Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Disneyland & Knotts, June 1963



This particular series takes place in June 1963, with photos of both Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm. Today’s installment takes place in Fantasyland, with 2 shots of Disneyland Jester Christopher Fair, finishing up his last year at Disneyland (he began working at the park in 1959). Shot #1 shows him riding by the Matterhorn Band on his unicycle outside the Castle, with the Diorama sign barely visible on the right. Shot #2, taken moments later, shows him surrounded by guests, amazed at his unicycle abilities.



So far, the only other shot I have of Fair is this back shot, showing him entertaining Annette Funicello at the Castle.





Next up is an imposing view of Skull Rock, located behind the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant.



For all you Knotts heads, here is an assortment of shots from the same batch:









You can practically feel the heat from the life-like volcano in this shot!



DVD/Blu-ray update: “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” is coming out today.



See more vintage & current Fantasyland photos at my regular website.

6 comments:

  1. I actually miss that darn volcano....and the little wooden devil figure in the glass case next to it. Anyone else remember that? A red light bulb would come on next to him and he would turn a crank and make the volcano "errupt". Ah, the good ol' days. I suppose that little wooden figure was thrown onto the trash heap along with the Haunted Shack and the Original Berry Stand.

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  2. Maybe "Outsidetheberm" has the little devil! I guess there was an old version and a later version of the devil.

    So wait, the original berry stand really is gone??

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  3. One of the coolest pics ever with Annette. Great shots!

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  4. A two for the price of one post, Thanks! Super shots of Jester Christopher Fair, hey you even got the Fantasyland ticket booth in one shot! Ohhh, the Knott's pics are sweet, a tribute to much finer days at the Farm.

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  5. Thank you, Dave, for the great views. We have a few slides of Christopher Fair here at the ranch - will try to locate.

    And Major, we should have time for some new posts soon - look for a few surprises!

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  6. Great pic of the volcano! That was one of my favorite things at Knott's. Sure do miss it.

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