Friday, May 25, 2018

Beautiful Tomorrowland, August 1967

I am always extra glad to be able to bring you nice photos from Tomorrowland, and today's examples are real beauties. As I have noted in earlier posts, these were probably taken in early July, if not sometime in June, even though the date-stamp is from August.

There's that distinctively non-futuristic Matterhorn mountain, with Hans (or is it Otto?) clinging near the top like a bug. To our left, the Monsanto Plastic Pad, soon to be relegated to Yesterland™ (as of December of '67). In the middle, behind the tree, you can just make out the small tent that I believe used to be part of the Monsanto exhibit, though it was converted to a souvenir stand. To our right... the Peoplemover.


For you fans of vintage people-watching, check this one out! The lady in the Chartruese outfit has just come from the future, directly from a Devo concert. Whip it! Two sailors (to our right) enjoy ice cream bars; they are probably on leave from Long Beach Naval Base! 

The Mary Blair mural on the south side of Tomorrowland seems to have been photographed far less than the one on the opposite side of the corridor, so it's nice to get this angle. Overhead, the still-riderless Peoplemover vehicles sit, apparently motionless until the ride debuted on July 2nd.


Here's a late-breaking addition: DrGoat asked what magazine the girl to the left was holding. I recognized the shape of Independence Hall at Knott's Berry Farm (plus you can juuuust read the word "Knott's" in red), and knew that this was an issue of "Vacationland" magazine. I wonder if she brought it with her from a nearby motel?


And while they used that photo on several consecutive issues of Vacationland, the photos are from the summer of 1967; so this is likely the front cover of the issue that the girl is carrying. Love that Herb Ryman artwork.



16 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

It's a brand-spanking new Tomorrowland of the best kind that ever was. And in addition, Mother Nature even through-in [if I correctly remember my cloud types] a few Altocumulus clouds to complete the look. Yes, I'll just bet those "sailors" are on leave from the LBC Naval Base-! (You can tell by their shorts).

Thanks, Major.

Melissa said...

A mackerel sky, they call it.

Tomorowland, Tomorrowland, Tomorrow,
Creeps in this pretty place from day to day,
Unto the last Silly Symphony of recorded time.
And all our Yesterland hath lighted fools
The way to Donald Duck.

Patrick Devlin said...

I can just hear the 1MC that morning down at Long Beach: "Now hear this. Dress for the day will be Tropical short Light Blue!"

And Major, you missed a Fun Mom in embryonic form just behind the able seamen. Lovely pics, though.

DrGoat said...

Those were the days. Can anyone identify the magazine or whatever it is in the girl's hand there on the left?

Anonymous said...

A nice view of the south mural, especially the hard-to-see bits under the overhang.

I like how the mural spotlights are set into the edge of the PM track. Those guys thought of everything.

That first image is certainly fine too. Curious to hear that the carnival tent was part of the HOF? That's a mixed metaphor for sure.

Best. Tomorrowland. Ever.

Thanks Major. I'm off to mix a metaphor.

JG

Melissa said...

I never meraphor I didn't like!

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, for whatever reason, bright shiny photos of Tomorrowland are my jam, and they will always cheer me up no matter what. So many memories. Altocumulus should be a Marvel villain.

Melissa, I’ve heard of a buttermilk sky, but never a mackerel sky! And hey, high school english class paid off, as I remember very little of the three (or four?) Shakespeare plays we read, but I remember that bit from Macbeth.

Patrick Devlin, I can’t help wondering why those kids chose those hats out of the many other souvenir hats available. They look pretty cute though! Where is li’l Fun Mom? I don’t see her.

DrGoat, I will make an addition to today’s post to answer your question!

JG, I believe (if my memory serves, which it often does not) that the tent was part of a display of plastic products that enhanced your outdoor entertaining and leisure. It might have even been made of a space-age fabric. Yes, that Tomorrowland achieved some kind of perfection.

Melissa, Will Rogers would be proud.

DrGoat said...

Thanks Major. My one stop source.

Patrick Devlin said...

That's some astonishing detective work derived from a tiny bit of image, Major. Nicely done.

The "embryonic Fun-Mom" merely referred to the woman in pink with Instamatic camera nest to the Devo-devotee. Not much of a joke in hindsight.

JC Shannon said...

I think Photo #1 is postcardworhty. You have the Matterhorn, Peoplemover, a little HOF and one of the new gondolas on the Skyway. In photo #2, the woman in the chartruese outfit looks like Lea Thompson to me and the guy in the shades looks like an FBI Agent, you know, or a Man in Black. Great pics, thanks to Major.

Melissa said...

Wow, amazing detective work on the Vacation and magazine! I never cease to be amazed by the sharp eyes and memories, and broad knowledge around here.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's some amazing research based on a tiny little image. Way to go, Major.

There are some renderings on that cover that I have never seen before, but the Knotts ad is familiar. I wonder if they ran it for several years?

It's always worth checking back on GDB in the afternoon.

Now, I'm gonna mix a whole pitcher full of metaphors...

JG

Chuck said...

JG, just don't drive.

And Major (and everyone else), thanks for everything today. No more needs be said. See y'all tomorrow!

JC Shannon said...

I love metafores, especially with lots of frosting.

Major Pepperidge said...

DrGoat, no problemo

Patrick Devlin, I collected all of the “Vacationland” issues I could lay my hands on, at one point, so I was fairly familiar with that one. Ah, I was wondering if the girl in pink was the one you meant!

Jonathan, I wish I could produce my own limited-edition “vintage” postcards - but the Disney Company might have a thing or two to say about that. I might be wrong, but doesn’t Biff (from BTTF) have a flunky who wears glasses very much like the ones that chartreuse girl is wearing?

Melissa, if only I had the ability to do something useful and hugely profitable!

JG, “Vacationland” used that photo for at least three or four issues… I would have to pull my box of them out of the closet to see if it was used for years.

Chuck, you are welcome!

Jonathan, they are perfect with a glass of cold milk.

Chuck said...

Major, while the effect is oddly similar, Biff's flunky ("3-D," played by Casey Siemaszko) is actually wearing a pair of cardboard 3-D glasses.