Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Progressland Snap Shot

In addition to an amazing event at Knott’s this weekend I also was lucky to meet up with loyal blog reader and friend “Jim”. Jim has contributed a ton of material to the blog in the past and on Saturday he gave me another large cardboard box filled to the brim with Vintage Disneyland goodies. Vacationlands, Disneyland Lines, Rare Backstage magazines and lots more. THANKS JIM!!!!!

I’m still sorting thru all the goodies, but this little gem jumped out so I thought I’d post it right away. Undated, but it must be from 1964 or 1965. Is that a maternity dress or was that just the style???






Progressland was Free, for the whole attraction???






I always assumed this was a ticketed attraction at the fair like It’s a Small World, I guess not! Come to think of it, it was free at Disneyland too!


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Knott’s Preserved - in paper

Once again I can’t say enough about how wonderful the Knott’s Preserved event was on Sunday. I’m just getting into the book and so far it’s just as splendid as the event. There was so much information presented on Sunday that it was a bit over whelming, however, now the book is even more inviting, plus I can re-read each page and my “Dick & Jane” reading level.






The camera stayed in the car, I left the image taking to better qualified hands, he sure took a lot of photos, and I bet we’ll see them soon. So today’s post will be the paper stuff from the event, if you were there, you’ve seen it, but be sure to scroll to the bottom there's a couple of new scans. Just like Ghost Town these paper items have a well worn look to them, in this case it's a result of cramming everything in my back pocket!






I did everything but the Grand Avenue Tour. I was booked for the 12:00 show, but I blew it off to go on Ghost Rider with Major Pepperidge, it was a blast! The 10am Book signing was in one of the older dining rooms and went very smoothly, and I got a little bonus autograph too! Chris Merritt’s Multi-Media presentation was very entertaining and informative – Chris received a much deserved roaring standing ovation! The Chicken Dinner was excellent as well, all you could eat too!

The panel discussion was amazing, so much information, boy I hope someone video taped this event. Everyone was charming and funny. Dean Davisson (public relations at Knott’s 1958-76) is an older gentleman but very lucid and conveyed some amazing personal stories about Walter Knott that I had assumed had been lost to time. I left Walter’s farm feeling I knew a lot more about he man than when I walked in that morning.






$55 was the price for the event, which included entry to the farm and the chicken dinner buffet, plus the presentations, this was one heck of a deal! As one of my new blog reader friends said “the nerdity-value-to-ticket-cost-ratio was off the charts” amen to that!






This postcard was given to me by Werner Weiss who I met during the dinner buffet, a very nice man who has a web site where I’ve visited every single page, more than once, I know you've done it too!…






The Ghost Town Tour was the perfect mid-day event. Presented by Phil Brigandi and with additional comments from Chris Jepsen of O.C. Historical Roundup (nice meeting you Chris!). These guys know their Knott’s! Wow, I learned a lot, again so much to absorb but at the same time the history of Knott’s and specifically Walter's Ghost Town was all starting to make sense to me now.






Fortunately we got these neato guide flyers to go with the tour.






There’s a ton of information on these center pages, click here (link) for a larger copy.






Since I didn’t take the Grand Avenue tour, does anyone know if there was an info sheet for that tour as well?






From Ghost Town News (that I still need to post, oops), most of these things are still at the farm! It was announced at one of the events that the “CATAWAMPUS” would be returning to the farm. We actually found a “catawampus” in Ghost Town, but it was small and kind of silly, I think they’re actually bringing this one back or one just like it.






At the very end of the panel discussion they opened it up for questions and answers. I had a question but of course I was to chicken to ask it. My question was, in the photo below, I’ve heard a persistent rumor that “Grandma” is indeed Walter Knott in a dress, is that true? It does sort of look like him, and from what I learned on Sunday, I bet if someone asked him he would have done it no questions asked, except, “where do you want me to stand”?


Sunday, April 18, 2010

The American Weekly - March 1960.

Welcome to Magazine Monday. Today's post is going to be a self-guided tour because I'm tired after having an insanely wonderful time at Knott's Berry Farm yesterday for 14 hours! It was an amazing event, topped off by hanging out with the extraordinary bloggers club! It doesn't get any cooler than spending the day at a theme park with all my fellow bloggers - that rocked! Oh yeah, also present were; Chris Merritt, Rolly Crump, Tony Baxter and I saw some guy named Bob Gurr!!!

The American Weekly - March 1960. Yes its only a half page article!










Guess where I am today???




Friday, April 16, 2010

Knott's Ghost Town News & Adventures In Business

Had enough Knott’s yet? Me either! Today we’ve got a double dose of vintage Knott’s stuff. There is no date on this “Souvenir Edition” of Ghost Town News; it must be from the early 1950’s based on “coming attractions”.






Neighbor John tells the tale of the Knott’s. This “news” magazine is 34 pages long, come back on bonus Sunday for the entire issue.






How many of these will we see on Sunday?






I might have to get some Fried Chicken…






Although I don’t think we’ll be seeing Elizabeth (Toni) Knott on Sunday, we might see the fire place & stone mill.






Is the Old Hotel really the first building built in Ghost Town?






Is a “before and after” photo even possible at this spot?






California looks barren, not for long!






Here’s a special treat, from March 30, 1945 here's a small (4 page) news letter called “Adventures In Business






Check out those cars! Do you suppose any of them are blue-tooth enabled?






This is back when it was Knott’s Berry Place. Guest Houses? I like the Ghost Town photo with the “future” rending on the right side.






The war was still on going and you can see it several places on this page. That flag is great, “Free Enterprise” Keep it Flying! Did someone proportional space this on a manual typewriter? That's not easy to do!


Thursday, April 15, 2010

Knott's Adventure Club 1977-78

From 1977-78, make sure and get your Knott's Adventure Club membership! I'm getting more and more excited about Sunday's event at Knott's, it should be a spectacular day, see you there.








Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Where it all started

How about a little field trip to where it all started? On Sunday I took a little trip over to Griffith Park to see the old Merry-Go-Round that Walt Disney used to bring his daughters to and supposedly its where he dreamed up the idea for Disneyland. I've lived in Los Angeles my entire and I've never been to the Merry-Go-Round before.






They've got a great player piano/organ playing wonderful tunes continuously even when the Merry-Go-Round is loading and unloading. Those don't look the type of benches Walt used to sit on (they have the actual bench at Disneyland) in fact those look like LAUSD specials!






The overall condition of the Merry-Go-Round is, well, vintage and somewhat rough.






Wow, this reminds me of the Santa Monica Pier circa 1970.








According to some articles on the Internet, this is one of the oldest Merry-Go-Rounds to have most of its original elements and paint, can't argue with that.








This is like a step back in time.






Interestingly, parts of the Merry-Go-Round have been restored, so its an odd mix.






Well, look who restored this beauty.






Some of the panels look freshly restored. Notice the covered area above the horses, pretty ornate and fairly rare, most Merry-Go-Rounds have the cams and support bars exposed.








About half of the panels look like this, you ain't in Disneyland Dorothy.






This wonderful musical instrument is hidden in the back, you can't get close or get decent photos, but man does it sound great.






They've got some neat vintage photographs above the giant piano rolls, too bad its dark and so far away so you can't really see them.






Signs anyone?










They have a display case near the old ticket booth, hey I have that “E” ticket magazine! I read later online that they sell that issue there.






A few of the neato ceiling panels need some TLC.





Here's a little video showing the Merry-Go-Round going round at full speed, take your Dramamine first then turn up the sound.






Here's what it looks like when its stopped. It really is a majestic old Merry-Go-Round, I was expecting to see a shinny “like new” Carousel like at Disneyland, but to my surprise, I got to see Walt's old Merry-Go-Round. If you live in Los Angles, go check it out!