Hello everyone,
I love this site - so many fabulous pics of GA from back in the day brings back memories. I started there in 1974, and was there even before opening day, polishing the brass on the carousel. Back then, the required uniforms were called 'costumes' and boy were they ugly! Each day, we would report to 'Wardrobe' before starting and they had very strict rules about jewelry, earrings, etc. I believe they were trying to compete with the Disney image. Keeping the park clean was very important. They had a grounds crew who spent all day just picking up trash, cigarette butts, etc almost as soon as they were dropped. I spent my whole career there in rides. The first summer, I worked in Kiddie Rides and can still hear those dreadful buzzers. The next summer, I worked pool for a while (where you would be assigned to wherever you were needed), which was great as it was always something different. The most fun was working the coaster, as a partner and I would start off the cars. We had a lot of fun with it, chatting to each other, saying things 'ike, 'Say, this is Car 5 - didn't they take it out of service last week when it fell off the track?' ...And with that, we would give the car a push and send them on their way!
I also spent a lot of time on Carousel, which is my favourite ride in all the park.. It's not the same as it was at the beginning, though, when the ride and the calliope were actually run by the original steam engine, and part of the job of the team was to give it a push to get it started. Now, the ride operator pushes a button to start it, and the music is recorded. Thanks for the memories!
