The pre-DL world through my great-great-grandfather's lens

[Datameister]

So a couple weeks ago, we were going through the attic and we found something we hadn't seen in about fifteen years. This unmarked cardboard box contained several old film reels of my great-great-grandfather telling the stories behind a number of very old photos he'd taken over the years. This was a thrill in and of itself, but we were even more excited when we found most of those original photos in the box with the reels. (It would have been even cooler if the cameras had been, too!)

Now, my great-great-grandfather, Earl, was something of an adventurer who spent a lot of time globetrotting when he was young, and a lot of the locales he visited would later provide inspiration to Walt and the original Imagineers who built Disneyland, which is why I've posted this thread in this particular forum. (Please don't move it! )

Anyway, what follows is a partial transcript of Grandpa Earl's explanations. Obviously, it takes a while to type all this up and scan the photos and everything, but I've tried to provide the most relevant and interesting highlights.

Now, this was the first view I ever saw of the mines. We came over the hill from, uh, Rainbow Ridge, I think, and this thing was just...enormous. This is probably my favorite photograph from the whole time I was in Utah.



The town was busy, too. The miners had a - it was a, a locomotive that went back and forth from the mine. Actually, I think you can see some of the tracks in this picture - and there was a roundhouse back behind the barber's shop, there. There was some funny stories about that train, but I never saw anything out of the ordinary. [laughs]



We did have a few exciting, uh, incidents. This was a goat that got ahold of some of the dynamine we were using for blasting near the Spiral Butte, who - that just about blew us to bits, really. [laughs] I don't know what I was thinking taking a picture. This was right before Tom Fairchild sneaked up on him from behind and grabbed him.



Around when I left Utah, I did some traveling on the rivers. This was actually the last time I saw Big Thunder until...19 - 1948, must have been. I missed this real gentle howl that the wind made in one of the canyons on the north side, like a coyote, but sweeter-sounding. You don't forget things like that. That ship sure was nice, though. Why, you'd swear it was powered by something other than that big paddle it had in back - you can't see it here, of course.



Oh - then I ended up in the South, a few different places. This was a studio where I met a professor with these big - big eyes, taught me a lot about photography. You can just see in the back, there, part of this hill they had, Chickapin Hill, they called it. There was a local legend about a fox that lived up in this stump at the top. I think that's in the next photo.



Yeah, there it is. I never saw that fox, either. [chuckles]



Now, while I was in the South, I never lived in New Orleans for any real amount of time, but I did spend a few weeks there. Took a train, spent some time with Bart [his brother]. This was the station. I think this picture - I took it, must have been 'cause of the water tank, 'cause I couldn't figure out how the, the supports on the bottom went. You see? They went right through one another. [laughs] I never knew wood could do that.



Okay...I think I'm gonna have to do the rest in a separate post. I'm looking at a few photos from his stay in New Orleans, and probably a few from Europe and Asia, too. Stay tuned!

By the way, this is what Earl looked like when he was a little younger than I am now. People tell me I look a lot like he did, but I'm not sure I see the resemblance. ::shrug::



More to come in a while!

[disneylandfan95]

Awesome!!! Your great-grandfater was really imaginitive!!!

[Aladdin]

ah, d.m., I gather your gggf is as good a storyteller as Uncle Remus.

[Datameister]

PART II

I remember I was really impressed with the train I took to New Orleans...very fast, although it was a little smaller than I was accustomed to. It was a beautiful day, you can see. There was a, uh, an open-air restaurant or cafe or something near there, and the smells were just delightful. Thought I could hear some singing or something coming from the buildings on the right side of this photo. I don't know what that was all about. Funny the things you remember.



And I took this photograph from the Mississippi, must have been. I was amazed at all the people.



Oh, this one got a little damaged, looks like. Oh, that's too bad. I think I had to climb a tree for this one. Can't believe I lugged my camera and all up in there. I think it was worth it, though. The rooftops always fascinated me. [I must have inherited that from him!]



One of my favorite places in Europe was Bavaria. We saw this amazing castle, Neuchurst - Neu - Neuschwanburg [sic], when it was still pretty new. They had just opened it to the public, I think. I didn't get any photographs inside, but, ah, the outside was just...amazing. Amazing to behold.



Oh, I'd forgotten about this! We stayed until nightfall, and the most amazing thing happened, and the castle lit up all on the outside! I still don't know how they did that. With the moat down below, it was all sparkling and - oh, there was snow, too. I think you could see that on the other photo before, also. I don't know how they did that.



Oh, Switzerland. That was...ah, not my favorite part of the journey, but the Matterhorn was a wonderful sight. It has this way of rising over everything. You had to be careful about the wind, though, or it'd blow your right off your - your feet. [laughs]



Oh, this was with my old camera again. This was from quite a few years later, though, on another trip, when I was older. Must have been put in here with the other Asia photos by mistake. There was this archeologist, handsome as all get-out - Geraldine [his wife] always had a thing for him. [chuckles] He found this temple in India, opened it up to tourists. I never went all the way in myself - there were some stories that weren't so nice. I never saw anything unusual, though. And I'm glad I didn't!



I'm not sure where this was...probably part of the same temple, the caves nearby.



And that was about as far as I went. [laughs] Geraldine went a little further, but she didnt' see anything but bats.



I don't have many photos from Africa, but this was one of them, I think. Most feared animal in the jungle, right there.



Oh, and then there was Roswell, where I did see some unusual things. But you don't want to hear about that. [laughs]





FIN

[I Heart Disneyland]

Very clever! I enjoyed it!

[cheshire kat]

that was interesting.
your grandpa took some really nice photos

[Radiobarry]

I enjoyed it, too. I must admit you had me going there for awhile. My middle initial might just stand for "Gullibility"...

The photos are nicely done.

[Legally Brunette]

Very nice pictures. I liked the "aged" effects.

[aashee]

Very creative thread. Thanks Data!

[stitchon]

I smell Editor's Pick during the round up.

Amazingly creative, Data!

[Coheteboy]

Cool stuff! Gotta be really careful with focus when you're shooting with an old camera like this, though. Also, some of the shots are quite dark, and the composition of a couple of 'em just doesn't quite do it for me. But...like I said, cool stuff. Thanks for posting!

(someone's gotta be the datameister when he posts the pics now and then)

[Sir Didymus]

^ Hee hee, true.

Well thank you Data, for showing me that I am a gullible sheep!

[Wendygirl]

So, this is what you had in mind when you commented on my sepia picture thread

Very clever. I like those "aged" photo's. Though I have to admit when I first saw the title of the thread I thought we were going to see old photos of the orange grove where Disneyland was built

[Datameister]

Thanks, all!

Originally Posted by Coheteboy

Cool stuff! Gotta be really careful with focus when you're shooting with an old camera like this, though. Also, some of the shots are quite dark, and the composition of a couple of 'em just doesn't quite do it for me. But...like I said, cool stuff. Thanks for posting!

(someone's gotta be the datameister when he posts the pics now and then)

You are truly evil. Even with your disclaimer at the bottom, I didn't even recognize my own (slightly rephrased) post at first.

In all seriousness, though, if any of you have an critiques, I'd be more than happy to listen to 'em. Do know, however, that many of these were taken for reference purposes, not with artistic intent - and none of them were taken with Photoshopped aging in mind.

(Because yes...I can assure you, all of these were taken within the last 1.5 years or so, with a thoroughly modern digital SLR.)

[darkfairycthulu]

Awesome work Data, those are great...and kudos to your great-great Grandfather as well...too bad he didn't venture any further into New Orleans though, I hear there are all kinds of old abandoned mansions in that city...people even say they might be haunted!