call for reference

[egypturnash]

This is a long shot, here.

Does anyone have any photos of the "Wild Maus" rollercoaster that was in Pontchartrain Beach? We are thinking of using it in the climax of this cartoon I'm working on, as the persistent rumors that "yeah, man, it's always closed for repairs these days 'cause some kid went flying off it and broke his skull" fit all too well with the morbid tone of the song.

Photos of the Beach are rarer than I'd imagine online, despite its place in the hearts of anyone who grew up in New Orleans before it was torn down in the eighties. I just keep finding the same ten photos from the sixties via Google. I vaguely remember it had a dense, boxy shape and some weird graphics but the Internet is failing me.

Anyone got some faded photos kicking around in a shoebox or album? Let me know!

Comments

[anaisdjuna.livejournal.com]

Stock photo sites?

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I'm assuming that my Googling would have turned that up. The coaster only ran from 1959 to 1975 or thereabouts, in a park that closed in 1983, so it predates the age of digital cameras by an eternity...

[anaisdjuna.livejournal.com]

Not sure how soon you need this, but here's a lead on a photographer who photographed things at that park in that era:

http://www.pontchartrainbeach.com/pbzrc8.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pontchartrainbeach.com/&usg=__tYI0nkhdufAfhKoCd3NJYNFq_-Y=&h=577&w=873&sz=54&hl=en&start=5&um=1&tbnid=FgYWxyTV5hjDDM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=146&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522wild%2Bmaus%2522%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN

Here's info on the companies who made and imported it. Perhaps they could be contacted for an image.

http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/v/a/vac3/wdm.html

Here's an internet discussion group on Ponchartrain Beach amusement park during the period you seek:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pontchartrain-Beach/summary

I'll forward your request to a friend who grew up on NOLA. He may have something....

[shatterstripes.livejournal.com]

I have been to that first site a few times in my travels. There's one photo he took that's from the Wild Maus...

I'll have to check out that Yahoo group, that might be a good lead. Thanks!