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Laurence Hollings Drawings for Frontier Village
1999-31  
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Description
Original artist drawings and schematics for Frontier Village amusement park by Laurence N. Hollings.
Background
Frontier Village amusement park was located at the intersection of Monterey Road and Branham Lane in San Jose, California. It opened in 1961 and closed in 1980. Laurence, or "Laurie" N. Hollings was the main designer for the park. Born in South Africa, he settled in San Francisco with his mother when he was 14, where he went to work making theater fronts for movie premieres. He expanded his experience by apprenticing as a set builder for the San Francisco Opera, later moving on to displays for department store windows, museums, and the 1939 World's Fair. He was approached to create sculpture work for the Hollywood movie King Kong, which led to modeling work for animation short features. During World War II, Hollings worked in camouflage school, occasionally designing sets and doing miniature work for training films. After moving back to the Bay Area after the war, Hollings moved into the amusement park business. In addition to designing Frontier Village, Hollings helped design rides at Disneyland, Space City, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Sonora Desert Museum, Old Tucson, San Francisco's Playland, and Happy Hollow Zoo.
Extent
7 cubic feet (13 map folders)
Restrictions
Copyright status is unknown.
Availability
Collection is available to researchers by appointment.