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!
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