1950's Disneyland Miscellaneous Gems

The train is at the Disneyland Main Street Train Station, waiting to take us on a journey of 1950's miscellany. Zooming in for a nice juicy close-up of the Kalamazoo Handcar:



Over at the Frontierland Depot, we have a glimpse of the backend of the Excursion Car as it pulls away from the station:



An Indian War Canoe circles Tom Sawyer Island:



Somebody call Child Welfare - that poor little girl in the back seems to be doing all the work!



As the Mark Twain leaves the dock, guests can see a little action going on over at the Fishing Pier:



I wonder how many people actually took the fish home and cooked them?



Today's post ends in a blaze of glory as The Mark Twain approaches the infamous Burning Cabin:



You knew it was coming, folks; a closeup of the poor dead geezer out front:



See more vintage & current Disneyland Storybook Land photos from my collection on my main website.

Disneyland Guided Tour, Circa 1962: The Mark Twain

If you're joining this series mid-stream, welcome to my pairing of a 1962 Disneyland Tour Guide Script and era-appropriate photos to illustrate what the Disneyland Tour Guides were talking about. Today's journey starts out...

NEAR MARK TWAIN DOCK

Across the river you see Tom Sawyer's Island…a mother's paradise.



Here children may spend hours exploring old Fort Wilderness,...



rock caves and formations, suspension bridges and even go fishing.













This island may be reached by taking one of Tom's rafts embarking from Fowler's Harbor. While we are here on the riverfront, I would like to mention that there are almost two miles of waterways in Disneyland, of which this river is a part. There are 81 vessels in the Disneyland fleet—these include the vessels you see here plus those in Adventureland, Storybookland, The Motor Boat Cruise, and the Submarine Lagoon.

(If not on Mine Train)

We are next going to take a trip on the…Mark Twain/Columbia.

[note: depending on which ship was in the water, the Tour Guide was prepared either way]



Columbia…The Columbia is a three masted full-rigged sailing vessel. The ship has been copied after the original armed merchant vessel, Columbia, which we have already told you was the first United States' sailing vessel to circumnavigate the globe. This ship is 92' long and has a main mast of 84'.





Mark Twain…The Mark Twain is an authentic reproduction of the old Mark Twain paddle wheel steamer which operated on the Mississippi River. Powered by twin steam engines which operate the stern wheel, the Mark Twain is 108' long and has three decks.

On weekends and holidays the Young Men from New Orleans, an authentic Dixieland Jazz Band, play for your dancing and listening pleasure as you float down the river. Inside Slue Foot Sue's Golden Horseshoe is one of the most popular attractions in Disneyland. The show has something for everyone. Plenty of good music, lots of laughs, the Can Can Girls and even that famous character—Pecos Bill. The show is one of the entertainment highlights here in the Magic Kingdom and we know you'll enjoy yourself. You should be here at least 30 minutes before show time in order to find good seats for this free show presented by Pepsi-Cola. Show times are posted on the front porch.



And now, let's take a short cut through El Zocalo, the Mexican Market over to the little mining town of Rainbow Ridge.





To resume your vintage tour, come back tomorrow and meet us aboard The Nature's Wonderland attraction!



See more vintage and current Mark Twain photos on my Mark Twain page.

B&W, March 4, 1959

Even in a photo devoid of color, you can find some cool things to marvel at! Feast your eyes on this shot of The Rainbow Mountain Railroad with the Matterhorn under construction in the background!

The wheel of the Old Mill on Tom Sawyer’s Island just keeps turning...kind of like Ol’ Man River!



The fishing pier of Tom Sawyer’s Island has a few customers; today, I’d be afraid to eat anything that came from the Rivers of America!



The C.K. Holliday is cruising through the Frontierland Depot, waaaaay before New Orleans Square and the Haunted Mansion came into being:



See more Disneyland photos at my main website.

Just keep paddling, folks...nothing to see here!

This amazing photo was submitted by a Daveland reader (many many thanks!) from her personal family collection. At first, it may just appear to be your basic private guided canoe ride around the Rivers of America, but upon closer inspection, we can see that it is none other than Lillian & Walt!



See more Disneyland Rivers of America photos at my website.

POST 900! 1956 in Glorious Color: The Hodge-Podge Finale

I’ve finally hit 900; can 1000 be much farther away?!? Shot #1 from this 1956 series is a beauty featuring the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship restaurant. At this stage of the game, The Skyway & Storybook Land were fairly new and Skull Rock Cove was about 4 years away. This photo was taken from the Skyway and also gives you a glimpse of the Caboose from the Disneyland Railroad in the background. The next two shots are also taken from the Skyway. This one is of the edge of Fantasyland, with a few purty attraction posters plastered on the construction wall. You can also see the top of the Nature’s Wonderland Mine Train chugging through the scenery of the Living Desert.



I believe the mound of earth you see on the right is the edge of Holiday Hill, where many a teenager disappeared to make out with their sweetheart. Eventually, Holiday Hill spawned The Matterhorn.



While we’re looking at mysterious "backstage" photos that could only appeal to Disneyland Geeks like myself, here’s one that was most likely taken from the Magnolia Park area, showing the thatched roof of Aunt Jemima’s Restaurant.



Last one of the series shows the banks of the Rivers of America, with the defunct bandstand on the right; plenty of rafts to Tom Sawyer’s Island on this day:



Thanks to all the faithful readers for hanging in with me for 900 posts and leaving your comments and info; that’s what makes it really fun for me. See more Disneyland photos at my website.

Disneyland Time Capsule: August 1958, pt. 4

Yet the end of another Daveland series, with today’s entry located in Frontierland. The majestic Columbia is sitting at the dock, awaiting another journey around the Rivers of America. If I were a betting man (and for the most part I’m not), I would bet that this shot was taken from the tables in front of Don DeFore’s Silver Banjo BBQ Restaurant, looking out at the Bandstand on the Rivers of America. The Strawhatters are keeping the guests entertained in this shot.



If you were to sit in this area today, this is what you’d see:



Back to August 1958, we have a view of the Canoes, manned by real Native Americans (known as Indians back then). Note guests doing some actual fishing on the pier, before this activity was removed from the park.



Naturally, it wouldn’t be a Frontierland series without one of the Mark Twain:



Naturally, this shot arrived AFTER I did my post on the Petrified Tree. This one gives a view of the signage for the Frontier Gun Shop:



See more vintage & current Frontierland. photos at my regular website.

Trip to Disneyland, Sept. 1959

Those of you with bad memories of September, 1959...well, you might want to avoid my blog for awhile. I have a few gigabytes of photos from that monumental era to share, beginning with a shot of the Jungle Cruise lanai area. Our photographer headed towards the Rivers of America for his next batch of shots, including this one of the fishing dock. Hope you’re not hanging around the park too long if you catch anything! P-U!



Need to work off that turkey leg and churro lunch you just had? Nothing better than a canoe ride!



Last one for today is this clean crisp shot of our beloved Keelboat (RIP), currently rotting away on the shores of the ROA.



Stay tuned til tomorrow as our intrepid photographer shows you the many wonders of what you can see from the Mark Twain!

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

DVD RELEASE! The Disneyland Secrets, Stories, and Magic DVD is finally out; I just began watching it last night, and even though I haven't even finished the first disc, I cannot recommend this set highly enough. The 1956 Cinemascope featurette is incredible; the color, the helicopter shots...a real feeling of how the park was designed, and the commentary by Tony Baxter is a great extra, too. Although I usually avoid the "games" extras, this is one DVD that you need to play the games, as at the end of the game, you get to watch rare film clips about the park. More info once I complete watching it!