Two From July 1966
I have two Kodak Instamatic slides for you today - not from Mr. X - but I like them anyway.
First up is this view of Mary Blair's north mural, on the CircleVision 360 building. Children of the world are dancing and making music, while communications satellites orbit overhead. As I have learned from you folks, the rainbow-colored panels at ground level are where there were phone booths (were they called "chatterboxes"?); guests could call their friends and relatives and make them jealous.
Meanwhile, out in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, we can enjoy a little retro people-watching. I like the brothers with the jackets, one blue, one red, presumably with the logos of sports teams on them? Maybe not. The little girl in the yellow dress looks very much like my younger sister did at the time. But it's not her!
Some of you might be aware that Lou Perry (Sue B's dad) had experienced some rather serious medical issues recently, including two surgeries (no joke when you're 92). But thankfully Lou is one tough customer; Sue said, “Lou is doing great, as you can see, after his recent illness, and wanted to thank everyone for all their warm wishes, thoughts and prayers.” Such wonderful news, thanks for sharing, Sue!
26 comments:
Major-
Yes, indeed... Chatter Boxes. And for the 'kiddies' - Kiddie Phones, "... which children can use to talk to Disney characters".
So glad to hear Lou is 'on the mend', and judging from this image - taking no names-!
Thanks, Major.
You can faintly see The Dent!
The lady in the orange, pink, green and white blouse (and wearing glasses) has a milk mustache.
Thanks, Nanook! Thanks, Major!
That's great news about Lou. Glad to hear he's doing better.
The little girl being held by the lady next to the woman with the milk mustache, is clinging tightly to her psychedelic Disneyland bag full of souvenirs.
Making a phone call from one of the "chatterboxes" was almost a regular thing for me, during a DL visit. If I was at the park with friends or on a school trip, I would almost always call home at some point.
What a great photo of Lou. Thanks for sharing it with us, Sue! I'm so happy to hear that he is doing better!
The technology showcased in the chatterboxes - speakerphones - was a real novelty at the time, so I can see their appeal. We never used one, but even at the time I thought they were a pretty amazing thing. One of those things that was going to make the Future awesome. And honestly, it's one of those future things that I think has actually improved our lives.
Note the old Bell System logo on the wall. Not sure when the logo changed at Disneyland, but the modernized bell logo was announced in the summer of 1969.
Are we sure this is July of 1966? We are looking at an iconic part of 1967 Tomorrowland. I realize it was completed in stages, but I thought this portion was done in early 1967.
Looking GREAT, Lou!
I watched a "Behind the Attraction" episode last night on Disney+. It was about It's a Small World (really all of the Fair attractions) and it pointed out that Mary Blair was retired when Walt brought her in to do Small World, and other projects. She also always drew the same children (even in her books), They were like characters to her. Also, she worked on Disneyland for a relatively short time, and Rolly Crump actually designed the Small World façade based on her drawings.
I'm glad to see Lou is doing well! For some reason, I've always pictured him looking like that (which is fantastic for 92!) Go Lou!
Glad to hear that Lou got through a really rough ordeal and is looking good. Sue played a big part in his recuperation, 'cause she's awesome. Lou raised her right as they say.
There's some great going's on in the people pic. Dig those groovy jackets those 2 boys have on. Those could be Disney related patches, can't tell. I think you're right, some kind of sports thing.
Always a pleasure to see May Blair's murals. Just the best.
Thanks Major
Great to see a picture of Lou looking well! Many thanks for all the beautiful pictures!
Major, this is a great pic of the North Mural, I was too silly to appreciate these when they were around and now I miss them terribly. The fate of these artworks (for they are nothing less) is a big red flashing neon sign advertising the dullness of the louts who destroyed them. I wonder what works those execs have in their collections? Nothing like this, I wager.
Stu, we are enjoying that series also, watched the “haunted mansion” last night. We saw an exhibit of Mary Blair work at the Disney Family Museum, really brilliant.
We never called anyone on the example phones, but I thought a Picturephone was pretty cool. Never guessed I would have one in my pocket someday, Chuck, I agree. Only one trash can in view, but it’s a narrow field.
I can’t see the dent clearly, just a smudge, but I am comforted knowing it’s there.
Tokyo, I saw those psychedelic bags! She is clutching it for dear life! I wonder what treasure it held?
Some people are sitting on the bench in the little bay on the drawbridge, the little boy is hanging over the side. It’s weird, like he is only half-there.
Thanks Major, very grateful for these today.
JG
Lou, you are an inspiration. Good health to you sir. Thanks for sharing all your great Disney memories.
Just enough time this morning to see the pics of the day and wanted to say Lou looks great! Thanks for sharing with us Sue!! And thank you for your service Lou! KS
Nanook, I never used the Kiddie Phones, but remember that it seemed like a big deal to talk to my grandma and grandpa, all the way over in California. I also remember talking to my dad when he was in Vietnam, and the delay was so awful that we kept stepping on each other’s sentences.
Lou and Sue, it’s Dentmania! That poor lady, it’s probably just light reflecting off of her in an odd way, and now all these years later, she has a “milk mustache”!!
K. Martinez, DEFINITELY.
TokyoMagic!, wouldn’t you love to know what was in that bag? Did the chatterboxes let you call anyone in the country, free of charge? Think of the mischief you could get up to these days if that was still there.
Chuck, it’s funny how we take things like the miracle of our phones for granted these days, but they really are amazing devices. Of course it’s always a two-edged sword, but they are one of those things that would have been considered impossible not that long ago. You can watch a vintage documentary about the modernized Bell System logo on YouTube, it’s kind of fascinating. And you make a good point about the date in question… unfortunately I have returned these to the Louisiana salt mine and can’t double-check them to see what the stamp says!
Stu29573, I haven’t watched “Behind the Attraction” yet, but I heard someone talk about it on a podcast. I was surprised at how negative the review was! I should watch at least one to see for myself of course. I didn’t know Mary Blair had retired, though I was pretty sure that she had left the Disney Studio. I thought she was still doing ads and children’s books. But I am probably wrong! Still, very cool that Walt thought of her as the perfect person to work on IASW.
DrGoat, I knew you would be glad to hear about Lou’s full recovery. I would bet money that the jackets have sports team logos on them… when I was a kid, my brother and I had bedspreads that had football logos, and my brother’s had a base color of dark blue, while mine had a base color of red! I think we got them from Sears.
JG, I don’t recall paying any special attention to the Mary Blair murals when they were there. As usual, I was very clueless! And as is often the case, we don’t appreciate something until it’s gone. I still have to wonder if Disney will ever reveal the murals again, repair the terrible damage they inflicted, and bring them back to their former glory? The issue the podcast person had with that Disney+ show was the jokey, mocking tone that it had, as if whoever made the show didn’t trust that the subject matter was worthy of serious discussion. I guess that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is one of the producers.
Major,
Sue kept me posted about Lou's progress throughout his ordeal. I was very glad that the last procedure really worked out. Nice to see that pic of him looking really good.
Thanks again Sue. You are a trooper.
The dent is hard to see but zoomed in you can see it, as it were.
Great news about Lou. Easy to tell he is a survivor and a tough cookie.
Excellent pics as always and thank you for sharing with us every day.
Woo-hoo for Lou!
I also noticed that pre-Saul Bass Bell logo! I'm so used to the later one that this one looks "off-model."
My favorite Mary Blair trivia is that, like me, she needed a bunch of different glasses to see different things, and usually had a purseful of them. I guess a man in the same situation would need to have a lot of pockets.
The boys' jackets are adorable, but I love that the couple who seem to be their parents are wearing competing loud shirts. A family coordinated by style rather than by color.
Really nice to see Lou looking so good Sue! Way to go and here's to continued good health.
I just noticed, in the backround center, a little girl is actually falling out of the moat instead of into it. Head first into a drinking fountain?
That's great news about Lou. Keep smiling, it keeps people guessing what you're up to.
I had one of those jackets. The little circles are MLB team logos on baseballs. I had a blue one I got at Dodger Stadium, oh that 60's fashion.
Major, the Disney+ show has a silly and irreverent tone that was very noticeable and annoying in the Jungle Cruise show, less so for the Haunted Mansion. I'm hoping it is dialed even further back in later episodes.
There is good information to be had, in spite of the tone, and the incessant ghastly, fawning interviews with Kim Granddaughter-Of-Leota.
JG
It's great to see Lou looking so good! I'd be tempted to use the word "marvelous" but that's very Billy Crystal. I'm glad things are working out.
I never appreciated the Tomorrowland murals as a kid. They seemed too kid-like and I wanted to feel like I was in a grown-up land.
Perhaps it's because of Mary Blair's influence but there seemed to be a lot of public/graphic art in the 1960's that had the same child-like qualities - especially at that new shopping center in Edina with the animal parking lot locators.
Major, the kids' character phones weren't all that great - prerecorded spiels. Only very little kids would fall for that trick.
I love the colorful fashions in the second pic. In '67 I was a tad younger than the kid in the multi-color madras shirt but I would want one just like it.
I’d pay an A coupon to see a kid fall out of a moat!
You look great, Lou! Best wishes to your continued health
I had a navy blue jacket like that one. It did't have team logos, just generic sports names like baseball and football and the balls on the patches. It was in the late 70s or early 80s and definitely a hand-me-down from an older cousin.
That Saul Bass Bell System logo film can be seen here.
Always good to hear Lou is on the mend.
Alonzo and KS, I’m sure Lou will appreciate your kind thoughts!
DrGoat, I figured that you were up to date with Lou’s condition, but it’s still great to see him looking so good in that photo (as you said).
Tom, you’re welcome, and thank you!
Melissa, I know what you mean, I am quite a fan of Saul Bass. He came to my school to lecture, it was thrilling to see him. I didn’t know if Mary Blair needed so many glasses, or if she was like my brother, who was constantly misplacing his glasses, so he has about a dozen pairs.
Irene, amen.
DrGoat, ha ha, I don’t think there’s a drinking fountain right there, but it’s still funny to see her, doing some sort of yoga apparently.
MRaymond, yeah, I figured that baseball made sense because of the baseball-shaped white circles. Maybe one is National League, and the other is American League?
JG, I just started watching the Space Mountain episode… it’s not as bad as I expected. I don’t know what I want… I guess I want as much real history as possible, but I don’t want it to be dry and boring. Humor is fine, but I guess the kind in this show is not exactly what I like.
Omnispace, I think I had such tunnel vision for certain things. “Let’s go on the Autopia!”. And then I wouldn’t see anything around me as we headed back there. I feel like I was such an unobservant kid. I do think that Mary Blair was part of that era’s style, even though I do feel that she is distinctive. Her best work is so great, though I’ve seen pieces that I don’t consider that great. Like any artist, I suppose. I’ve heard mp3s of the prerecorded spiels, you’re right, they’re a bit lame, but OK for a four year old!
Melissa, I also want to watch somebody dive in to save the kid.
Andrew, for sure!
Dean Finder, thanks for the link to the Saul Bass film. You’d think that AT&T might have access to a copy that was in better condition. But hey, at least we have something to see, all these years later! Those kinds of films were probably thrown away by the thousands.
Major-
The problem with 'humor' is that there's no half-way to it. If it happens to find itself in what's basically a "just-the-facts" program for the purpose of 'livening things up' - the result is usually something cringe-worthy, even for the toddler set. It can't be forced, and the folks being witty need to understand it (comedy). That rarely happens in these situations. Rather than 'forced humor', one merely needs to be pleasant and engaging to keep things rolling along. But that sort of 'method' seems antithetical in today's media world.
And remember: "There are many judges of humor - and they don't agree."
Major, Stu, Nanook, I watched the “Star Tours” segment tonight, and I have identified part of why I don’t care for the “humor” voice in that show.
The smarmy narration is clearly overlaid on the interviewees’ commentary by the editors in ways that make it clear the “humor” is artificially written after the interview, and often at the interviewee expense. It isn’t part of an ad-libbed back-and-forth, it’s scripted, forced, and sometimes belittling, even of historic figures who deserve more respect; Harper Goff, Marc Davis, George Lucas, even Tony Baxter, to say nothing of Walt.
I’m fine with tough interviews, even of people to whom I am sympathetic, but to edit a recorded interview to set someone up to be the butt of a cheap joke isn’t going to win me over. It’s reminiscent of Mystery Science Theater 3000 style, except applied to people we respect.
Anybody can come up with a smart-a** response the next morning in the shower, and that’s how this sounds.
The saddest part is, the current producers are tone-deaf enough that they probably don’t realize that’s how cheap and sleazy their effort comes off.
JG
I’m a few days late so not sure if anyone will see this, but I did want to chime in in agreement on the Disney+ show. So much great info buried in cringeworthy attempts at humor. JG hit the nail on the head and I did a spit take at “ incessant ghastly, fawning interviews with Kim Granddaughter-Of-Leota.” So true! I don’t mean to be negative but… certain choices were definitely made.
Good to hear of Lou’s progress! Looking good!
Celeste
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