Knott's Halloween Haunt (Knott's Scary Farm) - 1980s

Well, it's Fall...and that means it's time for Knott's Berry Farm's annual "Halloween Haunt" event (a.k.a., Knott's Scary Farm).

I clipped this advertisement out of the October 5, 1980 issue of The Los Angeles Times.  Back then, Knott's Halloween Haunt was held for only 6 nights (two three-day weekends).  Unfortunately, I did not go to the event that year.

I didn't actually go to one of Knott's Halloween Haunt nights until 1982, which was also my first year of working at Knott's.  Normally, we could go into the park on our days off, by just showing our employee I.D. at the exit gate.  However, we weren't allowed into the park for the Haunt events, unless we were working those nights.  They did offer us a discount on a ticket, but only for the first night of the event.  Since I had always wanted to go to Knott's for one of their "Halloween Haunts," I bought discounted tickets for myself and my friends.

This is the map for 1982, which was Knott's "10th Annual Halloween Haunt."  That year, the event was held for only five nights!

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark was appearing at Knott's for the very first time.  The only thing I remember about her "Ghoul Revue" is, that she sang her song, "3-D TV," which she had debuted on her television show ("Movie Macabre") in May of that same year.  And she also sang a parody of Toni Basil's, "Mickey," which had been released in January of that year, and would go on to become the number one song on "Billboard's Hot 100" list (the week of December 11th).  Elvira's version, "Frankie," was about Frankenstein's monster, of course.

Also in 1982, there were only two walk-through mazes; "The Terrifying Trail Of Jack The Ripper," and "The Mysterious Corridors."  The map did have "Knott's Scary Tales" listed as a "maze," but that was actually a "ride-through," in the space normally occupied by the "Knott's Bear-y Tales" attraction.  The Calico Mine Ride and the Log Ride were also transformed into "scary" rides that year, but for some reason, they weren't mentioning that anywhere on the map.  One other thing that I remember about that night is, that the band performing at Fiesta Plaza ("X-Caliber"), was singing a cover of the song, "Don't You Want Me," by Human League.  That song had been the number one song on "Billboard's Hot 100" list for three weeks in row (in July of that same year).

The 1983 Halloween Haunt was my second year of working at Knott's, and I was still working at the same location for which I had been hired, the Cable Car Kitchen.  The Cable Car Kitchen was divided into three sections; an ice cream parlor, a fast food section, and a buffet line.  The fast food section was unofficially known as "Center," because it was in the middle of the building, between the buffet and the ice cream parlor.  Over the years, this section has been renamed, Simply Grand Foods, Viva La Coasters, Pink's Hot Dogs, and finally back to Cable Car Kitchen.  It was even a temporary location for Mrs. Knott's Chicken To Go, while the Chicken Dinner Restaurant was being remodeled in 2016.

These first four photos from 1983, were taken behind the food service counter of "Center."  That year, our theme for the entire building was "pirates" and the Flying Dutchman ghost ship.

Every year, top management expected the employees of all the food locations, to choose their own themes and decorate their own workplaces themselves, both inside and out.  And they expected employees to volunteer their own time to do this.  Employees were not paid for this time.  (And some people assume that Knott's must have been a wonderful place to work, under the ownership of The Knott Family!)  Not everyone had to volunteer, but someone had to, otherwise your location would not get decorated and that was unacceptable.  The park's decorating department, which put up the decorations everywhere else in the park, were not supposed to help us out in any way, with the exception of giving us unlimited access to "spider web" material (cheesecloth).

The employees were also expected to provide their own costumes.  Legally, they couldn't really force everyone to do this, but it was STRONGLY suggested by management, and you did feel the pressure to do so.

Funny, I still remember the first and last names of every single employee in this photo:

Here are a few interesting factoids about the people in this next photo....the employee on the far left had a boyfriend, who volunteered to do everyone's makeup that year.  A few years later, she ended up dating and eventually marrying, one of the park's top Vice Presidents.  And at some point after this photo was taken, the employee on the far right, ended up "stealing" the boyfriend of the employee who she is "choking."  That's just some 41 year-old Knott's employee gossip, for anyone who is interested!

One end of Cable Car Kitchen's fast food counter was partitioned off with a glass wall and door, and designated as "The Sandwich Shop."  (I had been told by an older manager, that this section had been a doughnut shop at one point.)  After the Knott's Lagoon area closed in January of 1983, the snow cone and cotton candy machines from the Lagoon's little food stand were moved over to the Sandwich Shop, and the space was renamed, "The Depot."  This photo was taken in "The Depot."  You can see that the employees in this photo are actually sitting on the cutting board/food prep counter, where the  sandwiches were made.  How unsanitary!

There was some bad "photo composition" taking place that year!  I had cut off the head of the guy in the photo above, and then someone cut off my head in this next shot.  This one was taken in the Cable Car Kitchen's Ice Cream Parlor.  Note the price of an ice cream cone, back in 1983.  It was only .65 cents for a single scoop, and $1.20 for a double scoop!  Someone who worked in our location, took the time to hand paint temporary menu boards for the entire building, just so they would fit in with that year's theme.....and it was done "off the clock," so they didn't get paid one single penny to do it!

Just above that wooden railing and to the right, was this display of a skeleton "at the helm of a ship."  Once again, this was created by employees who worked in our building.  By the way....in a pinch, a double eyepatch works just as well as a white oval!

I had purchased my feathered pirate hat in Disneyland's Pieces of Eight Shop, just a few weeks earlier.  I originally wore "skull" makeup for the very first weekend of the Halloween Haunt, but it caused my skin to break out, so I decided to forego the makeup for the following weekend.  I wish I had gotten a photo of myself with the makeup!

Incidentally, 1983 was the year that a Halloween Haunt guest jumped to his death, from the top of the 20-story high "Sky Jump" attraction.  The guest was 18 year-old Donald Day, of Glen Avon, California.  I was working that night, but the Cable Car Kitchen was completely on the opposite side of the property as the Sky Jump.  Still, it didn't take very long for the news to reach us.  Sadly, some of the guests in that area didn't believe that it was real, and thought it was just another one of the park's many forms of scary entertainment.

Starting in 1985, we were given "Haunt" buttons that were exclusive to employees.  They did not sell any of these earlier Haunt buttons to guests.  Unfortunately, we weren't given Haunt buttons for the first three years that I worked at Knott's ('82, '83, and '84).

This first one is undated, but it is from 1985:

The 1986 button:

1987:

1988:

Going back to that newspaper ad from 1980.....I ended up using that artwork for a project at school.

In my ceramics class, one of our assignments was to make a ceramic "box."  Since we were working on this project in the month of October, I decided to give mine a Halloween theme.

I eliminated the "halo" from above the jack-o-lantern representing "Jubilation" night at the park.

And I eliminated the cowboy hat from the one representing Knott's "Country Music" night.  I had given him a "stem" on top of his head, but it got chipped off before it was time to "glaze" the piece.

A very safe and happy Halloween to all.....and to all a good fright!

Knott's Berry Farm - New Hire Stuff & The Giant Chicken!

Thirty years ago today, I had my employee orientation at Knott's Berry Farm! Having been hired just one week earlier, I had been scheduled for the employee orientation as well as two "cash handling" training sessions. The employee orientation was held in an auditorium that is located on the second floor of Independence Hall.



This staircase leads up to the entrance of the auditorium. A film was shown about the history of Knott's and afterwards, we were assigned to an employee "tour guide" and taken on a tour of the park.



This is my name tag that I was given to wear during the orientation. We hadn't been issued our official name badges yet, so we wore these stickers......and yes, I have saved it all these years. If you read my "I Was A Teenage Christmas Tree At Disneyland" post from December 2010, then you might remember that I also saved the "new hire" items from my short stint at Disneyland as well.



A week after the employee orientation, I had my cash handling training which was held in the Conference Room building that sits adjacent to Independence Hall. It was a two-day training session and on the first day, I stood outside of the locked building with three fellow new-hires waiting for our trainer to show up, but she never did. Oh, and it was pouring down rain! It was a weekday in the "off-season" and the entire Knott's Lagoon and Independence Hall area was abandoned and kind of creepy. As the sun went down, we waited in the rain (and the dark) wondering how long we should stay there. I don't remember how much time passed before we finally decided to go across the street to the Cable Car Kitchen, which was the location we had been hired for. As it turned out, our trainer had completely forgotten that she even had a training class that day. She showed up for our second day and had to cram everything into one session! Having already been through the employee orientation process at Disneyland, I remember that I kept thinking, "This would NEVER happen at Disneyland!"



If I remember correctly, the Knott Family used to have their board meetings in that Conference Room building. And speaking of the Knott Family, shortly after being hired, this welcome card arrived in the mail.





Here's a small booklet that was given out to Food Service employees. The inside shows the exact date of my employee orientation, the cash handling training classes, and my first day of work which happened to be the first day of Easter Vacation/Spring Break that year.












This card was given to new employees to show them where they were allowed to park. Over the years, most of these areas eventually became restricted and everyone was expected to park in the Employee Lot/School Lot across Western Ave.





So thirty years to the exact day of my Knott's employee orientation, I found myself going to Knott's to see Jay Jennings' "The Art of Knott's Berry Farm" photo exhibit. On my way there, I was delayed by one of the park's stagecoaches as it was en route to the stagecoach barn across La Palma Ave.



The exhibit was held in one of the banquet rooms of the Chicken Dinner Restaurant.



Here's Jay Jennings presenting Dean Davisson with one of his 1950's-inspired black and white photographs. Mr. Davisson was the head of Knott's public relations department from 1958 to 1976.



I took this next photo as I passed by the front of the Chicken Dinner Restaruant. Do you notice anything missing?



The giant chicken is gone! I noticed it was missing a couple months ago. I know it wasn't original to the Farm....and it wasn't even there back in the eighties when I was working at Knott's, but it was one addition that I never minded.



I'm guessing that this sculpture was a real vintage roadside sign that Knott's acquired within the last 20 years or so. Does anyone know where it came from originally? I'm hoping it was just placed into storage and that it wasn't tossed out!

Knott's - Hot Dogs, Trees and Attraction Posters

This is a follow up to my Knott's post from last week. In that post, I had mentioned that the fast food counter at the former Cable Car Kitchen had been transformed into a Pink's hot dog stand. Well, I've been back to the park to check it out and now I have some photographs. The photo below is actually of the original Pink's on Melrose and La Brea in Hollywood. I wonder if Hoffy still makes Knott's hot dogs? They did when I was working there in the eighties, but Pat Boone was no longer doing those "Hoffy, the Official Hot Dog of Knott's Berry Farm" commercials. Does anyone else remember those? I tried looking for them on YouTube, but nothing came up.


Here's the new Pink's sign out on Grand Avenue at Knott's. The Hot Dog rotates! By the way, we sold "Foot Long Hot Dogs" at Knott's back in the day, but they were actually only ten inches. If a guest complained that they weren't really a foot long, we were supposed to tell them that was their size before being cooked and that they shrink....but that wasn't true.

Here's a pic that I had posted previously, but now I have an "After" shot to post with this "Before."

They have added a dining room onto the side of the building. It extends out to the edge of the old patio roof. Yes, that pink Crepe Myrtle that I mentioned in my last post seems to have just disappeared. I wonder if it was able to be dug up and saved?

Here's another "Before" shot. There's the Crepe Myrtle again, and the tree that is hanging overhead in the photo is gone now too. We'll see more of it in a minute.

Here's the "After" shot.

This "Before" shows a close up of the old counter.

And this "After" was taken while standing in the new indoor dining area. Note the ceiling and the two posts are the same.

This "Before" was taken while standing just outside the Ice Cream Parlor doors, looking towards Grand Avenue. Virginia's Gift Shop can be seen on the right....and there's that Crepe Myrtle again. I'm obsessed, I know. Hey, I almost titled this post, "The Tree Murderers of Knott's." Go ahead and call me a tree hugger. Just wait...it gets worse.

This "After" was taken standing in almost the same spot as above, but just a few feet further to the right.

Here's another "Before." Now take a good look at that large tree on the right.

Gone! (But the tree behind the "turret" is still there.)

Here's the same tree from a different angle.

Gone! It has been replaced by a new sapling.

Not to beat a dead horse...or tree, but here is that 1967 pic again from Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog.

Here is the "After" pic taken last August.

Here's an even closer shot taken on the same day. Count the trees.

Here's the "After" shot minus the tree on the end. That tree had been there at least since the sixties and I'm guessing it could have been planted when the Cable Car Kitchen was built in 1959.....maybe even earlier since it was already pretty tall in that 1967 pic. Why did it have to be sacrificed? Anyone that grew up with Knott's and has been back in recent years, knows that they have removed MANY of the trees inside the park. I've told this story before, but I'll relay it here again. Upon visiting Knott's a few years ago, one of the saloon bartenders told me that right after Disneyland had a very large tree branch fall on top of a popcorn wagon back in 2001, Knott's management had over thirty of their oldest trees cut down. Now the park is very open and sunny, and there is lots of concrete! Okay, okay....I'll try and get over it and move on.

That yellow building in the pic above is Virginia's Gift Shop. The display windows currently have some intersting artwork in them.....vintage Knott's attraction posters! I wish these were for sale!

Here's a current shot of the inside of Virginia's. Compare it with this Before shot posted recently on Gorillas Don't Blog. The Cable Cars used to travel right between Virginia's and the Cable Car Kitchen and one of the cars can actually be seen outside the window in the vintage pic.

Here's a close up of the same window from 2007. I'm not sure when those shelves were put up, but they were there in the early eighties and they remained there at least up until 2007, and they were always filled with colorful glass items. I wonder if anything was ever lost during an earthquake?

Oops, back to trees. This tree is located just outside of Virginia's and across from the Cable Car Kitchen Ice Cream Parlor. I had previously posted a different shot of it and stated that I didn't know what kind it is. Well, it turns out there is a plaque labeling it as a Chinese Flame Tree....AND IT IS STILL STANDING!!! (Hey, where'd the Volcano go?)

I'll leave you today with two more pics of "The Old Mill Stream" and "George Washington's Mount Vernon Fireplace." These photos have better lighting than the ones I posted previously.

I hope to see everyone on Sunday at the "Knott's Preserved" event! (And I promise I won't be handcuffed to the Chinese Flame Tree!)