Across the way from East Center Street is West Center Street. Huh...who'd have thought? In the early days, West Center Street was a snoozer. Guests either used it to enter the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor, to pose on the Bob Gurr designed Carnation Company Truck, or as a bathroom pitstop.
Nothing to see here folks...keep moving.
By fall of 1959, things began to get colorful here as West Center was invaded by a barrage of plastic flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Lasting almost 20 years, this outdoor "flower" mart was available to guests who wanted to purchase the perfect bouquet or centerpiece.
You could find a wide assortment of guests here, checking out the artificial flora:
Nosy-newsies like me can tell by zooming in that the lady in the middle bought herself something at the Pendleton Shop in Frontierland:
That's a lotta' grapes!
While all of these plastic flowers look like a lot of fun to the guests in today's photos, I think I'll just slink into the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and get myself a sundae! See you back on Main Street U.S.A. tomorrow!
See more vintage & current Disneyland Main Street West Center Street photos on my West Center Street web page.
Beautiful pictures! I know someone who would kill for the Carnation Ice Cream Truck! I'm one of many who were so disappointed when Carnation's Fantasia ice cream became only a part of Disneyland history. It was delicious!
ReplyDeleteI know they were sold for several years, but did DL really make money on selling those plastic plants?
ReplyDeleteWhat great pics. What I really loved is that you zoomed in on that lady's purchase, LOL!
ReplyDeleteWacky - What did the Fantasia Ice Cream taste like?
ReplyDeleteThufer - It would be interesting to know that. If nothing else, they certainly added color to that area.
Connie - You know you'd have done the same thing!
I remember that the whole area always smelled like candles.
ReplyDeleteFantastic stuff as usual. The shot of West Center Street, completely empty, is really interesting!
ReplyDeleteThe Fantasia Ice Cream put a little spin on spumoni; it was cherry, pistachio, banana. It might sound crazy, but it was GOOD!!!
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy, but Spumoni is one of my fave (albeit hard to find) flavors. In Savannah, Georgia, they have a similar ice cream flavor at Leopold's called Tutti Frutti. I OD on it every time I visit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for more pics of the flower mart, this was a big favorite of my Mom, brings back good memories.
ReplyDeleteVery colorful, kind of tacky, but who cares...
JG