Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Laurence Hollings Drawings for Frontier Village
Dates: 1961-1978
Collection Number: 1999-31
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 7 cubic feet (13 map folders)
Repository:
History San Jose Research Library
San Jose, California 95110
Abstract: Original artist drawings and schematics for Frontier Village amusement park by Laurence N. Hollings.
Language of Material: English
Access
Collection is available to researchers by appointment.
Publication Rights
Copyright status is unknown.
Preferred Citation
Laurence Hollings Drawings for Frontier Village . History San Jose Research Library
Acquisition Information
The drawings were transferred to History San Jose in September 1999 from the University of California, Berkeley. Original
donor is unknown.
Biography/Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
Original, hand-drawn artist drawings, schematics and plans by Laurence Hollings for Frontier Village amusement park in San
Jose, including sketches and technical drawings for rides and buildings, sketches of signs and artistic features, landscape
design drawings, and plans for park expansion.
The bulk of the sketches are pencil on paper. The sketches are not organized beyond a few folders which contain a) general
plans for Frontier Village, including park expansion in the 1970s; b) sketches of Frontier Village main signs, including highway
billboards; c) sketches of other signs within the park; d) color drawings.
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