Friday, August 29, 2014

Tomorrowland, 1960

Happy Friday, everyone! Prepare to have your mind blown: even though it is Friday where you and I live, it is always TOMORROW in this little piece of Anaheim. DUH DUH DUUHNNN! (It was the music that really sold it).

This first photo is not an especially rare view, but (to me) it is still awesome. I have made no secret of the fact that T-land is my favorite, and while I grew up with the 1967-ish version, my fascination with the pre-67 version seems to be just about endless. So… this photo from the Hub looking toward the entrance makes me feel as if I could almost walk forward, cross the street (avoid getting hit by the Omnibus), and walk past the Avenue of Flags into the land o' Tomorrow. I would want to visit every little exhibit, souvenir stand, restaurant, and yes, even the bathrooms. And I would have my good camera with 20 boxes of Kodachrome film! Who wants to come along?

Fun details in this pic include the boys and mother (or grandmother?) posing, the lone member of the Disneyland Band passing by, and the orange trees full of fruit.


Did you know that the guys who installed the Moonliner were all descendants of the people who built the campanile in Pisa? It's true because here it is on the Internet. Seeing is believing!


Note: I will be out of town for the holiday weekend, but will try to check in regularly to respond to comments. Keep checking in, there will be new posts every day!

11 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Nice pics today. The angle of the shot in the first photo creates such energy and anticipation, I can't imagine not wanting to rush straight into "tomorrow". It looks as swell as any world's fair ever did.

And haven't we seen the two lads before, now posing at the entrance to Tomorrowland-? Seems to me I recognize that (now retro, for 1960) shirt on the fella to our right.

Thanks, Major for a nice send-off to the Labor Day weekend.

Chuck said...

Ahhh, the world of the distant future - 1986.

I'll be happy to come along on your expedition - we'll just have to make sure we process the slides before we come back to the present, or they'll end up like the exposed cartridge of Super-8 movie film I just found in a box I got out of storage at my parents' house.

K. Martinez said...

When original Tomorrowland existed, I was still young enough to actually believe in the wonders of Disneyland. I remember the Moonliner towering over my small self and was convinced we really did take a trip in it. By the time Tomorrowland '67 arrived, I sort of figured Disneyland out.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I always wanted to go to Tomorrowland first, but was usually outvoted. It seems to me that we usually did the Fantasyland dark rides right away, and then did them again later! This was before the lines for things like Peter Pan were 45 minutes long.

Chuck, that's true. There's always something tricky like that! It's like making a deal with the Devil. Do you have any idea at all of what was on that Super 8 film?

K. Martinez, I'll bet any really young child thinks that much of Disneyland is "real". Maybe that's why nostalgia - for people who have gone their whole lives - is so powerful.

Tom said...

I love that first shot. Walt was a master of drawing the eye down into a scene, practically dragging a person down that path and into Tomorrowland to explore the clock, the rocket, and whatever else lay beyond.

It's kind of a cluttered mess these days... almost like it's telling everyone "just try to find your way in!"

JG said...

My memories of old Tomorrowland are pretty sparse, but what I remember has stayed with me... flying saucers, rocket ship, 20K Leagues, round skyway buckets, Flight Circle...

I think they got a lot of bang for the buck, especially when we now know that the design was constrained by running out of money.

JG

PsySocDisney said...

Love love LOVE that entrance photo! I see the AZ flag leading the Avenue of flags there too. Were they in order alphabetically or by the date they were admitted to the union? I thought I remember hearing it was the latter. It's a lovely and simple detail that seems to inspire the pride and optimism reminiscent of early Tomorrowland. Thanks as always for sharing!

Chuck said...

Major - no Earthly clue as to what's on it, and now I'll never know. Most frustrating thing is this box came out of storage in 2010 - several months before they stopped processing Kodachrome - but I didn't give the contents anything more than a cursory look at the time. Grrrr!

Melissa said...

Have a great weekend!

Dean Finder said...

@Chuck - I've heard tell that there are a few speciality labs that will process Kodachrome in B/W. I'm not sure if they'll do Super 8, though

Chuck said...

I'll need to look into that. No vibrant color, but at least the images aren't lost forever.

Off the top of your head, do you know who doe that?