Politically Incorrect Pirates, April 1974

If you like vintage politically incorrect Disneyland, then this treasure trove should be right up your alley! Take a journey back to April 1974 and enjoy these sequentially presented images that give are probably as close as you're going to get to seeing what the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction looked like in its original incarnation. Shall we begin at Lafitte's Landing?



I had to zoom in for a closeup on this figure:



Join us in the belly of the grotto.



The Captain's Bar:



A closeup of the Marc Davis painting, back when it was probably the real thing.



Captain's Quarters:



There is so much clutter in the scene today; I had never noticed these two small paintings before:





I don't believe they are there anymore.



A dark shot of the treasure room:



The Wicked Wench, back when it was still commandeered by Blackbeard!



Poor Carlos - the eternal dunk.



The Wench Auction scene; the latest piece of Disneyland to come under fire for being offensive.



A closeup of the beloved Red-headed wench:



She doesn't seem to bother the onlookers!



Here is what I believe to be the first part of Pirates that came under fire: The Gluttonous Pirate. I had never noticed that he also held the lady's slipper besides her slip.



Today, you get a treasure map, a key, and Jack Sparrow.



The looting pirates and the hat thief:



The last one of the bunch shows the pistol duel:



I have to say that I am very impressed not only with the quality of these shots, but with the choice of scenes that the photographer chose to document. I doubt I could have done a better job back then with my Polaroid One-Step!

More Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean attraction photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: The Lost Princess

It's been dubbed "The Costume Caper" and "Shirleygate" and even sounds like the plot of a Shirley Temple movie! Picture this: a sweet young lass lends her treasured belongings to a museum so that the public can share in her joy. Then an evil corporation steals those treasures, sells them to someone else, and the young lass must charm, struggle, and persist to regain her property. Can she do it?

True story: long-time Shirley Temple fan Tonya Bervaldi purchased some of the most treasured Shirley Temple film costumes in the Theriault's auction that I covered here over two years ago. Tonya graciously loaned and shipped five of these treasures to be publicly exhibited at the R. John Wright Hollywood Convention in Vermont. 1 box made it; the rest did not. UPS gave Tonya more frustration than help; besides worrying about what happened to these irreplaceable costumes, she found herself drowning in a sea of red tape, being passed from department to department and ending up empty handed. Guess what happened to the costumes? It is "alleged" that UPS deemed these boxes "unclaimed merchandise" and then had them auctioned off. Tonya did not find this out through UPS; instead, it was an army of Shirley Temple fans who have been diligently assisting and uncovered the dirt. What did you say UPS? You know nothing of this? Please hit "play" to hear what Shirley might have said to UPS:



The most iconic costume was the Princess gown from Shirley's 1939 Technicolor classic, "The Little Princess," and unfortunately, that is the one of the five that has not found its way back to Tonya.



Hmmmmm...who do I start writing letters to first?



The good news: the cape actually made it to its destination and is safe. The bad news: the rest of the gown is still missing. If you happen to hear anything about this extremely well-preserved piece of film history, please let me know! This Shirley Temple tale MUST have a happy ending!

More Shirley photos at my main website.

YSL in Richmond

On my recent trip to Virginia I was able to catch the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. What an incredible museum! The gift store window display was in honor of YSL; however, to me, it screamed Diana Ross: "Stop! In the name of love..."



Back to today's topic. The banners for the exhibit were emblazoned with a bright pink bow from one of the more iconic designs by YSL.



I knew very little about the designer, but through my trip to Richmond learned that at the tender age of 21, he took over the house of Dior. As in Christian Dior. As in hand-picked by Dior himself just a few months before his early death at the age of 52.



And here is the dress with the pink bow in all its glory:



The exhibit included many of these panels which showed designs and fabric swatches. I love these little peaks into the creative process!



This "trapeze" dress was one of my favorites.



Mondrian-inspired, from 1965:



This one was also one of my favorites. Simple, creative, and even today, very fashion-forward:



One area of the exhibit gathered the YSL fashions according to color palettes; this photo just doesn't quite catch the beauty of the display, but you can at least get an idea.





Anyone for plain white?



Paper dolls that YSL had created in his earlier days; the display had it set up that you could shift the lady down the lines of paper gowns and see how she looked in each one.





Last one for today ends this post with a touch of Vegas. I wonder how many housewives lusted for this outfit?!?



One more interesting tidbit about YSL; Forbes rated him as the top-earning dead celebrity in 2009. Move over James Dean.

More Virginia Museum of Fine Arts photos at my main website.

Janet Leigh rides the Mine Train, Pt. 2

Janet Leigh and family have safely boarded their Mine Train through Nature's Wonderland at Disneyland, circa 1962. Most likely current hubby Tony Curtis was off shooting "40 Pounds of Trouble" nearby.



I wonder what imminent danger Janet was pointing at to daughters Kelly and Jamie Lee?



Back to smiles in this shot:



But Jamie Lee is attempting to cover her ears from something.



With the help of some modern-day technology, we can see 8 consecutive frames from the strip of negatives in sequential motion:



More vintage Janet Leigh at Disneyland fun at my main website.

Janet Leigh rides the Mine Train, Pt. 1

These vintage images from 1962 show actress Janet Leigh taking her children, Kelly and Jamie Lee, for a visit to Disneyland. Their father (and Janet's hubby), Tony, was filming a sequence from "40 Pounds of Trouble" at the Park.



Here's a cute one of future actress Jamie Lee getting a pat on the head from mom:



Not a huge surprise that Janet was accompanied by a VIP Tour Guide:





Looks like trouble with the kids as Janet creates a few frown lines:



Daughter Kelly: "I don't want to wait in line!"



Looks like the crisis has passed.



Sassy!





Come back as we join the Curtis family aboard the Mine Train!

More vintage Janet Leigh at Disneyland photos at my main website.