The Prospector! He'll wanna meet ya!
Yodel-ay-hee-hoo!
Oh, that's funny, Bullseye!
What the Pixar?!?
Before Stinky Pete, Jessie and Bullseye, there was Knott's Berry Farm.
Knott's Berry Farm is an amusement park in Buena Park, California. It started out as a farm selling----yep, berries, in 1920.
The stinky Prospector here is named Whittles.
So how did a berry farm become a theme park? Why did the chicken cross the road? It was running for its life to get away from Knott's Berry Farm.
By 1934, Knott's was selling chicken dinners on property. The dinners were extremely popular.
More diversions were built to give diners something else to do.
In 1952, a replica of a Ghost Town was created to entertain people waiting for the restaurant.
The Ghost Town turned into a Boom Town. The park also started adding rides. The Calico Mine Ride opened in 1960 (and still operates today).
Knott's added shops and more attractions over the years.
Would you like a hand-made souvenir to remember your visit? I would!
Legend has it that these wooden toys were actually made at The Woodcraft Shop at Knott's Berry Farm in the 1940s.
These are amazing!
Playing with these toys will make you think about Knott's Berry Farm or the old Purina Chuck Wagon dog food commercials.
By the 1969, Knott's Berry Farm had become a much bigger destination experience.
This plate has an error, so maybe it is a big collector's item. It identifies the Timber Mountain Log Ride (from 1969) as the Calico Mine Ride (which opened in 1960). Oops!
It is souvenir mash-up time!!! Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, and Magic Mountain together at last!
...AND Busch Gardens!
Things were looking good for Whittles. Until something big happened. Something that starts with "S" and is associated with a flying dog.
Sputnik? No. Snoopy!
The Beagle had landed. In 1983, Snoopy and the Peanuts gang set up Camp Snoopy at Knott's Berry Farm.
Knott's Berry Farm gained one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time, kicking the characters from Toy Story 2---I mean the early Knott's Western characters---to the curb.
Today, Snoopy is Top Dog at most Cedar Fair amusement parks (owners of Knott's Berry Farm). Snoopy rules his own worlds at Planet Snoopy lands at parks like Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds. Cedar Point, Worlds of Fun, Canada's Wonderland, Dorney Park, Valleyfair, and California's Great America.
Aww, look, a cute Knott's Teddy bear. Or is that a Teddy-berry?
Say, doesn't this look a bit like Duffy, the Disney Bear?
Ha ha....hidden Mickey on the face! Great Knott's post, Dan! I love the old Knott's souvenirs. I wonder if misspellings on plates was a common thing back in the day. I have a Los Angeles/Hollywood plate that belonged to my great-grandmother and it shows a picture of the Hollywood Freeway, but it's misspelled as "Treeway". Come to think of it now, why was a freeway featured on a souvenir plate? I guess freeways were a new concept at the time. I also love that combo plate. Gee, they threw almost everything onto that plate but the kitchen sink. No love for Disneyland, though! And I see that poor Marineland and Sea World both got lumped together as "Sea Life Parks".
ReplyDeleteThanks, TokyoMagic! I'm guessing the souvenir plates were made where English is not the native language! I wasn't sure if "Sea Life Park" was a thing. There is a Sea Life Park in Hawaii (I've been to it---many years ago). Something that I really enjoy seeing is the "Supreme Scream" artwork where Snoopy is put in a different world and not drawn by Charles Schulz.
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