Aw yeah! Howsabout some classic Tomorrowland for your Friday? It's my favorite. The slides are undated, though my guess would be that they are from the very late 1960's.
Let's start with this awesome photo of the beautiful Mark III Monorail Red at its revamped station with the zig-zag roof line in Tomorrowland. As we all know, the Mark III Monorails debuted in 1968 (right, Chuck?!), and they were still sponsored by Alweg. Below the Monorail is the queue for the Submarine Voyage - I love that the sign still alludes to the fact that those gray subs were supposed to be nuclear powered.
If you could only ride one of these two attractions, which one would you choose?
You all know bands such as "Sunshine Balloon", "The New Establishment", "The Better Half", and "The Entertainment Committee" (to name but a few), but I'd like you to meet "The New Descendants" (they predated the punk band "The Descendants" by a decade or so). The fact that they had two gals on guitars plus the usual female singer is pretty awesome.
As always, the Rolly Crump stage is as perfect as can be.
I like their coral orange-pink jumpers and beribboned pigtails. And those colored translucent plastic panels are very cool as well.
Major-
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty hard to upstage the perfection that was the New Tomorrowland (1960's, that is), but that gal with the bouffant hairdo, wearing that very short navy blue and white 'outfit' exiting the Submarine Voyage attraction with her "friend" is coming awfully close to doing so.
I see the New Descendants are performing on the Coca-Cola Tomorrowland Terrace. (I think for my money, my tastes tended to lean towards the musical stylings of Sound Castle Ltd.)
Thanks, Major.
Major, if I could only choose one, I would ride the nuclear subs thru liquid space, past the graveyard of lost ships and the remains of the lost continent of Atlantis....and then beneath the polar ice cap!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a Dixie Chicks vibe from that band. Nanook, I would love to see Sound Castle perform today, with Kurt Russell singing lead on "Sugar, Sugar!" Maybe Goldie Hawn could back them up on tambourine.
That beehive, tho.....oh my!
ReplyDeleteIf I could only choose one? That's easy - Pez! Cherry flavored Pez!
ReplyDeleteHard to pick which photo to step into today, and the nice thing is you could step into one and stroll into the other inside of 30 seconds. The first has great composition and lighting, and if we hurry, we might catch that 1968-model (or is it 1969? Ah, mas o menos...) monorail. The second has so many layers - the stage, the band, the PeopleMover, the Skyway, people exiting Progress City, The Mod Hatter, a clear, blue sky - everything you could possibly want (except maybe a telephone pole).
I'm going to guess these photos were taken in 1971. Not only did I find several references to the New Descendants at Disneyland in SoCal newspapers from that year, but my mom also made me a jumper in the exact same style (except it had shorts instead of a skirt) and the exact same shade of orange for Easter that year. It may have been a relatively popular pattern for home sewing, and my mom did a lot of that back in the day.
Great way to start the weekend, Major! Thanks!
What excellent photos!! I love the photo composition of these shots... the monorail above the atmospheric entrance (enhanced by that hairdo and the great greenery) to the subs.
ReplyDelete"The New Descendants" do indeed look awesome!
Now, in addition to the gals, my curiosity is piqued by all of the vintage musical instruments and gear....
It looks like both gals are playing Fender guitars...a Jazz Bass and then a Musicmaster guitar (?). In visiting an online Fender reference, I see that these 2 instruments may be finished in "Dakota Red." It looks like the bass player even put a sticker on the headstock!
Check out that set of Ludwig drums with 2 bass drums! He even has his name on the skins..."Johnny..." and then presumably, his last name on the right bass drum head. Of course, the gal in the jumper is so cute, I'll forgive her for blocking that last name... ;-)
The drummer also has a small milk stool (it looks like it's holding something...no cow is present..). I wonder if the drum riser will rise up into the air at the grand finale, with fog, pyrotechnics, and smashing of the instruments?...Wait, no, that's a different show!
It looks like the bass player is using a large-ish Ampeg bass amp (behind her), and the guitarist has a smaller Fender guitar amp (behind her), while the organist, playing a Hammond B-3 (the legs are the giveaway!) is going through a larger Leslie speaker cabinet (1st photo of the band - off the stage to the right). Their p.a. speakers (those tall boxes on either side of the group) looks to be Fender columns. What an amazing collection of vintage gear, in vintage Disneyland!!
Many thanks for posting! :-)
These are some great pics indeed – thanks, Major! Given the choice, I'd definitely opt for the Submarine Voyage. And, amusing as the New Descendants look, I think I'd prefer to see the Descendants play the Tomorrowland stage. Now that would have been something!
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Alweg, there's the Santa Fe logo.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful shots. The first one is a winner. I think I would ride the Monorail...into the sunset.
ReplyDelete@Clyde Hughes: I was surprised at the appearance of a (1966?) jazz bass over a Fender p-bass in this context. Toss in the Hammond B3, and now I'm more than curious to know how they sounded.
ReplyDeleteLove the vibrant colors of this era. That stage looks wonderful!
Great pics today, Major!
I'm with Tokyo, I would opt for the subs since it has changed most in the intervening years. These pics remind me of why I loved Tomorrowland and also kind of why I stopped.
ReplyDeleteA fabulous Friday post, Major. I have double my knowledge and more about rock musical instruments and equipment today, thanks to Clyde!
JG
And Chuck wins the "great movie reference award" for the day with the shout out to Stand by Me. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteAnd Scott, look! you can almost see the cockroaches eating their way out from the nest they've built in her too-tall beehive! Well, almost...
That first shot is really a keeper, Major. I've blathered on a few times how my favorite train is the Mk. II but the Mk. IIIs are pretty cool with their "greenhouse" amount of glass surrounding the seating areas, plus they had Monorail Green, which was a beauty! And Santa Fe logos are always welcome...
Part of the reason, I think, for the nuclear symbol on the ride marquee is General Dynamics' sponsorship of the ride (there were General Dynamics posters in the queue area). GD owned the Electric Boat Company which built (and continues to build) the country's nuclear subs. That's a guess on my part, but you guys know I'm no stranger to guessing.
All in all a fabulous Friday post. I'm off to a great start...
The Santa Fe herald is not only on the sign, it is on the monorail cab as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree the "nuclear" symbol is in reference to the submarines being based on the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, launched in 1954. The USS Nautilus sailed under the north polar ice cap in 1958, and the ride recreated this.
Several scenes on the ride however, were not based just on the exploits of the real Nautilus, but on episodes taken from Verne's fictional Nautilus--including a visit to Atlantis (including an active volcano), and Nemo's own trip to the pole (south, in the book's case).
Edwardo here. Thanks for the photos, they really take me back.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've noticed about 60s, 70s and even 80s photos are how few strollers there are. The sub and monorail photo show a couple of them, but today there would be dozens. back in the day, I guess everyone either left their babies and toddlers home, carried them, or made them walk if they could. Come to think of it, I rarely saw infants or tiny babies in the Park when I was a kid, but that has changed.
Nanook, it's true, Miss Bouffant is pretty hard to miss. Love the shorts! What's she doing with that schlub? She should be with a schlub like ME!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, yeah, I think that's the wiser choice, since one can still ride the Monorail. Just watch out for that sea serpent! Dixie Chicks? No way, those girls rock way too hard!
Scott Lane, it IS pretty awesome.
Chuck, it is a mean old world, you can't ride both. I really do love that first one so much - bright and colorful, and as you said, great composition. Thanks for the 1971 date… all I did was guess, while you did actual research. I remember the picture of your mom wearing a dress that she made, she had real ability! Very cool that you recognize that style.
Clyde Hughes, I love all the info (and interest) in the vintage instruments. I am not musically inclined at all, but love looking at old guitars. How about a nice sea foam green Stratocaster? Yes please! "Dakota Red", awesome name for a color. That milk stool is still a mystery to me… why would it be there? There's just something about cute girls in a rock band, what could be better.
Pegleg Pete, I could not help thinking about the punk band and how amazing it would be to see them at the park. It would never happen, of course, though not all punks were foul mouthed or violent.
Anonymous, you are correct!
DrGoat, it sure seems like I've received a strong response to these… possibly because they are more like the actual memories of so many readers.
Tom, wouldn't it be AMAZING if there was some sort of audio of The New Descendants?? If only.
JG, I feel the same way you do, these photos really evoke a time that I loved so much.
Patrick Devlin, gosh, it's been too long, I would have never picked up on the "Stand By Me" reference if you hadn't pointed it out. And you are right about General Dynamics - I once met a guy who had an amazing collection of Disneyland attraction posters, AND an amazing collection of General Dynamics posters - they were so great. I have coveted them ever since, but they are way too pricey.
Steve DeGaetano, sailing under the polar ice caps was so cool - I'm not even sure I was aware of the exploits of the actual nuclear subs, but what an exciting, romantic idea. Thanks for pointing out that some of those adventures were straight out of Jules Verne! Not sure I knew that.
Edwardo, strollers have really become a bane to so many visitors. I get that Disneyland is for families, and that means small children, but you are right when you point out that there were not the traffic jams full of gigantic strollers a long time ago. Not sure what has changed. Of course some people want a stroller just to hold all of of their junk!