Monday, May 12, 2008

Knott's Berry Farm - 1949-ish

Here's a great old Knott's map from 1949-ish. Here is the link to the high resolution version. (link - 11mb). I am not sure on the year, it's not on the map anywhere.





The back side has some super information about Knott's early days. #52 The Birdcage Theater will be the only attraction "calling for a small admission fee". Check out the map too, no "Santa Ana Freeway" on that one, no Disneyland either. (full high resolution scan here - 5mb)







From around or near 1949, I've seen a few of these that say "Steak House Menu" (See one at Jay Jennings awesome Knott's Museum - link). This is the only one I have seen that says "Ghost Town Grill" if you read thru the text in the menu, this was just before the "Steak House" was built. Also some talk of a Hotel on the property "just east and north of the lake" Huh? Check out the prices too, Top Sirloin $2!!!!


Ghost Town Grill - Full download (9.5mb):







Let's match up these six old postcards with the attractions on the Map. These type of postcards are from the late 1940's, with a few referring to "Knott's Berry Place".

First of course, number 22, the Gold Mine!






Number 28, the Silver Dollar Saloon.






Number 35, Goldie's Joint "A questionable structure indeed".






The General Merchandise Store is at number 50.






Number 55, The Covered Wagon & Borax Wagon.






The "Old Borax Mine Train". Not sure what number that would go next to, maybe #29. Last time I was at Knott's, this little train was still there.





Boy does this post need some color! Here is the cover to a nice 1949-51 Guide Book. This is similar to 1952-54 editions, but this one lacks any mention of the Trains at Knott's. Oh, check back on Bonus Sunday for the complete Guide, it's a fun one!




Tomorrow: 1955 Bank of America - It's not exactly what you are thinking and I bet you've never seen one of these.... At least I haven't.

5 comments:

Major Pepperidge said...

I showed some early Knott's stuff to my 9 year old niece, and she thought it looked "Neat!". I told her that now it has lots of roller coasters and that most of the old stuff is gone. "Awww, man!". I was surprised that she seemed disappointed.

The Viewliner Limited said...

Great post Tim. Awesome PC's. Boy, I miss this place.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the effort you put into this posting. My Disnyland:Knotts visit ratio is about 50:1, so I don't have many strong memories of the park.

Honestly, as a child, I found Ghost Town dirty and boring ... about as exciting as rummaging through the junk drawer in Grandma's kitchen. (every kitchen has one, and they all have the same things).

Of course, today it would be a different story, I could spend hours in Knott's Ghost Town: but only because the stylized, manicured, fanciful Disney interpretation of the past got me interested in how things "really were".

-Katella Gate

outsidetheberm said...

Nice post, Tim! About those 'Knott's Berry PLACE' postcards - there were more than a few. At our last count there were 88 different cards labeled as such, but we're sure there's more. Namely because we've run across the negatives for them!

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