Melinda Goes to Knott’s Berry Farm

Melinda is back in time for the July 4th celebration with more images from her June 1980 trip to Southern California! This time, she has shared photos from her family’s visit to Knott’s Berry Farm. Once again, I will rely on my better-informed readers, as Knott’s is definitely not my area of expertise! As for the photos themselves, they were shot by Melinda “…with my little Kodak 110 camera of some sort.” Even her recollections of Knott’s are a bit cloudy:

I only have vague memories of riding the log ride at Knott's, and really nothing else about that park. We must have gone there last of the three [theme parks] as there are hardly any photos of it, so we were probably finishing off our last rolls of film for the trip.

Anyone else out there recall the joy of having a few photos that needed to be shot to be able to take the roll to the camera shop to be developed? The first image shown is of the Timber Mountain Log Ride, the one attraction Melinda remembers. The attraction itself looked pretty much the same when I photographed it in October 2014, other than the monstrosity on the right:



I’m going to make a guess that these next two were from the Fiesta Village:





Melinda and family pose in front of the Denver & Rio Grande narrow gauge train from the Calico Railroad:



The train was still running when I last visited Knott’s in August 2021:



I’m not sure what this attraction is, but it’s my favorite photo of the batch; you can just feel the centrifugal force as everyone is joyously pushed to one side of their ride vehicle!



Looks like the Flying Ace attraction from Camp Snoopy:



I am assuming this is Knott’s, but another area I can’t identify:



The next three are from a marionette show; Bob Baker, perhaps?







This last one showing an 18' high reproduction of Michelangelo’s Statue of David was from the nearby Movieland Wax Museum, also in Buena Park. It was sold off in 2007 with the rest of the now defunct museum’s holdings. Nope…it wasn’t made of wax. It was actually carved from marble!



Here’s a 1967 ad from Vacationland Magazine for the Palace of Living Art at the Movieland Wax Museum, where the David replica was featured:



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

Traveling Thursdays: Movieland Wax Museum

Although the Movieland Wax Museum is no more, the former attraction located near Anaheim still lives on in the hearts of those who had visited there.

Dedicated on May 4, 1962 by silent film star Mary Pickford, it was the home to almost 300 wax figures depicting famous celebrities—some better than others—in 150 different scenes. Despite the fact that some of the wax images bore little resemblance to the movie star, the sets and costumes showed an incredible attention to detail. Several actors and actresses attended the unveilings of their wax likenesses and even donated costumes for their wax counterparts. Other costumes were re-created for the displays (Garbo's costume cost $35,000 and took 125 hours to sequin by hand). Film studios also donated many of the props used in the scenes. Movie themes and sound effects also added to the authenticity of the museum. A movie clapperboard on each set included the name of the characters along with information about the movie, props, and costumes.

Harry Carey in “Trader Horn”:



Laurel & Hardy in “The Perfect Day”:



Charles Laughton in “The Private Life of Henry The VIII”:



Jean Harlow in “Dinner at Eight”:



Gary Cooper in “High Noon”:



Cliff Robertson in “PT 109”:



William Powell (good likeness) and Myrna Loy (not-so-good likeness) in “The Thin Man”:

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Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in “The African Queen”:



Rudolph Valentino:



After 43 years and 10 million visitors, Movieland Wax Museum closed its doors on Halloween, October 31, 2005. About 50 of the celebrity figures were shipped to a sister museum in San Francisco and 80 others went to a Museum in South Korea. Many were put up for public auction, bringing in over a million dollars.

See more Movieland Wax Museum photos at my main website.