Friday, December 18, 2009

Knott's Berry Farm sold to investment group

I'm already WAY beyond my quota for Knott-related posts this year. But how can I ignore the news that Knott's Berry Farm, (along with the rest of the Cedar Fair company,) has been purchased? What will the new owners, Apollo Global Management, do to this historic site? Only time will tell. I hope Apollo realizes what a treasure they have in not only the Farm itself, but in many of the people who work there.
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The image above shows the cover of the Knotty Post employee magazine from December 1953. The photo below shows a Christmas garland being hung on the entrance to Ghost Town in about 1962Text Color.
The next photo shows a Christmas billboard for Knott's. It was probably painted by Don Treece, Jerry Nicholson, and the other guys in the sign shop.
It's always a little scary when any historic property gets a new owner -- Especially one we don't know well. And as in similar situations, I await their first move with cautious optimism.

8 comments:

Jay Jennings said...

I guess my generous offer to buy Knott's wasn't enough! And I was going to bring back the Haunted Shack too!

Anonymous said...

How sad - I didn't even know that the Knott's family didn't own it anymore. I hope they take good care of it.

Major Pepperidge said...

Uh oh... I had not heard that news, but it doesn't seem to bode well for Knott's. "Investment Group" means impersonal, faceless, and all-too-ready to throw in the towel if desired results are not quickly reached. And I thought Cedar Fair was bad!

Anonymous said...

Hey, Disney needs to step up to the plate and buy KBF!

Chris Jepsen said...

Anonymous: That nearly happened back in the 1990s -- But the Knott family thought Disney wasn't the right fit for the Farm and nixed the deal.

Tris Mast said...

Is Jerry Nicholson from the Knott's sign shop the same Jerry Nicholson who taught art at Edison High in Huntington Beach?

Chris Jepsen said...

But of course!

Unknown said...

Yep!