SNOOZLES™
I think you will agree that today's photos are Snoozleriffic!
This first one really isn't that bad, as Snoozles go; it's from June, 1962, showing the Monsanto House of the Future. Plastic, eh? I like the way it looks! And once you've closed the door, you lock in freshness. That means you'll never age! The photo is even reasonably focused, but it has gone pretty dark in the shadow areas.
Next - one of those pictures that looked pretty fun when I held the slide up to the light, only to discover that it is a Blurzle (slides can be both Blurzles and Snoozles). What a bummer! This must be Tom Sawyer Island, with its dirt path, but beyond that I'm a bit unsure. Where was our photographer standing? Was he partway up the steps to Tom's Treehouse? That would be my guess, though I am prepared to be wrong.
10 comments:
I have seen the future, and the future looks... bleak... dingy... colorless. But, like you said, it's not a bad photo, just a bit gloomy.
Even with the Blurzliness we can see that the picture is infested with tow-headed boys. They must be brothers and/or cousins. The guy on the right edge of the photo is taking movie footage of someone out-of-frame. Probably more tow-headed kids.
Not bad, for Snoozles (or Blurzles), Major. Thanks.
Major-
I think the lady just to the right-of-center in the 2nd image is carrying a Kodak Duaflex II Camera - w/flash attachment. The movie camera JB ID'd is a giant mystery.
Thanks, Major.
And once you've closed the door, you lock in freshness. That means you'll never age!
No wonder Michael Jackson wanted to trade in his hyperbolic chamber, for a "House of the Future"!
Thanks Major, for a Snoozleriffic Blurzle Sunday!
Snooblurzles....or Blursnoozle....or Blooszlers....any photo, like the parking lot, of the House of the Future is a good photo. I am sorry that I never got to see it or experience it as I would have been completely captivated by it as a kid. That it's all made of plastic makes it even better: and I think it would have made a great Revell model: perhaps it was. Makes sense that the other photo is taken from the Treehouse: and the photographer must have been making funny faces or something as everyone seems very jolly. The treehouse seemed like a nice dress rehearsal for the other big treehouse across the pond: hopefully from an engineering perspective it made it easier. From a permitting perspective: seems like new rules would have been invented for many things. Thanks Major for the Blurzeley Snoozles.
Loves me some HOTF, especially with waterfall run-off from icy slopes of the local mountain gushing through the garden. Take my money, I'd live there any day.
MS
Major, I agree, Blurzles must be a subset of Snoozles, since being blurry is mostly what makes them snooze-tastic. At least I think. I’m going to work on the Venn Diagram later.
The HOTF premiered the Zip-Loc Sliding Glass Door, which became very popular in reduced size. Nice photo even with dark shadows.
I agree, the blonde kids are probably being viewed from the Treehouse. I thought for a moment it might be a view from the fort palisade, but the former is more likely. It’s still a fun pic, especially if we pretend the poor focus was intentional to emphasize movement.
Thanks Major!
JG
JB, I was concerned about The Future until I tried Soylent products. And now all my dreams have come true! Try the new Soylent ice cream. “Infested with tow-headed boys”, ah, I was one of those infestees once. Now, not so blond.
Nanook, the camera was called a Duaflex because it required that you bend both knees AND take the picture of what’s behind you. Strangely, the public didn’t seem to like that.
TokyoMagic!, Michael Jackson was the most normal and well-adjusted celebrity ever, so I try to live my life the way he did. Shamone! Also HEE-heee.
Bu, as the years pass, I have become more and more aware of the subtleties of problematic photos. Ansel Adams wrote three books about the subject, though I take full credit for naming the phenomena. All he did is take a bunch of pictures, big deal! Ooo, Yosemite, nobody’s taken a picture there before! Take a seat, genius. Wow, the idea of a Revel model of the HOTF is great, if only that had happened. Complete with little mid-century furnithre inside (the top of the house would lift off). You get extra points for using the word “jolly”, one of my favorites. I was just taking photos of some tin-litho badges from the Eskimo Pie Jolly Club!
MS, I know that the HOTF was a bit small compared to many houses, but it has so much style! And couldn’t it have been scaled up for real-world applications? I’ve always dreamed of being able to build my own!
JG, reminds me of a joke: ME - I’m going to make one of those diagrams that uses circles. DRACULA - Venn?. ME - probably tomorrow. I’m pausing so that you can stop laughing. I love Zip-Loc bags and all of the many knock-offs (my friends call them “crack bags”). I’m never happy that photos are blurry or dark, but hey, it gives me something to share on Sundays.
Alas Revell never released a model kit of The House of the Future …. However they did the Fantasyland Jolly Roger - it was first released around the time Disneyland opened ….and into the early 60’s and again with the Disneyland packaging in 1968 ( the nicest version) it’s been Re-issued over the decades as a Peter Pan pirate ship and other generic pirates ships … most recently by Revell of Germany ( the pieces still say revell Venice California )
Strombecker models sold a TWA Moonliner kit … and a Frontierland stagecoach kit … they announced a Mark Twain Riverboat kit but was never released - recently a LA auction house sold the drawings for the mark Twain strombecker tooling . The Moonliner is still available as the MARSLINER . The decals have been cleverly designed so the model builder can easily create TWA Moonliner !!
In the 70’s AIFIX of England created a 20,000 leagues NAUTILUS submarine but there was licensing issues .., all the tooling was completed and it was released as a generic vacuform , resin and metal kit at the San Diego comic cons years ago.
In the 70’s MPC did a series of Pirates of the Caribbean models and a Haunted Mansion model kit series … these have all recently been reissued thru Lindberg models .
When Tokyo Disneyland opened Tomy/Tomix did highly detailed model kits of The Western River Railroad locomotive ( the Rio Grande) and the kit includes the number plates for the other locos but they were never released although they are listed in a 1983 catalog. There was also kits for the Omnibus , Fire Engine and Horseless Carriage sold exclusively in the Toy Kingdom in Tokyo Disneyland .
There have been model kits proposed in the 90’s and 2000’s but Disneyland makes it very difficult for companies to produced things like this … such as the expensive problems big companies had with Disney by Bachmann trains . MTH trains , LGB trains ( of Germany) and now defunct companies like Hartland locomotive works and MTH Trains …..
Model KITS are a difficult sale these days as so few people hade the time , skill or fortitude for model building - even fir simple “shake the box” models …
People need to build and make things again …
Mike, it's strange that models are not popular when you consider the popularity of multi-thousand piece Lego kits. You'd think there would be a progression from Legos to models as skill improved.
Mike Cozart, I’ve seen some of those great models, such as the Peter Pan pirate ship, the Stagecoach, and I have a Strombecker Moonliner (unbuilt). I also had one of those “zap action” Pirates of the Caribbean models, it used the same little rubber bands that I later used for my orthodontia! I guess when I hooked them up to my braces, I had “zap action”! A Nautilus would be cool if it was well-done. I think that a lot of the issues people have with model building is having to paint them. That’s a skill of its own, and not one that is easily mastered. You can buy a cheap airbrush for some effects, but many people wouldn’t want to buy special equipment. I had a nice King Kong vinyl model (not the Aurora version, a later more accurate model), and I just haven’t gotten around to painting it after I got it all put together. And I have LOTS of painting experience!
Dean Finder, you make a good point, and it might be that when anybody builds a big Lego kit, it’s all done, color and everything. My nephew loves the Star Wars kits, and we gave him the ones that were “reasonably priced” (though still expensive). It was astonishing how quickly he could put one together!
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