I'm using up the last two images from a pretty good bunch from 1956. First up is this shot of the CIRCARAMA building. It appears to be closed for some reason (weasel infestation, I'll wager), but it's still a nice photo, with the State flags, the giant atom sign (proof that we are in the FUTURE), and the fountains flanking the pebbled wall of the building.
Next we see a Jungle Cruise launch as it returns to civilization and the most dangerous part of the journey... those Southern California freeways! Har-de-har har. The man-made jungle still looks kind of scrawny here; some of those palm trees need a dose of Miracle Gro. But in time it's going to flourish and thrive until it feels like a very creditable rain forest.
Lovely goods there, Major. It kind of looks like some of those palms (date palms?) are still a little shocked from their being transplanted. It's great to look at the Jungles of Adventureland from overhead these days: it's a real jungle.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's never enough said about water features in the Park. Yay for fountains!
Love the Tomorrowland pic. Especially the brave little wire landscape barriers.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing quite like seeing images of Disneyland's first couple of years. Everything so new and freshly created and still in its infancy before fully blossoming into something truly special. Wonder if some of those early guests imagined sixty years into the future to what Disneyland would become today. Sometimes I think of what Disneyland might be like when it turns 100. Will some of the classics we deem untouchable today be gone by then? Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeletePatrick Devlin, yeah, those palm trees look like they need a hug. I wonder if they came from the pathway of one of the new freeways? Fountains are always a pleasure at the park, they need more of them (well, maybe not during a crippling drought).
ReplyDeleteSunday Night, they went down to the local hardware store and bought rolls and rolls of those wire barriers!
K. Martinez, oy, when Disneyland turns 100 I am guessing that much of it will be unrecognizable. I always wonder where they take you on those "Walk in Walt's Footsteps" tours; once you leave Main Street, there's nothing left from the Walt years.
I used to love that old America the Beautiful Circarama film they did. I wish I could see it again. I remember one year (1976) our school went to Disneyland on a fieldtrip to celebrate the Bicentennial. We went on this, and America Sings, the Mark Twain, and a few other things if I recall. BEST DAY EVER!
ReplyDeleteSo, does anybody remember the phone booths with the early speaker phones that used to be adjacent to this attraction? Man! We just thought that was the COOLEST thing back then. SO FUTURISTIC!
Some real gems today Major, thanks!
Monkey Cage Kurt, I remember those. If I was at the park with a friend's family or with a school group, I always had to call home from one of those phones just to say "hi". Hands free calling was such a novelty at that time!
ReplyDeleteI remember one time my friend Ricky called his mom from one of those phones. We sat in the little room, there was a bench on one side and the phone was kind of like built into the wall on the opposite side (if I recall), also there was the old Bell Telephone logo on the big glass door. We just went on and on about how we could both hear her at the same time, and didn’t have to hold the phone to our ear. I can’t say I remember it like it was yesterday, but for some reason the experience had a big impact on me, left an indelible impression anyway.
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