyland Circa 1961

A remembrance of a Day at Disneyland circa 1961 (give or take a few years.) The first shot is the obligatory pose in front of the floral Mickey Mouse. Unfortunately no posters are seen in the picture.

Then off to a quick trip around the Rivers of America on the Mark Twain. First we see the hardy guests who have decided to work up to an appetite rowing the Indian War Canoes.

Also a shot of the scenic wonder of Cascade Mountain with the Three Sisters Falls.

Next a quick trip to the Matterhorn to compare the water falls.

Then a quick walk over to the Submarine Voyage lagoon and to see the wonder of transportation, the monorail.

All of this walking has made us hungry, lets go to the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship for lunch. What shall we have?

More Images from A Crowded Day

Two more images of the crowded day in 1962. The first shows the way in which Disneyland controls unruly kids....they place them in a cage and take them around a track.

The second is a shot showing the young girls first driving lesson. It looks like she has already run into the back of the car in front of her.

Two Views of A Crowded Day

Two views of what must have been a busy summer day in August 1962. The first shows the exit and entrance area to the Submarine Voyage with the blue Monorail in station.

The next is a nice family posed shot in front of Storybook Canal Boats. Too bad the image is out of focus on the sign in the background. I believe it is a Kodak picture spot sign.

Filming at Universal

Here are some images of the start of the filming of a western film at Universal Studios. These shots were taken from the glamour tram. I like the behind the scenes feel as well as the interaction with the stars. I also really like the big black Cadillac and the camera crane and boom. These are some more slides from the last time I posted Universal Studios in December of 2006.

Souvenir Friday Continued- Messmore Damon Catalog

For Chris, here are the rest of the pages in the catalog. Quite a nice document illustrating what the company was manufacturing at the time. I believe some pieces have been recycled at various parks. In the Colorado area, there are some figures in the Haunted House walkthrough at Santa's Village. I believe that Knoebbels in Pennsylvania also has some of the figures in their Haunted Mansion.

Souvenir Friday- Messmore Damon Amusement Displays Catalog

One of the major suppliers of dark ride elements to amusement and theme parks is the company of Messmore Damon. In 1967 they published a catalog showing many of the figures and items available for purchase. I have scanned a couple pages from the catalog along with a list of locations where their figures were in use. Although none are Disney, they were and are some of the most fun effects and figures still in use by amusement parks. Let me know if you want to see more scans from the catalog.

A Black and White Trip October 1955

Another small grouping of photos recently added to the collection is the five images shown below. All nicely dated October 1955 showing what tourists thought to take pictures of during the first months of Disneyland. The first is a nice image of Mom and Son riding on Dumbo. It appears Mom has decided to take a small tree home from Adventureland disquised as a hat.

A nice shot of the EP Ripley pulling the Main Street passenger train. I like the fencing in the foreground. A photograph that could not be taken today.

A nice image of Sleeping Beauty Castle with one of the white swans out front.

An image of the hippos on the Jungle River Cruise. One can never get too many hippo images!

Last is my favorite photo showing the temple guarded by the monkeys screaming in the trees and off on the left is the elephant carving. The monkeys in the trees did not last long as the animation was very spastic and broke down.

Disneyland Characters

A set of photos featuring some of the character costumes. The costumes appear to be second generation, not the early off model characters. The costumes are closer to the animation model, but not by very much. The other thing is that wearing these costumes must have not been fun. I am sure they were heavy and bulky to wear and your head was always in a confined space such as the hat.

A Mish Mash of Photographs

Today's post is a mish mash, just some photographs I have picked up recently. The first is of the Sailing Ship Columbia taken from the waters edge at the old Frontierland Indian Village. The focus is pretty bad, but I do like the look of the ship with the full sails and Tom Sawyers Island in the background.

The next image is of the rare Cigar Store Indian which once stood out front of the Frontierland Trading Post. I believe the trading post is now a candy and fudge shop, but it may have been turned into a pin center. According to Major Pepperidge, a dealer had this Indian at the last Glendale Toy and Advertising show.

The final image is my favorite. A nice view from the late 1960s of the majestic Matterhorn mountain. And it appears that a plane towing a sign was spotted overhead (see the black swipe in the upper left part of the photo.) The back of the photo has a great inscription: This is the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Its the same name as our street.

Two Fantasyland Views

These images are from the same group that I posted last Thursday. In the first, little brother and his sister are on the Dumbo ride. Notice the ear structure and that it is jointed.

The second image is of the family with Dad posing in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. In the background is nothing as the photograph was taken pre-Matterhorn. Another thing I like about this image is the lack of fencing, everything was wide open much like a park or a college campus.