Snoozles™

Hey! Here's a pair of  Snoozles for you. We'll start with this gray and depressing image (from September of 1967) of Main Street Station, taken by the guy who filmed the "Batman" TV series. He loved those Dutch angles! He also loves Edam cheese, wooden shoes, and Dutch processed cocoa. I'm sensing a theme. The theme is LOVE.

Next is this photo from October, 1963. I believe that the photographer wanted to get a picture of the Burning Settler's Cabin, but the timing was off, so we can barely see the thing. Or maybe he liked the Keelboat, parked in that little portage - Mike Fink stopped by every once in a while to deliver a box of home-made Tollhouse cookies.

 

Atlantic City, NJ

I was going through my folders of random non-Disney scans looking for something - but what? I don't even know. But then I noticed that I had two vintage scans from Atlantic City from different eras and different seasons, and suddenly I had a theme. Hooray!

We'll start with this 1953 photo with the magnificent Steel Pier looming over the visitors.  What is the Steel Pier? It is a 1,000-foot-long (300 m) amusement park built on a pier of the boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Built in 1897 and opened in 1898, it was one of the most popular venues in the United States for the first seven decades of the twentieth century, featuring concerts, exhibits, and an amusement park. It billed itself as the Showplace of the Nation and at its peak measured 2,298 feet (700 m). 

The slide was undated, but the film "Moulin Rouge" (directed by John Huston) is playing at the Virginia cinema to our right, and that opened at the very end of 1952 (meaning that this must have been sometime near the end of April, '53). Notice that Tony Bennett was performing at the Pier, he was only 27 years old at that point and had his first hit song two years earlier.

This next one is from 1970, and shows the boardwalk on an icy winter day. You have to look carefully to find the three people in this photo! The Steel Pier is in the distance to our right. I think I'll set my time machine to April, 1953!

Two From July 1969

Here's a nice pair of photos from July, 1969. Neil Armstrong wished he was at Disneyland, but his mom made him go to the Moon instead. Stupid Moon! I love this afternoon shot from Fantasyland, a mom and her stylish daughter pose, surrounded by all kinds of fun stuff. Dumbi! The Pirate Ship (complete with unfurled sails)! Skyway gondolas! The Casey Jr. station! And even a bit of the Matterhorn. It looks like it was a great day to be at the park (sorry, Neil).

From the same batch comes this image of Tomorrowland - there's mom again, next to the Tomorrowland Terrace stage (in its lowered position). Things would be 28% more fun if the Rocket Jets were up in the air, but it's too late now. In the lower right, a rare sighting of Commander Quinton McHale, on shore leave. Some of his wacky shipmates (such as Ensign Parker) were close behind him, but didn't make it into the photo.
 

Two From August 1970

I've been posting photos from an August 1970 batch mostly in the order in which they were taken, but they often feel very random. You'll hop from Main Street to New Orleans Square today - our photographer was choosy about when he snapped a photo.

This first one is one of those "classic Disneyland scenes" that we might have viewed 1,000 times before. It's nice, for sure... but hard to get too excited over. I do like seeing the signs for Burry's Cookies and C&H Sugar on the Market House, you don't see that very often. In the distance is a young man all in white who I thought at first might be a sweeper, but he's wearing a bucket hat (I think), and isn't carrying a broom or dustpan.

See? Somehow our photographer made it all the way to New Orleans Square before he took another picture. Seeing the Royal Street Bachelors on the curved staircase in the Court of Angels (or whatever it's really called) finally made his heart grow three sizes that day, and he took this photo. What in the world is that gizmo to the right of the girl with the light brown hair?
 

Two From 1973

I'm continuing to go through a fairly big lot of scans from '73. I'm posting them in order (more or less) based on the numbers that are stamped on the cardboard mounts.

Just look at all those flowers in the Plaza! But they are protected from rampaging people with a tall wrought-iron fence now. No more stomping through the daffodils to make your own path. A balloon vendor is in danger of being blown away by the apparent breeze. I'll bet those vendors feel 10 pounds lighter while clutching their bouquets, and at the end of the day, they'll feel the now-returned 10 pounds even more - like an astronaut returning from space, sort of. Think about it! 

Our photographer walked into Tomorrowland, which is always a wise choice. And you can't blame him for snapping this beautiful photo of the Rocket Jets (in mid-flight), the Peoplemover, the distant Carousel of Progress, and one of the Mary Blair tile murals, nearly lost in shadow.

 

Main Street Station, July 1963

Let's imagine that it's 1963, and we've just parked our Rolls Royce Silver Wraith (a fun little car with pep) in the Disneyland parking lot. After a brief (but exciting!) tram ride to the front gates, and a few minutes in line at the ticket booths, we're through the turnstiles and finally officially in the park. Say, look at that train up there! It's the E.P. Ripley, believe it or not. The population sign reads "33,000,000", which is more than your typical midwestern towns. 

"Boooooaaaaarrrrrd!". The train is underway, starting its Grand Circle Tour around the park. As usual I admire those posters. If anybody has a spare Tiki Room poster that they don't need, I'll take it off of their hands! Yes, I will give my Beanie Baby collection in trade. An unruly plant is growing between the Jungle Cruise and Golden Horseshoe posters, which is odd to see.

+++++++++++++++++++

EXTRA! EXTRA! I only just learned (via the comments and a "special alert" from Sue B.) that today is Steve DeGaetano's birthday. Rather than sharing a photo from an old birthday party, I went into my folders of scans and found this nice train-related image - it's the Durango Silverton Railroad, from August, 1963. What a beauty! Normally I might try to do a bit of research on this locomotive, but I was caught off-guard, so for now I hope Steve will enjoy the picture. Happy Birthday, Steve!

The Disney Look - PART ONE

Say! Here's something a little bit different. Our friend Sue B. acquired a cast member item from 1987, "The Disney Look". No, it's not about the angry looks I got from Walt when I gave him some of my great ideas ("Walt, baby, popcorn is so yesterday, we need to sell chocolate-covered pork rinds!"). It's about the very specific standards that the park had regarding grooming and dress for men and women. For instance: leather-studded collars? Frowned upon! I don't understand it, but it is so.

This item is 19 pages, and it's a lot of reading, which is hard because of all those long words such as "hair". So I will be splitting this up into three posts. By the end, I expect each and every one of you to conform to these standards. I'M LOOKING AT YOU, K. MARTINEZ!

Here's the cover, featuring folks who look so neat and tidy that their surnames just might be "Osmond". I have had older versions of "Disney Look" guides, but I think they are all gone now - so it's a bit jarring to see the Captain EO poster behind the fellow in the upper left. Is that an Ambassador in the upper right? We definitely have a Tour Guide in the lower right. The woman in the lower left might have worked in the costume department, while the Skipper just looks cool. What is the building behind Donald and that gentleman in the lower photo?

Before humankind invented the Table of Contents, there was chaos, unrest, and ring around the collar. For new hires, this ToC helped them to be their best selves in the shortest time. Get rid of that mullet, shave off that foot-long goatee, and (for the gals), reduce the height of that beehive hairdo by at least six inches.

Dick Nunis has some words of wisdom for us all. The three things that guests comment upon most frequently? "First, the cleanliness. Second, the friendly and helpful employees. And, third, the good, all around Show". Dang, I would have guessed "Are werewolves real?" would be in there, which is why I am not a Disneyland cast member. Dick mentions "French crew cuts", I have no idea how that is different from an American crew cut, but it frightens me just to consider it. I have Dick Nunis's book, I should read it!

"We are going to continue to enforce our defined standards of appearance...". Enforce, with extreme prejudice! 

Here is some helpful information about costumes, and how they are designed, created, and used in the real world. I believe that the smiling young lady in the top photo is working at one of the souvenir booths just outside the tunnels into Town Square, what do you think? And HEY, what do you know! There's our good friend Bu, the Platonic ideal of neatness and tidiness. Not a hair out of place! "D" pin and name tag just so. Reading the text, I see that I would not have qualified as a cast member because of the three teardrops tattooed on my face. 

I think Bu has told us stories of some costume mishaps that happened to him during his years as a Guide, it's nice to know that they had a system in place just in case. To this day I think it's amusing that they frowned on facial hair so much, considering the famous mustache on the founder, who said mustaches made men look like "city slickers". Hmmmm! Don't wear Hai Karate, but do apply Arrid Extra Dry. Mood rings are "out". I love the mention of "Earth shoes", are those still a thing? 

That's it for PART ONE! The next installment will be in less than two weeks. MANY THANKS to Lou and Sue for this fun item!

Snoozles™

Here's a pair of Snoozles... not terrible by any means, but canted to the right a bit. Why? Maybe mom was taking the pictures, and her right arm also supported a weighty purse. This first one is dated "October, 1958", from the Plaza as a Horse Drawn Streetcar is about to stop, empty its load of passengers, perhaps take on new guests, and then head back to Town Square. I sure love old views of the park when there were expanses of grass and flowers.

A decade later (November, 1968) we get this shot of the French Market; perhaps those three people nearest to us just got off the Disneyland Railroad and were ready for lunch. The restaurant is now Tiana's Palace.

 

Airplanes

Oh boy, airplanes! They fly through the air using magic. I have two vintage examples for you today.

Let's start with this rather incredible jet, one of only two built - the North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie is a retired prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation (NAA) to replace the B-52 Stratofortress and B-58 Hustler, the six-engine, delta-winged Valkyrie could cruise for thousands of miles at Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet. 

It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie or TV show! To read more about the Valkyrie, see the article on Wikipedia HERE.

I was reminded of the Quest Jet/Dragonfly in Jonny Quest! Yes, I know that there are clear differences, just go along so that I don't freak out.

And... I wasn't looking for this, but here's a cool photo of a Valkyrie with its six engines glowing blue upon takeoff:

Next is this scan from a slide labeled "Japan 1949". Hmmm! Of course I had no idea what this airplane is, but that triangular tail is pretty distinctive. After a little research, I found out that it is a T-6 Texan - coincidentally, also from North American Aviation. The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is a single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Air Force, United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1970s.

The T-6 Texan remains a popular warbird used for airshow demonstrations and static displays. It has also been used many times to simulate various historical aircraft, including the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. A total of 15,495 T-6s of all variants were built.

Two From November 1968

Happy Friday! I have a pair of nice pix for you, starting with this view at the ticket booths; there are plenty of weirdos just arriving at 4:40 PM, they should all be observed for signs of extreme goofiness (drooling, excessive smiling, humming "Little Brown Jug", and so on). Maybe they were at Knott's for the first part of the day - people did that. In spite of it being November,  it looks like it was warm and a little breezy. No need for a coat. 

It's always interesting to see what the prices were back then. An adult "Big 10" ticket book was $4.75, while a "Deluxe 15" would run you $5.75. Only one dollar for five more rides? It's a no-brainer. The cost of a guided tour was $6.50.

There might be something wrong with me, because I've seen many photos of Tomorrowland, but a view like this still gets my heart pumping. I'm trying to figure out where the photographer was standing to get this elevated view, do you think he/she was on a just-launched Skyway gondola?