Temple Tuesday: Junior Miss Shirley

Shirley is lounging on the patio of her Brentwood home reading a copy of Sally Benson’s book, Junior Miss, circa March 1942. Want to see a color shot of the book she is holding in her famous little hands? Of course you do.

 

At the time, Shirley was playing Judy Graves, the lead character, in the CBS radio version of Benson’s book. This publicity shot was also to promote Shirley’s popular radio show.

 


From the accompanying publicity blurb:

 
JUNIOR MISSES all over the country will be attending their first formal dance this summer. Shirley Temple, youthful star of Columbia network’s “Junior Miss” series, wears a white pique model that is sophisticated enough to please the wearer and young enough to please her mother. Cut along simple princess lines, it is trimmed with eyelet embroidered leaves and three little black velvet bows. Shirley also wears a matching bow in her hair.

Would teens today wear this?

See more teen Temple photos at my main website.

Central Plaza Details

The first view from today shows Central Plaza in 1956. Yes, the kids are adorable, but I love that “Be A Fireman” sign!

This shot of the Omnibus at the base of Snow Hill (which would eventually become The Matterhorn) also shows the House of the Future. I believe this shot is from December 1957. Construction of the House of the Future didn’t start until January 1957, and the other shots from this batch show Christmas decor.

Two gents survey Disneyland from Snow Hill...without the Snow.

Look at the crowd of folks near the House of the Future! And of course the little boy in the Tom Sawyer hat.

From the same batch as the previous photo we move over to Tomorrowland to see the ever popular Clock of the World.

Now a closer look (as always):

Besides the nuns, check out the Noel decor on front of the Hall of Chemistry and the Kaiser Aluminum sign. This is the first time I’d noticed that sign; checking my collection though, I realized I have a color shot of it!

See more Disneyland Tomorrowland photos at my main website.

Fallbrook Friday

For my first foray back into the world since the 'rona pandemic, I met one of my fellow bloggers at The Rainbow Oaks Restaurant in Fallbrook. Dating back to 1946, this was my first trip to this historic restaurant which felt somewhat like being in a time warp…in a good way! The restaurant’s website calls itself “a gathering place for locals, travelers and bikers to engage in fine, yet affordable dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner serving traditional American cuisine.” Local timbers salvaged from the 2007 fire that spread across north San Diego County are now part of the walls, ceiling, and bar-top of the restaurant. I LOVE when there’s a story to a building! Although I brought my camera with me (had to on my first outing!), I did not do a good job of capturing my experience. I was definitely out of practice! An interior shot of the dining room:

The original retro-neon sign is visible from interstate 15 which I did not capture! Bad blogger. I also failed to think to take a shot of my meal, which was one of those rare experiences where I actually had a hamburger and fries. Just take my word for it…it was fantastic! Yes, sometimes I just like to enjoy the moment rather than document it. At noon, the music began over the restaurant’s speaker system and everyone stood up to salute the flag while “The Star Spangled Banner” played. I can’t remember the last time I saw such an open display of patriotism for this country. It was definitely refreshing, especially with all the anger and bile being spewed about these days. Nearby you’ll also find the Rainbow Oaks Country Market.

I will definitely return. Open everyday from 7am to 9pm.

See more San Diego photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Watch The Whole Movie!

I would wager that those who consider Shirley Temple’s movies sickeningly sweet haven’t really watched an entire film of hers. Back in the late 1980s, Shirley told writer John Culhane a funny somewhat “cautionary” tale about those who didn’t view her childhood movies all the way through: 

Shirley: I heard a very sad story the other day about a woman who was working during Christmas wrapping packages at a department store, locally, near me, and I was getting a package specially giftwrapped, and she recognized me, and she was a very wan, kind of sad-looking woman, and she recognized me and she started to smile, and she said, “Oh, I've loved your films so over the years, and my little girl loved your films.” They used to be shown on television out here I think on Sundays, on TV. And she said that her little girl only could see the films half-way through, and then they'd have to go to church. And I thought, they're going to ruin her life, that's the saddest part of the films is the middle! I said, she'll never know there are any happy endings in life; gotta' go to church on a different time of day or something!

Culhane: She's gotta' convert to Catholicism where they have those 6 o'clock masses!

Shirley: Exactly! I think these came on something like 11 in the morning or 10 in the morning, or even that she could go very early, but I never thought of it, but think of some poor little child that's only seen half of a movie for most of her life.

Think about it… in “Stowaway,” you might think that Shirley gets sent back to the orphanage as she is torn away from Robert Young and Alice Faye.

Or in “Littlest Rebel,” you might assume Shirley’s father gets executed after being caught by the Union Soldiers.

Or in “The Little Colonel,” that the two bad men end up swindling her poor sick father.

Poor Randolph Scott in “Susannah of the Mounties;” did he get burned at the stake?

And finally, in “Heidi,” can you imagine little Shirley being raised by the gypsies?

To find out what happens, you’ll have to go back and watch the ENTIRE film!

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Welcome To Adventureland, 1950s-Style

These 1950s images show a very early Adventureland. Disneyland was in its infancy when these were taken, as can be seen through the young landscaping which is just beginning to take shape. And where are the crowds?!? This gent is incredibly lucky to have his shot taken at the gate without a single guest in site.

   

From the same batch of photos comes this second Adventureland image, featuring two dashing gents standing in front of the tribal masks that adorned the front gate.

 

See more Disneyland Adventureland photos at my main website.

Christmas in July, circa 1956

It would be hard to tell that this shot was taken during the Disneyland Christmas season of 1956 except for a little garland around the roof of the Main Street Train Station and its clock. Less is definitely more!

A group of Dickens Carolers is about to assemble in front of the Bank of America in Town Square. They seem to have a little fan club following them!

I love the little piggy bank in the Bank’s window!

 

Here are the Carolers, bundled up for a typical freezing cold day in sunny Anaheim! The little girl on the right with the Disneyland penant has been caught on  camera picking a booger. No class!

See more Disneyland Christmas photos at my main website.

The Ghost Town of Calico

Imagine having the resources to buy your own Ghost Town! In 1951, Walter Knott (aka Knott’s Berry Farm) purchased the little town of Calico in San Bernadino County. Begun as a little town for the silver prospectors who opened the nearby Silver King Mine, it thrived from 1882 until approximately 1896 when the Silver Purchase Act made silver all but worthless. Knott, who had been part of a failed attempt to revive the town in 1915, decided to purchase the Ghost Town and make it a tourist attraction. To say Knott restored the town would not be quite accurate; some buildings were removed and others were converted to look the way tourists might expect a town to look based on what they’d seen in the movies. Still, it’s pretty cool and high on the Daveland bucket list. This is The Way It Used to Be museum, circa 1961. Love that sign in front! Not sure if this is still an operating museum or not, though.

Knott turned the town over to San Bernardino County in 1966 and it now operates as a Regional Park. Here’s a look down the main street, circa 1961.

Didn’t look very busy; no wonder it’s one of two official “Ghost Towns” in California!

See more Calico photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Fixing Shirley's Bathtub

Back in the 1930s, newspapers would have to retouch photos to make them reproduce more easily within the limitations of their printing process. This rare shot of Shirley Temple in “Poor Little Rich Girl” is one of those. The white paint on the photo highlighted the area that the newspaper was supposed to reproduce. Often, airbrushing would remove grayscale tones that would not show up anyway, as you can see in the flat black of the nanny’s (played by Sara Haden) hair. Since this photo showed a deleted scene, I really had to have it, even though I knew that the white paint could not be easily removed some eighty-years after it had been applied. So...I did the next best thing. I digitally “painted” over it, using a similar low resolution shot I found on the internet for reference. Here is the final product:

See more vintage 1930s Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

You say Pavillion, I say Pavilion…

This undated 1950s image shows the sign for The Pavillion off of Central Plaza at Disneyland. Note the spelling.

Here’s the actual building, circa August 1959:

A cozy undated shot of two guests sitting on a Central Plaza bench with The Pavillion behind them.

Just in case anyone wanted to see what was happening up on the porch…

By the time this September 1963 image was taken, Disney had seen the error of their ways and corrected the spelling of Pavilion.

Four Fiddlers and an Accordion; I wonder what kind of gigs they got besides this one?

One more shot of The Plaza Pavilion, circa September 1965:

A detailed view for all you signage geeks (like me):

In 2012, this location was renamed Jolly Holiday. I wonder if they considered “Holliday”?

See more Disneyland Plaza Pavilion photos at my main website.

Storybook 1956 Blowout!

Today is a stockpile of beautiful images from the earliest days of Disneyland’s Storybook Land attraction. The first one is the actual Storybook that was used to promote the attraction when it first opened. Oh, how I wonder what happened to these gigantic fake books!

A view at dusk of the patchwork quilt area with Cinderella’s Castle towering over the background as Casey Junior passes below.

Those d#$n telephone wires in the back!

A daylight shot of the castle:

Much better angle — no wires! This photographer knew what they were doing!

The landscape is pretty barren here in this view of the Tremaine home:

Thanks to Matthew for letting me know that the location of this shot is near the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs. I hope you enjoyed today’s journey!

See more Storybook Land photos at my main website.