Have you ever had a couple of boxes of cereal that are almost empty? And then you decide to have a 1/3 of a bowl of Frosted Flakes, 1/3 of a bowl of Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries, and 1/3 of a bowl of Fruity Pebbles, just to use them all up? Well, I've chosen this sleepy Sunday to use up a few random snapshots.
From January 1963 we get this odd angle of Town Square; I always like seeing those funny little souvenir stands... buy a guide book, why don'tcha! Looks like some members of a local high school sports team are visiting. The Bekins wagon can just be seen through the trees.
Also from January of '63 is this photo from the Jungle Cruise. On shore, colorfully-dressed natives are dancing. I guess they're happy to see us?
And finally, here's an undated print featuring "It's a Small World" when it was painted all sorts of fruit colors. Berry pinks, sherbet oranges and yellows, and so on. Those dolls liked it better when it was classy white and gold!
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely an odd angle from Main Street Station. And it appears one of "the team" is on crutches.
I think the fruit colors of IASW work just perfectly with your melange of cereals.
Thanks, Major.
In that first pic, the tree just beyond the souvenir stand is still standing today. It's a Chinese Elm and it was not swapped out with a smaller tree when the trees along Main St. were changed in '81. I'm kind of surprised that they have allowed it to live this long, given Disney's track record with trees lately.
ReplyDeleteThose colors on It's A Small World are even more vibrant than I remember them! I wonder if the facade had just been freshly painted when that pic was taken?
Nanook, I think I see Claude Akins in that second pic. He doesn't want us for dinner, he wants us to BE dinner! ;-)
Fruit colors on IASW? They could've pasted a bunch of Froot Loops on the facade and it would've looked better than what they did. I never cared for the pastel multi-colored facade. Not even when they painted the clock tower light blue did I care for it. The white & gold was the best paint scheme for IASW. What's that saying around here? They ruin everything! At least they restored the original white & gold facade and now they're returning the queue back to its original configuration by reversing the reversal.
ReplyDeleteThat trunk in the Jungle Cruise waters has been long gone. I think. Thanks, Major.
Ken, I heard about that. Not about them ruining everything (even though they do!) but about the reversal of the line for IASW and the elimination of the toy store at the exit. I'm hoping that means that the toy store will be torn down, but I'm guessing that it will just be used to hold part of the queue now. Or maybe it will be used for stroller parking, like they did in Adventureland with the former retail space next door to the Jungle Cruise queue.
ReplyDeleteWith the recent moves to restore iasw to its original configuration, I wonder if they're contemplating moving it back to Flushing Meadows?
ReplyDeleteTM!, I know that one of the reasons it's being reconfigured is because Disney is building a new parade entrance and stroller area. I think it's very possible that the shop will become the new stroller parking.
ReplyDeleteChuck, yes, it will also include the Pepsi-Cola and UNICEF Gardens as well as an appearance by Joan Crawford's corpse and her Disney friends.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/78/17/41/78174110c2fde3198f9f63f53dd14959.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2d/76/1d/2d761dafdbad448ca193ffde1528fc63--the-fair-worlds-fair.jpg
And here's the layout of IASW at the NYWF complete with Pepsi-Cola Refreshment Gardens, Tower of the Four Winds and the load and queue area.
https://www.joancrawfordbest.com/64pepsipavilionplans.jpg
I guess Chuck inspired me to look up IASW at Flushing Meadows and I discovered this cool site which has a Pepsi-Cola Pavilion page featuring Bill Cotter's wonderful photos of IASW at the NYWF. Also at the bottom of the page are links to pdf files featuring newsletters and articles.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/pepsi.htm
Here's the index to this wonderful site. Since your Disneyland fans check out the Ford, General Electric and Illinois links too.
http://www.worldsfairphotos.com/nywf64/index-alpha.htm
Of course all the links point to Bill Cotter's photographic treasures of the NYWF.
Boy, am I ever confused. I don't even remember the facade being painted up in colors like that!
ReplyDeleteI saw the developmental clock model painted in pastel colors at the Rolly Crump exhibit in Oceanside recently and thought, "I am sure am glad they never went with that idea at the park." When was this? Either I'm younger than I think, or I'm getting really old. Sheesh.
Nanook, that guy probably hurt his leg attempting a “dipsy doodle”, the most dangerous move in football.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, if that is the same tree in Town Square (and I believe you!), it really is surprising that they have not removed it. I guess it doesn’t block views looking up or down Main Street, so that gives it a pass? I suppose it is possible that those colors were new whenever that snapshot of IASW was taken; yet another advantage of the white and gold… no fading!
K. Martinez, I guarantee that there are plenty of people who wish that IASW was still a home for wayward Care Bears. They should not only reverse the line, they should reverse the whole ride, including the soundtrack. Time your pills accordingly!
TokyoMagic!, yeah, I do hate that toy store. Too big, too centrally located.
Chuck, they will need to dredge the East River to find the pieces of the Tower of the Four Winds.
K. Martinez, I am very excited about this news of a stroller parking area. In fact, why is everyone talking about Star Wars Land when we are getting stroller parking? Now they can raise admission by $100, I don’t care, it will be worth every penny!
K. Martinez II, I may be having lunch with Bill Cotter sometime in the near future (we met last year as well)! He not only has incredible photos, he is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge.
Patrick Devlin, I believe that IASW was painted these bright colors sometime in the late 1980’s, though I am not sure. It stayed that way for longer than you might imagine.
I mix cereals even when the boxes are full. It's a Kellogg’s Kocktail.
ReplyDeleteThe angle on the Town Square photo is really cool. I love the effect it has on the “Disneyland” sign.
I guess they're happy to see us?
Nah, they just have guns in their pockets.
You know how at the paint store they always have that rack of marked-down paint “mistints” that they couldn't sell because they came out the wrong color? There was a house in our neighborhood that was painted all those fruity colors from the third picture; we always called it “Mistint Manor.”
Well, Major, that would jibe well with my absence from the Park from 1985 to 1997, or so. Let's hear for the Gold and White!
ReplyDelete@ Ken-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great links. It's been awhile since I've seen those images of Joan Crawford 'forcing a great big smile' for the cameras at the NYWF. I'm shocked she allowed others in the photo shoot to wear hats, thus possibly upstaging her fabulous pink chapeau. (Personally, I just want one of those "S.S. Pepsi-Cola" sailors caps).
@ Melissa-
"Mistint Manor" sounds like an episode name from Murder She Wrote-!!
Ken, a new parade entrance? Oh no, they will probably make it more in-your-face and obnoxious, just like they do with everything nowadays. I like the current gate with it's subtle design that matches IASW and looks like an extension of it's facade. And that pic of Joan always cracks me up because of the hat she is wearing. It looks VERY similar to the hat that the pig next to her is wearing! I would love to be the one to point that out to her. Wait...no, I wouldn't. I wonder if she let the kids keep those S.S. Pepsi-Cola hats or if they ended up getting locked in the closet along with her children's Christmas and birthday gifts?
ReplyDelete@ TM!-
ReplyDeleteYou just know there's a great story behind those sailor hats having to do with Joan-!
Nanook, yeah....just what is that story?
ReplyDeleteAn interesting mixed bag today, Major. Thank you.
ReplyDelete@Tokyo, thanks for the info about that tree. i wonder if it's counterpart on the other side of the square (oval) is still there?
When I first saw the sherbet IASW in the mid-90's, I wasn't offended, but it did not grow on me, and after a while I was very happy to have the original white and gold return. That was when I finally realized the connection with the last scene and the exterior. The pastels sort of messed with the narrative of the show.
I am in hopes that the renovation of the queue will be positive, but I hadn't really thought this area needed much work tbh. I wonder if the changes in Downtown Disney outside are producing enough offset merch sales that they can afford to shut down some of the more egregious shops inside the park to improve traffic. Anyway, enough about that. GDB threads should be about enjoying the past photos, not worrying about Disney messing up the future.
I like how those folks in the last picture are throwing a party for that sleeping lion. They must be animal lovers.
Cheers all.
JG