These two nice ladies pose in front of the Rocket to the Moon. Well, actually they are posing in front of the Space Bar, which is mostly out of frame to our left. Even from here I can see that the lady to the left is holding one of the Disneyland and Santa Fe Railroad flyers. I eats me spinach!
These guys are grown men, but you can see the little boys that they used to be. Somehow. Maybe it's just Disneyland!
Time for a cigarette break (cigars for the guy to our left)! Everyone's looking weary, I'm glad they've found a shady spot to rest their aching feet. There's the entrance to the 20K walk-through, full of crunchy steampunk goodness. And let's not forget the giant squiddly! I'm fascinated by the artwork that was on display... repros of pre-production paintings? Copies of Peter Ellenshaw's matte paintings? I want a better look, durnit.
Oh! to walk in the Disneyland of Yesteryear...
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful pictures. The large format negatives are nice and sharp.
For several reason including that I get sick if I ride Star Tours, I wish they'd kept either 20,000 Leagues or its worthy successor, Adventure thru Inner Spa-a-a-a-ce.
Thanks---
Funny, Mr. Whites looks like a custodian. I wonder how many times he got asked for directions that day.
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Exhibit note: It's funny how people's perception of things change. The illustrations on the right in the last photo are mounted on "pegboard": Masonite with holes punched in 1" squares. Obviously it's the same product as sold today, but people react to it differently now.
Back in the day, it was really a space age material, and no exhibitor would have felt embarrassed about using it conspicuously here (or in the many shops at Disneyland at the time) In fact, I've seen it used as decor wall coverings in some homes of the period...
Well, times have changed and poor Pegboard Masonite has come down in the world, along with fiberglass and plastic. Today Pegboard can only be found on garage tool-boards and the backs of utility cabinets.
The moral of the story is "you can't go back home"... for as much as we'd love to see 1950's Disneyland come back, I suspect if we actually could turn the clock backwards, we'd be unpleasantly surprised at a lot of details.
Perhaps the past is best visited on sites like this, where distance lends enchantment to the view.
these are so nice. i love black and white photographs and these are particularly bright (if that makes sense)
ReplyDeletelove the 10,000 Leagues Under The Sea signage (you knew i would : )
ive never seen a picture of it before!
I remember those pictures. They were ORIGINALS! Today we would not even THINK of putting up the originals for the shifty public.
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