Friday, September 08, 2017

Wonderful Tomorrowland, 1957

Oh boy, it's time to visit vintage Tomorrowland. My favorite! Of all the entrances to the various lands, this one beckons me the most; Walt Disney's famous opening day speech refers to the "challenge and promise of the future", and the early Tomorrowland made that promise tangible, in a very mid-century manner that I find extremely appealing today. 

The Clock of the World, the Moonliner, the Hall of Chemistry, CIRCARAMA, and yes, those posters... what I wouldn't give to stroll along that flag-lined avenue.


Judging from those long shadows from the southeast, it must be relatively early, which might explain the low crowds. A rare "Art Corner" poster can be seen to the right, as well as a "Satellite View of America" poster (it's really an overprinted "Space Station X-1" poster) - I'd love to know if any of those still survive. If so, I will pay $50 cash for it!


Here's a nice shot of the Monsanto House of the Future, as neat as a pin. In a few years, the people who lived here got themselves a nice lawn ornament that looked like the Matterhorn! Makes my lawn gnomes look kind of sad.


13 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Yes - "those posters"-! Interesting they placed two, Skyway posters within about 15 feet of one-another. And as far as lawn ornaments are concerned, one can never rule-out pink flamingos as the ornament that's "always in good taste"-!

Thanks, Major.

K. Martinez said...

The vision of "The World of 1987" was pretty cool. Always loved the architecture of the original and first Tomorrowland.

I guess those tall slender trees (can't think of the name) survived over at the Haunted Mansion when Splash Mountain plopped down next to it. They just SQUEEZE everything together.

Nanook, Pink Flamingos in good taste? As long as Edie and the Egg Man approve, I'm good with it.

TokyoMagic! said...

Ken, were those trees (Cypresses?) at the entrance to Tomorrowland moved over by the Haunted Mansion?

K. Martinez said...

Yes they were. You can still see them in photos in between Splash Mountain and the Haunted Mansion.

K. Martinez said...

Supposedly those trees were recycled when New Tomorrowland was being built in 1966/67 by moving/transplanting them over to the Haunted Mansion site, but who knows. Maybe it's a lame story cooked up. You know how those old stories about Disneyland go. I'm not sure how long those trees would last, but here are some photos of the trees today. Maybe these are replacements by now. I don't know for sure.

http://davelandweb.com/hauntedmansion/images/exterior/DSC_7656.jpg

http://davelandweb.com/hauntedmansion/images/exterior/2011/DSC_6486.jpg

Tom said...

I'm stuck on the first photo. So uncluttered, so tidy, so full of promise. It didn't look tired and overblown back then, just sleek and beckoning. The entrance was all horizontal and vertical lines, and beyond the clock was the future. Always love seeing this entrance.

Melissa said...

There's no future like the old future!

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, it IS odd that they put two Skyway posters so close together. I kind of like pink flamingos… I suppose they have gained some sort of respectability after so many years. Maybe.

K. Martinez, I still can’t wait to see the World of 1987! I don’t care about flying cars, I just want everyone to have a “Flock of Seagulls” hairdo. I never knew that the cypresses next to the Mansion were the ones from the entrance to Tomorrowland!

TokyoMagic!, great minds think alike.

K. Martinez, I believe that Italian cypresses can live a very long time, so they very well could be the same trees (shrubs?). But as you pointed out, the Disney publicity machine loves a good story, true or not, so we can take it all with a grain of salt.

Tom, I totally agree with you; old photos of the entrance to Tomorrowland really do make me happy.

Melissa, I kind of love referring to the “old Tomorrowland”. Or even the “old New Tomorrowland”!

Chuck said...

Ahh, the days of future past. All this talk of a past perfect future has got me tense.

In my experience, pink flamingos always taste good.

Nanook, one of those posters is for the Skyway to Tomorrowland, while the other is for the Skyway to Fantasyland.

Nanook said...

@ Chuck-

If only...

Melissa said...

Tomorrow is Yesterday.

Chuck said...

Melissa, I know a lot of folks have mixed feelings about that episode of Star Trek, but it's one of my favorites.

A cherished memory is standing watch on Christmas Day in an operations center at "the Omaha installation" while playing this episode on one of the big screens. When one of the guys headed off to the restroom in the otherwise empty, off-duty building, I warned him that if he ran into any strange people in yellow or blue shirts and black pants to just look the other way and let them go about their business.

Unknown said...

Always loved this entrance to Tomorrowland. It was so inviting and you could see what awaited you there Now everything is obscured by the rockets. :(