GAR, Seal Beach, Santa Ana, Disney & ice cream

Charles Beal has once again shared some utterly amazing, previously unknown images of Grand Army of the Republic (Civil War veterans) gatherings in Orange County. The photo above shows the very first GAR gathering in Orange County, at Anaheim Landing (now Seal Beach) in the summer of 1888! I believe this is the only known photo of this event. It was taken by a photographer from the studio of Conaway & Hummel in Santa Ana. In the detail below, note that the Orange City Band was performing for the vets. The next photo (below), also from Charles, is from a later GAR gathering in Santa Ana in May 1919. They are posing in front of City Hall, but because of the panoramic view, we also get to see the businesses on either side, including a "Shoe Hospital" and the "Orange County Oldsmobile Co." managed by William R. Gordon. (Be sure to click on the images to enlarge them.)
Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog has posted a great story about the Carnation Ice Cream truck that once resided on Main Street at Disneyland. More importantly, the post also discusses the larger story of Carnation's relationship with Walt Disney over the years. It's a fascinating bit of local theme park history.