Daveland is absolutely Ka-razy with Keel Boats today! Don't know what a Keelboat is? Let me educamacate you: A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. Thanks, Wikipedia! Can you believe Disneyland once had yachts? Well, not the type of yachts you might imagine, but still lots of fun. The first shot for today is from the 1950's and shows a Keelboat parked in Fowler's Harbor, ready to pick up another batch of guests, including a dad holding a baby on the right giving stink-eye to the photographer.
Image #2 is from 1955; doncha' love the feet dangling over the edge of the Mark Twain?
The first closeup shows the Chicken Plantation Restaurant; if it looks familiar to you then you've probably eaten at the Blue Bayou Restaurant.
Let me make the comparison easy for you:
Back to 1955, here's the closeup all you Keelboat nutz have been waiting for:
This somewhat faded 1950's shot shows a different loading area:
The paper hats definitely upstage the Bertha Mae in this 1950's image:
I wouldn't be surprised if one these ladies was named Bertha Mae.
This lad from June 1967 seems very excited about the prospect of riding on a keelboat; note the Native American cast member standing behind him.
One more keelboat shot for you, showing a March 1968 view:
Let's cut to the chase and zoom into the important part of this photo!
Hope you got enough keelboat shots to last you through the day!
See more Daveland Disneyland Keelboat photos at my main website.
In the last photo and its zoom, a turquoise Skyway bucket is visible in the background. Now that is the important part of that photo!
ReplyDeleteCall me krazy, but I still miss riding those Mike Fink Keel Boats. Thanks for the jog down memory lane, Dave.
Until now I had NEVER even considered the motivation and similarity between the original Plantation House and the structure inside the Blue Bayou. all these decades of looking at it and I never once did the math. Same basic facade design! AWESOME! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteDigging the kid's Charlie Brown shirt. Pretty sure I had that one too.
Great Keelboat shots, there Dave!
ReplyDeleteThis is probably old news to Disney hands but there were, of course, two keel boats plying the waters of the Rivers of America. The Gullywhumper (two windows per side) and the Bertha Mae (three windows per side). The other key spotting features were turned balustrades on the upper deck of the Bertha Mae.
Great shots of both of them, Dave. I'm all a-twitter about these vessels because I just got a full set of blueprints for them and am eager to make models of them. Of course, these are back-burner models and may never see the light of day, but who knows.
Ken - We all catch different details; that's what makes it fun, right?
ReplyDeleteBryan - I only realized it a few years ago when I read it some place (which escapes me now).
Patrick - Send me photos of your models if they ever come to fruition!