Courtesy of Gorilla’s Don’t Blog, this 1967 view of the Butterfield Stagecoach sure does look inviting.
Unfortunately the Stagecoach was not running the day of my visit, my guess is it runs on days when there are more guests at the farm. The Stagecoach is on my growing list of things to photograph on a follow-up visit.
The path the Stagecoach takes is not quite as scenic as it once was, it also appears to be entirely paved.
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The Music Hall and the Bottle House, way back when.
Both as seen today, neither was open.
A close-up of the Music Hall in the 1950’s. Note the neat little center section on the right between the Music Hall and the Bottle House, its still there.
The Music Hall building today. I peaked inside and it looked like Indian stuff, some current and possibly for sale so maybe this store opens still on busy days. The exterior has been updated with bricks, but the doors, windows and lamps look the same.
Here’s the neat little center section between the two buildings, I love this stuff!
The Bottle House no longer has a door on Music Hall side, a few trim changes, but otherwise very original appearing.
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The Bottle House actually has bottles on at least three sides; this side appears in many old photos.
Some odd metallic structures have sprouted in the background, a few trim changes otherwise on this side its 1955 all over again.
“Crumbled Adobe Wall” from a 1950’s souvenir guide.
I have no idea if these are the same walls, but they are crumbled and they are walls.
“Chief Red Feather” in an old (late 40’s / early 50’s) postcard. This postcard scan is from Jay Jennings amazing Knott’s Berry Farm Museum blog (link). Thanks Jay!
I don’t think he’s a Chief, but he was very knowledgeable and polite. He’s part of a dancing show they do 4 times daily on Thursday and Friday (see entertainment schedule at the end of this long post), probably more shows on weekends. Way to go Knott’s! We vintage Disneyland fans should take note: You can ride a Stagecoach and see a live Indian Dance show at the Farm, something you haven’t been able to do at the Park for decades.
Red’s Leather Shop in 1960.
It doesn’t appear to be “Reds” anymore and the roof line has been altered. The rest of the “Leather Shop” seems really old, and wow, it sure smells like an old leather wallet inside!
This little shop was to the left of the Leather shop, I didn’t go inside, it looked empty or like a jail? Does anyone know what this is or was?
The magnificent No. 41 Steam Train in December 1970, thanks Daveland! Is it just me or have they painted the No. 41 several different colors over the years?
Going to the farm too early on a weekday has it’s draw backs, like the Train, the Museum, all of Fiesta Village and most of the food places are closed for the first hour or two (bad show Knott’s). Anyway, here is the No. 41 getting ready to head out for the day. See - its different color!
This looks like a workshop for the train. It didn’t seem long enough to store the entire length of the trains and cars like Disneyland has the ability to do.
The great Log Ride all shiny and new in this October 1970 photo from Daveland.
The area where the above photo was taken was currently roped off, I think they were undoing part of the Halloween sets, so I was not able to get a good shot of the Log Ride today. Its still there running strong.
From 1967 it’s the Calico Mine Train Ride, a super photo from Gorilla’s Don’t Blog.
A larger queue line is the most significant change today. I can't tell if the color of the rock has changed of if its just these photos?
The little mine train ticket booth looks like this original one! I swear the pretty young lady in the “today” photo would not get out of the way!
One of the mine trains from an old postcard set, undated.
Same type of train today, different number.
From a 1975 Souvenir Guide, here’s the other style of mine train.
Same style of mine train today. I was surprised at the “Disneyland” grade of the paint, fit and finish of these little Trains, nice going Knott’s!
Here’s the current entertainment show guide, more than I expected for week days in Mid-November.
If you can stand it, there’s one more part of this series tomorrow; Fiesta Village, Roaring 20’s (don’t get your hopes up), The Lake? Independence Hall, Church of the Reflections and “What’s Missing”….
6 comments:
I'm still loving this Knott's series! Very cool! Too bad about the metal "junk" that now sticks up behind the Mine Train, Log Ride and Ghost Town buildings. I wonder if the horses were scared when they first built a rollercoaster over the stagecoach trail?
The building to the left of the leather shop used to be a "peek in". There was a male figure in there working on something, but I can't remember what....I'm pretty sure it wasn't the blacksmith because that was on the other street. Maybe he was making guns? Anyway, you had to step into the building to view this scene, but it was behind jail-like bars. I wonder if he is still there?
When I worked there, the old leather shop was a glass blowers shop and Red's Leather Shop was outside where TGI Fridays is now. I guess they decided to return it back to a leather shop again. Oh, and Judge Roy Bean's used to be where the Native American dance area is now, but it faced the Music Hall and Bottle House. Management complained about lack of business and said it was because nobody could see it since it didn't face out towards the street so they moved it to it's present location.
Such a great idea, I am really enjoying the glimpses of the pieces of vintage Knott's that still exist (for how long?)... if they are ever completely removed, Knott's is going to lose a lot of its spirit and become just another amusement park.
I love all the great Knott's photos. It looks like you had quite a thorough visit. The music hall and bottle house are now joined together as the indian trading shop which is open pretty frequently. The building to the west of leather store is the gun-maker peek-in. It is one of my favorites because you have to actually step inside to see it. I plan to feature it on my blog in the near future. Thanks for this and all the other great Knott's posts you have put up. I have learned a lot of farm geography from your maps post. Great Stuff!
The music machine on the merry - go - round is a band organ . It is known as a WurliTzer Style 157 organ. It plays tunes from a rather long paper roll similar to a player piano. It is in very bad condition and has been neglected by the maintenance department for almost 10 years. I do have some recordings of this very band organ that I made some 30 years ago.
In response to Anonymous above me, you probably don't get to the East Coast too often, but if you are ever in New Jersey, there is a boardwalk in Seaside Heights on the jersey shore...they have an amazingly gorgeous carousel from the early 1900's and it also has a Wurlitzer organ for music! It's kept up all the time, and is an historical landmark.
http://www.casinopiernj.com/carousel/index.html
this explains a bit more about it. Its a Wurlitzer band organ and the only one in the state.
About what you said about the train, yes 41 has benn painted several times over the years. She used to have the bright Hollywood movie style paint job. But now she is painted to look like she did in Colorado in the 1940s.
You went to the park on a weekday in the off/slow season. You may have noticed there was not many people there. They only open half the park at 10 then the rest at 11. this is how they save money. The train however does open at 10am with the first half of the park. But on most off season weekdays they run Rio grande southern Galloping goose #3.(The goose is one of 7 railbuses from the 1930s used to haul passengers and mail, google galloping goose.) They run the larger steam train on weekends in the off season.
And yes they don't have a shop to house the entire train. There shop houses the other steam locomotive(340) and has another stall to work on the passenger cars.
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