Father's Day In The Parks (And My 400th Post!)

Well, it's been six years since I've done one of these Father's Day posts. Where does six years go? I don't even know where the last year went! And by the way....this is my 400th post! Okay, here we go. Today's photos were all taken by my dad at various tourist attractions throughout Southern California.

First up, we have Universal Studios. The first pic was taken in 1988 during the the tram tour of the studio backlot. This was the "Burning House." According to "thestudiotour.com," it was originally located adjacent to the Universal Amphitheater. It was moved to the location below in 1982, but was eventually demolished to make way for the Jurassic Park ride and a new fire station. (And that website didn't miss pointing out the irony there!)

The next pic was taken in the early 1970's. This was Universal's "Wild West Stunt Show." Note the man that is horizontal in mid-air to the right of the light blue building. Also note the two men lying on the floor of the arena in front of the Silver Slipper Saloon. According to "thestudiotour.com," the stunt show was only in this location from 1970-1972 and at the end of that period, this arena was expanded and turned into the Universal Amphitheater (which originally was an outdoor venue). At that time, the stunt show was moved to another location in the upper lot, where it would stay until closing permanently in 2002.

This shot from 1990 shows the western stunt show in it's upper lot location, just after it had received a renovation and a name change to "The Riot Act Stunt Show." The renovation included a new collapsing facade on one of the buildings. During the show, a stuntman would sit on a crate in the middle of the arena, while an explosion would cause the front of the building behind him to fall forward. One of the windows would line up perfectly so the building would fall down "around him"....which is what had happened just seconds before my dad took this picture.

Our next stop is at Knott's Berry Farm. This first photo was taken in 1974 at Knott's Lagoon, which was located across the street from the main theme park. The locomotive was one of the many miniature trains manufactured by Bud Hurlbut. This one is reportedly in a private collection today, but Bud's miniature train from the original Santa's Village (in Sky Forest, CA) can be found today at the Santa Ana Zoo in Santa Ana, California. And another one can be found at Castle Park (formerly owned by Bud Hurlbut) in Riverside, CA.

In this shot from 1966, Chief White Eagle places a feather headdress on a guest in Ghost Town. The Old Knife Shop which used to be located just south of the Miner's Bank, can be seen in the background.

This Polaroid is from the mid-1970's and was taken on the front porch of the Gold Trails Hotel in Ghost Town. In the early 1940's, Walter Knott acquired pieces of an old hotel in Prescott, Arizona (including the two doors in the background) and used them on what would be one of the very first Ghost Town buildings at the Farm. The hotel housed the Covered Wagon Show which told the story of his mother's and his grandmother's journey out west in a covered wagon. Unfortunately, the show was removed and the hotel was torn down. A recreation of the hotel stands in the same spot today with the show being replaced by a souvenir shop.

I'm pretty sure that the musician on the left is "Fiddlin'" Charlie Ware. And I believe the guitarist's name is "Mamie," but I don't have a last name for her. If anyone knows, please feel free to chime in below in the comment section!

Last up we have three shots from Disneyland. All of the photos feature characters that we don't see walking around the park anymore. The first one is of Br'er Bear, who could often be seen in New Orleans Square, along with his pal, Br'er Fox. The photo was taken in 1982.

Baloo and Mowgli from The Jungle Book could often be seen hanging out (usually with King Louie) in or around Adventureland. This shot is also from 1982.

And this final pic of Snow White, Dopey and Sneezy(?) in front of Tomorrowland, is from April of 1971. Snow White can still be seen greeting guests in the park today, but it is rare to see any of the Seven Dwarfs unless it is in a parade or show.

I hope everyone enjoyed this little trip through some of Southern California's theme parks. And an early "Happy Father's Day" to all of the dads out there!

(***BONUS!!! I happen to have three vintage Disneyland postcards, featuring the same characters seen above, so I am including them below.)

Knott's - Covered Wagon Show Remnant

Hey kids, let's visit Knott's Berry Farm again! I posted this photo (courtesy of Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog) back in January in a Knott's "Then and Now" post. If you look on the far left of the pic, you will see a sign that reads, "Covered Wagon Show. FREE. Lasts 3 min."

That sign used to be attached to the Gold Trails hotel, which housed the Covered Wagon Show on it's ground floor. This was a diorama show (actually a "cyclorama" because of it's curved painted backdrop) that told the story of Walter Knott's grandmother and mother as they journeyed west across the desert in a covered wagon.

Here's the Gold Trails hotel as it appears today. Unfortunately, when the hotel was rebuilt in the nineties, the Covered Wagon Show was replaced with a gift shop.

This photo and description of the diorama is taken from a souvenir Chicken Dinner Restaurant menu and used here with permission from Connie Moreno who originally posted it on her "Life is a Journey" blog. To see the full souvenir menu, as well as some great Disneyland trip reports, click here: Life Is A Journey.

Here's the show's original concept art painted by Knott's artist, Paul von Klieben.

And here's a vintage ViewMaster shot showing the diorama after "nightfall."

If you look closely at the previous three photos, you will see a man on a horse next to the covered wagon. He was the "scout" that had gone out ahead of the wagon train in search of water (Ma, I'm thirsty!) Well, the diorama is long gone, but this figure still exists at Knott's today! He can be found inside The Pony Express Outpost/Museum, which is located in Ghost Town between the Wilderness Dance Hall (Jeffries Barn) and Boot Hill.

Incidentally, the museum building used to be the Rivera School House and is a California Registered Historical landmark.

Here are some shots of the scout and his horse on display inside the museum. The museum's curator informed me that this figure was carved by another well known Knott's artist, Claude Bell, but I'm not completely sure of that fact. I know Andy Anderson carved Sad Eye Joe and many of the other Ghost Town "peek-in" figures. Hopefully someone out there will let me know for sure.

Here's another vintage shot of the diorama for comparison.

And here are some more "today" shots of the rebuilt Gold Trails Hotel. The center doors used to always be closed and locked.....I believe that the diorama backed up against them. The doors to the right of that were the show's exit doors and the door on the far right was/is used for employee access to the building's second floor.

The show's entrance and lobby were located for many years through the doors on the far right of this next pic. In the earliest years, guests actually entered through a covered wagon that was parked alongside the hotel.

This is the view today looking out from inside the gift shop.

For five and a half years, I worked literally within yards of this structure and never went in to see the show....not even once! I can't believe it, really. I don't know what I was thinking at the time, because even as a teenager I had an appreciation for these kind of attractions. Fortunately, I had seen it several times as a child, but I do regret never seeing it during the time I was actually working there. I guess I used to think that this stuff would just always be around....like the Haunted Shack. :-(

Some of you may remember that blogger "Outsidetheberm" wrote an absolutely incredible post about the Covered Wagon Show a while back and included a word for word transcript of the show's soundtrack. Unfortunately that post is no longer available on his blog, but I'm hoping he will repost it someday (hint, hint!). He is the one that actually tipped me off about the existence of this figure (thank you, OTB!) after I asked him if any of the props from the show still existed. It just took me a little while to find a time when the museum was open so I could check it out!