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KNOTT'S BERRY FARM CIRCA 1965 |
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This gallery reproduces a 1965 (approx.) advertising pamphlet produced by Knott's Berry Farm. Until the late 60s, when they decided to go head to head with Disneyland, the Knott family offered a very low key alternative to theme park adventuring, as these pages will show. As a life-long Southern California resident, I remember most of the attractions pictured here from my various visits though the years and have added annotations to give a bit more insight into the pictures. Thanks go to Mr. Kirk Real for the loan of this pamphlet. Mr. Real is the longest employed of any of the current staff, having worked at the park for over 47 years at the time of this writing. |
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Front Cover. |
A short history. |
Personal greetings from Walter and Cordelia. |
The shops are still there.1 |
Note the family names on this and the preceding page.4 |
The Church of Reflections. The Chapel has regular Sunday services and is available for weddings. |
Don't recall if the stand still exists. The mine cars are now a thrill ride. (The arrow at the top of the page points to the previous picture) |
The full double page spread. The restaurant is still a big draw.1 |
The Ghost Town is still pretty much as pictured here.2 |
Much of this is about the same.3 |
Not sure about the top two. The stagecoach runs in a much smaller area now.4 |
Pretty much the same. |
Calico Ghost Town information.5 |
Been to a store, lately? |
Back cover.6 |
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1 Both the shops and the chicken dinner restaurant are open to the public without entrance to the park. 2 When I first visited the park in the early 60s, Ghost Town looked much like these pages. The Ghost Town area features many displays of early frontier life and you can look inside each building or business to get a feel for the era. Under the new management, the displays are slowly falling into disrepair. 3 Sad Eye Joe was a mannequin who sat in the shadows of the jail cell. He was connected, via microphone and speaker, to a live person who was concealed around the corner and could see the visitors as they peered into the cell. My father knew about this trick and had Joe "speak" directly to me, scaring the bejesus out of me. 4 Both the stagecoach and the train were robbed by a gang of bandits as part of the ride. 5 Calico Ghost Town is still open, although it was sold by the Knott family in the 70s, reportedly over disagreements with the EPA over parking lots and such. It has no rides and pretty much still has the feel of what Knott's was like in this pamphlet. 6 What I found interesting about this map is what was listed here, but is no longer around. Starting at the upper left, Jungleland is gone. At the upper right, Knott's no longer owns Calico and Santa's Village is closed. About halfway down is Marineland and over to the right are Movieland of the Air and the El Toro Marine Base. All of these are closed as well. |
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