Knott's Berry Farm - Goldie's Place Update & Another "Major" Photo Comparison

Hey everyone, it's time for a Goldie's Place Update! The last time we took a look at Goldie's, construction was still taking place. Well, Goldie's is now finished and just like the Assay Office, Wing Lee's Laundry and the Barber Shop, I think it turned out pretty darn good. Before looking at the "today" photo, let's first look at some "before" and even some "in between" shots. These next five photos show a camera angle that I had previously not posted. This first pic was taken in 2007.

POOF! Goldie's is gone! This shot was taken in September of 2010 after Goldie's had been demolished.

Goldie's went back up pretty quickly. This next shot was also taken in September of 2010.

The exterior was actually finished by the time the Knott's Christmas Crafts Festival began, but the interior sets had not been completed. Here's a shot taken in November of 2010. Note the Christmas wreath on the facade.

And here we have the completely finished product.

The sets were installed just three weeks ago. The furnishings look great (although I do miss that tapestry that hung on the back wall for decades). The figures also look wonderful with new clothing, wigs and "makeup."

The leg has returned!

The outhouse behind Goldie's has returned as well! The guy that provides the voice of Sad Eye Joe in the jail is also back in the front window of Goldie's. I'm hoping this is something that never goes away! I was at the park last night and the guy was shutting down just about 15 minutes before park closing. I noticed after he left that there was a pre-recorded audio of Sad Eye Joe talking, but it was coming from the outhouse! Too funny! I'm just hoping that Sad Eye Joe is never turned into a permanent pre-recorded "peek-in".....so the next time you're at Knott's, make sure you stop by and say hello to Sad Eye Joe!

And now for another Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog "Before and After" photo comparison. Here is a photo (used here with permission) that the Major posted back in December showing the Ghost Town Antique Store and it's courtyard area.


Here's the same angle today. The covered patio on the right has since been enclosed and that door now leads to a backstage area for the Calico Saloon. The Antique Store space is now part of the Western Trails Museum. Note the bottles stuck into the cement and used as a garden border.

Here's another vintage shot taken from a Knott's souvenir booklet.

And two more "today" shots showing close-ups of the garden statue.

Awww, he's holding a chicken!

Here's a photo I took last week of a fountain that sits next to the Emporium (formerly the International store and before that, the Basket Shop). The figure looks very similar, but not quite identical. This one has water trickling down from a small bowl. Does anyone know the story of these figures or where they came from? Are they Claude Bell creations by any chance?

And since we're on the subject of the Antique store, here are some antique items that I just recently noticed for the very first time. These pieces of china can be found in a glass case in the Chicken Dinner Restaurant and are part of Walter and Cordelia's original wedding china from 1911. Cordelia Knott supposedly served her very first chicken dinners to the public on her wedding china.

Here's a water pitcher that is also from 1911. The interesting thing here is that next to the typed cards labeling the items, are scraps of paper hand written in pencil, presumably written by Cordelia herself. One of the pieces of paper has the initials "C.K." on it.

Below, is a hat that was custom made for Walter Knott by Stetson in 1966.

This photo was taken sometime in the 1950's and shows Walter and Cordelia standing in front of the Original Berry Stand that started it all. In the foreground is the Ford Model T that brought them to Buena Park in 1920. When I worked at Knott's, there was a huge painting of this scene that went from the floor to the ceiling in the breakroom of the Cable Car Kitchen. Within a year, the employees had peeled enough of the paint off the wall that it required repainting and they did not bother to repaint the mural. People! I remember a Disneyland employee telling me back in the 80's that they replaced their breakroom furnishings with "prison furniture" because the employees were so destructive.

This last item is a copy of the letter from Walter Knott that was sent out to employees in March of 1968, informing them of the fence that was going to be put up around the property and the reasons why. Hmm, I wonder if they still have a profit sharing plan? They still had one back in the eighties.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this Knott's post. I have been going to the park much more now that I have an annual pass. I must say that seeing the restoration Cedar Fair has been doing has given me somewhat of a new appreciation for Knott's and the stuff that is still there. Now Cedar Fair, bring back the Haunted Shack.....and Knott's Bear-y Tales, too!

To see my earlier posts showing the demolition of Goldie's as well as different stages of the construction and vintage post cards of the exterior and interior, click here: Goldie's Place (and then scroll down past the repeat of this post.)

Knott's - 30 Years Ago and A Goldie's Update

Today, we have another Los Angeles Times newspaper advertisement from thirty years ago. This one is for three different events that were held at Knott's Berry Farm back in 1980.


First we have Jubilation, which was an annual event that focused on contemporary Christian music. Then there was the Knott's Country Music Party. This particular year featured Debby Boone who's humongous hit song, "You Light Up My Life" was the most successful single of the 1970's, reaching number one on the Billboard charts in 1977 and staying there for 10 consecutive weeks! (I'm still looking for those TV commercials which featured her father, Pat Boone promoting Hoffy Hot Dogs as "the official hot dog of Knott's Berry Farm".) And then there's Halloween Haunt, which is still going strong today. Back then, the Haunts were held only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and for only two short weeks. Now, the Haunt nights begin in September (tonight marks the first Haunt of the 2010 season) and are scheduled Wednesdays through Sundays for the entire month of October. Notice the price of the Haunt tickets back in 1980. Haunt tickets for this year are $56.00! To see some photos from a Halloween Haunt in the '80's, including a shot of Elvira performing live on stage, (click here).

Next, we have a Goldie's Place update. My last Goldie's report showed demolition photos and then new construction photos taken one, two and three weeks later. Well, I missed out on getting any photos at the four week mark, but the following photos were taken last weekend, only five weeks after demolition had begun on the original structure.

Is that an original window being used on the ground floor?

The two windows upstairs (on the side of the building) also appear to be older. Would they use the original window frames on the new structure?

Well, this answered my question from my last post....the outhouse is being rebuilt! And it looks like at least one of those wooden panels laying around a couple weeks ago was from the original structure and is being reused as well.

That roof might even be original! Perhaps blogger OutsideTheBerm can tell us for sure.

Knott's Berry Farm - The Return of Goldie's and Sad Eye Joe

This is a follow up to my Farewell to Goldie's Place post from three weeks ago. Well, it turns out that Goldie's is being rebuilt, and rather quickly. I went back one week after those demolition pics were taken and found this sign hanging on the construction wall.


Here is a repost of a demolition pic from three weeks ago.


Here's the same view from two weeks ago. The foundation for Goldie's was already in place and there was metal reinforcing laying on the ground waiting for concrete to be poured.


And here's the same view taken just last week. The framing of the building had already begun and the concrete had already been poured on the ground adjacent to it.


Next, is another repost from three weeks ago......


The same view taken two weeks ago......

....and a shot taken just last week.

This next picture shows some wood propped up behind the Ghost Town Jail that looks like it might be from the little outhouse that used to sit next to the jail. You can also see an office chair that looks like it might be the one that the guy providing the voice of Sad Eye Joe sat in. This shot was taken two weeks ago.

Here's a close-up.

This last photo was taken one week ago after the concrete had already been poured. I don't know for sure if those wood panels did come from the outhouse, but that structure is missing. I wonder if it will be rebuilt as well. Unfortunately, I don't have any "before" photos of it.

Stay tuned. I will try to do future updates on the construction as it progresses!

Knott's Berry Farm - Farewell to Goldie's Place

It's time for a Knott's Berry Farm post. Let's start off with a "then and now" photo comparison because I LOVE those! This is Goldie's Place....sort of a house of....well, a chicken ranch I suppose. (Even though the postcard is labeled Goldie's Joint, the sign on the building reads, Goldie's Place.) Note the leg hanging outside of the upstairs window on the left side of the building!



In the downstairs window on the left, you would find a man that provided the voice of Sad Eye Joe, who sat in the Ghost Town Jail located just behind Goldie's. As a kid, my Dad would tell my brother and me to go get in line to talk to Sad Eye Joe, then he would come up with an excuse to leave for a moment. What we didn't know was that our dad was giving the guy in the window our "personal information" so that when we got up to the jail, Sad Eye Joe knew our names, ages, where we lived, etc. I don't remember at what age we figured this all out, but as a kid it was a pretty amazing trick

Through the downstairs windows on the right and also the upstairs windows, guests could catch a glimpse of some ladies of the......well, they worked on the chicken ranch. Let's call them ranch hands.


The picture above is from a vintage postcard and I took the two below in 2007.

Here's another vintage postcard showing the exterior.

And a few more shots from 2007.

The guy providing the voice of Sad Eye Joe would occasionally pull on a rope above him that would make the leg hanging out of the window "kick." The heel of the high top shoe would then swing back and hit the side of the building with a loud bang, attracting everyone's attention.

The sign at the bottom of the stairs leading to the second floor reads, "Not Today"!

These two guests are talking to Sad Eye Joe.

Well, now I have some sad news for Knott's fans out there. Goldie's Place is in the process of being torn down. Here's a shot taken last night while standing in the same spot as above and looking down towards the jail. Sad Eye Joe can actually be seen through the small window in the distance.

Now we're going to pan slowly to the right....

Just inside the framework on the right, is where the person that provided the voice of Sad Eye Joe sat.

The area to the right of that was the interior of Goldie's. The red wallpaper is the same as what we saw in the interior shots. I hope all of the other set pieces were saved!

And I hope Cedar Fair intends to rebuild this classic Knott's "peek-in" just as they did the Assay Office, Barber Shop and Wing Lee's Laundry up the street from Goldie's (I won't mention the butcher job that was performed on the Silver Dollar Saloon....oops, I mentioned it!)

We'll end today with one more vintage shot. Wow, there are cars parked behind Goldie's. This photo looks like it was taken even before the Birdcage Theater was built or the school house was moved to Knott's.

(POST UPDATE: Goldie's Place IS being rebuilt! To see photos of the construction click here for my latest Goldie's post.)