Greetings family, friends and theme park buddies, do you remember Sad Eye Joe at Knott's Berry Farm? Well he's still there talking with guests from his jail cell where he has spent the last 80 years. A pretty tough sentence for horse-stealing! I hope that this little chronicle brings back some fond memories of a simpler time....Bill
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MUSINGS OF A THEME PARK FAN
Visiting hours at our Ghost Town Jail.
Knott’s Berry Place, Buena Park, California
PEEK - IN’S
Theme park enthusiast’s are familiar with the Knott’s Berry Farm story
of how Walter Knott created distractions to keep his restaurant guests
entertained while they waited for hours for a home made chicken
dinner and a slice of Cordila Knott’s boysenberry pie. Simple
tableau’s and gardens were soon joined by a steaming volcano,
mining artifacts and by structures salvaged from southwestern
deserts and created by local artisans. Soon visitor’s were roaming the
streets of “Ghost Town” seeking out it’s humorous characters by
peeking through conveniently placed windows. One of the first town
inhabitants was horse thief Sad Eye Joe carved in 1941 by creative
graphic artist and talented self taught sculptor Andy Anderson.
Guests were encouraged to talk with Joe through the bars of the
jailhouse, modeled after a hoosegow near Oatman, Colorado, and
were surprised when Joe knew their name, hometown and other
personal information. Unsuspecting guests didn’t know that
microphones, mirrors and notes passed from knowing family
members allowed a Knott’s employee located in adjacent Goldie’s
Place to carry on the conversation. Soon other of Anderson’s “peek-
in” characters began showing in humorous scenes along Main Street
in Ghost Town’s Barber Shop, Assay Office, Laundry and Sheriff’s
Office. Sad Eye Joe became one of Knott’s Berry Farms most
recognizable characters and after 80 years his image still appears on
promotional material and on park merchandise.
From the postcard collection of Bill Ralph
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