The Calico Saloon at the west end of Market Street was the featured building fronting Calico Square. A tiny stage was located above the West end of the balcony, later it was replaced by a wide formal stage, south behind the bar. It hosted a variety show inside with a piano player, a few vaudeville routines, and "Dakota Dan", "Calico Kate" and Marilyn and Cecilia Hargrave, sister dancing girls performing the Can-Can finale (and later immortalized as the fiberglass dancing girl figures on a bench outside the saloon.) A wide stairway led up to the interior and outside balconies. The inside balcony provided additional seating and tables, along with the best view of the show. A pair of baskets operated like a dumbwaiter to lift meal orders up to the hostess there.
Outside in Calico Square Harvey Walker played Doctor I. Will Skinem performed his Medicine Show and peddled "Boysenberry Elixir" from his wagon/stage near the popcorn cart, the same wagon stage featured Professor Mal-De-Mers, and a young Steve Martin on banjo between performances at the Bird Cage Theater. Cowboys confronted the Sheriff and his posse. They performed shootouts with flips and stunts, even a high fall. To wrap it up, fifteen minutes of comedy involved the Boot Hill Undertaker trying to remove the body from the Calico Square Wild West Show. The Knott's Berry Farm's Wild West Stunt show performances are scheduled at the Covered Wagon Camp nowadays, with impromptu shootouts in front of the Blacksmith, outhouse and Calico Saloon. Between the saloon and the general mercantile was the Post Office which was for a time a real working U.S. post office and Wells Fargo Express walk-in attraction displays. The post office featured cutting-edge 1870s postal technology and the Express office depicted activities of a gunsmith. Contemporary postage stamps can be purchased there daily from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and mail deposited is dutifully forwarded to the U.S. Postal Service. Come meet the Peanuts Gang in their all-new meet and greet location, the Beagle Scout Headquarters. This new interactive location invites guests to meet their favorite characters in an immersive, highly themed setting. No visit to camp is complete without a hug from Snoopy and a photo to capture the memory forever!
The Old Schoolhouse in Ghost Town opened in 1879 in Mitchell County, Kansas and served many generations of children until it closed in the 1940’s. Walter Knott brought this authentic one-room schoolhouse to Knott’s Berry Farm in 1952. Class is in session in the one room schoolhouse so come on in and take a seat. The teacher historian will show you what school life was like back then for students and teachers.
In Boot Hill Cemetery, headstones and grave markers gave macabre humor to the fate of the deceased – Hiram McTavish even invited bystanders to good luck by feeling the heartbeat by standing on his mound.
A faithful re-creation of "The Jersey Lilly" Judge Roy Bean's Saloon in Langtry, Texas opened with casks on each end of the bar disguising Boysenberry Drink fountains. Coin-operated vintage gambling machines were converted to amusements where every pull was a winner and rewarded one souvenir token. Couples could "Get Hitched" in a comedic mock matrimonial ceremony, conducted by "The Judge" barkeep and justice of the peace. The bent horseshoe nail 'wedding rings' were selected to fit the bride and groom from a pailfull. A painting of Lillie Langtry was purported to adorn the wall, which upon further examination turned out to be the unsinkable Molly Brown. This building was later moved west to Calico Square for construction of the Native Dancer performance stage of Indian Trails. Bud Hurlbut created this rumbling tour aboard six ore cars fitted along the sides with benches behind a fanciful representation of a small steam locomotive on a narrated journey touring the "Calico Mine". Admission could be purchased from the shack at the base of the trail up to the station. An underground lake, steam geyser, shaft elevator, Philip Deidesheimer's Square-set timbering construction techniques on the lift hill and several glimpses of the "Glory Hole" could be seen aboard this power assisted gravity coaster. A day-glow painted cavern featured several formations of stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and stalagmites building slowly from the floor, to dramatic organ music. Dead Man's Trestle was then crossed slowly before the train became a "runaway" through a blasting zone and cave-in for a thrilling climax of this enclosed, power assisted gravity roller-coaster.
Along the front was an overhang built to cover the Mule Train boarding area. The Mule Trail was relocated east across Beach Blvd, and then removed entirely when those shallow canyons were converted to the picnic grounds. Bud Hurlbut (Wendell "Bud" Hurlbut 1918-Jan. 5, 2011) of Hurlbut Amusement Company constructed Calico Mine Train which opened in 1960 on Walter Knott's property at a cost of $1.5 Million as a concession, and paid Walt a portion of ticket sales. When Walt visited Bud during construction he asked "Do you know what you are doing?" and even though he had invested every cent and more Bud replied "Yes." He told the story later and added "…and I never lied to him again." Bud lived in an apartment with a cot and refrigerator, hidden inside near the train storage tracks and repair shop; a short commute to an endless task. It incorporated many innovative designs, such as being the first attraction to incorporate a hidden switchback queue. When Walt Disney came to ride he was astonished enough to exclaim "You old S.O.B!" because the trail was obscured, it appeared to have a shorter wait than actual, which is now the industry standard. Bud was also the operator of the Knott's Lagoon attractions – the merry-go-round, the row-boat and peddle-boat rental, the Cordelia K. Steamboat side-wheel steam boat, and continued to construct superior amusement park steam locomotives and trains, like the Miniature Train circling Knott's Lagoon. He would continue to create world class attractions, such as the Antique Auto Ride and Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott's and other theme parks. The Calico Mine Train remains a popular attraction. |
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