October 10, 1967: Old fountain store

Letter postmarked October, 10 and October 11, 1967:

Two postmark dates? Yes, for some reason this envelope shows a postmark date of October 10 in Los Angeles and then on top of that is a postmark from Waco, TX with a date of October 11.

The CCZCC now stands at 7.

Dear Mother,

How are things with you - still busy? I have several things to write you about today so I better get started.

First of all, we went back to Disneyland on Saturday. It was a bad day to go because it turned very hot (it had been cool all week) and crowds were terrible (several church and school groups attended.) We managed to have a good time though and we took 23 pictures, but did not get but about 4 or 5 of David Wayne - just too many people stepping in front of camera. We went on the train ride around Disneyland and they had several beautiful tunnels showing Grand Canyon today and how it was in pre-historic times - wish you could have seen it! We went on the Steamboat ride, the Matterhorn bobsleds (they were fast and really bumpy), the flying Dumbo, Wild Toad Ride, Mad Tea Party ride (I got dizzy and nearly fainted after that one) and two more train rides - the one in Frontier Land was very good, showing Old Faithful and desert, the one in Fantasy Land wasn't much. I really wished for you when we went in the Enchanted Tiki Room. You would have enjoyed it more than anything else out there - it was singing birds and flowers, beautiful colored water fountains, etc. It was a typical Walt Disney production - all in good taste and so beautiful you couldn't believe your eyes. Dave was disappointed because he expected the "hip-swinging" dancers, but David Wayne and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Oh, how I wished for you to be there!

[I already posted all but two of the Disneyland photos with me in them when I wrote about our September 9 trip to Disneyland. Here are the two not posted previously.]

[Mom's caption on this one in the photo album is "David Wayne on Merry-go-Round rock at Tom Sawyer's Island. Rock actually went 'round and 'round." I wish I knew how fast it turned and exactly what moved and what was stationary. I can't envision a safe way to move anything in that picture if kids can freely climb all over it.]

[Mom's caption on this one is "Kids had plenty of rocks to play on at Tom Sawyer's Island." I'm sure Dad was thrilled to get have that boy's rear end in the foreground of this picture. If you zoom in on me you'll notice two things.]

[First, I really need some bigger shirts. Second, is that an expression of joy or terror on my face?]

[Based on that stalker guy in sunglasses, I think it was terror.]

[Fun fact: Tom Sawyer Island has the distinction of being the only attraction designed by Walt Disney himself. (In 2007 it was renamed Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.)]

Did you know that in my pregnant state I have become a "safety hazard?" That is what they told me at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. They wouldn't even let me in the gate - but the Davids went. It really was funny, especially since I had just come from the Matterhorn ride. Dave wouldn't tell me much about the ride (he didn't want me to feel bad) but honest David Wayne claims it was really sumpin'. If it hadn't been so funny, I would have gotten mad about missing what is known as the best ride in Disneyland.

[Here's some quick info on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride from the Disneyland web site I was unable to satisfactorily summarize:]

"Pirates of the Caribbean is considered by many to be one of the most spectacular attractions ever created for a theme park. Now celebrating its 50th anniversary, the adventures continue in Southern California!

The attraction was originally conceived as a wax museum and a walk-through exhibit. But following the success of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Walt Disney and his team of Imagineers decided that Audio-Animatronics—Walt’s latest animation technology—was the most imaginative way to tell a rousing pirate story.

On March 18, 1967, Pirates of the Caribbean opened at Disneyland Park. Thanks to the many highly detailed scenes, lavish special effects and memorable characters, the attraction earned rave reviews and has remained a beloved classic, even spawning its own blockbuster film series!"

The funniest thing happened on the way to Disneyland. Do you remember a sign in front of the building where we turned off the freeway? It was a world globe fountain and the water came out at the bottom. When we passed it this time, David Wayne said, "There's the world and that water is the south pole melting!" Now tell me he isn't learning from that globe I bought him. Dave got so tickled he nearly ran off the road.

[Here's a drawing of the fountain Mom included in this letter.]

[No, that's not a jellyfish. It's a fountain.]

[I do remember this specific incident and I'm so glad Mom wrote about it to confirm it's not one of those made up memories. The fountain, as I recall, looked like the one currently in front of Universal Studios. Here's a picture of that fountain I grabbed from the interwebs.]

[Regarding this particular incident on the way to Disneyland, I remember looking out the car window, seeing this large wire-frame globe over a fountain, and immediately saying, "Hey look, the south pole is melting." I was pretty proud of myself for that one and I remember it got a big reaction from Mom and Dad.]

Sunday we didn't go anywhere except . . . Do you remember me getting a letter while you were here from some friends of Aunt Mary and Mrs. Jennings? If you recall, Dave and I were not too happy about it. Well, we got another letter last week from them inviting us to dinner. We could hardly say no, so very reluctantly we accepted the invitation and dreaded going for several days. We appreciated their thoughtfulness but just couldn't imagine what we could talk to them about. (The man is 65 and the woman is 63.)

[Mrs. Jennings in this case would have been my grandmother on my father's side, and Aunt Mary was her sister. It sounds like a couple they knew was living in the Los Angeles area so they gave them our address, and now this older couple (I assume Dad didn't know them) had invited us over for dinner. As you can tell, my twenty-something parents were not looking forward to hanging out with a sixty-something couple.]

Sunday afternoon the three of us and our long faces crawled into our car and slowly made our way across town. As it turned out we had the best time you could ever imagine. We felt at home before we even entered the house. They are such warm and friendly people that we felt no age barrier at all. They have a nice back yard where David Wayne spent most of the time with their two dogs. I've never seen him have a better time and he warmed up to the Sivells very quickly. We had a nice dinner, but nothing so fancy that I felt uneasy. We ate our usual "piggish" way and felt no discomfort. As it turned out Mr. Sivells had gone to North Texas and had been in the Escue's store many times.

[I'll break in here to mention that "North Texas" is the university in Denton now known as UNT, The University of North Texas (formerly North Texas State University, North Texas State College, North Texas State Teachers College, North Texas State Normal College, North Texas Normal College, and the Texas Normal College and Teacher Training Institute.)]

[Who were the Escues and what kind of store did they have? The Escues were Richard Byrd and Era Catherine Escue, my grandmother's Uncle Byrd and Aunt Era. They owned and operated The College Store across the street from the TWU campus in Denton. (That's Texas Woman's University, formerly Texas State College for Women, College of Industrial Arts, and Girls Industrial College.) It began as a homemade candy and confectionary store, and over the years expanded into a full-fledged soda shop that also carried all types of supplies a college student might need. They operated the store for over 51 years, from August of 1916 until at least November of 1967. Here's a picture from a neat article about the store in the Denton Record-Chronicle from October 11, 1964.]

[In that picture Uncle Byrd was 79 and Aunt Era was 74. So Mom moved to Los Angeles and met a man who had visited and remembered her great aunt and uncle's store in Denton 40-something years ago.]

Later, as we talked about family names, I really made a hit with my Mordecai-Taliaferro background. Also, Mr. Sivells had gone to school with a Leon Taliaferro from Denton (1920). Who was this Leon and can you give me info as to his whereabouts now - Mr. Sivells wanted to know. We plan to be with these people as much as they will have us.

[In case I haven't mentioned it before, Taliaferro was my grandmother's maiden name. I couldn't find a Leon Taliaferro in the family tree, so he'll remain a mystery for now.]

I am getting ready to go to the doctor this morning so I will close for now. Take care of yourself and watch out for Knucklehead.

[My nickname for Uncle Mike seems to have caught on.]

Love,Linda

P. S. - Back from doctor. Everything A-OK!