Photos of Knott's from the 1974

I'm posting some slides I came across that are from 1974.

This "Welcome to Ghost Town" sign was on the railing overlooking the Pan for Gold and was located just outside the Farm Market.

Chief Red Feather out on Main Street.

Fiddling Charlie and his wife Mamie.

This picture looks me to have been taken about were the crossing from Fiesta Village into the Boardwalk area is today. The cars in the back ground are probably employees cars. When I started working here in 1974 the Employee Parking Lot was the area behind Calico Mine Ride.

The entrance to the John Wayne Theatre.

The holdup of the Stagecoach took place just before the Stage turned to go East along La Palma Ave.

A sign advertising the "Guided Tours" of Independence Hall. And the next picture is of one of the Tour Guides.



Knott's at Night (Part 2)

Here are the rest of my Knott's at night slides.

This next picture is the Old Knife Shop.

I have some more slides from the mid to late '70s that I will post at a later time.

Knott's at Night (Part 1)

I'm posting some old slides of my from around 1980. I was taking a photography class at Cal State Fullerton and these were for one of the assignments. I always took my camera to work with me.

This next picture is the Propeller Spin that was in the Airfield area.

The next couple of pictures are of the El Cinema Grande theatre that was on the island on lake.

It showed movies in 180 degree format.

This next picture is the Fiesta Wheel ride in Fiesta Village.



That's it for now, I will try to post the rest tomorrow.

Knott's Country Fair Returns

Today I'm posting copies of the entertainment handouts from three of Country Fair events at Knott's. Unlike the "Mardi Gras" event discussed in the previous post this event was very successful and had an 18 year run from 1977 to 1994. And after a 16 year hiatus Knott's has decided to bring it back. The Country Fair will run from April 16 through 24 this year.

The first three images are from the first Country Fair event in 1977.

The next three images are from the second annual event in 1978.

For the next set images we're going to skip ahead a couple of years to 1980, which was the 60th anniversary of Knott's and the fourth annual Country Fair.

That's it for this post, I plan to post more Country Fair materials when I get a chance to scan them in.

Mardi Gras at Knott's

Today I'm posting some of the materials from the first (and only) annual "Mardi Gras Madness" at Knott's Berry Farm. The event took place alittle over 35 years ago now, February 25, 27, 28 & 29, 1976.

The first images are of the entertainment/map handout.

The next item is a cardboard button that was given to employees to advertise the event.

The next image is of the souvenir coins that were thrown out from the floats during the "Mardi Gras Promeade". I remember working as a "sweeper" during this time and having to pick up these coins, I have a bag full of these still. This event did not go over very well, hense the fact that it was the first (and only) annual "Mardi Gras Madness". A side note here is that this year's Summer kick-off employee BBQ is themed "Marty Gras", named after the current GM Marty Keithley.

"Big Jake" Premiere and The John Wayne Theatre

The first five images below are from the "Big Jake" Premiere Program.

(The Cover)

(The premiere was a charity benefit for the Orange County Chapters of the National Assistance League and the second page was a listing of the participating chapters and services which they supported.)

(The Cast)

(Scenes from the movie)

The next set of images are from the summer 1971 "The Knotty Post". The cover is a picture of John Wayne from his movie "The Sons of Katie Elder".

Page two describes the events of the night. Pat Buttram served as Master of Cermonies and Virginia (Knott) Reafsnyder spoke on behave of the Knott family and the National Assistance League, Virginia was always hosting some kind of charity event throughout the years.

Page three tells of Governor Ronald Reagan and John Wayne introducing Mr. & Mrs. Knott in celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary. There's a story of Mr. & Mrs. Knott's wedding day and a quote from Mr. Knott from their 50th anniversary party; he said  "We're starting our second fifty years and we'll have another party on our 100th." Their 100th would be June 3 of this year. So, let's hope we can fulfill Mr. Knott's promise in one way or another.

The next two pages are the about the opening of Gypsy Camp. A couple of notes here; the caption under the bottom picture on the first page talks about the gas torches throughout Gypsy Camp. During my first year of working at the park one of the things I got to do was light these torches. The bottom picture on the second page is of the "Magic Cave" and the employee in the picture is Paul Butler, who went on to illustrate one of the park maps. 

The center spread are pictures from the premiere of "Big Jake".

The next page has a article titled "Why We Named it the John Wayne Theatre". To summarize it says "John Wayne is a true berry farm kind of man and his struggle for success has in many ways paralleled the struggle of the Knott family." Also, on this page is a article about the "The John Wayne Room" with the collection of momentos from John Wayne's many movies.

The next page has picture of Barbara Mott of Mott's Miniatures who won the prize for naming the new food location in Gypsy Camp "Foods of Fortune".

The following page describes the new "modernized" Foods of Fortune shop. And the next page tells of the "Gypsy Clan" and their palm reading skills. There is also an article about the new show in the theatre.

And lastly the back cover was a reprint of the letter from President Nixon congratulating Mr. and Mrs. Knott on their 60 years of marriage.