I've been scanning a lot of snapshots lately (since the supply of slides is waning). I'll share a couple of nice ones today!
Let's start with this black and white photo of a Tomorrowland Space Woman (or "Space Girl" I suppose). She's standing at the entrance to the Rocket to the Moon attraction. This iteration of the costume is relatively subdued - as far as I can tell from the soft focus, she only has a cape and silver boots to indicate her origins, no crazy helmet or other headgear. Her skirt is almost as short as Zapp Brannigan's tunic!
Here's Zapp Brannigan, for those poor souls who don't know:
This next one is undated, though I'm guessing that it's from the very late 1960's; the Carousel of Progress building narrows it down to fairly small window. Anyway, we've got a very good-looking space couple; I want them to be my moon neighbors. On hot days, the inside of those helmets could reach upwards of 400 degrees. The extraterrestrial couple is posting with an adorable little girl - I like her hat! Mr. Plaid Pants won't wait his turn, and photobombs the proceedings.
Awww, just look at all the people exiting from the second story of the Carousel of Progress. They are probably talking about Progress City and how they can't wait to have a G.E. nuclear power plant as their very own "welcome neighbor."
ReplyDeleteMr. Plaid Pants is just plain rude!
Major-
ReplyDelete"Mrs." Zapp Brannigan appears to be sporting the short-version of those space-age boots, and clearly has the better figure.
As far as Mr. Plaid Pants is concerned, he just wanted picture proof-positive ID that he 'won the bet' by wearing that ridiculous outfit to Disneyland: Plaid shorts, Lake Erie Blue socks, V-neck shirt over a tee shirt, and [possible] mis-matched tennis shoes. A Mr. Fashion Plate he is NOT. (Or is that how we were supposed to dress in the future-?)
Thanks, Major.
I love the style of B&W snapshots with the white borders. Reminds me of a lot of photos my parents took of us kids at Disneyland and other various places. Unfortunately the photos are not in my possession.
ReplyDeleteThe color Tomorrowland image is great too! The lady with the white rimmed glasses and muumuu is a trip and those two kids are probably our generation. Wonder if they lurk on Gorilla's Don't Blog and read your posts?
Thanks, Major.
No wonder the aliens are always sneaking to our planet to visit. When our space girls have such nice legs they must think this is the place to be. I agree with Nanook space Betty #1 wins hands down. Mr. Plaid pants would fit in today with a smart phone in one hand and a frapachino in the other waiting to inject his spoiled self at every photo op.
ReplyDeleteGood content makes up for the snapshot quality. Two space thumbs up Major. Thanks for posting.
Greetings from Planet Earth!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, i LUV your new watermark stamp...so mid century! I am with K.Martinez regarding the white-border views. They make me smile. When I can, I get that feature when I have prints made. :-D
So like the B&W view, and the softness makes it extra special. I would not have wanted a helmet had I been Ms Space Girl there. I wonder if they had space-age ways to keep them cool inside. I admit that my favorite parts of the second view are all the surrounding elements.
The soft haziness is making me think it's warm and pleasant at Disneyland that day. This building and it's GE sign have always been a favorite Tomorrowland feature. I love the design on the underside of the overhang made by the lights on the Carousel of Progress. Everything about this view is great! Thanks, Major!
That color photo is a kaleidoscope of late-'60s fashion sense - striped socks and black Keds, a porkpie with plaid shorts, and a pair of form-fitting, yellow ladies' pants behind the Photobomber's right elbow.
ReplyDeleteTo the left of the Spaceman, there's a fellow dragging a still camera around his neck, a movie camera around his shoulder, and a small one in his right hand. I know from personal experience that trying to manage that many cameras in a Disney park can distract you from your primary responsibilities - keeping track of your kid and having a good time with the family. I realized I needed to pare down my equipment loadout when I turned around in front of WDW's Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and discovered I had a camera in each hand but my two-year-old was nowhere in sight.
Directly behind the Shutterbug's son is a man wearing a shirt that looks exactly like one my dad had at the same time (and that I wore in high school in the mid '80s).
And as far as Mrs Brannigan is concerned, well, I'll plead the 5th. I'm a married spud, and Mrs Chuck occasionally visits this blog. And now I'm thinking about her in that outfit...hubba, hubba...
I'm a sucker for photos of Space Man and Space Girl, far better than the Imperial troops that inhabit Tomorrowland now. I have hope Vader's team will retreat to Star Wars Land when it opens and the Space folks will return.
ReplyDeleteJG
TokyoMagic!, I am so jealous of those people on the upper level of the Carousel of Progress! They got to see the “Progressland” model before it was reduced. And thanks to the G.E. nuclear power plant next door, my vegetables have never been bigger!
ReplyDeleteNanook, the funny thing is that it doesn’t look like there was a big crowd waiting to have their photos taken with the Space Couple. Mr. Plaid Pants might have waited 15 seconds for his turn. Meanwhile, I do remember having plaid items in my wardrobe when I was a kid. Pretty awful.
K. Martinez, yeah, my mom has boxes and boxes of those black and white prints. I want to go through them because I know there are pictures of my mom as a little girl in Westwood (Los Angeles) in the 1940’s, but I am not sure if there are any recognizable landmarks in them.
Alonzo, I’ll bet those Disneyland Space Girls had plenty of dates from the male cast members. No wonder. If there are any former Space Girls out there, write in! For Mr. Plaid Pants to really be a hipster, he needs to grow a full lumberjack beard, like the one I had when I was 10.
Nancy, I’m glad you like the new watermark! I was just sort of sick of the old one. I’m also glad you like the black and white photo, because I have more of those. Most days at Disneyland are warm - though probably not this month! It’s been rather chilly for SoCal. I also like those lights on the underside of the COP overhang, it’s cool that they were designed “built in”.
Chuck, hey, your comment posted! Now let’s see if it stays there. Your point about having too many distractions (such as cameras) at Disneyland is a good one, although these days people go around looking at their phones all the time, even when they are in rides like the Haunted Mansion. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than a few toddlers didn’t wander off while a parent was checking their Twitter feed. Say, next Halloween, you and Mrs Chuck need to get Halloween costumes that look like the Disneyland space couple!
JG, I can't imagine anyone who would rather see a stormtrooper! Give me a pretty woman in a short skirt any day.
ReplyDeleteHistorically speaking, I'm surprised to see the 50s space travelers in the foreground of the "New Tomorrowland". Have no memory of this even after being 'jolted' by the Space Girls! KS
ReplyDeleteI just have one thing to say to all of those folks exiting the Carousel of Progress: "Get back in there and take some pictures of Progress City, you fools!" I sometimes estimate for my own amusement the percentage of existing vintage Disneyland photos that are on the Web. I think it's maybe around 5%. I'd love to see some better shots of that dream model city from my youth.
ReplyDeleteDon't for get the man bun. No self respecting hipster could present the lumberjack beard without the man bun. Sure will be glad when those trends are long gone.
ReplyDeletePatrick, I've never really thought of that before! We've seen amateur shots of show scenes from COP, but how many amateur pics are out there of Progress City? All I've ever seen are a few professional shots floating around on the internet.
ReplyDeleteChuck, when I was very young, my dad always took more than one camera to DL!
TM!, and you didn't become a Lost Boy, or at least taken by the hand by a cast member and lead towards Lost Children? Now I really feel like a bad dad...
ReplyDeleteFuturists are almost always wrong. The futurists at Disney who created the Tomorrowlands were only correct about two things: (1) there would still be cars (2) miniskirts.
ReplyDelete