Tomorrowland and Fantasyland
I have a pair of very nice photos for you today. They're from different lots, not that it matters that much to us.
We'll start with this shot from February, 1963 as a group of friends/family walk into Tomorrowland. The Clock of the World is behind them, as is the "America the Beautiful" attraction (sponsored by Bell System) - notice the rotating model of a Telstar satellite.
Hey kid, get that finger out of your nose! The boy leading the way is in his khaki outfit, like a miniature GI Joe. The giant Bird of Paradise plant to the right is in bloom.
This next photo is from June, 1962; it's a gorgeous view of the old Skyway gondolas (lots of sapphire blue examples this time) above Old Fantasyland. I just love the color, look at Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the yellow Monorail in the distance, and even the Mary Blair leaves of the Alice in Wonderland attraction.
I hope you've enjoyed today's photos!
24 comments:
Major-
Khaki-?? Ah, hello-?? I think not. I'll let Chuck weigh-in on the 'exact' shade of Army green - but for the moment we'll leave it at that. Forgetting for the moment the social faux pas of the older brother(-?), he's sporting quite the haircut for February, 1963. You Hippie-!
The second image is a pure gem. There's just so much colorful goodness to view. The only missing object of desire appears to be a Matterhorn bobsled.
Thanks, Major.
Hey, the moonliner must be taking a break, it’s riding the skyway in gondola #8!
Both photos today are pretty nice. Seeing the Bell System logo reminds me of the Bell Lab Science Series films that Frank Capra produced like "Our Mr. Sun", Hemo the Magnificent" and "The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays" all utilizing live-action and animation to present science through a religious framework. Viewing them today, they feel like a relic of the 1950's/60's.
I agree with Nanook. The second image is wonderful. Thanks, Major
Thanks for the handoff, Nanook. :-) G.I. Joey is wearing a spot-on miniature version of Type I OG-107 fatigues, issued from 1952-63.'
I'm going to pretend the group of three women that seem to be the subject of that same photo are fugitives from a teacher's conference, taking a well-earned break and having the time of their lives. They'll take some great ideas back to school and make their already fun classes ever more funnerer.
That second photo really showcases how the world is a carousel of color (wonderful, wonderful color), even if the actual carrousel is just out of frame.
Ken, I remember seeing both Hemo and Mr. Sun on 16mm prints in 8th grade science in 1982-83. I remember being surprised to see Eddie Albert in one of them. I also remember thinking about how wonderfully dated they were...and how much more interesting and fun they were than much of the other programs we watched. Hemo even inspired my last science fair project.
Nanook, I don’t know why I wrote “khaki”, I would chalk it up to drugs and alcohol except I haven’t had any alcohol for six months and I only drop acid on alternate Wednesdays (like most people). “Olive drab” might be more in the ballpark. Ya gotta love a color that has the word “drab” in it. I thought there was a possibility that the “brother” was actually a tomboy sister, though even that would be pretty shocking in ’63. Believe me, I looked for a bobsled (I always do!), is there any chance that there is one to the right of that blue Skyway gondola (the one behind #8)? I just wasn’t sure.
Lou and Sue, yes, that lady is carrying the Moonliner in a backpack!
K. Martinez, I haven’t watched Hemo the Magnificent for a long time, but I used to really enjoy those Bell System Science Series films. I wonder if that’s the movie that has Eddie Albert (I believe) watching a diagram of how mucus traps germs, only to exclaim, “Go, mucus!”? If so, that line should be on AFI’s list of greatest movie quotes, way ahead of “Go ahead, make my day”, and “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”.
Oh Chuck, I KNEW as I was leaving my early comment (it's only 4:13 AM here right now) that you would be leaving your comment at the same time. That's just how things work around here in GDB Land (be sure to buy a churro). I believe the word "funnerer" should be "funamotious", but I don't want to be "that guy". Reading those words from The Wonderful World of Color immediately makes my brain hear the classic Disney chorale that I loved (and still love) so much. I don't know about you, but it was always the greatest when our teachers would wheel in the movie projector for a class. "We get to watch movies in class!". Disney True-life Adventures, Bell System Science films, all kinds of stuff. I have to admit that I am pretty amazed that they were still showing "Hemo the Magnificent" in the early 1980s!
"Hey kid, get that finger out of your nose!"... Maybe he's thinking, Cracker Jack and cereal prizes are no match for the prizes he might find in his nostril. As the Lucky Charms leprechaun would say... "They're Magically Delicious!"
Butt seriously, I never get tired of seeing old places and complete strangers, in old photos. I find it, truly fascinating. Plus, old photographs are as close as we're going to get to having time machines.
I'm curious... is that a Columbia mast at the far rear of the first picture?
Pic #2 rules. I think that the photographer knew what he/she was doing given that you can catch a glimpse of the Mr. Toad mural. Thanks, Major.
As much as I hate going along with the crowd (or really anybody, I'm loads of fun at parties) I must say Pic #2 takes the cake! I think it's mainly because I suspect army kid is a Commie spy.
Good catch Andrew. Also wondering if that's the Columbia's masts in the second pic, backround right. Not sure if that is the right angle of view to see that.
Also it's no mistake that 2 times 8 is 16.
Hope everyone had a good weekend.
Thanks Major. I'll say it too, that second pic just has it all.
I agree with Major that there i a bobsled to the right of #4, above the trees. +1 for sure.
#2 is a swell pic! So much to see, so much color and the yellow monorail really makes it special. Being above the crowds is always nice. And it's so CLEAN in #1! Satellites were such a new thing then but now we can spot one any clear night in just a few minutes.
Looking forward to a good week and diminishing smoke and fires. I hope all of you are safe.
zach
P.I., sometimes a person doesn’t want to wait in a line for a snack! (Gross!). Yep, these old photos (and home movies, some people collect those) are the best time machines we have for now; we’re left with incomplete information, but I think that lets our brains start to try to fill in that info, and that makes us engage with the images more.
Andrew, that is actually the mast of the “Star of India” in San Diego! ;-) It’s hard not to love photo #2 with everything set against that vivid blue sky.
Stu29573, you’re right, that kid is trying way too hard. He even salutes the lunch lady at school. We’re on to his shenanigans!
DrGoat, 2 times 8 IS 16, except on leap day in February. People always forget that! I’m so screwed up about the day of the week that when you said, “Hope everyone had a good weekend”, I literally had to think… “Today is Monday??”.
zach, hooray, we all know that a bobsled sighting is a good omen; it’s too bad I’m not at the poker tables in Vegas, I’d bet it all. My “tell” is a twitchy eye, so I wear an eye patch over it. Some say that Telstar was orbiting too low, but I say it was just right. Yes, I hope everyone having to deal with the effects of fires is doing OK!
I'll give the kid the benefit of the doubt and say they might be scratching their face, biting their nails or sucking their thumb before I say they are a knuckle and a half deep digging for lost gold.
It funny how they signs for "public telephone" and the fact they had the "booth" speaker phones back in the day was a big deal. Now most of us make "bluetooth speaker" calls in our cars everyday.
Youngster in photo 1 is picking a winner, which is better than going to the theater and picking his seat.
Yes, I am sure those are the Columbia masts in photo 1, the view angle is straight on across the hub to the entry of Frontierland. The Pirate ship would be far to the right out of frame.
Also voting yes on the bobsled in photo 2, just to the right of Skyway bucket 4 and the flag on the castle pinnacle. Good eye on that one. Glad to see the monorail too. What a great picture.
Thanks everyone.
JG
Major-
My personal favorite color name behind Olive Drab, of course, (and they're a million of 'em) goes to Metallic Heather - a very strange metallized spray paint with odd colorants.
I think our group has been too hard on the lad in the first image. He's merely whispering to his 'invisible friend'...
And zach is correct - that is a bobsled. Good eye.
And nobody is wondering just what the lady in Bucket #8 is taking a picture of with her 8mm camera?? KS
Alonzo, yeah, you are probably right, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to make a snarky comment at somebody else’s expense. I’m only human! As a nail-biter myself (I’ve tried to stop 10,000 times), I can relate to how dumb it looks. I do wonder if there aren’t still a few payphones around the park, in spite of the proliferation of cell phones.
JG, I was going to comment on how kids are unaware of the things they do in public, but then realized that I have seen plenty of adults “digging” in public. Yuck. Are you SURE that’s not the Star of India’s masts? That second photo is the kind of image that would have gotten my brain whirling with dreams of my next visit.
Nanook, the color name “flesh” was always kind of gross to me, somehow. Thankfully it has become extinct. What? You mean everybody isn’t an orangey beige? “Metallic Heather”, sounds weird, but I generally like metallic colors, so maybe it’s nice. Now I can’t get past that kid’s long hair. I mean, it doesn’t look crazy by today’s standards, but remember how outraged people were at Beatles’ hair the following year!
KS, Oh I’m definitely wondering! I assume she was aiming at the Pirate Ship, as so many other people did at about that point in their Skyway journey.
Major, JG-
Isn't it obvious-? That so-called 'mast' belongs to the woman in the red sweater - it's her personal cell phone tower-! (She was communicating with the Telstar "model" at that very moment...)
Taking a second look at that second photo, the woman with the 8mm movie camera bears a striking resemblance to one of my grandmothers, who did visit Disneyland in the summer of 1962. But she never wore her hair like that, my grandpa always operated the cameras, and I'm positive the trip was later in the summer. Still, it's fun to think of her having fun at the Happiest Place on Earth.
Hey, Happy belated birthday Stu. I tend to miss weekend birthdays.
Nanook, with the help of that "mast" and the woman's bridgework, she can pick up radio stations from as far away as Tacoma!
Chuck, for a second I thought you were going to say that the woman in the Skyway gondola was your grandma! I was all ready to celebrate. It does seem like the man usually was the picture taker, with some exceptions. It's not like there are any great female photographers or anything! (Did you know that the first issue of LIFE magazine in 1936 had a cover with a photo taken by Margaret Bourke White?). Did your grandma and grandpa go to the park sans kids? I think that's kind of awesome!
DrGoat, we all know you are too busy partying every weekend!
By golly, I think we just solved a few mysteries...
Chuck's grandma-look-alike is a real jokester! She's actually filming Stu - who's still looking for his Moonliner. Yesterday we saw one of her photographs of Stu, taken from on the monorail - while he was searching for his Moonliner. And grandma had it with her, all that time!
Major, on that trip, my grandparents were with my dad and aunt, who were both in college, and they probably went to the Park with her youngest brother and his family, who I think lived somewhere in the Valley. We stayed with them on my first trip nine years later.
That 1962 vacation was epic. They drove to SD from Ohio, picked up my dad from some ROTC training, hit Mt Rushmore, drove up to Seattle, visited the World's Fair, drove down the coast, went to Disneyland, and then back to Ohio I believe via the Grand Canyon and Route 66 as far as Chicago. Wish I'd been there.
I found it!!! In 1963... Weird...
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