Yeeeeeaaaahhhh, 1956, baby! Disneyland was still a bit rough around the edges, but that's what makes pictures from this era so fun.
Then again, there isn't much that's rough about this first photo (except for the slight lack of focus) from Tomorrowland, and featuring the fabulous 1/3 scale (76 feet tall) Moonliner. Imagine how amazing the rocket would look if built to its full height of over 200 feet! The distinctive round awnings seen on either side of the picture provided shade for "Hobbyland", basically a series of outdoor souvenir stands. There's no Skyway just yet...
Considering that this next photo was not taken with a flash, it's a miracle that it came out as good as it did. This is a rare look at the Golden Horseshoe Revue when Judy Marsh played Slue Foot Sue, and Donald Novis was the Irish tenor. If you are familiar with "Bambi", you might remember the tune "Love is a Song", which was sung by Novis years before his 9-year stint at Disneyland. I'm not really sure why Judy Marsh's time with the Revue was so short - only about one year before she was replaced by Betty Taylor. Anyway, I think that this is a neat picture!
Nice photos as always! I can see the yellow "Richfield" sign in the lower left.
ReplyDeleteReally cool! OK, to the right of the rocket, the polkadots...what does that say? I always associated those colored dots with the SkyWay.
ReplyDeleteI remember as a little kid, thinking you actually got to go inside the Moonliner to go to the moon. That thought was short lived.
ReplyDeleteConnie, The sign with colored shapes says "Space Bar" shortly after changed to "Skyway".
The Golden Horseshoe Revue slide looks like an oil painting, beautiful poses, ideal lighting, quite stunning considering it was an amateur.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoyed the use of real companies names and logos on the Tomorrowland stuff, it lent an air of reality that made-up names would not...
ReplyDeleteOf course, now, people probably think that TWA is a made-up name. My first airplane flight ever was on that airline, I vividly remember the red and gold trimmings and the little free goodies, toy pilots wings etc.
If I had decent eyesight, I would have loved to be a pilot.
Thanks for these pics, Major. I really enjoy it.
JG
Knott'sAfterDark, yep, you can see the Richfield eagle too.
ReplyDeleteConnie, it says "Space Bar", though the sign would be changed to "Skyway" when that ride was installed.
K. Martinez, oops, I see that you already answered Connie's question!
D ticket, I'm mostly amazed that the photo isn't a blurry mess. It does have a sort of "Caravaggio" quality to it, though!
JG, I totally agree, and even today I have warm fuzzies for names like Kodak, Monsanto, Bank of America, TWA, and others, all due to their Disneyland association.
TWA MOONLINER = AWESOME !!!
ReplyDeleteone of m favorite signs...Space Bar! I'll have a hamburger and a Pepsi, please!
ReplyDelete