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!

Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt at Disneyland - 1980s

Let's go back 40 years, to the totally tubular 80s!  The year was 1984, the Summer Olympics were taking place in Los Angeles, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched on it's maiden voyage, Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial, and the very last World Expo/World's Fair to take place in the United States, was held in New Orleans.  Oh, and in April, Disneyland was holding their 3rd annual "Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt" event.

According to this "Collector's Series" card from Disneyland's 40th anniversary year, the egg hunt event began in 1982.  I have an identical button as the one above, but with "1983" on it, so I know they held the event for at least three years in a row.  However, I'm not sure how many years they continued it.

A game card was given to children ages 3-12 (3-11, in 1982 and 1983), as they entered the park.  It included 5 silver scratch-off  "eggs."  You were supposed to scratch off only one spot, to reveal which "Easter Meadow" (within the park) you needed to go to for your prize.  Someone scratched off all of the eggs on the card, below.  I hope someone told that child that they were not getting any prizes, because they couldn't follow directions properly!  Once you located your designated "meadow," you could choose one of the plastic eggs that were scattered out on the grass.  There was another scratch-off card inside the egg, that would let you know what you had won.

I scanned this card years ago, and I wish I had done it at a higher resolution.  There is a list of prizes on the back, along with a number of how many of each prize was awarded.  The prizes were; Thumper Buttons (like the one at the top of this post) - 30,000 were available to win, a child's Disneyland Passport - 25,000, a 14" stuffed Thumper toy - 800, a Thumper backpack bag - 500, and a Bradley Mickey Mouse wristwatch - 250.

There were also lesser-value food items, such as a box of Orville Redenbacher popcorn, a large Coca-Cola, a Carnation ice cream bar, and a large Sunkist orange juice.  And one lucky winner was going to win a family vacation for four, to Walt Disney World.  That prize included round-trip coach air fare, a five night stay in a Disney hotel, six days admission to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center, and breakfast, lunch and dinner at any Walt Disney World restaurant or dinner show!  Gee....that was a REALLY good prize!

Here's what the child's Disneyland Passport prize looked like:

The Spring 1983 issue of Disney News Magazine included a brief mention about Thumper's Easter Egg hunt.  It looks like you had to fill out an entry form, for the chance to win the grand prize of a vacation at Walt Disney World.

I went to the park just a few days before Easter Sunday of 1984.  This is the entertainment guide that was available at the main gate:

"Airplay" was performing at the Tomorrowland Terrace during the day, playing the "now" sounds of today's popular music, while "Krash" was playing there in the evening.  Sister Sledge and The Whispers were also performing that week!

Disney was selling a special "Olympic Spirit Passport," which came with a solid bronze medal.

This ad from the April 8, 1984 edition of The Los Angeles Times was promoting Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt, along with the grand reopening of the Alice In Wonderland attraction.  Apparently, a few days before my visit, Frankie Avalon and KC (of KC and the Sunshine Band fame) had both been appearing.  Tommy Tutone had also performed at the park, earlier that week.  I had seen him there two years earlier during my Grad Nite.  I guess Tommy Tutone is actually a "them" and not a "him," since it's the name of the band and not one individual person.  I only found that out just now, when looking up the release date of their hit song, 867-5309/Jenny (November of 1981).

Here's the advertisement for Thumper's Easter Egg Hunt, from the previous year.  This one is dated March 20, 1983.  Jay Johnson & Bob from the TV show, "Soap," were performing!  And so were Kool & The Gang!  Oh...and Chachi was there, too.

And here's the advertisement from 1982, the event's debut year.  Peaches & Herb were being "Reunited" at Disneyland, and "shaking their groove thing!"

I will "wrap" up this post with another Disney Easter item, from the 1980s.  This "Instant Egg Art" kit has a date of "1981" on back, but I purchased it at least a couple years later, approximately in 1983 or '84.

The instructions:

These colored strips could be cut out and assembled into stands, for holding the decorated eggs:

And these are the "wrappers" or sleeves, which were designed to slip over your hard-boiled eggs.  After dipping them in boiling water for 3 seconds, they would shrink tightly around the egg.  There were two sets of each design included, but I never used any of them.

A very happy Easter, to all!