Disneyland landscape architect Ruth Shellhorn was born in Los Angeles. Ruth was a pioneer in her field and, as one of the few women involved with the design of the Disneyland, made a significant contribution to the landscape and pedestrian pathway designs of the park in 1955.
After studying at Oregon State and Cornell, Ruth returned to begin what would become an illustrious career shaping the appearance of the LA area. She designed landscaping for a number of Bullock's stores and shopping centers. On some of those projects Ruth worked with prominent architect Welton Becket, who was a friend of Walt Disney. When Walt needed a landscape architect for Disneyland, Becket recommended Ruth. Ruth joined the Disneyland project in early 1955, a few months before its planned opening. While Jack and Bill Evans had been working to secure plant materials and landscape portions of the park, the design team was struggling with detailed site plans for the different sections of the park, including in the central hub or Plaza. Ruth was brought in as a consulting landscape architect and to act as a liaison between the Imagineers working at the Studio and the Evans brothers at the construction site. She quickly learned this would be much more than a consulting role and was asked to restudy and design the Plaza. Ruth subsequently performed site planning for every other area of the park. As she later explained, her plans provided details on “circulation, paved and planted areas, tree placement, and, in some cases as in the Plaza, the outline of the water courses.” Incredibly, these site plans were not started until April of 1955. Looking back on the chaotic nature of building Disneyland, Ruth said “I doubt this process could have been followed successfully on any other project on earth; but this was Disneyland, a sort of Fairyland, and Walt’s belief that the impossible was a simple order of the day so instilled this spirit in everyone that they never stopped to think that it couldn’t be done — they just did it, and with amazing speed.” Today is Captain America - Steve Rogers birthday! Thank you Omar (Captain America) for collaborating on this awesome tribute and to Stefan for the edit.
Knott's Independence Hall is a National Historical Site located in this part of the city. It is a kind of time capsule. You will experience a trip to the past and witness the signing of the Declaration of Independence there, as this important historical event took place here at Knott's own Independence Hall. Every day they show a re-enactment of this event, hence bringing this piece of history to life. The building is very beautiful with spire, dome and clock. Located directly across the street from Knott’s Berry Farm, Knott's Independence Hall is an exact, brick-by-brick replica of the original historical Philadelphia landmark. This free exhibit offers visitors a chance to personally dive deeper into America’s past. Guests can explore the museum to see an exact replica of the Liberty Bell or to check out wax figure recreations of prominent political figures such as Betsy Ross and George Washington. There's also a variety of historical presidential artifacts. Independence Hall was unveiled by Walter Knott, who admired the original landmark, as an extension of his famed theme park on the fitting date of July 4, 1966. This was exactly 190 years after the Second Continental Congress officially adopted the Declaration of Independence in the original Independence Hall more than 3,000 miles away. See MORE of Independence Hall in previous posts!
Steve Rogers is my favorite Marvel character. He represents everything American; everything good and true. I did a gender bend photo shoot in honor of his birthday. All photos and edits by me.
Since an empty building was out of the question, the Imagineers had to come up with a replacement show. With the upcoming Bicentennial as an inspiration, Marc Davis whipped up a spectacular musical revue, complete with 114 singing animals that represented the forefront of audio-animatronic technology. Davis used characters from an unfinished movie that was to be called “Chanticleer.” The use of costumed animals instead of people helped hide any limitations in movement that might have occurred. Del Monte stepped in as the new sponsor. The show moved guests on a history of America by using more than 40 musical numbers, including songs from the Old South sung by the Swamp Boys, the Old West, the Gay Nineties, and even “today” (which seemed more like yesterday!). Songs for this show included “Yankee Doodle,” “Joy to the World,” “Old Chisholm Trail,” “Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay,” and a pig singing “Bill Bailey” (voiced by Golden Horseshoe legend Betty Taylor). Hosts Sam the eagle (voiced by Burl Ives) & Ollie the owl (Sam Edwards) sang “Yankee Doodle” each time the carousel rotated to introduce a new musical act. It had a fairly long run and didn’t close until April 10, 1988. It has been said that Marc Davis was extremely disappointed when it closed, especially after all the work and creativity he pumped into this show to get it ready in time for a very short deadline. Although it was a rowsing show, this salute to the Great American Songbook really was somewhat out of place in Tomorrowland. Most of the “animals” in this attraction found a new home at “Splash Mountain” in Critter Country once this show closed. Beginning at the New York World’s Fair and then relocated to Anaheim in 1967, this Tomorrowland attraction was sponsored by General Electric. The last Anaheim show was in 1988.
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