Two Beauties
Here's two more selections from a nice batch of 1950s color transparencies. We'll start with this great shot of a woman posing next to an Omnibus, clutching her souvenir guidebook. "My precioussss!" she said, getting weird looks from those around her. Speaking of souvenir guidebooks, I could see a photo like this being used in a guidebook. Is the rest of her family on the upper level ("omni-balcony")? Perhaps there is no relation. The hard-working driver can be seen heading back toward the driver's seat, possibly holding a cigarette.
This next must have been from a year or so later (I believe that the first one is from 1956), since it shows the House of the Future, looking (and smelling) brand-new, in fact the pond has not been filled with Moon water yet, and the shrubs have that "just planted" look. It's a pretty sweet picture! The HotF opened on June 12, 1957, bringing tears of joy to wood-hating Americans everywhere. Notice that the Skyway is still gliding over Holiday Hill.
11 comments:
Major-
Everything looks so nice and clean and new. ("Mom" fits right in); but on her next visit to the Park, she should consider wearing sensible shoes-!
Thanks, Major.
I’m sorry… WHERE does the Omnibus stop?? I wish Disneyland could be more clear!
Certainly looks like a cigarette. Makes sense; a CM with an unbuttoned vest (Hi, Bu.) would have no qualms about smoking a cigarette 'onstage' in Disneyland. ;-) Then again, this photo is so early in the Park's history that there probably weren't a lot of rules yet, like the unbuttoned vest, and the fact that there were no Cast Members, as such, yet. Probably no 'onstage' yet, either.
I think our 'poser' is auditioning for the part of Marian the Librarian. The Omnibus looks more colorful here. I'm used to seeing it from the side or from behind, where it's mostly dark green.
I suspect the photographer was a Monsanto employee, to have featured the sign so prominently in this photo. I mean, he could have taken 2 or 3 steps to the right and gotten an unobstructed view of the HotF. It's kind of neat to see the House so out in the open like this, without all the mature landscaping.
Nanook, Ha! I was thinking the same thing about those shoes. Her feet are gonna be pretty sore in an hour or two.
Mike, now I'm wondering if some teenage hooligan pranksters ever moved that sign to another location, just to watch the confusion and chaos. ;-)
Thanks, Major.
Two wonderful photos. If only I could hop into the Wayback Machine to visit. Love the color quality.
Thanks, Major.
. I have my plastics packed. I’m ready to move in.
MS
Marian is very nicely dressed. I wonder what she would think of today’s guests?
The Upper deck of the Hawaiian Omnibus is called an “Omni-Lanai” and includes deck chairs by the pool. The family above is so perfect they might have been staged. The driver ripping a heater is perfect. “Aw right youse bums, grab a seat, we gotta schedule to keep”.
The HotF looks like it just landed. And yes, that odd smell is a mixture of ozone and polyethylene from re-entry.
Thanks for these great pics, Major!
JG
I love the All-American Strangeness of the first photo. Something out of Diane Arbus, or David Lynch. The front of the Omnibus resembles a farm tractor; could be one, since the AstroJets pylon was shaped from German artillery, and the Casey Jr. Train from leftover Merry-Go-Round pieces.
The sign was an Imagineering in-joke: "Omnibus" is Latin slang for "The Bucks" or "The Monies". I'll retire now to The House of the Future and it's soothing synthetics.
Nanook, poor women and their shoes, those things must be torture after a while.
Mike Cozart, any place it wants to?
JB, I’m starting to have serious doubts about many of the rules that were drilled into Bu in the 1980s. They must not have had them, or at least enforced them, decades earlier, because we see infractions all the time. I forget, does Marian the Librarian eventually let her hair down and show that she actually looks like Pamela Anderson (red bathing suit and all)? It’s possible that the photographer wanted the Monsanto sign because it helped explain what that weird structure was. Nobody had ever seen anything like it! Teenage hooligans, you mean like the kind who pushes the Club 33 button over and over?
K. Martinez, yeah, especially that second one, though the first one is nice too!
MS, please wear only synthetic fabrics!
JG, now I want to see a Hawaiian-themed Omnibus. Maybe they could do a “tiki day” event? Back in the 50s, everybody smoked everywhere, I still remember watching people smoke while in McDonalds when I was a kid, so seeing somebody - even an employee - lighting one up at Disneyland was probably no big deal at all. I love this early look at the HotF, I suppose I must have seen it myself when I was very young, but I sure don’t remember it.
Stefano, RIP David Lynch! I think a lot of Disneyland scenes are kind of surreal, it’s just that most of us are used to them by now. “Let’s pose with that giant mouse!”. I’m sure Bob Gurr based his design for the Omnibus on some genuine antique example, and a larger vehicle probably needed a larger radiator, just like a tractor (or I suppose so, anyway). While in the HotF, be sure to help yourself to some healthful irradiated food!
Wow, these are both postcard-worthy shots! Strong cooler, nice composition, hope there are others from this series!
The Disneyland Main Street Omnibus is authentic but actually mostly based on a Matchbox Models of Yesteryear # Y-2 1911 'B' type London
Bus released in 1956. Bob Gurr was at the park one day and was going to meet Walt for lunch … Walt came out of the Emporium and called to bob’s attention and said “Bob ! … make me one of these for Disneyland!!” And tossed Bob a little box with a metal model buss in it (. Oh retells the story incorrectly calling the miniature diecast bus a CORGI model , but it was a matchbox model
Of yesteryear bus … as corgi never produced such a bus . Incidentally matchbox models of yesteryear were sold in the emporium from 1955 until about 1991. If you look at the matchbox y-2 bus ( a 1912-1920 prototype) you’ll see it’s a dead ringer for the Disneyland omnibus .. with a few modifications.
“Bob incorrectly retells….” “ y-2 1911-1920 B type london bus” . Most major American and European cities operated double deck buses …. The first were created by Americans and debuted as horse drawn vehicles in the 1860’s in New York & Philadelphia. The first double deck buses in london and Berlin were imported from America built by the Stephenson Streetcar & Omnbus Co.
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