Do you have any memories of
Walter Knott?
The Knott family…were a little uptight. Walter was the only one who
could go through the whole park and usually would know the first name
of almost everybody that worked there, even late into his life.
I used to see him every morning before the park would open. He would go from the Chicken Restaurant over to the Chapel in Fiesta Village. He had somebody accompany him, but most of the time he was walking slowly, looking through Ghost Town and enjoying being there.
He would stop and talk to anybody who was around.
"How do you feel? Do you enjoy working here?"
Sometimes they would have to stop and say, "We have a meeting to go to, Mr. Knott", but he would say,
"It's okay, they can wait!"
He would finish the conversation with anyone without any problem. He knew their names, he knew what their personal lives were like if they had been there any length of time.
He was fond of giving out checks for profit sharing. It was very unusual back then for a profit sharing program at any amusement park, much less most businesses.
Until he got very infirm, he would personally hand out the checks. He really felt that he was doing a great service that the people really appreciated. I loved the man and I think he was very intelligent.
One would think,
"Oh, that Walter Knott. He's just a farmer"
But he had so much insight into the future. It was like everything he said would come true!
The Boysenberry and the way it came to be...now look at the empire that was built on the berries and the chicken. It's amazing! He was a stupefying man.
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I used to see him every morning before the park would open. He would go from the Chicken Restaurant over to the Chapel in Fiesta Village. He had somebody accompany him, but most of the time he was walking slowly, looking through Ghost Town and enjoying being there.
He would stop and talk to anybody who was around.
"How do you feel? Do you enjoy working here?"
Sometimes they would have to stop and say, "We have a meeting to go to, Mr. Knott", but he would say,
"It's okay, they can wait!"
He would finish the conversation with anyone without any problem. He knew their names, he knew what their personal lives were like if they had been there any length of time.
He was fond of giving out checks for profit sharing. It was very unusual back then for a profit sharing program at any amusement park, much less most businesses.
Until he got very infirm, he would personally hand out the checks. He really felt that he was doing a great service that the people really appreciated. I loved the man and I think he was very intelligent.
One would think,
"Oh, that Walter Knott. He's just a farmer"
But he had so much insight into the future. It was like everything he said would come true!
The Boysenberry and the way it came to be...now look at the empire that was built on the berries and the chicken. It's amazing! He was a stupefying man.
None of us knew for sure how big it was going to grow. We all knew it was going to be popular in that time period (for that year), but we had no concept of the depth that this would ultimately grow to.
We still remember those times very, very fondly because there was no organization that matched the unity that we had out there. I love everybody that was involved and I loved everybody that I worked with. That's a good thing to say for a park whose turnover (employment wise) I'm sure has been 20 fold from what it was when we were there. Through the changes and through the ownerships and everything that has gone on, the camaraderie still exists. It's something that people of this generation are going to look back four generations from now and say,
"You don't know how much fun it was! I wish I could tell you!"
I am personally proud to be associated with something that has gone on as
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Knott's was the first and we're proud that we did it before anyone else, but what makes us even more fonder and prouder is that it's still going on today with the same enthusiasm than the people involved in the very first one.
To the employees: I'm glad you can enjoy it as much as we all did, not only the event, but through all of its changes, Knott's is STILL the place to be.
I think that it's a testament to the fan, first, that it has its longevity. It touches the basic instincts of the people that attend because it isn't an irreverent look by any chance. It's not something that's a cult, if you will, but it shows that people believe in having fun. This is the way for people to come together and share.
I want people to realize the magnitude. When we did the first Haunt, there were seven street characters and the front and back gate personnel. For the second Haunt, we doubled the street personalities and with the ride personnel, they totaled about 150.
We had two makeup artists doing the work on everybody the first and second Haunts. It wasn't until the third Haunt that Abel Zeballos and his crew that it went from 150 to about 750.
I hope that people can appreciate the magnitude of the amount of work that was done in a very short period of time.
To me, it was amazing that a few people…between costumes, makeup and the technical staff that put the first and second Haunts together (making sure that the mechanics worked and the whole park was transformed in three hours). That was a monumental task at that time.
Every one of the people who were involved has to be commended. It's upon their work and their bodies that this has become what it is. They proved it could be done and proved it could be successful.
It wasn't the marketing plan that Knott's did because they did very little advertising wise the first and second Haunts. If it hadn't been for the people and what they did and how they did it, in such a manner that would rival the biggest corporations today, it would have never become a reality.
I give credit to the management who said,
"Yeah, we're making money. We can make more and we can offer more!"
Of all the amusement parks in the area, and I don't take anything away from them, Knott's has taken experimentation to the upper level and they are the forerunners. They are the people who took the gamble and made the gamble pay. It became rewarding not only fiscally for them, but most importantly, to the people who come through the gate.
Interview took place 08/11/2002
After his second Halloween
Haunt, Gene moved out to Georgia to continue a career in film and makeup.
He has not seen the event since he left. Due to the content of Ultimatehaunt.com,
Gene has been able to see, from afar, what has been going on since he
left.
People like Gene pushed the envelope and took a risk thirty years ago to make the Haunt come to life. Between the meetings and all of their perspective duties, the Entertainment Department of 1973 created something of an actual Monster. This website would not exist and the millions of screams and scares would not exist if it weren't for the original people that created the event. Next time you walk through the fog filled streets of Ghost Town in October, take a moment to remember what kind of history that the event has.
*Ultimatehaunt.com would like to mention that the pictures found in this interview are not necessarily photos from 1973 and 1974. The pictures have been donated to Ultimatehaunt.com by Uncle Mike Hansen and we've used them here to display what the park looked like in the general during the time period.
Gene, on behalf of Ultimatehaunt.com, the fans and all of the Knott's Berry Farm and Halloween Haunt employees past, present and future, you helped do it. Thank you for helping create something that has terrified millions. Thirty years is a long time, but it's never too late to learn and understand history. Thank you for your willingness to share your memories with all of us. Your name has now gone down in public history as one of the creators of Halloween Haunt. Thank you.
People like Gene pushed the envelope and took a risk thirty years ago to make the Haunt come to life. Between the meetings and all of their perspective duties, the Entertainment Department of 1973 created something of an actual Monster. This website would not exist and the millions of screams and scares would not exist if it weren't for the original people that created the event. Next time you walk through the fog filled streets of Ghost Town in October, take a moment to remember what kind of history that the event has.
*Ultimatehaunt.com would like to mention that the pictures found in this interview are not necessarily photos from 1973 and 1974. The pictures have been donated to Ultimatehaunt.com by Uncle Mike Hansen and we've used them here to display what the park looked like in the general during the time period.
Gene, on behalf of Ultimatehaunt.com, the fans and all of the Knott's Berry Farm and Halloween Haunt employees past, present and future, you helped do it. Thank you for helping create something that has terrified millions. Thirty years is a long time, but it's never too late to learn and understand history. Thank you for your willingness to share your memories with all of us. Your name has now gone down in public history as one of the creators of Halloween Haunt. Thank you.
In honor of the creators
of the Halloween Haunt, we offer this list names that Gene has provided
us with some of the people who put their hearts into making the strong
foundation that it now stands on:
Bill Hollingshead
Gary Salisbury
Martha Boyd
Daryl Anderson
Gene Witham
Bob Holden
Greg Cannom
Chris Doyle
George Lovejoy
Kelly Farrah
Johnny Casino
Bob Rochelle
Bud Hurlbut
John Waite
Jan Cranston
Visit Gene at the Internet Movie Database to see the talents of this amazing individual!
www.imdb.com/GeneWitham
Bill Hollingshead
Gary Salisbury
Martha Boyd
Daryl Anderson
Gene Witham
Bob Holden
Greg Cannom
Chris Doyle
George Lovejoy
Kelly Farrah
Johnny Casino
Bob Rochelle
Bud Hurlbut
John Waite
Jan Cranston
Visit Gene at the Internet Movie Database to see the talents of this amazing individual!
www.imdb.com/GeneWitham