Friday, June 17, 2011

Disneyland, September 1955: Frontierland



Welcome to Frontierland! I love the rustic entrance. Walking over the "bridge," you have time to transition (mentally) from Main Street to the wild untamed area that is supposed to be a tribute to the pioneers of the past.

Today, I might reterm the theming as "refined" rustic! Here's a shot from 2008:



The Davy Crockett Frontier Arcade was originally designated to be a museum that housed the miniatures that Walt had created when his original concept of Disneyland consisted of a number of dioramas that guests would put quarters in to view.



The same building is now home to the Pioneer Mercantile, where you can load up on Disney merchandise:



It may not be fancy, but I like the Pepsi banner proclaiming the name of the popular show playing inside the saloon:



Poor Slue Foot Sue; nothing but a distant memory at the Horseshoe of today:



Things look slow over at the Frontier Stage Depot; these cast members look positively bored stiff!



On another note, Imagineer Collin Campbell recently passed away. Moe Collins (former Disney cast member & Daveland reader) remembers:

He was a quiet, unassuming and versatile talent who never complained about anything and always loved talking about anything to do with Disneyland and WDW in particular. Whenever I escorted dignitaries through WDI (called WED back then), they were invariably mesmerized by his work. Great freehand artist, and even could build models.

Inside Club 33 is a harpsichord that features a beautiful tableau hand-painted by Campbell:



See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland Frontierland photos at my main website.

7 comments:

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Frontier Stage Depot Ticket Booth - AMAZING!!!!

The Viewliner Limited said...

Ditto that ticket booth. Never seen before. GREAT!

Thufer said...

Count me among this group; I do not recall ever seeing the Stage Depot Ticket Booth before. Nice surprise for Friday morning.
I would be remiss to not mention 'mom' in her beautiful dress, shoes and matching bag. That first picture attest that even in 1955, Disneyland was a long 'hard on the feet' day.

JG said...

Rare stuff indeed, Dave. Those original structures were very rustic, to be sure.

Probably many visitors and designers had memories of similar structures from their youth. That vantage point is fast slipping away.

JG

Mark said...

Prior to NOS, Frontierland was my favorite land in DL. Now, its just a shadow of its former glory. Love BTMRR, though.

SundayNight said...

Neat-o stage Stage Depot ticket booth. Almost looks like it could be in Knotts!

Connie Moreno said...

Holy smokes!!! Vintage took the words right out of my keyboard!