Farm Report Aug 29th, 2009

It was a capacity crowd for Jay Jennings’ book signing this past Saturday. I had the pleasure of meeting him and having him sign my book. It was an excellent turn-out and apparently all of the books sold out. Good to see that there is a strong market for the good ole’ days of Knott’s Berry Farm. Hopefully Cedar Fair took note. See Jay’s website for a recap of the event. http://knottsberryfarm.blogspot.com/2009/07/book-signing-at-knotts.html

Since I was at the farm I ventured into Ghost Town for a few pictures. I thought that Ghost Town was looking pretty good. There have been some more details added/replaced in the peek-ins since my last visit. Other repairs and details added around town showed what I interpreted as a sincere effort to keep things in good shape. Granted much of it is probably in anticipation of the coming Halloween Haunt, as the photos below will show, but it is still nice to see things looking good.

This guy is hanging around waiting for October to come.

One of the details that has been replaced/added in Ghost Town. is this reproduction of the Hangman's Tree sign. I haven't done a side by side comparison but I think it looks pretty true to the original.

Despite the recession Hop Wing Lee seems to be doing well. The laundry hangin above his store being evidence. There was no laundry hanging as of my last visit so this was another added detail that I noted.

It looks like they have put the original Silver Dollar sign back on the Saloon, oops I mean Shootin Gallery : (

This sign now hangs above the Silver Dollar. They are trying.....right?

The little house was all closed up this time.


Off in the corner is the Boothill undertaker. I love the Pepper's Ghost effect inside (when it is working).



Last stop for today the Birdcage Theatre. Note the ghost on the roof holding a birdcage.

Hello Again!

It has been a crazy summer! I intend on resuming a somewhat regular posting schedule very soon. Now that I have a scanner I can dig into my post card collection for Blog topics! Yay! For today we'll start with this wonderful Paul Von Klieben post card of main street.

I am heading out to the farm Saturday for Jay Jennings book signing. I am looking very forward to it and hope to meet some fellow Knott's enthusiasts! Here is a link to Jay's site with info about the book and the signing. http://knottsberryfarm.blogspot.com/

That's all for now. Will post again soon!

Take care and Thanks for Readin'

Farm Report - Father's Day 2009

I went out to the farm for father’s day last weekend and decided that an updated post was in order. They have restored some more details on the peek-ins since my last visit. The Barber shop now has a pole and lettering on the window and more artifacts have been returned to the interior of the Silver Dollar Saloon (Oops! I mean shooting gallery).

Due to the graciousness of the lady working in the little weaver’s cottage I was able to get some interior shots of the little house featured in my last post. They are not the best photos but I felt they were worth posting.

A blurry shot looking in the door from the front porch

The kitchen sink

The Old Stove

It appears that this little end of the house is actually the kitchen which leads me to believe that the gun shop behind it is also part of the original house. After I have all of my facts and photos assembled I will make a full post on this charming little building which is currently my favorite

little corner of ghost town.

_

The Maintenance door to the Log Ride. I thought it looked photogenic that day.

Calico Mine Co. Engine #4

And finally what I think is a pretty neat picture of the Cavern Room of the Mine Train. It is so hard to get photos inside this ride that I was quite happy to get this one.

Well that's all for now, Take care and Thanks for Readin'

Little Old House

I’d like to share a discovery I made while researching Knott’s history. There is a little old house in a back corner of Ghost Town (Behind Goldie’s place and across from the Birdcage Theatre) that I believe is the Candle Maker's Shop referenced in the following excerpt from the “Ghost Town History & Reference”

“THE WEAVER’S AND CANDLE MAKER’S SHOPS Moved here in 1953
When we moved here in 1920, this was an old house on a neighboring farm. We don’t know when it was built. We added an additional room onto the weaver’s side in 1955. Mr. and Mrs. Knott went to their first party in this old house after settling here.”

1950's map showing location of what was then "The Candle Maker's Cottage". The Weaver's Cottage is now the gun store. The little old house sits quietly beside it.

Chances are that the house was not new even back in 1920 when the Knott’s first settled in Buena Park which means that it is probably well past the century old mark. This little building fascinates me as it is not only a piece of old west history, but also a piece of Walter & Cordelia’s personal history as well.

The little house is easily overlooked as it is tucked back behind some of the more popular ghost town attractions. The history behind it is even less obvious. I have found that it is often closed but there have been a couple of times when the front door was open and I even saw a lady sitting on the front porch last summer making lace. Unfortunately I have not yet had the opportunity to get interior photos. I am not sure if the general public is allowed inside this structure but I am going to do my best to get some pics of the inside as soon as I possibly can.

If anyone knows anything else about this little house I’d love to learn more about it.

That’s all for today!

Take care, and Thanks for Readin’

“Hello Main Street”

This is a follow up post to “Goodbye Main street”. The construction walls on Main Street have come down and the peek-ins are back up and to be honest they look pretty darn good. This was much more than I was expecting. The peekins look fresh and inviting and I noticed they were drawing quite a lot of attention on Saturday when I was out at the farm. BearyTales.net http://bear-ytales.net/ has posted a full update on the return of the peek-ins that includes a short video that is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t seen it.

"Assay Office"

First off the Assay Office looks great. They put the original figures back in and used many of the original set pieces. They have restored the animation and now the Assayer’s scale rocks back forth as he assesses the ore samples. It is good to see the awning back on the front of this building. It is also nice to be able to see in the side window now since they relocated the sign painter that was butted up against that side wall. For some reason this building looks to be a little wider or shorter than it was previously, perhaps the awning skews the proportions. Still overall this building looks fantastic.

"Hop Wing Lee’s Laundry"

Another stellar job. Hop Wing Lee looks rested and refreshed. He is back at work and thanks to the restored animation is actually pressing clothes again. Nice to see the Laundry hanging on the line above. I am so happy that they put the original door back in. Who doesn’t remember peeking through that little round hole when they were little?

"Barber Shop"

The Barber Shop looks pretty good but it appears that either time or money ran short as there are some important details missing. First off there is no lettering on the windows. Also the barber’s pole is no longer on the outside of the building. Lastly the wanted poster inside could have been done better, it needs to look like the guy in the chair or the humor is lost. Actually maybe the guy in the chair is to blame, either way they need to match. Still the overall appearance is an improvement. Maybe they just haven’t had a chance to finish the details. Let’s hope!

"Silver Dollar Saloon"

I don't think anyone expected the Saloon to return to it’s former role and unfortunately the results live up to the expectations. This is the only let down in the whole bunch. The ugly green target board has returned, the raccoon on a stump has also returned to add an air of realism to the proceedings. The exterior lines of the saloon we’re retained but it is now an unfinished shell for the shooting gallery. The decorative steel grille is all that is left from the old Saloon. I am also hoping that they are not done with the details here as well but I fear that they are.


Deadwood Dick’s grave


D.D.’s grave is still there but the grave markers have been redone. Unfortunately they, like some of the grave markers in Boothill, do not look very authentic. I forget where but I read that back when Ghost Town was originally built they made the signs look weathered by painting the letters on and then sandblasting the wood to give it that aged look. The painted letters would stay raised up while the wood on the background was worn down. I wish that they would give that a try these days.


Overall I think that Cedar Fair has done a very good job rebuilding this part of Main Street. I hope that as much care goes into the next part of ghost town that gets "refurbished".


That's all for now. Take care and Thanks for Readin'

Main Street Update

I finally made it out to the farm Tuesday evening so I wanted to post an update on the progress of the peek-ins. The walls are still up, but they look to be about ½ way done rebuilding at this point. They have completely rebuilt the framing with new lumber and have begun the work on

the facades.

It looks like the original windows are going back into Hop wing Lee’s laundry and it also looks like they are using the original door and window for the Assay Office. The Barber Shop is still just a frame at this point but hopefully they will follow suit and use the original trim pieces as well.


It appears the Silver Dollar Saloon will be returning as a shooting gallery judging by the design of the framing. You can see the decorative steel grille that used to be above the bar in the background. I wonder if this will be a shooting gallery with the old Saloon as the theming. Hopefully they won't put the green targets back in that made it look like a game from "The Price is Right"


It looks like they are doing a good job and trying to recreate things accurately. Time will tell if the interiors are done with as much care. I was happy to see that they retained and will be reusing parts of the original peek-ins. I am anxious to see the finished product.

Barrel House

Many people know of the "Bottle House" at Knott's which is an example of how creativity was used to build shelter when conventional materials were hard to come by. There is another example of this creative building approach near the mine head in front of Boothill. The "Barrel House" walls are made from, you guessed it, barrels. This structure is a Knott's original (not refurbished) and one of the sights I make a point to see when I visit the park. There used to be another house made from creative materials (freight boxes) right next door to the barrel house but unfortunately it was removed to make room for the relocated gold panning attraction.

The prospector realxes inside his Barrel House

The Barrel House is located just behind the "Lucky Cuss" mine head and in front of the graveyard at Boothill over on School Road. You have probably heard the warning to beware of "hitchhiking ghosts" but what about jogging ghosts?

That's it for today. I am planning to head to the farm tomorrow (weather permitting) and hope to have an update on the Main Street peek-ins posted by the end of the weekend.

Take care for now, and Thanks for Readin'