Open The Gates!

This October 1959 image of the Frontierland Gates made me think of the old nursery rhyme: Here's the church and here's the steeple. Open the door and see all the people. My compulsive collecting gene kicked into overdrive when I realized I didn’t have a good shot of the Frontierland entrance from 1959, so I had to acquire this one. Zooming in, you can see that the Pendleton Shop on the left and the Mark Twain riverboat and Columbia sailing ship double-parked at the dock.

Another previously posted shot from my collection circa 10/59 shows the OTHER side of the gate:

One month later, a guest captured another guest taking a photo of the gate in November 1959:

Is that a movie camera or a still camera? Either way, it would be great to see the footage from that day.

This March 1968 shot is probably the best vintage one I have of the original sign that hung inside the gate (which I assume is what the 1959 gent was trying to capture):

…and how it looked when I last photographed it in 2015:

Looks like the text stayed the same.

See more Disneyland Frontierland photos at my main website.

Vintage Frontierland

These two fashionable 1956 ladies are posing in front of the Golden Horseshoe Saloon at Disneyland’s Frontierland.

Looks like there’s an ABC Radio Show being broadcast here. Anyone know who Reed Browning is?



NOTE: I was contacted by the daughter of Reed Browning who gave me this excellent background information:

Your blog has a vintage photo of the Saloon at Disneyland in the first year that it opened. You asked who was Reed Browning. My late father, Reed Browning was there for ABC to cover the opening of Disneyland and had a show from the saloon for at least the first year. His actual name was Bill (William) Livesay. In those days, many celebrities used names that were easier to pronounce and remember than their birth names. My Dad was a major announcer and star of shows at ABC. He interviewed the televised premiers of major movies including, "Oklahoma", "Moby Dick" and many others. He starred on The Reed Browning Show and "Beat The Record" TV shows. He started the first talk show on ABC talk Radio. Unfortunately, at the age of 45, he was diagnosed at the Mayo clinic with Peri-Arteritis Nodosa, a rare auto-immune disease and died a year later in October, 1962. Joe Pyne took over as the commentator of the Talk Show “Night Line.”



Had to zoom into the Slue Foot Sue sign. Sure do love that piece of vintage design!



This previously unpublished April 1962 image shows the walkway around the corner from the Saloon in front of the Pendleton Shop. Perhaps the plaid coat the fashionable lady is wearing came from here?



Back to 1956, these ladies are enjoying a little refreshment outside the Aunt Jemima’s Kitchen restaurant on New Orleans Street.



All I see are vintage cups; no pancakes. Darn!



Last one for today shows a girl feeding the ducks with popcorn from a Frontierland Popcorn Cart, circa April 1962.



See more Disneyland Frontierland photos at my main website.

Frontierland, August 1956

This shot was taken one year after the Park opened and shows a nice view of some of the Frontierland shops. Pendleton, famous for their woolen products, had an actual store at Disneyland back when non-Disney merchandise was sold in the park.

A contemporary shot from 2012 shows a similar angle, with much of the view obscured by a tree that had not even planted yet in 1956.



Back to the vintage view, here's a closeup of the Pendleton store front. I know diddley about Eamley leather goods; can only assume that they were a local business.



See more Daveland Disneyland Frontierland photos at my main website.

2000th Post Extravaganza: West Center Street

Across the way from East Center Street is West Center Street. Huh...who'd have thought? In the early days, West Center Street was a snoozer. Guests either used it to enter the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor, to pose on the Bob Gurr designed Carnation Company Truck, or as a bathroom pitstop.





Nothing to see here folks...keep moving.



By fall of 1959, things began to get colorful here as West Center was invaded by a barrage of plastic flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Lasting almost 20 years, this outdoor "flower" mart was available to guests who wanted to purchase the perfect bouquet or centerpiece.



You could find a wide assortment of guests here, checking out the artificial flora:





Nosy-newsies like me can tell by zooming in that the lady in the middle bought herself something at the Pendleton Shop in Frontierland:







That's a lotta' grapes!





While all of these plastic flowers look like a lot of fun to the guests in today's photos, I think I'll just slink into the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and get myself a sundae! See you back on Main Street U.S.A. tomorrow!

See more vintage & current Disneyland Main Street West Center Street photos on my West Center Street web page.

October 1972 Duo

Just two shots today and a few comparison repeats. Not sure who the Band Director was in October 1972, but just for the sake of historical documentation, I decided to re-post these photos of the band marching through Frontierland in December 1956 with Vesey Walker:





...and during the 1960’s; again, an unknown (to me) director who apparently wasn’t allowed to wear white. Maybe he just needs a purity ring.



Over in New Orleans, this October 1972 captures the Blue Bayou:



...as well as Le Gourmet Shop, where they sell Le Food.



View more Disneyland photos at my main website.

Frontierland 1957/58

This batch of slides is from 57/58, with the first one here being a cool shot of the Pendleton shop in Frontierland; just like Main Street, the old Frontierland seemed more like a real functioning western town. Shot 2 shows the town of Rainbow Ridge, and judging by the looks on their faces, I’d say this gang is experiencing a ride breakdown (or maybe they’re just honked off at the photographer). Either way, have a great weekend and see you on Monday!





See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland Frontierland photos at my main website.