Tomorrowland, June 1970
Today I'm sharing two slides (with a bunch of close-up details) from TOMORROWLAND, 1970! In Sensurround. These are from an odd lot of slides in which about half have good color, while the other half turned very blue. And I personally have a tougher time doing color-restoration on images that have turned blue (as opposed to those that have turned pink/red). Still, they are great to look at!
Wowee, now that's a Tomorrowland. It's a bit of a shame that the photo is almost perfectly bisected by that palm tree, but it's not easy to get a great composition from a moving Peoplemover vehicle. There's a lot going on here!
Many folks are milling around near Rolly Crump's neat ticket & information booth; I wonder how many people in line at the booth have already used up their "E", "D", and "C" tickets, and they are replenishing the supply? There are some choice souvenir hats on view, like the one on that little girl in the lower left corner.
The stage is in its "down" position, I guess Sunshine Balloon had to rest sometime. I'm loving some of the groovy fashions, like that woman's striped dress to the left. It looks like it might have been getting later in the afternoon, but plenty of guests are more than ready for a hamburger and fries at the Tomorrowland Terrace.
Rocket Jets! Peoplemover! And that stage where The Kids of the Kingdom would often perform.
And we get a glimpse of folks enjoying the view from the upper level of the Carousel of Progress building, while the Skyway glides past us. "Flight to the Moon" is in the distance.
More weird color, sorry! Our photographer took one additional photo looking toward the impressive Rocket Jets and the Peoplemover that never stopped.
21 comments:
Major-
You're right... this IS a Tomorrowland - just like ones we used to hear about (and venture into). I can tell by the striped pants - and no pavers-!
Thanks, Major.
Regarding the hat on that little girl in the lower left corner of that first close-up (second pic)....if that green thing above her hat is a propeller, then I have one of those hats. My hat is green with a black propeller attached to a metal wire, which sticks up above the hat. My brother chose the traditional "Mouse Ears" hat, and I chose the beanie with the propeller. Both hats had the same iron-on cloth decal of Mickey on the front. If I wasn't so tired right now, I'd go dig mine out and photograph it. Maybe later in the day!
I hope the Kids of the Kingdom were going to come out on stage later, and sing a medley of Burt Bacharach songs!
In the second pic (close-up), that lady's B&W vertical striped pants really stands out. You just know she was making a bold fashion statement to stand out from the crowd.
And there's a flock of, not seagulls, but ostriches in the background. Magenta ostriches. Or maybe they're just hats with magenta-dyed ostrich feathers in them. Possibly flamingo-pink, which sounds like one of Nanook's vintage car colors.
And, what IS that thing on the little girl's hat that Major pointed out?
"...and the Peoplemover that never stopped."
Except when it did. It was working fine when we were there in August '75. But from what I've heard here on GDB it broke down from time to time? Or just shut down for maintenance. And then of course it shut down for good.
The PeopleMover was a wonderful concept; constantly in motion, even when loading/unloading. The epitome of Future Transportation.
Thanks Tokyo, for clearing up what that thing is on the little girl's hat. That is, if you're right about it being a propeller. If you're wrong then I reserve the right to take my thanks back. ;-)
And thanks Major, for letting us feast our eyes on how Tomorrowland was meant to be.
There’s something I cannot explain or focus .... it may be a visual illusion but there appears to be some sort of giant screen in front of the Flight To The Moon facade. Part of the lower part is visible but there’s some rectangular shape.... what is it??
Enjoy this Tomorrowland Disneyland guests!!! In about 25 years it’s gonna become Crap Town USA!
Mike, maybe that is a large screen, intended for watching the moon landing that was supposed to happen, but aborted. If these slides were dated/stamped at the lab (Major?) instead of hand dated "June 1970," then perhaps these were taken in April of 1970. The Apollo 13 mission was supposed to land on the moon, but of course, their plans changed during the course of that trip.
Messing with this Tomorrrowland is like messing with Main St. USA. Stop the insanity. Pavers? Tomorrowland has pavers!? Whyyyyyyy? (clutching pearls). I see the words "The K...." above the Space Stage. or I think in the day it was called the Tomorrowland Stage. In any case, I recently saw that the Kids of the Kingdom were pimped out to local schools at the time for performances- those were the days that schools did nice things. I was part of a Children's Theatre Group for a couple of years and we traveled the schools too- should have enjoyed it more, we had a lot of fun. It's interesting to note that in my minds eye Tomorrowland looks exactly like this now as I haven't seen much of the butchery- even in the early 80's those CTB (Central Ticket Booths) were still there. I also saw a old Interoffice memo about the ticket redemption program after tickets were retired. I had to laugh at the complexity. In fact, it was SO complex, that on April 1st they ran a very official looking "promotion" that was so ridiculously complex..out of control complex..called the "Odd Even" promotion, where odd days were one price and even days another price and depending on your age- if it was odd or even...and numerous other metrics of odd and even...I saved the memo...it was a hilarious and well conceived April Fools prank by the Main St. team- totally accepted by management. Employees were melting down. Doubt if that would occur now. That memo I know exactly where it is and am going to dig it out and scan it to you Major. It is rather post worthy!
Lots of interesting details, like the third guy in line in front of the ticket booth wearing a dark blue shirt and a dark blue captain’s hat. Impressive sideburns, too. I wonder if he played keyboard?
Track to the right of that in the second image (the first close-up) and find the “gorillasdontblog” watermark along the bottom of the picture. Track upward from the “dont” and find a dark-haired girl wearing sunglasses with a Kodak 126 Instamatic of some flavor strapped to her left forearm and carrying a pink merchandise bag. She is wearing a short, white skirt and what appears to be a blue blouse with an exceptionally bare midriff. I’m somewhat surprised they allowed her into the Park wearing that considering the guest dress code in effect in those days.
Mike, I think that’s just an optical illusion. The facade had a vertical corner just to the left of the entrance, and I believe that’s what we are seeing here. Compare with this Daveland photo.
What a Tomorrowland indeed.
I’ll come back later after my meetings. Work keeps getting in the way of my online life.
Thanks for your hard work, Major.
JG
Nanook, I saw a girl with plaid pants at the store yesterday, but they are nothing compared to those stripes. Why do I dislike the pavers of today? In theory they are nicer than slurry.
TokyoMagic!, I remember the hats with the propellers, so funny! I know that you still wear yours all the time, though maybe you should just save it for special occasions. Burt Bacharach songs are much to controversial, why not sing something by that nice Pat Boone?
JB, maybe that lady needed to blend in to the tall grass of the savannah so that the lions won’t see her? Imagine if ostriches really did come in those crazy colors - magenta, turquoise blue, and so on! See TokyoMagic’s comment regarding the hat. I didn’t mean that the Peoplemover literally never stopped; when it was in good working order, it never slowed or stopped!
Mike Cozart, I’m not sure what that shape is, could it just be a part of the Flight to the Moon building? If I am looking at the right area, it appears that there is a sign affixed to the rectanglar(ish) thing. What’s going to happen in about 25 years? And I thought it already WAS “Crap Town USA”.
TokyoMagic!, don’t tell me that you believe that we went to the Moon! It was all filmed by Stanley Kubrick, or hadn’t you heard? ;-)
Bu, I’m sure that pavers are probably ultimately stronger, and you don’t have to deal with the cracking that the slurry sometimes had, so once they’ve made the decision to spend the money on pavers, it might seem like a good idea. But I just don’t like how they look, especially on Main Street. Just me. Do you think that after the Kids of the Kingdom were pimped out, they went home and cried in the shower? “Those kids didn’t clap at all!”. CTB is too much like GDB, so I have to sue somebody. I love the April Fools prank, very clever! I’d love to see that memo if you can find it.
Chuck, I can’t imagine that there were too many people dressing like a captain back then! In 1970, that was the equivalent of “punk” fashion. Probably. Bare midriffs were not common back then, but I think we’ve even seen a few in the late 1950s. If I had more time I’d try to look for one particular photo, I remember at the time thinking that it must have been pretty shocking for those days. Her friend in the red skirt also seems to be holding a camera of some kind. And thanks for confirming that the “screen” was just part of the façade, that’s sort of what it looked like to me.
JG, this is why you should quit your job and devote all of your time to GDB!
TOKYO: I knew of the live Tomorrowland broadcast on the 1969 Moon landing on a giant screen set up on the Tomorrowland Stage, but did not know they had planned other broadcasts of later Moon landings as well.
Chuck - I think you are right : it was just an optical illusion. That explains why the “bubble” descriptive sign is visible below what appeared to be a “screen”. It was just the corner to the facade. I view so much of this stuff on my phone these days and don’t fire up my Home Central Computer Control Interface Console System as much as I used to. Also it’s difficult to get those Hollarith Punchcards now.
Major: that was a message to the Tomorrowland guests of 1970. 25 years later puts us in the mid 90’s and the start of Crap Town.
Major..... Pat Boone over Burt Bacharach!?? Really! You’re SOOO 1950’s!!
Tomorrowland perfection!
Thanks, Major.
Major, you are correct about the Moon landings being directed by Stanley Kubrick, but the guy was such a stickler for authenticity that he forced NASA to shoot on location.
Mike, don't get me started on the unavailability of punchcards. It's what finally forced me to upgrade to tape memory last year.
The only things Tomorrowland were missing at this point in time was Space Mountain (7 years later) and Star Tours (17 years later). After those additions, and maybe Captain E.O. (for the time), it all went to Yesterland very quickly. That's saying it too nicely... It went to crap, really! :-D
Aside from that - I don't think I've seen the Carousel of Progress without the stars painted on. Fashion was good back then.
Mike, I don't know if they televised any of the other moon landings at the park, or not. I was just trying to help you figure out, why there might have been a giant screen in Tomorrowland. I can see now that it is a part of the building.....thanks, Chuck!
Major, I would wear my DL beanie with the propeller every day, but the chin strap/string broke a long time ago.
I can feel the wheels (under the rubber speed ramp)on my feet as we travel up to the PeopleMover loading deck.
Awesome pics. Thanks for posting!
The best of Tomorrowland we all agree. I recall the televised moon landing which was shown on the Tomorrowland stage back in 1969. My sense is yes, that the 'screen' in the picture is just the facade of the Rocket to the Moon. Yet, it appears there is seating in front of of the building. And that looks odd. Just can't make it out. KS
Mike Cozart, now I really do wonder if they broadcast any of the other moon landings, or launches, or other major NASA events? I could totally see the optical illusion, it took me a bit to notice that the “screen” seemed to be part of the building.
Mike Cozart, of course, I guess I am not fast on the uptake!
K. Martinez, I AGREE!
Chuck, you didn’t argue with Stanley Kubrick. If he wanted to go to the Moon, then you were going to go to the Moon. I can’t wait to use one of those zero-G toilets!
Kel, luckily we did get some classic Tomorrowland attractions after 1970! I do love Space Mountain, and like Star Tours quite a bit. I never saw “EO” in person, guess I am not quite the Michael Jackson fan that some people were, but that’s OK, I know most folks loved him!
TokyoMagic!, with today’s technology, there must be a way to fix that chin strap! After all, we put a man on the Moon…
Alonzo, ah, if only I could experience that feeling again - especially knowing that a trip on the Peoplemover was imminent.
KS, I’ve seen photos of a large crowd of guests watching the Moon landing, although I suspect that the image on the screen was edited in after the fact. I’d love to hear from anybody who was there for that event!
These pictures have it all! Lines! Levels! Motion! Color! Your recommended daily allowance of striped trousers! Souvenir chapeaux! Floral minidresses!
And don’t forget In 1972 they projected a live demonstration to Tomorrowland guests of a Jiffy Pop aluminum and foil tray .... cooking in a microwave oven ( a radar range) ...... oh the humanity!!!!!
During the demonstration guests eyes all turned blue .... and bluer and bluer till their eyes were a un- natural blue color!! All during the 70’s the Jiffy Pop packaging featured two children from that very Tomorrowland demonstration ..... the the eerie un-natural blue eyes.......
And always remember when visiting ANY Tomorrowland: The future is where you will spend the REST of your life......”
Major, a splendid collection, and What Melissa Said.
JG
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