How could one place have the world's best boysenberry preserves (no, Aunt Susan's isn't better!), world-class roller coasters, and Independence Hall, too?Where does a Ghost Town exist alongside a two-hundred-foot Sky Jump, while people wait three hours for a chicken dinner?Knott's Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm has all the answers--and many, many more.From the earliest days of the Farm, when Walter Knott, his wife Cordelia, and their kids were serving up baskets of berries "as big as a man's thumb" and berry pies that weighed in at three pounds, to the advent of themed rides, Camp Snoopy replete with the Peanuts gang, and the arrival of the fastest coasters the coast had ever seen--it's all in Knott's Preserved.This updated edition to the book is brimming with more than 200 images--most of them never before published--Knott's Preserved reveals exactly how the Knott family turned a berry business into one of the major theme parks in the world. Artists and designers will flip at the details and artwork the authors display--the how-it-happened of Knott's from the earliest days. The berries and fried chicken were a just a yummy lead-in to what would become a thrills capital of the world. Plus, it's a story of how a man and a woman remained true to their values, sharing profits and credit whenever they could. Heartwarming? Yes. Decidedly so.For everybody who ever put their arms around Whiskey Bill and Handsome Brady, screamed in terror at Knott's Scary Farm, or marveled at the Calico Mine, this is the book that's filled with as much nostalgia as the Farm itself. Knott's Preserved is a must for every theme park lover and all those kids at heart.

Before there was a Disneyland, there was Knott's Berry Farm. What started out in the early 1920s as a small, roadside berry stand in Buena Park, California, grew over the next 60 years into one of the most popular amusement parks in the world. Its founder, Walter Knott, along with his wife and family, knew no boundaries when it came to expanding his small berry market and tearoom into the world-famous Chicken Dinner Restaurant and later adding his ultimate achievement, Ghost Town. This book documents the early history of Knott's Berry Farm, featuring over 200 rarely seen images.

Nightmares become living reality each year in the dark shadows of Americas first theme park. Thousands of ghoulish creatures have terrorized millions at Knotts Scary Farm since 1973 and here, for the first time, a written history with over 300 monstrous images is unleashed. As dusk settles and the blanket of night creates unspeakable horror, the tombs creak open unveiling how Knotts Berry Farms annual Knotts Scary Farm Halloween Haunt became the "world's largest and scariest Halloween party.”

The Orange County coast had its Joy Zone and its Fun Zone in the early decades of the 20th century. Knott's Berry Farm sprouted from a simple berry stand in Buena Park. The spot that would become Walt Disney's theme-park empire began as a citrus grove in Anaheim. Before long, Orange County was recognized as the nurturing ground for the growing amusement park industry. This book concerns the early history of such parks in the county east and south of Los Angeles, before high-tech digitization, when custom cars, enormous alligators, stunt planes, dolphin leaps, and movie stars' wax likenesses thrilled patrons. Some amusement parks have come and gone over a century of development, and some are still here, changing with the times to create new adventure and excitement for park goers.

It All Started with a Berry Knott's Berry Farm is full of rich history, thrills, and fun. California's first theme park actually started as a farm--hence the name. Learn how that farm became a year-round theme park with modern thrill rides and record-breaking attractions. Disney author Alexa Erekson, of the Disney Till You're Dizzy book series, takes you on a comprehensive tour around the theme park, Knott's Soak City, Knott's Berry Farm Hotel, and even the world-famous Knott's Scary Farm. Did you know that Walter Knott and Walt Disney were great friends? Knott's Berry Farm helped inspire the creation of Disneyland. Did you know that Knott's Scary Farm was the first Halloween event at a theme park? Today, it is still one of the most popular in the world. Did you know that most thrill rides at Knott's are record-breaking in some way? Corkscrew was the first upside-down roller coaster ever (and it went upside-down TWICE ). Today, HangTime is California's first infinity coaster. Nearly 1,000 more fun facts about Knott's Berry Farm await

An unprecedented behind-the-scenes look at the rise and fall of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour -- the provocative, politically charged program that shocked the censors, outraged the White House, and forever changed the face of television. Decades before The Daily Show, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour proved there was a place on television for no-holds-barred political comedy with a decidedly antiauthoritarian point of view. In this first-ever all-access history of the show, veteran entertainment journalist David Bianculli tells the fascinating story of its three-year network run -- and the cultural impact that's still being felt today. Before it was suddenly removed from the CBS lineup (reportedly under pressure from the Nixon administration), The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was a ratings powerhouse. It helped launch the careers of comedy legends such as Steve Martin and Rob Reiner, featured groundbreaking musical acts like the Beatles and the Who, and served as a cultural touchstone for the antiwar movement of the late 1960s. Drawing on extensive original interviews with Tom and Dick Smothers and dozens of other key players -- as well as more than a decade's worth of original research -- Dangerously Funny brings readers behind the scenes for all the battles over censorship, mind-blowing musical performances, and unforgettable sketches that defined the show and its era. David Bianculli delves deep into this never-told story, to find out what really happened and to reveal why this show remains so significant to this day.