Poolside at the Ambassador, 1954

In the batch of slides I received of the El Mirador hotel in Palm Springs were these from the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It appears that they show the 1954 Miss Ambassador Hotel contest, held at the pool. 



Which lovely lady would you pick?



Some slides had names of the people featured, and some didn’t. No idea who orchid lady is.



This table shows the judges of the contest; again, no names, but the gent with a tie and no jacket looks darn familiar. Nanook?



This shot shows comedian Lou Costello:



Here’s a closeup of the score sheet he was keeping for the contest:



This image appears to show the winner; wonder what happened to her?



An overall shot of the Ambassador Hotel pool from the same batch:



Looks like it was a fun day!



Last shot which I “assume” was part of the Ambassador event (but could have been the El Mirador) shows Rosemarie Bowie. I know her identity because that particular slide was labeled! As it turns out, she married actor Robert Stack in January 1956. They had two children and were together until Stack’s death in 2003. Amazing things do happen in Hollywood!



See more Ambassador Hotel photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley Loves A Mystery

Publicity shots of Shirley Temple weren’t just limited to the studio; the two shown today were taken at her Brentwood home on Rockingham Drive. In this first image from 1939, Shirley is reading Strangers in the Desert, seated in the nook of her playroom. There was not much to be found about this book, especially the 1938 first edition that she is reading. From Kirkus Book Reviews:

STRANGERS IN THE DESERT
by Alice Dyar Russell • RELEASE DATE: Oct. 19, 1938
A first rate mystery story, with the identity of the boy who is boarding in a doctor's family, as the pivot on which the story hangs. The family is well done, the relations of parents and children, and of the children to each other -- and of the problem of the shy stranger is a good build-up for his sudden disappearance, foreshadowed by inquiring strangers and midnight escapades. Then the kidnapping — and the search. Well sustained — well written — and good reading for all ages. California setting.



I couldn’t find an image of the edition Shirley is holding; only the paperback version from 1949:





The Portland Press Herald gave the book its “Book of the Week” designation in its November 11, 1938 edition. As for the author, Alice Dyar Russell, she was a Phi Beta Kappa who wrote many short stories for youth. She liked the desert at night, wild flowers, books, and open fires. She disliked playing bridge, big cities, and formal occasions. Sounds like my kind of gal!



In this image, from the same photo session, Shirley appears to be attempting to wake up the fish in her tank. There appears to be a boat model above the tank with a little plaque. “[can’t make out] Timber SSS Pikes Peak • Shirley Temple.” Possibly a boat given to her during her 1938 visit there during her cross country vacation.



Newspapers of the day covered Shirley’s trip to Pikes Peak on June 12, 1938:



Shirley and her parents spent a few days in Colorado Springs also visiting the Garden of the Gods (shown below in a 1938 stamped postcard)…



and both North & South Cheyenne Canons:



They stayed at the Broadmoor Hotel (shown in a 1939 stamped postcard below) on June 11, as well as took the first official trip on the Cheyenne Mountain Cog Railroad from The Broadmoor hotel to the Zoo.



While at the Zoo, Shirley met an elephant named after her, all covered in the June 12, 1938 edition of the Colorado Springs Gazette.



And that’s it for today’s rabbit hole! See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Building The Burning Cabin at Disneyland

Did you hear the “whoop” I let out when I acquired this shot of the Burning Cabin at Disneyland? One of my favorite “lost” attractions at Disneyland appears to still be under construction. The fireplace located on the right of the structure hasn’t even broken ground yet.



This previously posted shot of the Cabin is undated, but has no dead settler. I wonder how long it took for the settler to appear?



This October 16, 1956 is the first dated shot in my collection that shows the poor dead dude.



Whoop…there he is.



The most recent shot of the “burning” cabin from 2015 shows that not only is it not burning, but the dead settler has flown the coop.



As a kid, it was always a thrill to round the bend in the Rivers of America and see the cabin aglow with flames and a dead guy in front with an arrow through his chest. Today, the entire scene has been sanitized, and like the rest of Disneyland, flattened emotionally to appeal to all.

R.I.P, Burning Cabin.

See more Disneyland Burning Cabin photos at my main website.

Poolside Friday at El Mirador, 1954

As the temperatures begin to climb, so does the desire to head poolside. Let’s visit the El Mirador Hotel, 1954, and take a dip in their pool. First, we see the tower, an architectural signature of the hotel. Note the sun dial:



That water looks so inviting!



If you don’t feel like your bod is ready for swimsuit weather, just put a gigantic matchbook on top of your head. Nobody will notice the rest.



Or sit next to movie star Rhonda Fleming; all eyes will be on her, not you.



Actress Laraine Day is doing her best to stay in the shade:



Actress Joan Taylor probably never event went in the water. Mess up the hair? No way…



Thanks to Daveland reader Nanook, we know that actor Marshall Thompson is the gent on the left and wife Barbara Long (sister of actor Richard Long) is at right:



As the sun goes down, things heat up at the El Mirador, as the hula dancers begin to shake:





See more El Mirador Hotel photos at my main website.

New Orleans at Disneyland

When Disneyland first opened, New Orleans Square was not part of the footprint. Instead, the fabled city in Louisiana got a street: New Orleans Street on the border of Frontierland and Adventureland. This lady and her son are sitting on the patio of New Orleans Street, circa 1955. The Casa de Fritos restaurant was located here briefly from August 1955 until July 1957 when it moved over to Frontierland.



This is the same row of buildings as it looked in October 2010. Obviously there were some changes over the years and the lovely half-circle window was lost with the expansion.



This shot from February 1956 shows a little girl in her Mousketeer hat sitting in the same area, outside the Aunt Jemima restaurant:



This July 1966 image shows the construction of New Orleans Square:



A detailed view of the ornate grillework on the balcony:



Because nothing at Disneyland is subtle anymore, a bit of gold paint shows that the grillework includes the initials for Walt and his brother Roy.



The last image for today shows the Court of Angels, July 1976;



Today, only guests of Club 33 have access to this area. Once again, subtlety at Disneyland has flown the coup:



See more Disneyland New Orleans Square photos at my main website.

The Dapper Jungle Cruise Skipper

This recently acquired vintage Disneyland image shows a cast member straddling the Jungle Cruise dock and the Ganges Gal boat. Very dapper looking, especially that watch! The back had “1955” handwritten on it. Not one to just trust handwriting vs. a slide date stamp, I looked at my Jungle Cruise collection to see if the cast member uniform matched the time period.



Not only did the uniform match another 1955 image in my collection, it matched the cast member!



It appears that the striped shirt only lasted the first year of this attraction’s operation, replaced by a floral/Hawaiian motif, as seen in the August 1956 shot below:



 See more Disneyland Jungle Cruise photos at my main website.