Judy at the Calliope

The first shot for today is from September 1965 and shows Mae Mennes playing the calliope at Knott’s Berry Farm. Jim, a former Anaheim resident, sent me this information about a relative who once worked at Knott’s Berry Farm:

My mother-in-law's niece, Judy Glidewell (now Neilson), worked at the Bird Cage Theater in 1966 and 1967 with Steve Martin and Kathy Westmoreland. Judy played the calliope before the shows and also piano. She had graduated from Buena Park High School, and went to Redlands University and later Cal State Fullerton. She is now 70 and lives in Huntington Beach.



I found this newspaper article from a Redlands, California paper in 1967, when Judy, Steve Martin, and another Bird Cage performer performed at a show one evening. The last 3 paragraphs deal with the Bird Cage Theater, Judy, and Steve.



Also, a poster I saw on eBay, but could not buy, can't make it out well, but can see Judy's name in the program.





I love getting information like this. You might recall from previous posts that the Bird Cage is where Steve Martin made his stage debut. Here he is in 1965 with Melody Westmoreland:



Steve let me know that Don Galvan, also listed on the flyer “played banjo out in front of the Bird Cage on the calliope. He was bitter, but a big Mexican movie star at one time.”



Last shot for today is how the Bird Cage Theatre and the Calliope look today. Not bad!



See more Knott’s Berry Farm Bird Cage Theatre photos at my main website.

Knotts Preserved: What it took to get me there, pt. 4

After dinner, there was some time to snoop around Ghost Town again, which a group of us bloggers did. Again, Tokyo Magic pointed out all the spots I had missed before so that I could get some good shots. This Pepper’s Ghost effect was great; sure do love stuff like this!





And a lot of these fun carved wooden characters inhabit the Ghost Town; one of the most infamous is Sad Eye Joe:



Whatever you do, watch out for One-Eyed Ike:



You can feel safe knowing that these fellers are protecting Ghost Town:



A detailed view of the poster on the wall above them, honoring Max Barlow (the Marshal of Ghost Town):



Here’s Hop Wing Lee, perennially cleaning clothes:



These fellers have been in the barber shop for a loooooong time:





I have no idea where this guy came from:



Back to the Bird Cage and on with the show:



A few interior shots of the lobby:





EVERYONE knows about Steve Martin performing at The Bird Cage; but what about “Love Boat” alumni Lauren Tewes?



The lineup for the 2nd presentation was a theme-park blogger’s dream:



Left to right: Chris Crump and his father, Rolly, Chris Merritt, and Knotts publicity guru Dean Davisson.



Eddie Soto, Rick Campbell, Eric Lynxwiler, and John Waite:



It was a spirited discussion and fantastic to hear first-hand from some of these creative genius' who they crafted some of the most beloved aspects of Knotts. Especially cool was the rapport between Chris Crump and his dad. Rolly was obviously a great mentor to his son. It was fascinating listening to them talk about their dark ride, Bear-ry Tales, which (sadly) is no longer at Knotts. In fact, it almost didn’t even make it in the first place, thanks to an arsonist who struck a few months before it was set to open. Undaunted, the Crumps trudged on and christened the attraction on time.



Dean’s memories of John Wayne (“he was big!”) and the Knott family dividing up the profits around the family dinner table had everyone in stitches (“One for you, one for you,...”).



What a great day. I can’t thank all of the people enough who put this event together. Readers: if you get the chance, visit Knotts. Although much has changed since its glory days, much remains. Check it out! Hope you’ve all enjoyed this deviation from my regular Disneyland posts.

See more Knott’s Berry Farm photos at my website.

Knotts Preserved: What it took to get me there, pt. 3

Yup—more Knotts today! At this point in the day, Tokyo Magic continued to give me his personal guided tour of Knotts inside the park. The attraction I was most excited about riding was the Calico Mine Train, as it’s probably the closest thing to being back on the old Nature’s Wonderland from Disneyland. First photo for today is a vintage 1961 view showing the exterior.

Our driver did a fantastic job with the spiel; entertaining and totally in character.



It was a little difficult to shoot on this attraction, as the majority is inside the mine and fairly dark. Still, I did my best to capture the “wonders” of what the guests could see. The “glory hole” was pretty cool—staring down deep into the mine and seeing all the workers trying to find gold.





My favorite part was the Rainbow Caverns:





Even though it wasn’t a “thrill” attraction, this ride still has its charm and is a lot of fun. The Log Ride was up next, and it was very fun, too. It actually moves at a faster clip than Splash Mountain. I have to say I didn’t really miss the singing animals, either!





Continuing to savor the older parts of Knotts, I took a ride on the train.







We were hijacked by these unsavory characters from the Wild West (I love that kind of stuff!)



Loved the depot, too!



I continued to snap a few more in the park; this fountain was originally a prop used in the movie “Hello, Dolly”:





The saloon was very cool too. In the inevitable comparison to Disneyland, I have to say that Ghost Town (despite the plastic trashcans) has more of an authentic vintage flavor because of its dilapidation than Frontierland, which often appears too squeaky clean. Heck, Knotts even has a house of ill-repute!









The next part of the day was a presentation by Chris Merritt at the Bird Cage, featuring a multi-media show that was edited down from its original 3 hour length (heck, I wish i could have seen that version!). Outside the Bird Cage theater, Bob Gurr, Rolly Crump, and Chris Crump were being interviewed.



Next door at the schoolhouse, vintage multi-media legend Charles Phoenix was being chastised by the local schoolmarm:





More bloggers showed up for Chris’ presentation (including Ken from Outside the Berm):



Chris & Eric’s presentation was hijacked by some shady varmints from Ghost Town:



Chris and Eric promised to be good, so they were able to move ahead with the rest of the program:



Before the show began, Marty Keithley (Knotts GM) presented both Eric & Chris with a beautiful framed memento with a montage of Knotts attraction posters:





After Chris’ entertaining show and q&a session, everyone moved over to the restaurant for the famous Fried Chicken dinner. I am happy to report that it was fantastic! Love the chicken and especially the boysenberry pie! Heck, I even enjoyed the berry punch—so what if it meant I overdid my annual quote of high fructose corn syrup?!?











Still more to come!

More Knott's photos at my main website.