Martin Evolution on Monday

Are you humming “You must have been a been a beautiful baby?” How could you not with this adorable photo of a very young Steve Martin. Pre-banjo; pre-wild-and-crazy-guy; pre-Jerk...this is about as young as it gets. Here's how the photo looked before I did a little restoration work:



Photo #2 from the vaults of Martin shows an eight-year-old Steve. Already you can see the wit developing behind the smiling eyes.



This undated shot shows Steve hard at work selling Disneyland Guidebooks at the entrance to Disneyland.



Although the badly faded shot (which I was unable to restore any color to) is undated, it does give a few clues. For sale at the Disneyland Newsstand are two different Zorro Dell Books with Guy Williams on the cover. The “Zorro” series ran from October 1957 to July 1959. This Dell comic is dated Dec.-Feb. 1959:



The other cover visible on the stand is dated March-May 1960, after the series had already ended.



Thanks to David from Gorillas Don't Blog, I can now show the two other Dell Comic Covers both Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey and Louie on the newsstand; the first is from March 1960:



And this one is from October 1960, which would make me guess that this shot is from Fall 1960.



See more Steve Martin photos at my main website.

Disneyland Railroad 1950's Medley

While scanning one image, I realized there were a few more that I had yet to post, all from the 1950s, and all showing the Disneyland Railroad. Let's begin with the earliest one, which hails from September 1958. The banner over the entryway hails the recently opened Columbia sailing ship and the Grand Canyon Diorama. In addition, we can see the Disneyland News stand, as well as two Disneyland Guide Book Salesman/Boys. This is the same job that started a young Steve Martin on his show business career!



A 1958 interior view of one of the passenger cars:



And two interior shots of the recently opened Grand Canyon Diorama. First is from 1958:



This one is from October 1959:



A shot of the Main Street Train Station from November 1959:



A closeup of the Kalamazoo Handcar:



The last one for today is undated, and shows the E.P. Ripley pulling into the station. In the background is the parking lot, which eventually disappeared to pave the way for Disney California Adventure.



More vintage and contemporary Disneyland Railroad photos at my main website.

Entrance to Disneyland

Hope you can stand a few more vintage Disneyland entrance shots! First one is from March 1958. What else can be said about those crazy 1950's ticket prices?



This closeup from the same shot appears to be a Guidebook Salesman, or maybe just a kid dressed up fancy in a vest:



This Spring 1957 shot shows the exit, with the Disneyland Railroad's E.P. Ripley looming overheard. I sure do miss riding the trains.



This last shot is one I captured last May; so much more high tech and slick looking compared to its 1950's predecessors.



More vintage and current Disneyland entrance photos at my main website.

Steve Martin and Black Bart at Disneyland

One of my readers, Ryan Richards, sent me a message through Twitter saying I should check out his family's vintage film from a 1950's trip to Disneyland. Little did he know what extra bonus his vintage movie held: a brief clip of a very young Steve Martin in a checked vest, gray pants, and hat at the 7 second mark in front of Disneyland hawking the Park Guidebooks. Two seconds after that, you get a rare glimpse of Black Bart out of Frontierland attempting to wreak havoc in front of the entrance to the Park.

A freeze frame of Steve Martin:



and Martin and Black Bart in the same frame:



Both of Ryan's mother's parents worked at Disneyland at that time. His grandmother was the nurse for the Mouseketeers, his grandfather "drove" the Mark Twain and helped build things (including the Burning Cabin).

At the end of this next family film from Ryan's father's collection, starting at 3:20, there is a shot of a few Cast Members aboard the Mark Twain, but it is too dark to see any faces. He'd like to think his grandfather is one of them, meaning his dad has footage of his future father-in-law!



Many thanks to Ryan for sharing these very cool family treasures!

Craving more vintage Steve Martin at Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm? Visit my main website.