Friday, May 03, 2013

Instamatic Selection

Here is another trio of Kodak Instamatic gems, courtesy of my friend Mr. X. (Yes, that Mr. X!)

I love this first image. The Matterhorn looks like it has been dipped in molten gold as it gleams in the last rays of sunlight. The Christmas star on top is lit for an extra bonus, at no additional cost to you!


There's the Disneyland Band, as seen from the upper deck of the Omnibus.  Any photo that is different from the usual assortment is welcome, and this one falls into the "different" category. As always, I like observing the people in the background.


We are near the Tomorrowland Terrace (with its familiar Coca Cola sign) and the amazing bandstand (in the "down" position); was this picture taken from the Peoplemover? Ya gots yer four-car blue Monorail, lots o' Peoplemover trains, and a lone Skyway bucket too.


10 comments:

Nanook said...

More swell Instamatic images. It appears we can catch a glimpse of IaSW in the last picture.

Thanks, Major & Mr. X

TokyoMagic! said...

That Skyway bucket looks so strange out there on the cable all by itself. Shouldn't there be other buckets in our view? They weren't normally spaced THAT far apart.

Nancy said...

oh yeah, Tomorrowland excellence! my fave "modern" Skyway buckets, Peoplemover trains, Monorail Blue and a peek at the Tomorrowland Terrace stage....what a way to start the day! :-)

Alonzo P Hawk said...

Nifty tomorrowland shot, full to the brim with good stuff!! I agree with Nancy. I just hope the mention yeller gold (the matterhorn kind) doesn't have me wandering around the AZ desert later searching for the lost dutchman mine. I could get bit by a snake or some critter with the hydrphobie.

Melissa said...

The color on that Matterhorn picture! The angle on the band picture! The movement in the Tomorrowland picture! This is a real bunch of winners.

K. Martinez said...

It's like the Christmas star has illuminated the Matterhorn with its golden light in that first image.

With a Mark II monorail, original monorail station and no guard rails on the PeopleMover track or vehicles this must be 1967 with a brand new world on the move. I love it!

I agree with Melissa. Today's batch of images are awesome.

Tom said...

What more can I add? All of these shots are wonderful! I have to say, though, that sunset Matterhorn picture is fantastic. It's the kind of image you can just stare at for hours, searing the glory of the golden snow into your corneas.

JG said...

It's early in the morning, the peoplemovers are empty, short line at the submarine. The pic is from an odd vantage, is this the upper deck of the rocket jets platform?

The color and soft focus of the Matterhorn shot is marvelous. The Instamatics have limitations, but sometimes, those limits contribute to the art and the style. I am coming to enjoy the soft focus look, it mirrors my aging memory of these splendid days.

The band pic really brightens my day. I love the people in the background.

You must have saved this special batch for Friday, it sure makes me feel good. Sanity is elusive at the best of times, but I think I can hang another day now.

Thank you Major.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, you are right, IASW is just peeking in to the left! It is such an attention hog. ;-)

TokyoMagic!, where've ya been?! It does look strange with just one bucket… maybe it was just a freak of timing. Since loading and unloading the buckets took varying amounts of time, I would assume that the spacing could vary (?).

Nancy, I want to live in that Tomorrowland!

Alonzo, you should be one of those crazy Uranium prospectors that were in vogue for a while! Geiger counters are cool.

Melissa, thanks. Mr. X is pretty critical of his childhood photographic skills, but I think he did a great job. Better than I ever did, definitely.

K. Martinez, see, if I was smart I would do the same kind of deductive reasoning as you just did! So guard rails were added to the Peoplemover after 1967? I didn't know that.

Tom, I do love that Matterhorn shot, but there is a part of me that wishes Mr. X had a better camera to fully take advantage of scenes like that.

JG, I'm not sure where that picture was taken, I thought it was the Peoplemover, but you might be right about the Rocket Jets platform. And you are right, I tend to save the Instamatics for Fridays because I really like some of them. There are some real gems still to come!

Anonymous said...

I don't think the skyway buckets were attached to the cables. I remember seeing one taken off the line at the Tomorrowland end, the attendants grabbed the handles on each end and lifted it off and ran it onto a fixed rail behind the queue. There were other buckets stashed back there, like spares to add capacity.

The may have been a latch or grip that they released first to set it free. I didn't see if there was. I think they had a mark or some way to determine a minimum distance apart, but maybe further was not a problem?

JG