From Dominic Yodice

scan0031, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Buckles, I thought the group might like to see a color photo of the 1953 float. For J. Goodall.. you're correct that this was in the "Candy Land" spec from 1953. It was called the Showboat float. Miles White once told me that this float was one of his all time favorite designs (that's saying a lot considering all the beautiful floats he designed). He loved the animation on the float. The large paddle wheel at the rear would revolve as the float went around the track and bubbles would shoot out from underneath. For you model builders, the float was 18'-6"long and 7'-9" wide. The paddle wheel was 5' in diameter. The boat itself was 6' wide and 9'-9" long. The smoke stacks were approximately 6' high. The tires were 32" diameter. Dimensions were taken from blueprints at CWM. A little bit of musical trivia. The song for the spec was indeed "Gone are the Days". When the showboat float was going around the track, Harold Ronk sang the verse: Here comes the Showboat, Here comes the Showboat, Bop, bop, bop, bop, bop,bop, bopping along, And ? ? ? I'm feeling happy, Chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, chug, chugging along. Swanee, how I love you, my dear old Swanee. Catchy if nothing else. Best regards to all, Dom Yodice