Somber Fantasyland, 1960s
We love our sunny skies in SoCal, but (thanks to chemtrails) clouds and weather do happen. Just look at this first photo - I guess it's not going to rain, but it really wants to! The genuine gold leaf on the façade still manages to gleam, I'm gonna sneak in one night and scrape all the gold off. I'll be rich! The family in the foreground is interesting. Mom (?) is in shorts and white go-go boots, while Junior wears a red sport coat.
This might be a view from the upper level of the Carousel of Progress building, though I am not certain. The Matterhorn looks just a little sinister beneath those oppressive clouds. Three Skyway gondolas (two mustards and one ketchup) glide to and fro. I believe that I can see just a smidgen of a Bobsled, so buy a lottery ticket today.
15 comments:
Major-
The gleaming gold trim sure does look good - just like the gleam from my gold-capped front tooth-! (I do believe 'Junior' might be wearing a Nehru jacket-!) Nice.
Thanks, Major.
Is that a Tour Guide in front of Go-Go Boots? All the men (even the little ones) in this family are formally dressed. So what gives with Ms. Go-Go Boots? I mean, yeah, it's a snazzy, "with-it", ensemble she's wearing, but not formal. I love how the gilded parts glow.
A "smidgen of a Bobsled" will only give us a smidgen of good luck, so don't go crazy with the lottery tickets. Looks like Fudgie took the day off. I've often thought that Disneyland's Matterhorn looks more like the Matterhorn than Switzerland's Matterhorn. The Swiss mountain is too sharp and angular... and too big... and it doesn't have enough holes.
Even somber Disneyland photos look nice! Thanks, Major.
I noticed something different between last Friday's "Beautiful Tomorrowland" post, and today's post. In last Friday's post, the bobsled in the second pic could be seen going behind the upper part of the trickling waterfall. In today's post, rockwork has been added behind that upper part of the waterfall. I wonder if the rockwork below, with Fudgie, was also changed at the same time, and that's is when he disappeared?
Thanks, Major!
I think that may be Big Sis in the white boots. That’s probably Mom up ahead in the plaid skirt next to Dad. Interesting fashion choices for the whole family. They look quite good together, but definitely are a product of their time. Note that the garbage cans outnumber the strollers in this image.
The second image has a faint feeling of foreboding. Not quite Disneyland of the Damned, but still vaguely ominous. It’s probably the red and yellow gondolas, which subconsciously remind us of the Soviet and Red Chinese flags.
Is the spire to the left of the Coca-Cola sign the top of the souvenir stand in Alpine Gardens?
Is the spire to the left of the Coca-Cola sign the top of the souvenir stand in Alpine Gardens?
Chuck, that's the finial on top of King Arthur's Carousel. Check out this pic (from a 2006 post GDB) for a comparison:
https://gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com/2006/10/king-arthurs-carousel.html
TokyoMagic!, I think the four levels of holes behind the Plaza-facing waterfall, the top of the Tomorrowland bobsled lift, and Fudgie were filled in by 1961. The E-Ticket Magazine said riders would get drenched when the wind gusted.
At the very right a Skyway cabin is coyly concealing its colors behind a palm, doing a Sally Rand -style fan dance.
Back then, the maintenance staff polished all the gold trim every night, right after repainting all the shooting galleries. Now, in our degenerate times, the smog is allowed to collect. However, running the trains on French fry grease makes them burn cleaner, so it evens out. The unusual lighting makes this photo extra “something”, creepy? Eerie, etc. that lady’s boots are made for walking, for sure.
Three very fancy trash cans, very nice.
I think those skyway buckets look more yellow than usual? Is this a trick of the light? Or was the color updated at some point? I seem to remember a more pale shade?
I think I read somewhere that the Swiss were jealous of the Disney Mountain’s popularity and remodeled their version to more closely resemble our Matterhorn to improve tourist attendance.
Nice atmospheric photos today, Major, thank you.
JG
There were slight color changes to the 1965 SKYWAY cabins … like similar color changes to the PEOPLEMOVER. Disneyland used Ditzler fleet colors / marine finishes developed for fiberglass. Many of the color options like the pale yellow was out of production by later rehabs …. And some of the colors became dated so updated replacements were made. Ditzler finishes are now part of PPG. But today there are so many specialty coatings and finishes produced specifically for themeparks … Disney now uses all kinds but DuPont and PPG is probably used the most by Disney .
TM!, I had considered the carrousel but couldn't make the geometry work in my head. Looks like I forgot to carry the 3. I see it now. Thanks!
JG, I see four trash cans - one below the left end of the sign, one between Mom/Sis & Dad, and two by the exit turnstiles, one partially obscured by a woman (or at least a skirted individual) stealing a baby from a stroller (or at least candy from a baby in a stroller).
Which has me thinking...while stealing candy from a baby is universally considered bad in our culture, what kind of an idiot gives candy to a baby in the first place? That's a serious choking hazard.
Nanook, I remember admiring your gold tooth when I met you! ;-) Now that you mention it, that might actually be a Nehru jacket. In the wild!
JB, I don’t believe that’s a tour guide, mostly because the group looks so much like one family unit. Mom, Dad, and several kids. I kind of like how everybody got a bit dressed up, unlike me when I go. I wear pants under protest. I’ll take a smidgen of good luck any day, especially when I’m spending an hour at 7-11 carefully selecting my scratchers. “I’ll take four of those… and, uh… five of those…”. “Mister, my Slurpee is melting!”. Maybe the Swiss government needs to make modifications to the actual Matterhorn to make it more Disney-ish?
TokyoMagic!, wow, good observation. I do wonder why they made the changes to the rock work. Getting those glimpses of the park below while on your bobsled is part of the fun, but they have obviously had reasons for filling in some of the holes. Maybe people got wet from the waterfall??
Chuck, yeah you are probably right, that probably is Big Sis. Perhaps this family traveled the country in a colorful bus and sang sprightly pop songs? The garbage can/stroller ratio is indicative of… er… something. Gamma radiation? Ha ha, red and yellow makes me think of McDonalds rather than the Soviet or Chinese flags! Maybe I need to make an early lunch. I thought perhaps that spire was atop “Fan2”, but I’m not really sure.
TokyoMagic!, That’s IT!
Stefano, ah, that makes sense. I remember back when I was avidly collecting vintage Disneyland postcards, there would be views of the Matterhorn in which you could clearly see those holes (caverns?) that are now long gone. And if it wasn’t for that gondola’s “hanger”, I wouldn’t know it was there!
JG, your mention of the trains running on french fry grease reminds me that folks used to say that you could smell the aroma of french fries when the trains went through tunnels. I don’t ever recall noticing that, but I am also not the most observant person in the world. Has anybody here noticed that “new fry smell”? The color of these slides is obviously “off” a bit, which is a surprisingly common problem. Not only is it overcast, but in the Matterhorn photo you can see that the street lights at the base have been turned on, so it must have been late afternoon at least.
Mike Cozart, I always assumed that a paint company could manufacture any color they wanted, especially if it was for the purposes of matching on an older vehicle. However, I know you are right about colors falling out of fashion. I used to get a magazine called “Communication Arts”, and every year they would have an issue with a page showing the colors that would be “hot” that year. How did they know??
Chuck, I admit that I did not expect to be able to see the Carrousel from that particular angle. There must have been a lot of littering at the entrance to IASW, which explains the gathering of so many trashcans right there.
Chuck, back then the only candy babies got were those giant lollies, the kind that Krusty the Clown would carry. They were impossible to choke on!
Loving both of these…as we experience exactly the same weather today. I always thought there were more holes in the ‘horn. Thanks for confirming they have been filling like cavities for from before my day.
Growing up in Torrance, right next to the oil refinery and toilet factory was PPG, with a distinctively sweet odor, pleasantly overwhelming the pungent coke piles. Good times. Definitely toxic.
MS
MS, yes, it has been cloudy and relatively cool today, thank goodness. I'm dreading the Summer heat. It's funny how we look back on our childhoods and fondly remember things like certain industrial aromas. I remember my Dad taking us to the Navy shipyard in Long Beach and smelling fuel (diesel, I presume) and sea water and quite a few decaying jellyfish. Every once in a while, I'll smell something that takes me right back to that shipyard!
"JG, I see four trash cans...."
Chuck, between the time you posted that comment, and now, someone added a fifth trash can -- right in front of us, up against the fence to our right, in the foreground.
Fun pictures, thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic!, I think the four levels of holes behind the Plaza-facing waterfall, the top of the Tomorrowland bobsled lift, and Fudgie were filled in by 1961.
Stefano, thanks for that info!
Post a Comment