One last part to my Disneyland Transportation Cutbacks series; how could I leave out the Keel Boats? Appearing on the Rivers of America, the 38' Bertha Mae and Gullywhumper Keel Boats were based on two episodes of the Davy Crockett miniseries from the 1955 Disneyland TV show: "Davy Crockett's Keel Boat Race" (November 16, 1955) and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (December 14, 1955). The attraction was named after Mike Fink, the "King of the River" who lost the keel boat race. Once again, Walt showed his genius in reusing items already available to him by putting the props from the show into the Park. Over in Tomorrowland, it was the 20K Under the Seas exhibit. But I digress…below are Fess Parker and Buddy Ebsen, who appeared in the Davy Crockett episodes as Davy and George “Georgie” Russell:
It would appear that the show also featured a third boat, the Monogahela Belle:
A close-up with Ebsen and Parker:
Some of my earliest shots of the Keel Boats at the Park are from August 1956, both featuring the Bertha Mae:
This October 1956 shows the Gullywhumper, which was much plainer in the decor department:
March 1957:
A June 1957 overhead shot taken from the Mark Twain (or the Columbia!) showing the Bertha Mae docked in Fowler’s Harbor:
This August 1958 image shows a Mike Fink popgun that was found on the deck of the Gullywhumper:
Undated 1950s:
LOVE those early Disneyland Paper Hats!
June 1965:
Some marvelous hairdos and glasses:
June 1967:
From July 17, 1977, the most recent shot in my collection of a Keel Boat still in action:
The Bertha Mae was removed in May 1997 after it capsized; shortly after that the entire attraction was 86'ed. The Bertha Mae was auctioned off on ebay for $15k and the Gullywhumper sat permanently docked in the Rivers of America. From December 2006:
May 2008:
By April 2010, the Gullywhumper got a bit of a reprieve. It was cleaned up, restored back to how it looked in the 1955 shows, and put in front of the former Burning Cabin, which was turned into Mike Fink’s home:
How it looked in May 2015:
Were they comfortable? Probably not. Did they have a high guest capacity? No. Did they add to the flavor and movement of Frontierland? DEFINITELY YES! Slowly but surely, the budget cuts have removed the energy and excitement of what Walt originally created.
See more Disneyland Keel Boat photos at my main website.
Another terrific post! :)
ReplyDeleteI’m sure you know the Gullywhumper incident happened on May 17, 1997… not 1977.
Thanks, again, for all the great photos. I rode along on the Keel Boats dozens of times over the years and really loved that attraction.
Great deep dive! Tons of photos. Truly appreciate your work. Adam from LA.
ReplyDeleteI was gonna say, that happened in 1997, but someone beat me to it. Great post! I loved seeing them traverse the rivers of America, but never actually rode them. They were howerver a favorite of my younger sisters (in the 80's and '90s).
ReplyDeleteHi All - I should not hit "publish" when rushed before work! Thanks for alerting me to my typo!
ReplyDeleteIt's early and I have not had my coffee. On the first pic I was too busy squinting, trying to figure out how the Rivers of America got so wide. It took me a sec to notice the bounce boards. Until now I'd never even heard of the Monogahela Belle. I presume is was a less detailed boat for background shots, etc. I'm grateful for all of us who got to ride on it at least once. today's management would recognize it as high-maintenance, low capacity and while that's true, it's still charm and something you can't do anywhere else.
ReplyDelete