Friday, June 17, 2016

Beautiful Tomorrowland, November 1955

I have some extra-good ones for you today; not only are they from 1955, but they feature some beautiful shots of TOMORROWLAND!

Thanks to the martini-shaker Clock of the World we can see that it is 4:14 in the afternoon; being November, night fell very early, which explains the long shadows and rosy-hued sunshine. Look at all those nautical flags; they don't make much sense in the world of future, but they look good anyway. 


Zooming in a bit, you can see that the boy with the blue jacket in the foreground is wearing one of those souvenir "Indian" headband (with feather) from the Carnation Refreshment Corner (see a girl wearing one HERE). Man, I love the colors in this picture.


Here's a second beauty; the Moonliner looks fantastic - this is before it was pitted by thousands of micrometeorites and alien death ray blasts. The red Autopia car was Walt's personal vehicle; it looks like you could actually sit in it to have your photo taken. Cool! And while they are hard to read in this jpeg, there are neat signs for the Rocket to the Moon, the American Dairy Association, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. 


13 comments:

Chuck said...

Wow - those are a lot of nautical flags! I'll bet they spell out Walt's opening day dedication. Or am I mixing that up with the native drum message in Adventureland?

Gorgeous photos today, Major. Colors and angles and vintage people-watching, plus I finally realized the martini olive light fixtures match the Clock of the World. What a great start to the day. Thanks!

Matterhorn1959 said...

Wow!

DrGoat said...

Likewise. Those are some precious photos alright. Really doesn't
get any better than that. That family is Native American to boot.

Unknown said...

What a set! Is that someone sitting in the display Autopia car? I hope it was rotating like at some futuristic car show.

Brad Abbott said...

Definitely a great set today, especially the second one! There's so much going on in the picture, you don't know where to look first. Mid-century light fixtures, shade canopies, flags, signs, and a giant rocket, almost all of which was made of aluminum (Kaiser Aluminum!)

Tom said...

I love the future! With those crisp, rich colors, tripod spheroid lamps and giant rocket, who wouldn't? I can't wait for 1986!

Really nice pictures - they convey such vibrant warmth while maintaining their November coolness.

K. Martinez said...

We all love Tomorrowland 1967, but there's something special about the original Tomorrowland. I just wish I remembered it better than I do. I do remember some things like the Moonliner, House of the Future, round Skyway buckets and I do remember it at night, but everything else is fuzzy. Extra wonderful shots today. Thanks, Major.

Anonymous said...

Brilliant.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Chuck, I think it is no exaggeration to say that you can’t have too many nautical flags, especially in the future.

Matterhorn1959, if YOU say “wow”, these must be pretty good!

DrGoat, if that family is Native American, I wonder if they had any ties to the performers in Frontierland.

Patrick Devlin, yes, someone is sitting in Walt’s car (as I mention in my text), which I’ve never seen before. Is it possible that they just hopped the barrier for a photo op?

Brad Abbott, “Mid-century” is definitely the style, even in the “retro-futurism” that is on display.

K. Martinez, I don’t remember this Tomorrowland at all - it was gone by the time I was a tiny child. When I started seeing photos of this early Tomorrowland in magazines and books, I found it so charming and inviting that I’ve always wished I could have seen it.

JG, thanks!

Nanook said...

Major-

I'm a bit late to the party today, but - yeah: What everyone else said-! (I would have commented earlier, but I was too busy working all the halyards trying to tame the multitude of 'nautical' flags adorning Tomorrowland). Well, somebody has to.

Thanks, Major.

Sunday Night said...

So beautiful. Last pic also featuring the poor little banged up wire garden barriers!

walterworld said...

Dang! 1950's dad is texting work when he should be enjoying time with the family...

Unknown said...

Sorry, Major. I've got to learn to read for comprehension...