I am always especially happy to bring you nice Tomorrowland photos! My favorites, for those of you keeping track. These were somewhat faded, but a little work with Photoshop helped to bring them back to respectability.
This first one is a beauty, with the park looking wonderful on a sunny July day. The fingerboard sign in the foreground is a nice touch. Let's go to Crane's "Bathroom of Tomorrow" and take plenty of pictures! (Meanwhile, don't take pictures in other bathrooms. It's creepy).
It's hard to ignore that United Nations logo, suspended from lines bedecked with colorful flags - not nautical flags like we usually see in Tomorrowland, but actual flags of many nations. I've never found a satisfying answer as to why the UN logo was there; if the photo is truly from July of '59 (and that seems pretty likely), then the Matterhorn, Subs, and Monorail had all debuted just weeks earlier - was the logo on display for that event? Nikita Khrushchev had planned to visit the park, but that wouldn't be until September. "United Nations Day" was in 1959, but not until late October. It's a mystery!
Say, there's the Monorail, the Mark I version with only 3 cars. It's cute and stubby, like a corgi. Folks in the Skyway gondolas are craning their necks trying to take in all the fantastic new scenery, and who can blame them? The red-coated Disneyland Band has gathered near the entrance to the Submarine Voyage. What a day to be there!
Major-
ReplyDeleteMore beauties, today. I wonder what that arrow (just above the Crane Co. sign) was pointing to, as there's no destination visible.
Thanks, Major, for your handiwork on these little gems.
Both pics are winners today. The flags of many nations, UN Logo and TWA Moonliner along with fingerboard signpost make for a very colorful future.
ReplyDeleteAlso love the Mark I Monorail Red at the Tomorrowland Monorail Station while two Skyway Bucket pass overhead. There's just something about the color pallet of the original Tomorrowland that I like.
You've been posting some pretty amazing pics lately. I sure appreciate the work you do on these to make them better and brighter. Thanks again, Major.
That suspended UN Shield looks like a archery target!! Love those Tomorrowland directional signs!! Tomorrowland ‘67 had three “pillar” directional almost identical to the ones used at the New York World’s fair- they didn’t stick around too long and they were in no way as colorful and flamboyant as the 1959 versions in your pictures!!
ReplyDeleteI agree. Lots of unique and enjoyable pics lately. And a groovy, 1950s Aloha shirt, not vintage at that time yet.
ReplyDeleteOne of my fondest memories of Disneyland is gazing up at the Moonliner as a small boy. It was so big and futuristic in it's TWA livery. The Monorail, gleaming in the sun, and ushering in a new age of mass transit, cool. I am in pig heaven with these two beauties. A bright beautiful tomorrow for sure.
ReplyDeleteDrGoat, I collect vintage Hawaians and that one is one I don't have.
Thanks Major, for restoring these awesome scans.
I can't the idea of the Corgi-rail out of my head.
ReplyDeleteThe Best Monorail, with the Cadillac tail lights. I love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Major.
JG
Major-
ReplyDeleteThe United Nations coat of arms is certainly a puzzlement. United Nations Day, observed on October 24th, *might* have something to do with it; but certainly seems a stretch if the image is from July, 1959 - and I have no reason to doubt that. And since the sign for the Crane exhibit - "The Bathroom of Tomorrow", after all-!, is still posted, the time window is probably before August 31, 1960, when the 'dripping faucets' were secured for the final time).
Nanook, I wondered the same thing, why have a blank arrow? Maybe it was for the Viewliner?
ReplyDeleteK. Martinez, I wonder if “kids these days” (who better stay off my lawn) would find these photos as appealing as I do? This is that “retro-Future” that seems so joyful and exciting. The 3-car Monorail (Li’l Stubby!) is so awesome. Thanks for the nice compliment!
Mike Cozart, I am almost certain that I posted a photo of the “New Tomorrowland” with a blocky directional sign - I’ll have to look for it, though I don’t hold out a lot of hope of actually finding it. You’re right though, the 50’s signs are still the best.
DrGoat, I wonder if it had real coconut shell buttons?
Jonathan, I don’t remember the original Moonliner, but I sure liked watching the Rocket Jets way up atop the Peoplemover load area. Spinning and spinning. Glad you liked these! I am not knowledgeable about vintage “Aloha” shirts, is the one in the photo a pattern you actually recognize?
MRaymond, ha ha. The Queen of England loves that Monorail too.
JG, I have a hard time choosing my favorite among those early Monorails, but it IS pretty great.
Nanook, yes, late October seems awfully far away from July for them to be decorating for United Nations Day. Perhaps the occasion was bigger than we realize though? Maybe it got lots of publicity for many months. I thought I had an old postage stamp for United Nations Day (from my grandmother’s collection), but I was mistaken.
Hey everyone, What are those things on the L bracket atop the Monorail station next to the flags? A quick trip to Daveland and I found several other shots showing it. I am baffled.
ReplyDeleteThis may be a case of a roll of slide film laying in a drawer, waiting to be processed, for months. This may be an image of the October 1958 UN Day or Week. Since the Viewliner closed down on 30 September, 1958, it would make sense to have a blank sign that hadn't been removed or repainted yet. Also note that there is no hint of the Monorail in that photo.
ReplyDelete@ JC Shannon-
ReplyDeleteThat's definitely an antenna of some sort. I'm not quite familiar-enough with RF devices to know from the look and shape of it, just what frequency band(s) it covers.
Jonathan, I seem to remember that those are antennas of some sort, for inter-park communication. I know somebody out there (Mike Cozart, where are you?) knows for sure.
ReplyDeleteChuck, anything is possible, but there are numbers of other photos in the lot showing the subs and Matterhorn. I am not sure that the Monorail would be visible from that angle in photo #1, since it didn’t go outside the park yet.
Nanook, is there such a thing as microwave communication? Somehow I keep thinking I remember hearing or reading of such a thing at Disneyland, but I might have been on crack that day.
I looked up that type of antenna and I found a very good image of it on Daveland, it's a UHF or VHF log-periodic antenna. It's very directional and meant for point-to-point communication. It's difficult to figure out it's alignment but it would appear to be aimed at the roundhouse (which would make sense).
ReplyDeleteMRaymond, thanks! But I was still on crack.
ReplyDeleteThat blank sign pointed to The Future, of course.
ReplyDeleteA visit to the Bathroom of Tomorrow would leave me flushed with excitement.
ReplyDeleteLove the little girl at bottom left under the Monorail. She knew she was getting a Tyrolean hat and she dressed for it, dammit.
Crack is dangerous Major, and I should know. Glad you've moved on ;) Microwave technology for communication has always been one of the 'dirty secrets' of Disneyland. The program was quietly shut down in the late 70's when they realized that all conversations were either cold in the center or too hot all around...
ReplyDelete