Autopia Beauties
Folks who know me well can always tell when I'm about to post nice photos from Tomorrowland. They'll notice a twinkle in my eye, some extra pep in my step, and I might even whistle a merry tune. My gosh, it's annoying! But I gotta be me.
Let's begin with this scan, dated "March, 1964"; casual Disneyland fans (how I pity and despise them) might not appreciate the wonders of this photo, but the Junior Gorillas are hip to the jive. We're in the queue at the Tomorrowland Autopia, with plenty of Mark VI vehicles set aside - March was the slow season. Richfield sponsored the Autopia, and it was kind of clever to add a billboard - the kind you might see along any busy road in America. I love the golden space station, with a "pass-thru" deck for rockets to land and take off. The gas pumps were another necessary detail that also added some veracity to the scene.
Next, it's May, 1966, and we still have the Mark VI vehicles, only there seems to be a lot more turquoise paint jobs. "Sandy and Paisly" was written on the slide mount, I'm guessing that Paisly was the young girl. I don't have a lot to say about this picture, except that I like it a lot.
14 comments:
Major-
I wonder if Richfield Boron was boring-? (Just wondering...) I suppose those spotlights in the landscaping illuminating that Richfield signage are Stonco fixtures, but I'm gonna place my vote for Crouse Hinds - just because.
That second image is all about the hair: 'Sandy's' bouffant - in perfect precision; and 'Paisly's' hair focuses on her barrette. Oh - and Sandy's cool shades.
Thanks, Major.
Sandy was honored to be asked to speak at the Small Women Owned Business Luncheon over at the Disneyland Hotel …. But she was surprised the officials never even asked her how tall she was.
My, this is a real crispy clear picture! Probably the best view of the Richfield space station billboard we've seen. It looks like they're charging $0.00 for gas here; fill 'er up!... Twice!
Wonder why they have both, light aqua and dark aqua car colors? I think I like the darker color better. The cars look so shiny and new here, and the tires look new as well. "Paisly", never heard that one before. I bet she has twin brothers named "Plaid" and "Argyle".
Really nice Autopia pics, Major. Especially the first one. Thanks.
I bet Paisly eventually moved to Haight-Ashbury and became a hippie. Or maybe the parent who named her that did.
Groovy Autopia pics, Major! Like...thanks for sharin', man!
The official Gasoline of Disneyland! Years ahead....years ahead of what? Years ahead they would be merged and become ARCO: these logos and the eagle were way better than what ARCO produced....I'm wondering if those pumps actually worked and there are tanks underground (?) Certainly, there was a gas station backstage over near Small World where we would fill up the truck: I don't remember ever "paying", and in my time, but their were traditional pumps....departments would have to "pay" for things internally: like comp tickets were not really "comps": internally that is....anyway: I digress...to Richfield Boron...you know Richfield right? From accounting? He is AWESOME! I remember during that Christmas party he was a hoot once the booze came out...those crazy guys in accounting! Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee look amazing in their powder blue sports car. I wouldn't mind this sweet little vehicle in my front driveway. That leather strap I don't think changed at all up into the late 80's...I do not remember once going on Autopia with guests. After my time, and during "Team Buildings" with companies (two decades and several careers after) EVERYONE wanted to go on Autopia. Me: "don't we get enough of driving in LA?" I was always Mr. Grumble waiting in line sucking up gas fumes. I think everyone is clear where I stand on the enjoyment level of Autopia: I don't want it to be TRE'd: but it's a part of the Park I would avoid like the plague. Smell, noise, crowds....recipe for "big bag of NO." People love it however, so hopefully it will be with us for a long time. Thanks Major!
That first photo would be completely opaque to younger Disneyland fans. “This is NOT Disneyland! I’ve been going to Disneyland since I was a little kid in the late ‘90s and I know that place like the back of my hand. Nope! Not even close!”
The clarity of the image really allows us to look at the detail on that space station. Very 1950s. It looks almost like an artist’s impression of an artists’s impression, or like the characteristics were designed by a committee of laymen who had read an article by Werner von Braun in Collier’s years before and caught a couple of episodes of the “Man in Space” series on Disneyland but really didn’t understand what they were seeing. Note the terrestrial-type observatory dome at the top, the flat “parking aprons” for rockets, and the location of the porthole windows.
You see portholes on the outside and inside of the station “ring” section periodically on illustrations from the period, presumably because it looks “normal” to the artist based on what is “up” in the illustration. Unfortunately, that placement doesn’t make any sense; the station is a ring so that it can rotate and provide artificial gravity for the crew through centrifugal force, which would make the outer ring the “floor” of that part of the station. The portholes would have to be 90° off from where they are shown here to be practical. I hope the artist didn’t make them hinged so you could easily wash the outside surface. I don’t have any issues with a clean and neat space station, but there are better ways to set about vacuuming the place.
I love the second photo because of the mood it conveys - a mother and daughter having an engaged conversation on a fun day at the Happiest Place on Earth. Added bonuses are the little red headed girl leaping out of the car in the foreground, excited to get on to her next adventure, and the boy in the car behind them with an awesome “I can’t believe I’m driving a car…in DISNEYLAND!!! expression on his face. At first glance, that photo may seem mundane, but it really sums up a fun day at the Park in one shot.
Thanks for another great start to the weekend, Major!
“don't we get enough of driving in LA?"
“ Smell, noise, crowds....recipe for "big bag of NO."
What. Bu. Said. Is me now.
But as a kid, “I can’t believe I’m driving a car…in DISNEYLAND!!!”
I might vaguely remember the fuel pumps, and a Junior Gorilla (maybe DW?) noted a while back that some of them were real in the sense of fueling the vehicles, and there was a backstage storage and repair somewhere behind the monorail shed, not that I am any authority.
Also, can’t have a picture of Autopia without fire extinguishers. I remember Richfield advertising Boron additive, and then finding out there’s a town named Boron, and then finding out there’s an element called Boron… “ ITS ALL CONNECTED!!!”
Sorry, I was gone for a minute, I’m better now.
I’m with you, Major. Both photos are really nice, good memories here. Thank you.
JG
Nanook, I have all of Richfield Boron’s novels, including “The Killer Kitty Kaper”. Signed, 1st edition! And trust me, he is not boring. It’s funny, I have another photo of the Autopia that looks like it could be from the same lot; the warm cast is the same, the cars are the same - but it’s from a different lot.
Mike Cozart, eventually Sandy would be President of SWOBL!
JB, Don’t you know that $0.00 X 2= $2,000? Math doesn’t lie! It does look like they have light and dark aqua cars, which speaks to the popularity of that color I guess. My grandparents knew a man whose name was “Argyle”, so there!
TokyoMagic!, I guess Paisly is a fairly “hippie-ish” name, though she’d be pretty young to go to Haight-Ashbury at its peak. Maybe 10?? You never know, however.
I wonder what the official oatmeal of Disneyland was? “Years ahead”… it somehow sounds good without really saying anything. My favorite kind of motto. I’m sure those gas pumps worked, there were a LOT of gasoline-powered engines to keep full during the day. And ARCO would have presumably paid for all of it. There was (is) a small service station at the Disney Studio, but I was never clear on whether I was allowed to use it (I don’t ever remember seeing a car getting gas) or if it was only for people like Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. There are a lot of questions I should have asked back then, but I didn’t want to make waves! It was my first real studio job after all. The pair in the car really do resemble Janet Leigh and a young Jamie Lee. I know somebody who was putting a Mark VII body on a golf cart chassis, and he had a real hard time with the leather strap. Or rather with the large grommets, which would have cost a fortune to do (the device to add the grommets was expensive). My nephew loved the “little cars” so much when he was around five years old, it was his favorite attraction. I don’t think it’s ever been MY favorite attraction, and I know it might be removed someday. I’ll miss it, but if they actually replaced it with something good, it would ease the pain.
Chuck, I think a lot of old Disneyland photos would mystify today’s guests. Most of the lans have changed significantly, and of course certain rides have now been gone for decades. I agree that the donut-shaped space station is not exactly scientifically accurate, but it is cute, and that’s what is important. Werner Von Braun declared, “Ze rockets must be CUTE!”. I love those old books from the 1950’s with their airbrushed illustrations of rockets and space stations and moon colonies. Chesley Bonestell and such. The “Man in Space” series is (in my opinion) the high point for the Disneyland TV show. Yes, even more than Davy Crockett, though it didn’t make as many millions in merchandise. The expression on the boy’s face (in the rear car) is pretty great, he’s so happy.
JG, I do kind of wonder if the Autopia will ever change over to electric vehicles. $$$$$$. PS, $$. But I do like the idea of a quieter, less-smelly ride. The town of Boron is probably lots of fun, but it’s no Oxnard. Hey, the first Oxnard joke of 2024! And not the last either, by Grabthor’s hammer. Where did you go, anyway?
The first photo is a signage nerds dream! Great close up of the Richfield billboard, not one but two Richfield Boron gas pumps, and a reminder that there's no smoking. With no kids or people in the photo the photographer must have been a big Richfield fan!
RICHFIELD AUTOPIA was the first attraction sponsorship to sign aboard …. At the time the president of Richfield said they were excited to be a part of the Disneyland project but were not quite sure what they exactly just “bought” for $50,000 dollars !! Lol!!
When I see "boron" I think "boring moron". I could name a few. No one here of course! All Junior Gorillas are Mensa Material! 'Specially me!... Umm, can anyone help me find my Pet Rock? It got away from me at a nearby gravel quarry. Guess I shoulda kept it on a leash.
JG, I often get those metaphysical blackouts as well. I'll be watching a movie, and one of the characters says something that gets me thinking... and I'm off... into Conjectureland (it's between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland). A while later, when I come to my senses again, I have no idea what's going on in the movie. So I have to rewind five minutes or so and see what I missed. The other people in the theater really get annoyed when I do that.
Major, did that man that your grandparents knew have a last name, "Socks"?
@ JB-
"My grandparents knew a man whose name was “Argyle”, so there!"
"Major, did that man that your grandparents knew have a last name, "Socks"?"
JB- It's doubtful. It was more-likely Argyle Nelson. (Get that reference, why don't-cha). TM! & Sue should get that one...
^ Well, you forced me to look it up. He was an assistant director for much of his career. I didn't read any farther than that though. Was he involved with "I Love Lucy", by any chance?
Like the jingle goes, "Nobody doesn't love molten boron!"
Is it too late to change my name to Richfield Boron?
I'm guessing the "space station" was envisioned as a flying gas station for future flying vehicles, with a lot of artistic liberties taken.
Maybe the kid in the Autopia car behind Sandy and Paisley was so happy because he finally didn't have his older brother changing the radio station.
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