Photo #1 has been posted here before, but I post it again today to show that the shop that super-model Twiggy was being photographed in is the very shop pictured here. Just compare the stained-glass windows. Houston - we have a match. Many thanks to all who helped to identify it yesterday. On to "new" stuff...this publicity photo from 1957 truly shows the scale used in building Rainbow Ridge. Obviously these buildings are too small to actually be used, but as a backdrop they are extremely convincing...until you see people of normal height standing next to them.
As you can see from this contemporary shot, the El Dorado Hotel still lives on, looking very much the same as it did over 50 years ago:
The sheriff’s office has been repurposed as the Assay Office, but other than that, also looks purty much the same:
I do not believe Mother Murphy’s, the building on the far left, made the transition when Rainbow Ridge was incorporated into Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. If it did, it has been significantly altered. As a footnote, RIP Universal; sorry to see more film history go up in flames:
See more vintage & current Nature’s Wonderland photos at my website.
I have NEVER seen that shop with the "Fantasy in Disneyland" sign. Fascinating! This must be from '55? I believe that it became Tinkerbell's Toy Shop soon after. Great detail!!
ReplyDeleteImagine being able to get that close today...
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for the cool comparison shots, man do I love those!
ReplyDeleteRegarding Universal, a good friend of mine works on “Ghost Whispers” and he said it's ALL gone, the whole “Back to the Future” Hill Valley town square, just a pile of ashes. How sad….
Love the then-and-now shots. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLove the Rainbow Ridge shots (of course) but I also wanted to clarify about Universal. The clock tower was saved! Though nearly everything around it burned.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Scott - and glad the Courthouse was at least spared.
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