Autopia, January 1950
Years ago I was lucky enough to find a group of about a dozen photos, all featuring the Tomorrowland Autopia! Considering that Tomorrowland is generally the least-photographed of all the lands, it's amazing to come across this many photos not just from there, but of one attraction.
This first one is my favorite, starring a happy young man behind the wheel of his light blue Mark V vehicle (you can tell because of the "eyebrows"). My info tells me that the Mark V's were in use from 1959 through to 1963. I love all of the activity going on around us, and I even like the slightly faded colors, befitting vintage photos.
I believe that the cast members who worked the Autopia back in those days (all men, probably) called this area "Blood Alley", thanks to the numerous injuries sustained as kids brought their cars in before exiting. I can just imagine plenty of bruised shins, crushed toes, and maybe even some broken tibias and fibulas. Ouch.
Notice that the vehicles across the way are Mark IVs (visually nearly identical - if not 100% identical - to the Mark I, Mark II, and Mark III varieties), probably waiting to be replaced by their newer brethren. Wouldn't you love to have one of those beauties?
Stay tuned for more Autopia shots from this lot!
26 comments:
Major-
I know its just a typo - and after 15 dedicated years I think a little slack can be cut - but one has to wonder just what a 1950-vintage Autopia vehicle would look like. (And perhaps their source of locomotion would be from a giant wind-up spring-!)
"Blood Alley"... it's doubtful John Wayne would recognize it.
Thanks, Major.
These are some cool Autopia pics. Since these are from 1960, I'd say most all those Autopia guys (operators) are either retired, convalescing or dead.
Glad to hear more Autopia shots are coming. Thanks, Major.
Major, these are super nice! I wonder if there was anything special about that one gold car, sitting over there with the other cars? Walt's special car was red, right?
Nanook, I've seen all of John Wayne's movies! You know, when he was up in that plane in The High and the Mighty......when his engine conked out, my engine conked out!
Ken, who knows....maybe one or two of them are currently attempting to conquer Mt. Everest.
Super cool photos of vintage Autopia- unfortunately, (don't kill me) not a gigantic fan-The noise and exhaust didn't do it for me- and although my friends loved it, I think what they loved better was bashing into one another...which was verboten, but they all did it anyway. Guests loooveeee Autopia- the wee ones are cute driving....but I never "got" it as an adult. "So, I drive all day around LA, and now I'm paying to drive all over Disneyland?" I have boats to ride! I do love the old styling of the earlier cars, and the uber-clean-cut sparkling clean employees! Wow...not a spot on them, and that ride was known for it's ability to get the most fastidious person dirty. White shirts? Very brave. Blondie has his trousers stuck into his boots- I wonder how the hems got caught in the cars to make him want to do that?
I've always loved the colorul, almost pastel plaids from this era like junior is wearing, and was absolutely thrilled when they came back around 1987.
TM!, I see what you did there. ;-)
Bu, I wonder if that guy with the tucked-in boots is an off-duty Marine and it just seemed normal to him.
Also - in answer to your question from yesterday about where the railroad roundhouse was in 1962, it was located at the extreme NW corner of the Park, behind the berm. The building and the siding that led to it had an east-west orientation. It survived the construction of the combined monorail/railroad roundhouse in 1966 for another 50 years as I think a paint shop (Mike Cozart can add corrections if I misspeak here - no time to look it up right now) until construction for Ewok Alley began.
Very cool! My favorite detail is being able to see both Richfield eagles at once. Thanks, Major.
Everyone in the first shot is sporting a flat top on their noggins. I suddenly feel I need a haircut. The Autopia was always a must ride for us kids. I never paid much attention to the kind of car it was. I think the Mark V looks a little like some kind of Chrysler. Thanks Major.
I love the vintage look here, and impressed by the detailed knowledge of Autopia, but my sentiments are with Bu
The last few rides were just less and less fun, for all those reasons.
I did watch a ride through video of the recently revamped attraction and I’ll give it one more go.
Major, it’s odd that Tomorrowland is the least photographed, I would imagine that Main Street might be, since every thing there is historic.
Thanks for these pics!
JG
Way cool photos. The classic post-1959 Tomorrowland was my Disneyland. I know many found the Autopia boring but I loved it. It was the only way I could drive and I had a long time to go before being old enough to drive a real car.
JC Shannon, I noticed the flat top haircuts too. Lots of teens in the neighborhood wore them 1960 but I was still in grade school and my parents kept me in a crew cut. Of course, just a few years later all I wanted was long hair. ;)
As a kid...Autopia, along with the Flying Saucers, were favorites. Well, really ALL of Disneyland was fun. When they put in the center rail, my objective was to never touch it to test my driving skills. Going back out beyond the bridge it felt exhilarating to just be in the 'rush hour' of fellow drivers my young age meandering the course. The fumes, the sound...I wonder if that hooked a few us to grow up building real dragsters. Blood Alley it was coming back in. I wonder how many ended up with whiplash. The collisions were reduced at ride's end with staff being assigned specific positions....usually in threes to jump and drive the vehicles in and stop at the next available position to keep things flowing If you look closely at the second pic, the CM has his left foot squarely on the side pedal in the 'brake' position. And we have 3 CMs in the shot. Many of my coworkers loved it. But for me, having worked the JC to make permanent and then being reassigned to here...and to that side of Operations, well, after 3 months, I asked the supervisor to transfer back to Adventure/Frontierland after he told me I'd soon be trained on Subs. The next weekend, I found myself pointing out Trader Sam and never looked back. KS
So my story regarding this ride and "blood alley" - I'm guessing it was around 1956 to 1958 my mother finally gave her consent for me to go on this ride (she was very protective, perhaps overly so) as long as Bruce went with me. So we're standing in line waiting and the chain link fence was to our left with the cars coming in. There was a fender bender - one car was completely stopped but the car behind didn't and ram right into it. The girl in the car hit her mouth on the steering wheel (or something) and was being escorted away with towels over her mouth bleeding like crazy. Needless to say my mother yanked me out of that line so fast! Bruce, of course, got to go on the ride.
Nanook, when Major Pepperidge says “1950”, he means 1950!! Unless it was a typo. Which it was. I scanned these so long ago that I can’t recall if they should read “1959” or “1960”. (Looking at the file names, it should have been “1960”).
K. Martinez, yes, it is pretty safe to say that not many of those grown men working the Autopia 60+ years ago are still with us. Always a sobering thought.
TokyoMagic!, that’s a good question, I’ve seen photos with ordinary guests in a gold Autopia car, so I don’t know if there was anything special about it. As far as I know, the Autopia colors were the same as the Skyway colors, which included a number of metallic bronzes, coppers, and even metallic greens and blues. Why do I feel like I’m reading another I Love Lucy thing? I’ve never known anyone who loved any show as much as you love that one. Even “Seinfeld” or “The Simpsons” pales by comparison.
Bu, I think a lot of people have fond memories of riding the Autopia as children, and now they drive the little cars partly out of nostalgia. I admit that it’s not the most fun ride at the park, though my young nephew said that “the little cars” were his favorite attraction after a full day. I wonder if an Autopia CM would be allowed to change his shirt if, for some reason, he an unsightly dirt or oil stain on it?
Chuck, I remember some of the pastel plaids from 1987, my grandma bought me some wild shirts. I looked like an Easter basket, pinks, aquas, soft yellows, teals. Do Marines tuck in their boots to keep out scorpions? Thanks for helping Bu with info about the old roundhouse.
Andrew, if you see two Richfield Eagles at the same time, your life will be filled with good fortune! It’s a well known, scientific fact.
Jonathan, flat tops are not the most aerodynamic of hairstyles, but the vibration of the stiff hairs makes a pleasant “hum”, sort of like a kazoo. I love all of the Autopia styles up until they switched over to the cartoony Chevron versions, which I do not particularly care for.
JG, While I don’t like the Chevron cars, I did like that they combined the Fantasyland and Tomorrowland Autopias into a single long ride - but it is a bummer if you go on a crowded day. You literally get stuck in traffic for large portions of the journey. Who needs that?? I think Main Street benefited (photographically) by being the first thing guests saw when entering the park; many people took tons of photos of Town Square, as well as views looking toward the Castle.
Grant, I never knew any Tomorrowland other than the “New Tomorrowland” (1967), but I’ve always had a certain fascination for the earliest incarnation of that place. However, there’s no arguing that they made great improvements in 1959! I had a buzz cut as a little kid, but never a flat top as far as I can remember.
KS, ha, I love that you mentally made it a game to avoid the center rail! I wish I had thought of that. I remember my older brother purposefully steering left and right (drastically) so that the rail would stop us from hitting the side - for some reason he found that to be fun. Did you grow up to build dragsters?? I love to watch videos of people modifying and restoring old cars, and always wished that I’d known some mechanically-inclined older person who could have shown me how to do all that stuff. I think it’s kind of genius that Bob Gurr (I assume it was him) put that side brake on the cars. You didn’t want to be trained on the Subs??
Irene, your mom was just looking out for you! I used to HATE it when the car behind me would continually crash into me every time the traffic slowed down. Sometimes you could tell that it was just a matter of a little kid being clueless, but other times you could see the evil grin on the 11 year-old boy who just liked being destructive. I swear those kids had horns!!
@ TM!-
You're unrelenting-!! (One of these days, I'm going to make a reference to The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna or Pete and Gladys, and see if you can make hay out of that-!)
@ Andrew-
Yes, the rare 'double eagle'.
@ JC Shannon-
I believe a 'flat top' was an additional charge, above and beyond a 'butch' or 'regular boys' haircut. Gotta work-in an upcharge, somehow.
Major...no I didn't. So now in my later years decided to get a little '67 Tiger to tool around with. It's a little more powerful but still the same concept...without the rail of course! :) KS
Great shots. I wonder how many photos are floating out there from this same angle. In the scans you posted of my trips to the park, there is one of me and my Dad at about the same angle but in position number 6.
Must have around the same time, but the blue car we were in had no Disneyland logo on the hood.
We used to all get a butch, but it looks like mine had grown out a little in our pic. A few years later the Beatles showed up and that changed a few things in the hair department.
Thanks for the memories Major.
Nanook, don't forget The Phil Silvers Show (my favorite), Life of Reilly or ooh ooh, Car 54. Didn't quite know how to spell that.
I’ve never ridden the Autopia or it’s Florida cousin, but I used to play the “don’t touch the rail” game on the similar ride at the amusement park near home.
The boy in the first picture looks like a young Jack Nicholson.
@ Melissa-
You're so right about that boy bearing a resemblance to Jack Nicholson. I'm afraid my attention was immediately drawn-away towards the flat top haircuts, and the dude in the red shirt-collar turned-up (the rebel) - his red socks and Levi's jeans. His shirt sported a very-popular style of the day: straight, hemmed bottoms - designed to be worn outside of your pants [shocking, I know-!!] Although it's indiscernible in this image, those shirts usually had buttons in the sides of the "waistband". And this one looks as if it may be sporting some sort of embroidered design on the front. (Very 1950's)
Old enough to remember when freeway cloverleafs were still something of a novelty, and those "pretend" billboards were incredibly cool. Also, another great Disneyland ride where you felt you'd been somewhere, touring a fair amount of scenery rather than the circle or occasional oval of carnival rides.
Yes, it's definitely a kiddie ride. For grownups, it's a matter of trying to put yourself back in that frame of mind when Driving A Car on real roads was a distant, shimmering dream.
Two years ago at Disneyland I was in line, and saw a traditionally dressed Indian woman and her small daughter get into a car. The girl pressed the gas pedal and it was clearly a life-changing experience when the engine roared and they began to move. Power! The steering wheel! Yeehaaa! I suspect the mother, like a few million before her, would flash back to this moment when adolescence hit full force.
DBenson, when my oldest started driving, my mind kept flashing back to him driving the Autopia...and thinking "please remember our neighborhood no center rail."
Broken tibias and fibulas. Ouch. Would be an awesome name for a punk band. Appropriate as working on or entering/exiting the Autopia is kinda like being in a mosh pit anyway.
Even though they lack style I always liked the 60's-70's era car body, probably because that's what I drove as a kid. That being said if I was ever lucky enough to own any era Autopia car or body I wouldn't complain.
Nanook, I wish I had a few double eagle gold pieces! Or maybe more than a few. I guess a flat top required an extra minute of work? Seems silly that they cost more.
KS, I had to look up “1967 Tiger”, what an awesome car! Definitely Autopia-like!
DrGoat, I’m sure I have dozens of photos of the Autopia from roughly that same angle - it’s where all the moms and dads stood waiting. I remember the picture of you and your dad in your vehicle! I guess they only put the word “Disneyland” on some of the hoods? You can see that the yellow car in photo #2 lacks that logo. I wonder if the Beatles were responsible for my longer hair, and I didn’t even know it?? Ha ha, I remember Joe E. Ross from “Car 54”, as well as from a show “It’s About Time”, which must have come along just at the right time for my kid brain to not forget it.
Melissa, I’m surprised that you have never been on any of the Disney Autopias!!
Nanook, weirdly that first kid reminds me more of Christian Slater, who of course was well-known for doing a sort of Jack Nicholson impression in “Heathers”. The expression on red-shirt’s face seems to imply, “Now THAT was fun!”.
DBenson, I’ve been on at least one “pre-clover leaf” freeway, where you’re supposed to leap right onto the highway, and all the other cars are already going 65 miles per hour. The clover leaf was a great idea! I love your story about the Indian woman and her daughter experiencing the Autopia!
Chuck, are you saying that we SHOULD have center rails on all of our streets?! ;-)
RE: Costume changing...yes...if you got soiled in any way you were actually required to change...supervisors in my day were relentless about things being perfect- given the whites on those Autopia guys- it looks like they had the same military style inspections. When I was a lead, I would some times line up my "troops" on stage...it was all done with a giggle and the guests LOVED it. People photographed it- I wish those would turn up somewhere! I'm sure NOTHING like that could happen today. Nothing was actually done out of those "theatric inspections", but often times you would have to send people back to change clothes- if they fit incorrectly, or were just too shop worn to be worn onstage- lumpy hats, ties that weren't pressed correctly, etc. Most employees were so mindful of dirt, etc. generally they would work out things on their own long before they reported for work. There were things like a generic white cotton button down shirt though: Foods wore them, Attractions wore them, Merchandising wore them and more times than not there was some kind of stain on them due to so many different departments wearing them. Also they used such raging hot irons to press the shirts the buttons would melt or be cracked- and those were not allowed- by my supervisors anyway. You would be sent back, and your pay was docked as you should have worked all that out before stepping on stage. ...and now they wash their own costumes...still scratching my head over that one.
When I was 8, my grandfather took me on the WDW Speedway, and let me drive. As an adult, I appreciate that he let me bash into that center rail hundreds of times in the ride rather than taking the wheel.
Fun stories and memories from everyone! I really enjoyed reading all the comments!
Major, I guess it's just that so many of the lines from the show are ingrained in my brain. Then it only takes a single (or double) reference, like you mentioning "Blood Alley" and then Nanook mentioning "John Wayne," to trigger me. (Actually, I try to go through each and every day of my life, using only "I.L.L." and "Golden Girls" quotes.)
Nanook, in regards to Gail Storm, I watched repeats of "My Little Margie" as a kid, but they did not run it long enough for me to remember one single quotation or plot line.
Dr. Goat, I knew about the show, "Car 54, Where Are You?", but I had never seen a single episode. About a year ago, one of the stations did a marathon of that show, all day long. I really liked it! My brother told me he has the entire series on DVD. I was supposed to borrow it from him, but I keep forgetting to do that.
Alonzo, in the Rankin/Bass film, "Mad Monster Party," there is a band called "Little Tibia and the Fibulas." The band members are all skeletons, with "Beatles" haircuts. They are the ones who sing the song, "IT'S THE MUMMY!!!":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89sL4R50Z6E
@TokyoMagic
I forgot about that one, too funny. That stop action animation must have taken some patience and steady hands!
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