The Fuzz at Disneyland

Recently, a friend sent me a link to a YouTube video titled, “Disneyland’s Abandoned Police Station — And the Mystery Hiding Inside” from Hey Brickey! The video breathlessly begins with the ginger-bearded Brickey dramatically discussing the topic:

Friends, you have walked past it, in fact every single one of us has ignored this building. Just through Disneyland’s left entrance tunnel, there is a building that almost nobody notices. This building was the Disneyland Police Department, and when Disneyland opened 70 years ago, it opened with a real Police Force. As we learned,  there were real crimes happening! But how could one of the very first buildings that you see when you walk into the Park end up being one of the least documented buildings in Disneyland’s 70 years?

Wait a minute…a Police Department building at Disneyland? How did I not notice this before? Brickey goes on to give my site a nice little credit:

When you have an idea for a video, and you go over to davelandweb.com, probably the largest public collection of vintage Disneyland photos and you realize good old Dave doesn’t have any photos of the Disneyland Police Department, you know you’ve struck obscure gold!

One of the photos Brickey uses from my collection in his video is this previously posted shot of a Security Officer at the Park in Town Square.



I ended up going down a rabbit hole one evening that lasted until midnight, as I combed through every shot I could find of the Disneyland Police Department office which was on the left-hand side of City Hall in Town Square. It’s really not all that shocking that this small portion of City Hall was rarely photographed. In 1955, who would enter Disneyland and say, “Hey, I can’t wait to photograph the Police Department!” The answer would be: nobody. As Walt intended, guests were focused on the Castle as soon as it came into view in Town Square. A tree planted in front of the Disneyland Police Department made it nearly impossible to capture, and if you only have a roll of 20-24 exposures on your 35mm film camera, you’re not going to waste it on that! Here’s what I found in my collection, beginning with this image from July 1955:



Yup, Brickey is right! There it is, with a Mickey Flag waving proudly over top of it and guests walking securely by it without any fear!



Also from Summer 1955. Notice the sparse landscaping.



Just behind the souvenir booth, we see the Police Department, also obscured by a tree.



Summer 1955:



This detailed view shows a Security Officer in front:



A little further right, just in front of City Hall is a Keystone Kop. While I appreciate being alerted to this building by Brickey, his video does have a few fallacies to it.



He attempts to say that the Keystone Kops were basically undercover cops. Not really; they were professional musicians. No overlap there, folks.



This 1955 3D image cuts off the Police Department:



Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, by stitching the left and right into one image, the Police Department is now visible:



The detailed view:



From October 27, 1956:





1957:



You can see that the light posts in front had “Police” written on the globes:



Still there in September 1958:





September 1958:





From December By December 1959, the sign had been blocked out:



In this April 1965 shot, you can see the Guided Tour Office was now roosting in the building:



A contemporary shot of the building, looking very much the same:



Here’s the video from Hey, Brickey! It’s a very fun and informative video; just make sure you do a little fact-checking before taking every word as the Gospel.



On another note, Stack’s Liberty Ranch, keeper of multiple theme park treasures, has put out an APB for former employees or guests who have interesting stories about days gone by in local theme park history. Check out the Stack’s Liberty Ranch Facebook Page and contact them through Direct Messages if you have a story (or know somebody else who does).

See more Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: A Date with Shirley

Inspired by a comment from my most devoted reader, Fifthrider, today’s post takes a look at what was said:

Any time I see a pic of Shirley on a date, she's always smiling and the guys always look like someone off camera has a gun pointed at them. I've no idea what the backstory on any of those are, only that no one seems to be willing to smile at a camera for being out on the town with Shirley.

Let’s take a look at the photographic evidence from the Daveland archives, shall we? Exhibit A, the first photo above, with Cadet Captain Raymond Berlinger and Shirley at the California Military Academy formal commencement ball, November 1940. One point for Fifthrider. Below is Exhibit B, with Shirley and date at the California Military Academy Formal Cotillion, February 1941. Both boys are smiling; they realize the perq of being out with Shirley! Sorry, Fifthrider!



Uh oh…Fifthrider goes into the lead again with Exhibit C, a 1942 shot of Shirley and Earl Miller at the Alpha Sigma pledge dance at Santa Monica junior college. This guy looks like he’s mentally preparing his tax returns.

 

Back to ground zero with Exhibit D, a February 1944 image of Craig Flanagan and Shirley at the premiere of “Lady in the Dark” starring Ginger Rogers. At least Craig manages to muster a bit of a smile. This one counts in Shirley’s favor!



Exhibit E shows Shirley at the “Since You Went Away” premier on July 18, 1944, with her favorite beau at the time, Private Andy Hotchkiss. He appears to be saying, “Let’s ditch your parents and have a REALLY good time!”



In her autobiography, Child Star, Shirley refers to him in the index as Andrew D. “Hotch” Hotchkin, and in the text solely as “Hotch.” The publicity blurb on the above photo lists him as Hotchkiss. According to various other news items of the time, his name was Hotchkiss. From Ed Sullivan’s column in the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News on August 16, 1944:

Shirley Temple and Air Cadet Andrew Hotchkiss are an item.

Maybe Shirley was attempting to “protect the innocent.” Here’s what Shirley had to say about Hotch on page 335:

At one of those punch-and-cookies school exchanges with Harvard Military Academy, a tall, uniformed senior with straw-blond hair and blue eyes cut in on the dance floor. “I’m Hotch,” he said, leading me in a series of swooping turns, which immediately gained covetous attention from my schoolmates. Not only a superb dancer, he was the most handsome boy I had encountered, someone whose conversation revealed a personality of high energy and bright humor. The austere veneer I had been cultivating was dropped flat and I invited him somewhere at the first opportunity, which happened to be Smart Girl’s Thanksgiving barn dance, complete with blue jeans, checked shirts, and a punch bowl secretly laced with gin, rum, and whiskey. Having no experience with alcohol, let alone such a weird concoction, I sipped away and flirted with Hotch. Suddenly I needed fresh air. Fleeing unsteadily outside into the night, I skidded on something mushy, lurched, and slid sideways into a shallow depression, landing on my hands and knees. Even in the darkness I recognized the odor of richly decomposed manure, a perfectly good place to vomit. Having followed me in perhaps romantic anticipation, Hotch witnessed my performance from the bank above. When I had finished he reached down and hauled me up from the gluey clutch of the pit. Using a nearby hose, he washed me off, spread newspapers on his car seat, and drove me home. A charming date, for sure, and an unusual start to enduring love.

By page 369, Shirley had grown weary of Hotch:

Hotch showed up at our hotel on a twenty-four-hour pass from his Madison, Wisconsin, air base. Either from pining away or eating serviceman’s chow, he had grown lean and hollow-eyed. Although older on the calendar, he seemed younger in fact. From a playful, resourceful partner in puppy love, he now seemed to plead for repeated affirmation that he still rated number one. Perhaps what I saw was a junior airman trained to being bossed. However, the more subservient he seemed, the more I lost interest. The more obsequious, the less my affection. Obviously, we were two young people growing up in a different directions at different rates. It was our first reunion, but I realized absence had helped snuff out the love light.

I don’t quite know how to count Exhibit F below; is the guy smiling? Is he high?



Exhibit G is from August 1944. Shirley is with opera singer/auto nut James Melton. He had romantic intentions for Shirley, but her mother blocked them. From Child Star:

Thirty-year old James Melton, houseguest at ZaSu Pitts’ next door, occupied a room facing my bathroom window. My first clue to his presence came on morning while brushing my teeth. Suddenly a love song came belting across from his open window. Looking up from my basin I saw both his arms extended in a romantic finale. In addition to boasting a magnificent outdoor singing voice, he was an antique car buff. Inviting me to accompany him on a ride in one of his heirlooms, he managed, between gearshift, rubber squeeze horn, and ratchet brake, to suggestively cling to my hand. Mother soon saw he was hanging around too much for someone twice my age and sweetly suggested that henceforth I would probably be too busy with rehearsals to see him.



While the relationship was torpedoed, this guy is clearly smiling! Exhibit H is the photo that inspired today’s post. Shirley’s date is modeling the expression one would wear once the ex-lax starts kicking in. Circa 1944.



In 1945, Shirley’s dating career as a teen ended when she said “yes” to Sergeant John Agar after he popped the question. In Exhibit I, both are all smiles.



Based solely on the Daveland collection (including the engagement photo above), it appears Shirley is the winner in the make-your-date-smile department. In all seriousness, most of the guys at the time were probably in awe of being out on the town with Shirley Temple. Considering the majority of them were military, they were not trained on how to relax for the cameras. Anybody out there have photographic proof to tip the scales one way or the other?

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Monday at Ocean Beach

A photo shoot the other week took me back to Ocean Beach (or “OB” as the locals call it) for the first time in years. When it comes to San Diego beaches, this one probably has the most personality and is the least touristy of the bunch.



You can probably understand why NBC San Diego calls the OB Pier “iconic but beleaguered.”



The face carved into the rock below was probably made when the sculptor attempted to figure out when the Pier replacement project was going to actually begin.



Yes, graffiti abounds…



and the signage spray painted on the beach wall is completely ignored…



yet it is still one of the most quirky and beloved spots in our city.



Artistic touches of branding abound…



and you all know I love a good light fixture!



Shall I take my mother to her local namesake watering hole when she visits next month? What a photo opp that would be.



Not sure what’s inside but this place wins points with me just based on the entry:



Even advertisements are given the local “artistic” touch in OB:



And finally, it’s the perfect place to “dance like nobody is watching.”



See more Ocean Beach photos at my main website.

Mother Murphy’s at Disneyland

Mother Murphy offered meals at all hours at Disneyland as can be seen in this July 1961 image. Located in the mining town of Rainbow Ridge, guests who took a ride on the Nature’s Wonderland attraction were able to see her little boarding house from the train. Where else in Disneyland could you get “nice beds” for only $1?



This April 1962 gives a little more perspective as to where Mother Murphy was located, between Miner’s Hardware and the El Dorado Hotel.





Another angle, circa May 1963, which includes a cast member:



This December 1963 image also shows the train:





Even further back, circa May 1964:



By the 1970s, Mother Murphy bit the dust and was replaced by Appleseed’s Groceries. I wonder what caused this change in proprietors?






See more Disneyland Nature’s Wonderland photos at my main website.