Tomorrowland, July 1959
I have two extra nice Tomorrowland photos for you today, both from July 1959. The Matterhorn, Monorail, and Subs were all brand-new, but you'd never know it from these pictures - none of those attractions are in evidence at all. Which makes me wonder if these were actually taken much earlier than their date-stamp indicates. But there are some things we'll never know.
Man oh man, what a scene! So much color, and there's just enough people to make the place feel alive and energetic.
What's in the little boy's hand? Did he rip the pigtail off of some poor girl? Major Pepperidge does not approve of such behavior. Those nice people to the left are pausing so that Dad can get a good shot of his wife and kids in front of all that kooky Tomorrow-ish stuff.
From the same photographer comes this wonderful image with the Moonliner looming over the Cox Thimble Crome Flight Circle. Too bad we can't see our old friend CoxPilot.
Yes, little girl, you should definitely spend $1.50 of your hard-earned babysitting money on a souvenir hat with an ostrich feather. You won't regret it.
I hope you have enjoyed these beautiful pictures of Tomorrowland!
24 comments:
That does look like "hair" that the little boy is holding. Perhaps it's a Rapunzel hair extension from the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, but it kept falling off, so he's just going to carry it around all day. Either that, or its just a kid-size shillelagh!
Major-
I love the "Thimble Drome" pennants encircling the flight circle. Those little model airplanes certainly seem to be holding the attention of all those guests.
@ TM!-
Undoubtedly that's a kid-sized shillelagh. I remember always wanting one when I was his age. The lucky devil-!
Thanks, Major.
I just looked up "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" and I see that it was released one month prior to the date on these pics. Since "Tangled" was still a few years away from it's release, I am going to stand firm and say the kid is holding a special Disney-produced "souvenir shillelagh." I hope it was signed personally, by Sean Connery!
Look at all those flags flapping in the wind! It's like a super-mega used car lot. And check out the abundance of flowers at the entrance. Bee-eautiful! Love this colorful peek into the "World of 1986". Thanks, Major.
Nanook, I asked Santa every year for a shillelagh, but alas, he never brought me one. I guess you and I were both deprived.
There is actually a little evidence of the Submarine Voyage. I think I spy a Sub poster on the left. What kid could resist an Alpen hat with a feather in it? Not me I tell ya. Good things today Major, thanks.
Are those flags in the first pics attached to the Clock of the World or something behind it? Great captures of the energy of T-land today, Major - thanks!
Ok, I'll admit it; if there still was a flight circle, I'd stand and watch. There's something exciting about those little planes screaming like banshees! Speaking of The Emerald Isle, the item.the boy is carrying is a proto-type churro/shillelagh. They sold them in the parks for a year or so after Darby. When the popularity of the movie went down, they simply cut them smaller (for the same price, of course) and sold them as churros. Now you know!
Is that Al Bundy or Jay Pritchett? Control line airplanes were popular back then. My older brother had one. I don't know if it was a Cox model. And I think there was a DL TV show that featured them? Anyway, I have a vague memory of a Lockheed Constellation being flown by wire.
Is the little girl carrying a purse or a camera case?
These bring back memories of the park I first visited. Thanks, Major,
dz
Good stuff today, Major. Thanks!
The little boy might be holding a toy snake from Tomorrowland. There were/are wooden ones made of segments of wood wired together. These are still sold in San Francisco ChinaTown, and might have been sold in Adventureland before the Great Rubber Snake Rebellion in 1965.
The only memory of a shillelagh that I have is there was an Irish pub called the "Shillelagh" in downtown Bakersfield and we passed it on the way to Disneyland. (before the Hwy 99 freeway bypass was built, the highway went right through downtown.)
The sign had a leprechaun leaning against the club like a walking stick, easy to see when stopped at a traffic light. 8 year old me didn't know what either a pub or a Shillelagh was, so I asked my Dad, who was not Irish, nor a beer drinker, but he knew.
Weird that I remember that now, which is one reason I enjoy GDB so much. Thanks everyone.
JG
My first thought was the boy was holding an extra long churro. LOL. I believe a shillelagh is correct.
The view of the entrance to the original Tomorrowland always makes my pulse quicken. It was my favorite Land.
The photo of the Flight Circle brings back memories. My mom staffed the Bathroom of Tomorrow exhibit. That photo was the view from her desk. Extra special cool! Thanks for these photos Major!!
The first picture shows women in at least 4 different styles of outfits - dresses, pants, shorts and capris (clamdiggers, pedal pushers, whatever they were called at that time). Interesting to see so many ladies' styles merging, for a day in Disneyland at that time.
Grant, please share more about your mom. What years did she work for Disney? Were you "in existence" at that time? Would love to hear more, if you don't mind my asking.
Thanks, Major, for today's post!
Sue
Pity that Disney ran out of money by the time they had to build Tomorrowland. It looks less like a futuristic city and more like a cheap knock-off version of the World's Fair. At least the renovations in the future (lol!) did some justice to the best land.
Pretty sure that item the boy is holding is an articulated wooden snake, probably sold in Adventureland.
I love pictures of Tomorrowland from this era!
I think I can see a Monorail poster on the right. Add the Submarine poster and I'm voting for 1959 or later.
TokyoMagic!, well, I would have never guessed that the thing the kid was holding could be a souvenir shillelagh!! It appears to be strangely “sheep’s crook” shaped, which seems odd. I’ll have to do a Google search to see if I can find photos of other Darby O’Gill souvenirs!
Nanook, I love those pennants too, somehow so evocative of Old Tomorrowland, and the hobbies that 50’s and 60’s kids enjoyed. Thanks for the confirmation on the shillelagh (that’s a tough word to type).
TokyoMagic!, well, I still like the idea that the kid is holding a clump of random hair, but OK, you win!
K. Martinez, I was very happy to find these pix, so full of color and energy; that’s the Tomorrowland that I love so much!
TokyoMagic!, the irony is that you got a pony every darn year.
Jonathan, AHA, good eye! Yes, that is definitely a Sub poster, so the date must be in the ballpark at least. Thanks!
Andrew, as far as I can tell the flags are attached to the Clock of the World… I can’t think of what else would have been in that area that would have worked.
stu29573, years after this photo was taken, I knew “big kids” who had RC cars and planes, I was always so jealous! I remember one guy took his to the Sepulveda Damn Recreation Area, and flew his RC plane with a troll doll in the cockpit, that delighted me for some reason, ha ha. BRING BACK SHILLELAGH CHURROS!
dzacher, I’m going to say “Al Bundy” because I don’t know who Jay Pritchett is (was). Just a few years ago I used to go for walks in an area where a guy flew and RC jet. Yes, and actual miniature jet. It just sounds like a fighter jet doing crazy things! Wonder how much that baby cost? I’m pretty sure that girl is carrying a purse - she wants to be like the older girls.
JG, if the kid had a toy snake from Tomorrowland, it would have to be a robot snake. All joints and chrome, with laser eyes! I actually know exactly the sort of souvenir snakes you described, and must have owned at least one in my life. Or else it belonged to one of my brothers. Irish pubs are fun, there are at least three near me, I’m not a guy who typically likes bars (or drinking, though I am not a teetotaler), but it is occasionally fun to go grab a beer at a place like that. I’m going to look up the Shillelagh bar in Bakersfield and see if I can find a matchbook or something!
Grant, quick, patent the idea of extra long churros! You’ll make millions! Very cool that your mom staffed the Bathroom of Tomorrow, didn’t you send me some pix long ago?
Lou and Sue, I just love observing the clothing on the men, women, and kids, which is weird because I normally don’t really care about clothing. That’s right, I’m a nudist, 24/7. It’s my right as an American!
The Magic Ears Dudebro, it is true that Disney was short on money when it came to Tomorrowland, and yet… I still love it so much.
Sunday Night, uh oh, now I’m leaning toward “wooden articulated snake”. My whole world is falling apart. I mean more than usual.
Sunday Night, yes, you are right, I feel like a dope, since I normally am all about the posters.
OK, I looked and looked, the only image I could find for “Darby O’Gill shillelagh” is from a Twitter post, a woman took a photo of one in Walt Disney’s preserved Burbank office. Was THIS the souvenir? Or the actual prop from the movie?
Today's images are brought to you by the American textile industry and a generous grant from The Vrooom Foundation.
Did that kid swipe Walt's own shillelagh from the office? Wow, quite the operator, I bet he grew up to be the Notorious Phantom, scourge of Inspector Clouseau.
I often go drinking at the Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh in West Orange, NJ. Or rather, I went there back when you could do that sort of thing. Hopefully, I'll be able to go there again for a halfway to St. Pat's party in mid-September.
JG and Sunday Night, I had one of those articulated snakes, when I was a kid...and I still have it. It's made of plastic and I think it came from the toy aisle of our Lucky's grocery store.
Major, originally, I was kidding about it being a souvenir shillelagh, but now I'm thinking that it might actually be an "articulated" shillelagh!
That item from Walt Disney's office looks awfully small. Maybe it was a shillelagh for a leprechaun? It almost looks more like a carved hammer or mallet.
The previous owner of my home left a lot of items behind in the garage. Among those items were a pair of old wooden crutches, a wooden cane and a wooden shillelagh! Maybe I should go check the shillelagh for a "Walt Disney Productions" stamp. And you are right, "shillelagh" is a tough word to type!
Great photos, Major!
dzacher, your memory isn't far off. The serial for the first week+ on the original Mickey Mouse Club was a "What I Want to Be When I Grow Up" series on airline pilots and flight attendants. There's a scene with the boy who wants to be a pilot at a line-control airplane meet. The series also features lots of Connies, which were the top of the line airliner at TWA at the time.
Thanks, Chuck! I would like to find that somewhere. Maybe Disney+
dz
@Tokyo & Sunday Night.
So cool you still have yours. I always wanted one of the rubber Adventureland ones, but mom would not let me get one. By the time I was old enough to buy one without her, I didn’t want it anymore.
We bought a wooden snake like I described for my son in San Francisco China Town, it’s mostly bamboo, I think. It’s still in his room 25 years later, but he didn’t take it when he moved out. The memory of my mom not letting me get one was instrumental in his getting one, so I’m glad he has left it home.
@Major, you are right! I goofed, I meant Adventureland, not Tomorrowland. A chrome snake would be awesome.
JG
dzacher, Disney+ is where I saw it in early February, so I'm guessing it's still out there. Happy watching - you'll see somebody you never expected to see in a MMC serial!
Post a Comment