Greetings family and friends! Today's theme park vignette is about Claude Bell, a little know sculptor whos roots go back to Knotts Berry Farm and whos cement and steel creations have literaly been enjoyed by millions.......Bill
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MUSINGS OF A THEME PARK FAN
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THE DINOSAUR GARDENS
Cabazon, California
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The picturesque creation of Claude K. Bell is located on Interstate 10 about 14 miles west of Palm Springs. It represents 11 years of hard work and a $225,000 investment. Nestled in “Dinney’s” heart you will find an attractive gift shop and museum, while next door the famous Wheel Inn Cafe offers the finest in meals.
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Claude Bell’s first job of drawing pictures in the sand for loose change at Atlantic City led him to the Long Beach Pike where he was hired by Walter Knott to create sculptures to entertain folks awaiting restaurant seating in his new Buena Park roadside attraction. Bell’s first painted concrete and steel installation was the frequently photographed “Handsome Brady and Whiskey Bill’ who have been seated on the Gold Trails Hotel porch since the early 1950’s, followed by “The Calico Belles” and “The Pioneering Prospector and Burro”. Bell was happy as a Knott’s Berry Farm portrait artist between sculpting assignments but was thinking bigger...much bigger! He envisioned a prehistoric panorama roadside attraction populated by huge cement and steel creatures on land purchased in the 1960’s for a planned truck stop. His giant creations, visible for miles on San Gorgonio Pass, are “Dinney”, a huge brontosaurus that took twenty years to complete and “Rex”, a one hundred ton tyrannosaurus that have been enjoyed by countless travelers, featured in dozens of books and magazines, seen on the big screen, and are monuments that Bell fully intended to withstand the sands of time.
From the Postcard Collection of Bill Ralph
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