Two Nice Ones From 1968
I acquired a group of oversized slides from September, 1968 (40mm X 40mm, or "127" sized slides), and some of them are really nice! The larger size, and the fact that the photographer's camera apparently had a good lens, make these bright and crisp and full of detail.
This first one is a beautiful, colorful look at Tomorrowland as seen from the Skyway. Above the jewel-like lagoon we can see the striped awning of the Fantasyland Autopia's station, three Peoplemover trains in different hues, the mammoth "It's a Small World" structure, and even a bit of the Matterhorn bobsleds aqua-colored track. I'm having fun up here, but now I want to be down there!
I love the red, blue, and yellow Peoplemover trains! I need one of each, please. Below the red Peoplemover is a pale yellow Autopia vehicle that appears to be a Mark VI... 1968 was the final year for that style. It must have been a warm day, groups of guest tend to gather in the shade if they can.
As is often the case, the queue for the Matterhorn wraps around the attraction. I love the spots of bright-colored clothing, typical of what you might see in '68. There are two bobsleds visible, which means we'll all have plenty of good luck today.
Next we have this trio of guests standing with the old Frontierland railroad station behind them. I love the blue sign to the right, that doesn't show up in a lot of photos. The two ladies must be feeling the heat, or their feet are starting to throb; grandma (to the right) will not put up with any foolishness! The man to the left looks like he would be at home in an old-timey British pub.
I hope you have enjoyed today's photos!
21 comments:
Major-
These are some lovely images. In the first one, we not only get a Kodak Picture Spot; but we also have a nice slice of the Global Van Lines building, off in the distance.
The 'gals' in the second image are definitely "all business-!!". Is that a Main Gate handout peaking-out from the lass' black purse-? It appears "Grandma" is carrying a camera, of some sort. If so - I wonder what kind it is.
Thanks, Major.
The color and activity is exciting! Those 1968 PeopleMover cars sport the first of the attraction’s safety bars. The PeopleMover car bodies in 1968 also had their ABS bodies replaced with Fiberglas.
Did large format slides require special cameras or was it a developing option during that time?
In the first (and third) pic, we can see a Tour Guide in front of the Fantasyland Autopia sign. We can also see a black and red fishy in the lower left corner of the photo.
I wonder why those ladies in the second pic, are so gosh darn happy?
If Disneyland can't make em smile, I'm afraid there is little hope for these women. Pub guy seems to be enjoying himself though. I love the Sub Lagoon, shimmering in the sun. Always love a Peoplemover shot, even the track is a work of art. If you listen very carefully, you can hear Sunshine of your Love coming from the Chalet speakers. Maybe that's why the grump sisters are frowning. They prefer Lawrence Welk. A one and a two and a... Thanks Major
I see Waldo!!!
Ok, I don't, but I seeva lot of wonderfulocity in that first shot! Even today you can't beat a large negative (or digital thingy) to really bring out the details! By the way, don't be impressed by "digital zoom" numbers. The only zoom that matters is optical. Digital just blows up little sections of the "negative" with quality consequences. Trust me.
In the second photo, the guy on the left is smiling because in about 10-15 years his mohawk will rad!
Middle lady just got a wiff of his Ode de Peayu cologne.
Grandma just carried out a hit for the mob. You gotta love Grandma. No, really, you GOTTA.
By the way, on top of the sign, Snoopy is sitting behind a row of candy corn.
Again, trust me.
The Chino Hills are hiding in the haze. This is why I don't ever remember seeing any real mountains from inside Disneyland, although I know they are there.
Great detail in these photos. I love large-format negatives and slides for this very reason. They also taste great with farva beans and a nice chianti. Slup, slup, slup!
Mike, large-format slides come from different cameras that use different-sized film than the 35mm/Size 135 film that we are used to. Size 127 film is 46mm wide, which supports the 40x40mm image "Superslide" format (a standard 35mm slide has an image size of 34x23mm) in a 2"x2" mount that can be projected by the same slide projectors as 35mm slides. The PanaVue slides you used to be able to pick up at most tourist destinations were in the Superslide format.
I remember one of my fellow Boy Scouts bringing a 127 camera with him on a canoe trip in the early '80s. I'd never heard of the format before, but one of the assistant scoutmasters was very familiar with it. His parents had given it to him for the multi-day trip because it was an old camera they didn't care about anymore. He was careful and didn't drop it in the river, but I sometimes wonder whatever became of that camera.
Stu, I'd never noticed that lamp on top of the sign before, but now I can't see it as anything but Snoopy, although I am seeing the candy corn as Woodstock's relatives (which would be an anachronism since this is 1968).
I remember using a Brownie Starlet, 127 film camera, as a kid. My grandmother, a photographer, taught me how to load it without trashing the film. No cartridge film for these things, it was on a spool. I wanted to use her Rolleiflex camera but she wouldn't let me touch it.
Beautiful photos Major. The large format can really take in a lot of scenery.
You're right stu. It's Snoopy and I do see the relatives. The longer I look, the more it does looks like Snoopy, Chuck.
My parents had my Italian Grandmother brought out to Tucson from Italy in 1957 or so. She was about 70 something and could give that old granny a run for her money. She came with us to Disneyland sometime in the 60s, and she was all smiles the whole day. I don't know what's up with this granny. By her look, I think she came from the old country. Some of them were pretty grim.
Lovely photos, thanks Major.
Sub lagoon was always a moment of peace in-between the racket of the two Autopias and the "splash/scream/ click click click click" at the end of the Matterhorn ride- which later turned into a pshhhchhhhh of air brakes after splash and scream. There are two outdoor vendors sitting on the bench underneath those two blue and white umbrellys (you can see their straw hats)...that was always a good spot to be as it was shady and it had the subs there to calm the senses. Sitting down was very much verboten...perhaps no one was looking....Fantasyland Autopia in my day was rarely open- but if it was open, I guarantee that that ice cream vendor was there too. The only time I didn't wear a name tag EVER in my 10 year career was at that location and I soooooooo got nailed for it. Didn't do that again. I do like the GIANT bird on a stick on top of the Autopiasculpture...it gets a little lost in the Blair/Crump-tastic Small World facade. There was always such thoughtful landscaping on this side of the Matterhorn- I think it had better sun that the other, with the dwarf pines leading up to more mini pines..and always the yellows of marigolds, daisies, etc.
Excellent photos today.
I remember days when lines for both sides of the Bobsleds wrapped around each side of the mountain and met on the back. That was a looooong wait!
Tokyo Magic, I believe you're correct about the tour guide in the first photo. I wonder how many of the people behind her are part of her group. Looks to be around 30 bunched together.
(That reminds me. I need to send Major my mom's 1950s tour guide stuff.)
JC Shannon,
If you listen very carefully, you can hear Sunshine of your Love coming from the Chalet speakers. Maybe that's why the grump sisters are frowning. They prefer Lawrence Welk. A one and a two and a...
Ha! No wonder the ladies are frowning. Wrong generation for that song. Although Mr. Mohawk seems to like it. (So did I. It was voted favorite song my senior year of high school. :)
Chuck,
The Chino Hills are hiding in the haze. This is why I don't ever remember seeing any real mountains from inside Disneyland, although I know they are there.
Very true. For those who don't know, on clear days there are panoramic mountains and hills visible from Orange County. Back in the 60s when smog was a major problem there weren't so many clear days.
Another enjoyable GDB morning. Thanks Major!
Brilliant work today, Major. Thanks for the hard work on this one. There is a lot to mine out of a single slide, but never fear, instead of only 7 Dwarfs, you have the whole GDB posse to winkle out the details.
This is only two years off from what I have arbitrarily decreed to be "Peak Disneyland", next year we would get the Haunted Mansion, and the stage would be set.
Question for any of the CM's, were the same color sequence games played with the PeopleMover as was done with the Skyway? Looks like today has a coded message for Josef Albers.
I see some bright yellow Autopia costumes, and the amazing IASW facade gleams in the distance, beckoning us to a World Small Enough for Everyone to be Friends.
Looks like Bert's dad is having a good time, looking around for someplace to grab a pint and a pipe, but the ladies supervising him are not convinced. Granny has a shiv in that straw purse and is waiting for Sleepy to come over and have a go.
Cheers everyone, thanks for the comments and backstory.
JG
The angle on those Peoplemover tracks really packs in the vroom!
Yeah, that family has just about had it for the day. I prescribe a trip over to the Hotel for some air conditioning and a cocktail.
Look carefully in pic 1 and 3 and you will see two TGs. I was always on the hunt for them while I was a CM. Most of the guys were! KS
Nanook, there is definitely lots to see in that first one! It is very possible that that is a main gate handout, I’ll have to go through my “collection” (more like an unorganized pile) and see if I have anything that looks like that. It’s a long shot…
Mike Cozart, it’s too bad that guests couldn’t behave themselves, so that they wouldn’t have had to add those safety bars. But all it takes is a few bad apples! As far as I know, you’d need a special camera to use that sort of film - it’s much larger than standard 35mm.
TokyoMagic!, good eye on that tour guide! It took me a minute to find her. I almost think there might be another one just a bit to the right and down? Even though her red sweater vest looks a little different. Those ladies really do look like no fun. I think the red and black fish is a sheepshead.
Jonathan, it’s possible that the ladies were just in no mood to have their picture taken - hey, I’ve been there. But even I can manage a phony smile if I need one. I would think that “Sunshine of Your Love” might have been considered too “druggy”, even if it really wasn’t! Lawrence Welk rocks.
Stu29573, it really does look like a “Where’s Waldo”. I could never find that little bastard! I learned about the pitfalls of digital zooms long ago. It’s optical zoom all the way!
Stu29573, maybe that man is Joe Strummer’s grandpa? I’d like to think so. Those ladies were probably fun on many occasions, but if looks could kill - we’d be dead. Hey, I see Snoopy!
Chuck, I’m with you, I’ve seen photos with actual snow on those hills, and it made me think, “There are hills there?!”. As handy as 35mm film is, those larger sizes really do impress. I have relatively few slides of that size in my collection, unfortunately. Thanks for the info about the different cameras, I was pretty sure that you would need a specific camera for that larger film. I’ll bet you can find cameras like the one that belonged to that Scout for pennies on the dollar now, even if they were fine quality. Some junk stores have shelves of old cameras going back to the days of the Brownies from the 1930s. Your mention of Woodstock reminds me of a stuffed version of that little yellow bird that I had (I was a big “Peanuts” fan), he was my favorite!
MRaymond, cool that your grandma showed you how to use that Brownie. What ever happened to the Rolleiflex?! Those things took great pictures.
DrGoat, I was always amazed at my own grandmother - when she was in her late 80s, she had more energy than some people I knew who were 15 or 20 years younger than her. In fact my neighbor at the time (“Terry”) seemed older than my grandma, and she was WAY younger!
Bu, you’re like that guy from the Police Academy movies! (I had to look him up, it is Michael Winslow). I can only imagine how much of a “no-no” it was for vendors to sit. A crime worse than murder! Is it true that the Fantasyland Autopia was rarely open?? That surprises me. And yes, I am always happy to see the Richfield Eagle, even at a distance. I love that they paid enough attention to details such as the beautiful flowers at the base of the Matterhorn; they could have left them out, and nobody would have really cared, but they sure look great.
Grant, yes, when I was a kid I always knew that the Matterhorn was probably going to be one of the longest waits. But it was so worth it! 30 people sounds like an awfully big group, I hope that tour guide didn’t have to wrangle that many slowpokes. I wish I could find some of the photos that were taken a year or two ago, when we had lots of good rain during the winter; we had some beautiful clear days with snow on those hills, it was so pretty!
JG, I didn’t have to work hard on this one, it was already nice! But I’ll take any compliment I can get. You’re right, the coming of the Haunted Mansion was a huge milestone in the timeline of the park’s history, it’s amazing that even 50+ years later it is still incredibly beloved. I think I’ve seen photos of three red PeopleMover trains in a row, but never knew if that was just chance, or if some CMs were being naughty. Granny either has a shiv, or a snub-nosed .38! Don’t mess with her.
Melissa, it’s true, there is something about that elegant curve that makes one imagine that the PeopleMover was going faster than it ever actually did! I wonder what the maximum speed could have been??
KS, ha ha, I’ll bet that those Tour Guides were popular! They probably loved being the objects of affection for so many guys.
Anonymous: any bright yellow you see at the AUTOPIA in these images are guests! Disneyland would have any yellow in their Autopia costume until the later part of the early 70’s when a second version of WDW’s Grand Prix Raceway costume was introduced and a slightly modified non-goodyear version was implemented at Disneyland. In 1968 AUTOPIA castmembers are wearing navy blue slacks and a white shirt ( sometimes with a navy blue stripe on the sleeves and often a navy blue cap ) it isn’t even an exclusive Autopia costume as it is a general use style costume hold over from pre 1967 Tomorrowland- and only males work at Autopia during this time.
1968 is the year all new costume designers are brought in and create the Disneyland Costume Department - and is no longer the wardrobe division of Disneyland’s General Services . The new department’s organization is created for the main goal : to created the thousands of costumes that will be needed for Walt Disney World. The new team will quickly revise about 12 Disneyland costumes ( including Small World , parking lot tram costumes , Tahitian terrace hostess costume , a New Orleans Square waitress costume and a new Haunted Mansion costume are some ) but after that the focus is all on Walt Disney World. After many of the Walt Disney World designed costumes will begin to be introduced at Disneyland where appropriate. This same core costume team formed in 1968 will remain together designing costumes for all Disney theme parks , from Disneyland , Walt Disney World , Tokyo Disneyland, Independence Lake ( never produced) EPCOT CENTER , Disney MGM Studios and some Euro Disneyland before most retire .
The first is such a fantastic photo - what a find! The large format film really takes a lot in, and there is so much going on. Because I missed commenting on the PeopleMover yesterday I have to give it special mention today since this photo shows what an amazing concept it was at the time, (and still is).
Those trains are all rounded and friendly - just like Melissa's reference to a chain of lady bugs. They use classic automotive detailing but still look fresh. It would have been very easy to go with a minimalist angularity, or tack-on a lot of science fiction crap, but these trains are all about classiness. They were really moving fast along this section of track as well!
The rest of the photo is so much fun to look at. I remember Fantasyland Autopia being closed on occasion. It seemed a bit more compact than Tomorrowland's but they were both fun. The Matterhorn load area looks very warm and sunny. It's a small world is so massive!
Second photo: sometimes no matter how one tries, your true emotions show through. I'm betting on tired feet for both women. In our family pics, as we squinted into the sun, it was often a look of: "Just take the dang photo!".
Mike Cozart, interesting, like JG, I would have assumed that those yellow outfits were for the Autopia CMs! Though you have told us the history of the costumes several times, in my case I always forget, ha ha. Navy blue slacks and a white shirt, HO HUM. Give me some futuristic jumpsuits any time. I wonder if the cast members were excited to get their new costumes? Maybe they preferred the old ones. People don’t like change!
Omnispace, the funny thing about the PeopleMover is that it really does sound pretty dull when you read a mere description. Yes, it moved slowly, that was a feature, not a bug! And you got such a wonderful overview of Tomorrowland back when it was a truly exciting place. You’re right, the PeopleMover cars are just right, neither too fancy or too plain. I find those smooth surfaces with the basic colors so appealing, like giant Fischer-Price toys. Did they really move quickly on that stretch? I can’t recall if the ride would alter speeds - it seems like that would make it difficult to keep them from getting bunched up. There was probably a system to keep that from happening. As for having my photo taken, I hate it when the photographer takes forever to actually push the button - my fake grin keeps getting more and more uncomfortable, and it always shows in the final photo!
The Fantasyland Autopia was closed on every one of my childhood visits that I was old enough to ride them. We always visited in the off season, so it makes sense to only have one running.
I was Snoopy-crazy as a kid. Still love that darn beagle to this day.
Major, when describing the PeopleMover, above, you said, "... you got such a wonderful overview of Tomorrowland back when it was a truly exciting place." You hit it on the head! That's exactly why it wasn't dull. While riding the PM, you felt like you were a part of every ride/attraction/place that you swooped over and near. While relaxing, you still felt like a part of all the action. Being people-eaters, if Disney added PeopleMovers in more areas of the Parks (but NOT NOS or you'd ruin the atmosphere), maybe there would be less crowds and happier people. Everyone could sit and relax a little more.
Great images! Great comments! Thanks, all!
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