Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: July 13th, 2006
Enchanted Forest of the Adirondacks, Old Forge, NY 1956
Last week I WENT TO THE ENCHANTED FOREST WITH PEE-WEE HERMAN!
Paul-Pee-Wee Herman-Reubens and I were among a small group invited by a mutual friend to visit her family’s historic camp deep in the Adirondack Mountains. As fate would have it we were five miles from the Enchanted Forest, a children’s storybook theme park now celebrating its 50th year. There was no way I was going to leave the Adirondacks without seeing if the Enchanted Forest is still enchanting.
So mid-way through the week, while taking a break between canoeing, hiking, swimming and applying sun block and bug spray, I suggested that we all go to the Enchanted Forest. Everyone passed but Paul.
So off the two of us went, he disguised in a hat and sunglasses and me thinking to myself over and over again- I can’t believe I’m going to the Enchanted Forest with Pee-Wee Herman!!! On the way there I told him I’d never seen his TV show. He slowed the big, rented Buick and veered to the side of the road as he said “get out of the car!”
Once beyond the vintage turnstile we were both enchanted by Cinderella and her pumpkin coach, Humpty Dumpty, and what must be the biggest Paul Bunyan ever, to name a few. They were original but all a bit thicker from many coats of paint. After we’d seen it all and had several encounters with his fans, (even with his hat and sunglasses on they still recognized him) we were hungry and it was time to go.
For lunch we wound up across the street and around the corner at a diner called the Muffin. Between bites of my delicious BLT I could see the waitress getting more and more frenzied over the fact that she was waiting on Pee-Wee. Not one split second after he had swallowed the last bite of his savory sandwich all three waitresses swarmed the table and asked for his autograph all at once. Can you sign this napkin for me? Can you sign one for my husband? Can you sign one for the restaurant? For the restaurant he wrote: To the Muffin Diner, MMMMMM…MUFFIN-Y! - Pee-Wee Herman.
Speaking of… PEE-WEE’S PLAYHOUSE, which USA Today just called one of the best TV shows ever, IS BACK ON THE AIR! Tune in weekday nights on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim (check your local listings for times). And yes, I’ll be watching!
Here’s to the Enchanted Forest, Pee-Wee Herman and YOU!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
July 2006
P.S. More upcoming AMERICANA THE BEAUTIFUL: MID-CENTURY CULTURE IN KODACHROME signings/talks
Order online from Angel City Press
Related External Sites:
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Roadslide & Theme Parks
21 Comments on “Enchanted Forest of the Adirondacks, Old Forge, NY 1956”
Privacy Policy: Oh yeah...one more thing...I promise I will not share your email address with anyoneÉIÕm not that organized! You'll receive my Slide of the Week email and that's it!
file: single-slide-inc.php
July 14th, 2006 at 8:11 am
This place reminds me of something you might see in Solvang, CA. Sounds like you had a great time. I saw Pee Wee on David Letterman the other night. I am sooooo excited that the Playhouse is back on the air. You will dig the show C.P. What is even better is the HBO specials that he did as a sort of pilot for the show. So Charles did the building here still have the same paint scheme? Loving the new book and can’t wait to some of the shots in the book on the big screen !
July 14th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Somehow, the enchantment is lost, due to that gawdy pink and blue paint job. Let’s hope that the trees of this forest are not in the same colors!
July 14th, 2006 at 10:52 am
Sounds like you really enjoyed yourself, and was a little star struck (smile). The pink enchanted forrest is so cute. Reminds of when I had to go to the town named Hell when I visited the Cayman Islands.
July 14th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
There are so many places in the U.S. I’ve never been to and as I
see these slides of the week I want to get up and go! I am happy
this place still exists since so many of these roadside tourist stops
seem to be a thing of the past. (Good for them!)
Your story traveling in that Buick with a celebrity driving YOU down
the road is a great piece of literary art. I’ll bet this was a day you
will not easily forget. Good to have you back in So Cal even though you’d perhaps rather be still on vacation…………Peace
July 14th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
I can’t believe you’ve never seen Pee Wee’s show!!! IT WAS BRILLIANT. Absolutely Brilliant with a capital B. He should have pushed you out of the car while it was moving. (KIDDING!!!) Very, very cool that you got to visit such an incredible place together! I’d be proud to have muffins at a diner with EITHER of you! You’re both incredible!
July 14th, 2006 at 5:45 pm
Enchanting Charles!
This was a challenge for me today — I got so lost in your delightful story, I was completely flummoxed as to how to match something I own to your slide!
But I think I hit on a perfect solution: Judy’s Teen Topics. Haven’t heard of it? It’s an adorable “little magazine” published by The Dennison Manufacturing Company but written entirely by “Judy:” Our guide to all things teen! The copies I have are from 1951 -1952 and each one is perfectly charming and enchanting. They have the appearance of being hand-illustrated and they are chock full of “swell ideas.” Only .25 cents a copy, Judy’s Teen Topics will help the teen in you discover “Things to Do, Things to Make, Good Times, Good Looks, Party Stuff and all sorts of other ideas” that Judy has a “happy hunch that we both like.” See? Enchanting!
Now Judy’s a wee bit of a shill for the Dennison paper company — ads for Dennison crepe paper adorn the back of each issue — but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have loads of good things to tell us. My favorite part of Judy’s Teen Topics is “She’s Oh-riginal” (which is simply a super-cute way of writing “original,” don’t you think?), a collection of tips, hints, and crafty ideas from teens all around the country. I think these earnest teen brainstorms are just enchanting enough to accompany the Enchanting Forest. Plus, you could always use fine Dennison crepe paper to make your own enchanted forest, natch!
A smattering of “She’s Oh-riginal”
May 1951
Sally C., Ohio, arranged state pennants into a wheel to decorate her bedroom wall … fun to collect pennants. (That’s the most Judy can muster up for that one. Can’t you just feel the chill that accompanies that “fun to collect pennants?”)
Carol G., Ill. sews charms to her collars. Charms, not costly; just bubble-gum machine specimens! (Not as useful today. Unless you want to dangle some Slappy Hands, princess stickers, or a Homie or two from your collar).
June 1951
Margaret A.D., N.Y. crayons friends’ names on old blouses (seems strange, this one.)
July 1951
Libby B., Md. says it’s not oh-riginal with her crowd, but it surely is oh! oh!. The kids pin knick-knacks, scads of ‘em, to the caps they wear. They make the knick-knacks of crepe paper in bright Mexican colors and the siller the things they can think up to make, the better. (Seems inappropriate to wear to school, girls. I am nuts, however, about something being oh! oh!)
November 1951
Betty G. (address?), reports that girls in her school make toppers from two bath towels sewed up the sides and across the shoulders — space left for arms and head. (Not so sure about wearing towels to school.)
November 1952
Ireba E., Tex., writes that her friends paint (with white enamel) name of boy friend on one overshoe; their own name on the other. (A bit stalkery, but darling all the same)
There are many more enchanting things in Judy’s Teen-Topics: how to start a camera club, how to click with the crowd, how to plan fishing for a first date, how to win friends with hostess-manners … I have so many oh! oh! things to do this summer now. Too bad I can’t make it to the Enchanted Forest! I’ll let you know my progress on my crepe paper model, though!
xoxo!
Miss Sharon
A sample of Judy!
Front Cover:
Back Cover (that’s the towel shirt on the smiling girl):
July 15th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Charles,
Having gotten to ride in a tourbus with you through Ft. Lauderdale’s tiki sites, I feel certain that Pee-Wee/Paul is pinching HIMself, saying, “I got to see the Enchanted Forest with CHARLES PHOENIX!”
Oh, to have a been a third wheel with you both. *sigh*
Formica
P.S. DO find an old copy of the HBO special - the FULL length. Warped perfection.
July 15th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
Believe it or not,The house I grew up in were those exact colors.(Blue shingles and all).My grandparents were so taken by the stucco color schemes of Florida that they brought them back to Suburban Cleveland.Looking back across many Decades of hindsight,I think they just loved to annoy the Neighbors!When I was about 5 ,we did go on a road trip to a “Storybook Forest” type place in either P.A. or New York.Maybe the answers to the family mystery lie in this photo.(True Story) Kudos on the surreal road trip with Pee-Wee,How many folks out there can top that one.? HAAAAAAAAMMMMBURGER!!!!!
Great job,keep em’ coming. Mike from Cleveland,Ohio
July 16th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
The Enchanted Forest looks enchanting! Any vintage slides of the atractions? By the way, I’m dying to know if Paul-Pee Wee Herman-Reubens told you to “get out of the car” in his Paul voice or Pee Wee voice? Enquiring minds want to know!!!! Lucky you getting to go somewhere unique with a unique sightseeing companion!!!
July 17th, 2006 at 7:42 am
This picture reminds me of Santaland in Cherokee, N.C. My parents took us there when I was five and I finally took my kids back recently. The place hasn’t been well maintained but it still brought back great memories. Thanks for letting me know about the Enchanted Forest. I’d like to take the kids up to see it sometime.
Love the story about Pee-Wee! I hope you took some pictures for your next book.
July 19th, 2006 at 8:24 am
I love the fact that this place isn’t crowded.
BRING BACK THE GOOD OLD DAYS!
July 20th, 2006 at 1:20 pm
I am SO envious of yr life. you get the looks, the humor, the charm, the style (yrs rivals santino and daniel’s from the second season of project runway), and NOW you get to rub elbows with peewee in an upstate new york enchanted forest? Next you’ll probably tell me that you ran into russ meyers at Dollywood.
July 20th, 2006 at 1:28 pm
As a former weird tour guide and active aficianado of mimetic
architecture, neon and fairy tale amusement parks, I have been reading your weekly dispatches with great enthusiasm. The lastest one pushed me over the edge into writing. An old-style theme park *and* the company of PeeWee? I never doubted that your life was charmed, but this is undeniable
evidence!
My daily travels take me past a recently shuttered 1950s vintage park called Fairy Tale Forest. A photo tour and commentary await here: http://fortuna.home.pipeline.com/ (scroll down to Chef’s Specials.)
Whatever you’re doing, it’s working!
July 20th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Regarding Pee Wee!
I’m orignally from Kansas City, and I worked with a pal that actually had the priviledge of having Pee Wee as a guest in his home back in the late 70’s or early 80’s. The story I remember is that Pee Wee had a huge late-night munchies craving and so they went to a 7-11 and indulged. I’m not sure what it was he ate, but it was alot! Anyway, just a little side-note about Pee Wee. Love him.
July 22nd, 2006 at 6:46 am
Except for all that canoeing, hiking and swimming it sounds like a great trip. I would have spent the week at the Enchanted Forest.
July 27th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
I am soooo jealous. Pee-Wee is my hero. I’ve been letting my kids watch every night…man, I love that show.
August 8th, 2006 at 4:52 pm
Your Enchanted Forest story was a double pleasure for me. My parents took me there as a child (probably around 1967) AND I worked as Paul’s on-set assistant on the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special and a couple of other episodes. I used to pick up his cheese omelette every morning at the Gower Gulch Denny’s, park his car, and help him into the Pee-wee jacket just before he went to the set. When Grace Jones sang “Little Drummer Boy”, I was behind the window with a guy named Van Hedwall making the flowers sway back and forth. The Playhouse set was an enchanted place itself and I have a scrapbook of pictures from what will always be the coolest job of my life. I even got to crawl inside Jambi’s box. Long live Pee-Wee.
March 16th, 2007 at 11:22 am
This is cool. I’m a big fan of Pee Wee, but I also grew up in Old Forge during the entire decade of the 1970’s. Enchanted Forest was somewhat different then. Many of the older storyland attractions are still there, but now there’s an immense water park as well.
Every summer back then, the Forest used to get The Flying Wallendas to perform for a couple of weeks and we’d go there to see the tightrope act. My parents owned a little hotel, and many times the Wallendas stayed with us while they were in town.
Ah the memories!
Also, if you’re interested, many of the parks like the Forest in the Adirondacks were designed by an artist named Arto Monaco. Here’s a site dedicated to him. Cool stuff.
http://www.artomonaco.org/
October 21st, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I can’t think of 2 people I’d love to travel across Americana with more than you and Paul! I saw him do Pee Wee for the first time, when we were in the Groundlings together, and have been a fan ever since. I am also a biker chick in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure!
March 26th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Charles….how funny that you remember me……yes I did work on Pee Wee’s playhouse circa 1988 on the Christmas Special…We annimated the flowers while Grace Jones sang….I am now a psychologist in San Francisco……go figure……from Pee Wee to Head Shrinker…….not a stretch I guess…Cheers to you and your endeavors……Van
December 17th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I worked here in 1973 when I was 18 years old, as well as 1974, and 1975 and had a blast. I was on my own, originally from North Attleboro, Massachusetts, and staying in my own cabin in Old Forge. Thankfully, my first cousins, the Camerons, lived in OFNY year-round and I had their network of friends to hang-out with, as well as meeting tons of kids my own age (18, 19, and 20) who also worked at the Enchanted Forest those summers. I still travel to Old Forge regularly and love the people of the town and the area. Yes, the Enchanted Forest is 10 times the size it was back in the 1970s, and it’s predominantly a water slide park (biggest in NY state). But the current owners were wise to keep a portion of the park as it was back in 1976 when they acquired it, thus allowing generations of past vistors, those who visited in the 1950s, 1960, and beyond, the opportunity to visit and reminisce whenever they see the original portion of the park. - Bill McGowan (always in-search of past employees of the Enchanted Forest. Reach me at McGowanRealtor@aol.com)