Knott’s Preserved Blog

Sold out!

Tue, 6 Apr 2010 12:14:26 +0800

Hi all -

So, our event on Sunday, April 18 is now officially sold out! Thanks to everyone who bought tickets, and to everyone who helped promote it. I’ll be flying home in a couple of days - so don’t expect another update until after the event. Those of you who would still like to come for the signing at 10 - noon at the Chicken Dinner Restaurant - there is no charge for that event, so come on down!

All best and looking forward to seeing you all at the Farm!

- Chris Merritt

The big event!

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:29:20 +0800

OK - just a quick post today... This is it! In addition to our
morning signing at the Chicken Dinner restaurant on Sunday, April 18 from 10 - noon (which is open to the public) - we also have set up a really fun ticketed event for those interested in Knott’s history.

We will be having historical walking tours of both Ghost Town and Grand Ave. by Phil Brigandi and Chris Jepsen, an afternoon presentation by yours truly about early Knott’s history in the Bird Cage Theatre, a group dinner at the Chicken Dinner Restaurant, and best of all -- an evening panel discussion (also at the Bird Cage) featuring the following former Knott’s designers and employees:

Dean Davisson: head of Knott’s Public Relations from 1958 - 1976.

John Waite: former Bud Hurlbut employee who did the earliest Halloween Haunt theming in the Calico Mine Ride and Log Ride.

Eddie Sotto: Designer of the Wacky Soap Box Racers.

Rolly and Chris Crump: Designers of Knott’s Bear-y Tales.

Pretty exciting, huh? You can download the pdf flyer here. Apologies that you have to fax in your order - I really don’t have control over how Knott’s is processing the tickets. And please, if you do want to go, order the tickets soon. The Bird Cage Theatre only seats 230, so I feel confident that we will sell this small, but important event out quickly. If you have further questions, you can drop me an email at: knottspreservedevent@gmail.com.

Hope to see you all there! It should be a great day.

- CM

Book signing at the Farm - Sunday, April 18

Tue, 9 Mar 2010 19:21:40 +0800

Designed sometime in the early 1950s, this directional sign by Paul von Klieben is yet another example of his artistic influence at classic Knott’s Berry Farm. I love the fanciful little sculptures he intended for each area - especially that 30s-era “spook.” It looks like Knott’s wasn’t able to afford something quite that elaborate - so they went with a simplified version, using just plain arrows. There is a directional sign I designed in the ‘Enchanted Airways’ attraction here at USS - I’ve always loved whimsical signage like this...

Getting the average Knott’s fan to recognize some of the names behind the scenes has been one of the main goals of my upcoming book. Designers like at the Farm have gone unsung for far too long - and even though he achieved a lot more notoriety working for Disney, Eddie Sotto got his start at Knott’s. I’m glad to feature an update on the Wacky Soap Box Racers today - it was a successful re-theming of a failing attraction - using simple 2-D graphics and effects to take guests through a “living cartoon.” You can check out the update here.

Some of you may have noticed that I have changed the release date and countdown clock to April, instead of the end of March. Long story short - it’s going to take a lot longer than I anticipated to get the book into bookstores. The true release date is going to be closer to early June! It turns out that printing and shipping the book is a long, involved process, with a lot of uncontrollable variables! I’ve been working on this since the early 90s - so I guess another few months won’t be the end of the world.

So, what are your choices for purchasing the book? Well, it is currently available to pre-order at Amazon in hardcover here, softcover here, and Barnes and Noble here. But for those of you who can’t wait that long, I have something special to announce.

On Sunday, April 18, myself, my co-author Eric and Tony Baxter will be at Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant from 10am - 12pm to sign copies of ‘Knott’s Preserved.’ This will be the only place until the general release in late May-early June that you can purchase a copy. My publisher is rushing over 300 hardcover copies from the printer in China at quite an expense to her, so once these copies are gone, that will be it for the next few months. The hardcover is $40, and there is no cost (other than parking and the book) to queue up and get your book signed. For those of you who really love Knott’s history, we also have something pretty neat planned for that entire day - but for now, Knott’s is asking me to keep it quiet. So, you may want to save the date! More on that later...

- C.M.

KP at the printer, and more books of note

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:33:31 +0800

Here’s a fun souvenir - an honorary Ghost Town Guide certificate from 1958. These were given out to school children (my mother saved hers) after taking educational walking tours - and this one is signed by Calamity Jane!

Wow - has it really been a month since the last update? Sorry - but I have a couple of good excuses... Firstly, we “soft opened” Universal Studios Singapore. And even though our attractions aren’t open yet, the public still sold out the gate paying $10 a pop to just tour the grounds! Hopefully, we will have things up and running at 100% soon.

Second - and all I can say is “finally” - ‘Knott’s Preserved’ went to the printer last weekend! I’m so pleased with how it all came out - I hope all of you are too. Everyone at Angel City Press put in overtime over the last two weeks - and I have to laud Amy Inouye. She’s our designer, and what she did in a very aggressive time frame is pretty amazing. You can check out her website here.

So, the book is now in the hands of the printer overseas, and we are still on track for a mid-April release. As I mentioned before, I will be coming back in April to do promotion and signings - with a special one on April 18th at Knott’s Berry Farm. More on that as we firm up the details.

I’ve updated the 1940-1949 section with a bit on the Covered Wagon Show. I sure miss this one - it had all the charm of early Knott’s that one could ever imagine. And it was the second true attraction at the Farm - after the Transfiguration - both great examples of Paul von Klieben’s genius. Click here to see what I mean.

Lastly, and I feel bad about this, I was so rushed on my last entry re: books on Knott’s, that I neglected to mention two other fine books that you can still get from their respective publishers. Jay Jennings was good enough to scan the covers and send me the following info:

"Knott's Berry Farm's Ghost Town: A Pictorial Retrospective 1940-1968". Dave Bourne (2007).

A heartwarming scrapbook full of great images about the people who worked at Knott's Ghost Town in it's heyday. Includes a special dedication to Knott's longest serving employee, Harvey Walker. Available from the author here. Scroll to the bottom.

"The Life and Times of Billy Beeman: Chronicles of An Old Fiddler". Billy Beeman (2006).

The book is divided into three chapter's: I. The Family Ranch Band. II. My Years With The Wagonmasters. III. The Song Writing Years. In these memoirs, Beeman remembers his younger years and subsequent decades in showbiz. His time at Knott's is also fondly remembered. Only 25 hardbound copies were made. Way out-of-print. There's plenty of biographical info on Beeman here.

Thanks Jay! There are some stunning images in Bourne’s book, and Billy Beeman has a ton of first-hand information about working at Knott’s in his earliest days. He was even there when there wasn’t a Ghost Town, and remembers Paul Swartz cutting silhouette caricatures for folks in the Chicken Dinner Restaurant in the late 1930s. How’s that for a living legend? You can also order CDs of vintage Wagonmaster recordings from his website.

OK - hopefully I’ll update again sooner, rather than later.

All best,

C.M.

Real ghosts in Ghost Town, and some books of note

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:11:42 +0800

Hi all - and many apologies - it’s been a few weeks between updates. We are pushing hard to get USS open - so bear with me!

I really love the cover to this souvenir 78 rpm record - the audio isn’t spooky - but the cover art sure is. It’s even got a Rainbow Caverns Mine Train poster feel to it...

I’ve always enjoyed Ghost Town - but despite the name, it has always been about celebrating the history of the vanished west, as opposed to anything truly scary. That all changed in 1973, when the Farm hosted it’s first Halloween Haunt. I’ve added a page about it here. I’m especially glad to get John Waite’s name out there - he had a lot to do with setting the tone of the scares in the Hurlbut ride-through attractions, which differ from the elaborate mazes of Halloween Haunt in many ways.

In case you didn’t know (and chances are that you do if you are reading this blog) - there are several other books about and related to Knott’s Berry Farm out there - and they are all worth checking out. Sure, there isn’t the plethora of books like there are about the Disney theme parks - but enough to whet your appetite for more. The newer ones can be found easily enough, but you may have to go to Ebay or Albris to track down some of the older titles. Happy hunting!

A Live Ghost Town - Frank R. Norris (1950)

In my opinion, this is the first “book” about Knott’s - as I classify the various souvenir booklets in a different category. It is only partially about the Farm, giving equal ink to stories of the old west as well. It is somewhat difficult to find.

The Knott’s Berry Farm Burro in Ghost Town - Jean Klinordlinger, illustrated by Peter Alvarado (1955)

Obviously, more of a children’s book than a history of the Farm. It’s a charming story, similar to a Little Golden Book. The illustrations by Peter Alvarado are very nice - it is well worth seeking out for his work alone.

Fabulous Farmer - Roger Holmes and Paul Bailey (1956)

The first book to really promote the mythos behind Walter and the propagation of the Boysenberry. It is also the first one to mention Paul von Klieben’s importance to the Farm, culminating with some good information about purchasing Calico. A very good read - and actively promoted at the Farm in its day. Many copies are signed by Walter - reason enough to track it down.

Walter Knott - Twentieth Century Pioneer - Norman Nygaard (1965)

Printed through the evangelical publishing house Zondervan, this book covers much of the same territory as Fabulous Farmer, focusing mainly on Walter’s early days. It has a few good black and white photos.

Walter Knott - Keeper of the Flame - Helen Kooiman (1973)
For years, this was the main biography available on Walter Knott - also actively promoted by the Farm in it’s day. Taking the history up to the 1970s, Kooiman interviewed many of Walter’s employees - most notably Bud Hurlbut. The book ends with the Knott family looking towards the future, with new projects on the boards like ‘Gypsy Camp.’ Still somewhat easy to find.

The Knott Story - Terry Tebbs (1992)
It took 19 years for another book about Knott’s to be published - this time by the Marchant Mint Library, who included a stamped coin embedded in the cover. Likely conceived by Virginia Knott, as it was available for several years in her gift shop, along with her autograph. Includes information about Robin Hall and Terry van Gorder’s plans for Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America. Also was issued in a limited edition, with a deep blue cover.

Walter Knott and his Knott’s Berry Farm - Stephen Gould (1998)
I know absolutely nothing about this title! I only stumbled upon it doing research for this update. All I know is that it was (likely) privately published (a Google search of RB Productions gives a street address, but no website), and is 48 pages. Does anyone out there have more information?

Born Standing Up - Steve Martin (2007)

Just an overall excellent autobiography - but more importantly, gives a good sense of what it was like to work at Knott’s Berry Farm’s Bird Cage Theatre in the 1960s. Highly recommended.

Early Amusement Parks of Orange County - Richard Harris (2008)
Former Hurlbut employee Richard Harris shares images from both his collection and the Orange County Archives. Includes some very rare images of other obscure Orange County parks, including Knott’s neighbor Movie World Cars of the Stars and Movieland Wax Museum. You can find his blog here.

Knott’s Berry Farm: The Early Years - Jay Jennings (2009)
Knott’s historian (and Museum owner!) Jay Jennings look at early Farm history - from its earliest days, until the end of the 1960s. Includes some very rare images from both the Orange County Archives and his personal collection. His blog, featuring many valuable pieces of Knott’s ephemera can be found here. Jay tells me his next book will be on Dave Bradley’s Beverly Park, which sounds great. There simply isn’t much information available on this small, but significant amusement park.

Cordelia Knott - Pioneering Business Woman - Christiane Salts (2009)
I don’t have this one yet (as I am on the other side of the earth here on Sentosa) - but I am very glad to see someone focusing just on Cordelia. If it wasn’t for her ingenuity and steadfastness with Walter, Knott’s Berry Farm would have stayed just that - a Farm and nothing more. She really deserves the credit for making Knott’s a success when the Knott family was just trying to get by. I hope I can get a copy soon! Salt’s website can be found here.

Whew! OK - hope that makes up for being a few weeks MIA. And those of you who have asked me about Universal Studios Singapore - you can find some good photos of what we are working on here.

- C.M.