Parking Lot, December 29 1959
After nearly two years of blogging vintage Disneyland photos, I am grateful when I find an image that is different in any way. So I love this photo! It was taken from the Skyway (or perhaps from the Skyway station?) overlooking a sliver of a backstage road, the railroad tracks, and the glorious parking lot full of cool cars. There's a gap in the berm to let giant mice in.
Anyway, I think it's interesting!
Today marks the 103rd anniversary of Einstein revealing his theory of relativity, so here is a bonus photo that has nothing to do with Einstein at all. Because that's the way we roll here at Gorilla's Don't Blog!
8 comments:
I am trying to wrap my head around where the first shot was taken. Maybe as the photographer was exiting the skyway gondola at the Tomorrowland station and it is aimed back towards the parking lot. In the parking lot are the high power transmission lines and I believe the street to the left would be Harbor Boulevard. I know in later years the Tomorrowland station was enclosed, but I can't remember or find good photos of the station if it was open in the 1950s. It is a very cool photo and a unique angle.
Looking at pictures of the old skyway buckets (on your blog) there is only one horizontal bar, today's photo show 3 horizontal bars. I don't think that's the skyway bucket. I would guess (total guess) that this is a security station or something at the east employee gate? Or maybe a look-out area at the Skyway station??? I love a mystery!
By golly, vdt, you are right! I just assumed that was a Skyway bucket in the foreground. But it doesn't match any other photos I have. I honestly don't have a good guess as to what that could be, or where this photo could have been taken from.
Matterhorn is exactly right. That's how it looked when you exited the Tomorrowland skyway just behind the Space Bar. That road paralleled harbor and the 5 freeway, and was entered from Ball road, and crossed the tracks in behind the TWA rocket. Later closed off with fencing next to the Diorama. Harbor was nothing but trees in those days, with a couple of motels closer to Katella.
And the question will never have answered: why was this photo taken??
I remember in those days we were all amazed over the number of cars in one place. Not even the Rose Bowl parking lot had that many cars. Today it's no big deal, but then to see the Sea of Cars was unusual. I think that the picture was taken just because it was an unusual view.
Coxpilot is dead on -- up thru the early 70's (before WDW started nabbing many midwest and east coast tourists) the parking lot was something that people considered amazing... in part because of its sheer size, but even more because of its incredible mix of out-of-state license plates! The monorail and Disneyland Hotel Tram spiels both made note of visitors from all over the country. Playing "Spot Your State" on the tram, and "Spot Your Car" on the monorail, was something everyone did.
mr wiggins:
I'm still looking for my car in a shot of the employee's parking. I always parked under the monorail along the fence next to Harbor Blvd. It was the only parallel parking available, and I had a nice car (1954 XK-120 Jag, dark green) and didn't want the doors bumped.
Since you can't post photos, I changed my avitar to the car.
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