You know me, I love some vintage Tomorrowland. Both of today's photos are from October 1962, though they are from different photographers.
First up is this sweet image of The Autopia (and the Richfield Eagle), with a whole herd of "Mark IV" vehicles at rest - which is interesting, because the Mark V cars were in use from 1958 through to 1963. What gives?? The color on this slide was pretty faded, and in spite of my efforts, it still looks a little bit "off".
I assume this was taken first thing in the morning, mostly because of the lack of people. The Skyway has no line, and the gondolas are empty. In fact, most of this end of Tomorrowland is practically deserted. Over the roof of the Space Bar, a red sign that says "Pancakes" looms in the distance, any idea what Harbor Blvd. eatery that was? Probably "Joe's House of Potatoes And Sometimes Pancakes (But Never Potato Pancakes)".
Next is a nice shot of the Matterhorn, from a sunnier day with a cloudless blue sky. The Yacht Bar, one of my "top 14" buildings ever, is to our left. Ah, the Yacht Bar; I can almost feel the cool ocean breezes and smell diesel fumes and the funky aroma of low tide. When I build my third summer home, it will be an exact replica of the Yacht Bar, only it will be scaled way up, and it will be 8 stories. Because the roof is at that angle, the building will actually form a complete circle (half underground).
Major-
ReplyDeleteThe Space Bar and Yacht Bar-! Truly an embarrassment of riches-! Did one of The Singer Midgets shoot the 2nd image, as it's sooooo close to the ground.
Thanks, Major.
In the first pic, the color looks fine to me, Major. The Richfield Eagle is very protective of her brood of Autopia cars. (She hatched each one herself.) Woe to anyone who is foolish enough to ram the car ahead of them! The swans are but cuddly plush toys compared to the wrath of the giant Eagle!
ReplyDeleteMajor, you have big plans for your third summer home.
I only see one (red) bobsled on the Mountain, and maybe a couple more at the bottom right, waiting in line. (?)
I guess the lighting isn't optimal to see Fudgie today. Plus, the Monorail beam is blocking some of our view.
There's sort of an Easter Island-type stone face with deep-set eyes peeking over the top of the Yacht Bar. I wonder if it has a mouth?
Huh! Nanook, you're right about the low camera angle. I didn't notice. It's about knee-high. What gives!
Thanks for working your magic on a couple of nice Tomorrowland photos, Major.
Those Skyway buckets in the first photo may not be empty. Before they installed the underground vacuum tube system, the Skyway was the fastest way to redistribute food items between Fan 1 and the Tomorrowland eateries. That silver bucket is probably filled with ketchup (or possibly catsup) and Coke syrup. Why they didn’t just leave them in their original packaging for transport, I don’t know.
ReplyDeleteThere’’s an “astronaut” trash can in the Autopia load and unload area. If you look up from that, you can see the red Tomorrowland Skyway Station fire hydrant. And to that right of that, you can just make out a free-range stroller, trying to blend into the surroundings like its wild brethren. It’s interesting to note how domestication and selective breeding over the years have managed to produce both the giant child-and-souvenir conveyances of today and the compact umbrella stroller, all from the same wild pram. Genetics!
I was going to comment on the low angle of the second photo, but since Nanook and JB have already done so, I will refrain from drawing attention to it in any way.
Two bronze Skyway buckets passing each other is a sure sign that things will happen in the future. Well, maybe 60% of the time.
I'll take the lone orange Autopia car!
ReplyDeleteThe Peoplemover track beam would soon be added next to the Monorail beam in the second picture. Looking at Street View, I realize that the supports were replaced to hold the tracks of both attractions.
Who doesn't like the Yacht Bar? An upswept roof pierced by flagpoles is perfect mid-century design.
First photo: the mens locker room stands out like a sore thumb. Go away green is Tomorrowland '86! That building did not change one iota from 62 to 79 to 90...I honestly had no idea it was that old or I would have been taking paint chips or other artifacts off the walls. Locker rooms smell like locker rooms- be it in Disneyland or otherwise. I will leave it there. I also see the orange "Pancakes" sign later to become "Chao's" Chinese...or perhaps Chao's was selling Peking Pancakes or something in the 60's. Again...had no idea that sign was that old either. There seems to be a large Ketchup dispenser, and a smaller Red Fish Sauce dispenser and mustard next to it. Or maybe it is Kesiup, cactchup, kessup, cacktius....it is worth some forensics. Perhaps those things don't go bad sitting there steaming in the Anaheim sunshine all day. I saw a photo of the Yacht bar pre-subs and monorail on the other side of the walkway...is it the same building? Did they just scoot it over...that roof looks like a beast to scoot! Thanks for the peek into the future this morning Major!
ReplyDeleteGreat way to end the week. The first photo is a prime example of a
ReplyDelete"I wish I could just jump right in" pic. If it's that early in the morning, the 12 year old version of me is probably still on Main Street.
I'm going to borrow that pic for my desktop, and I'll ponder what food item are in those buckets. Pizza makings or hot dog buns and especially Coke syrup. And I can see those ketchup (I gave up on catsup) and mustard containers on the left in the second pic. Thanks Chuck and all, and thanks to you Major.
There should be a Yacht Bar movie. Since Disney is scraping the barrel these days for film ideas, this could be a semi-remake of "The Boatniks". If there were a Yacht Bar in Disneyland today, no doubt they would be serving real booze. Man, that is satisfying to say ---YACHT BAR!
ReplyDeleteThe other day I saw a kid dressed just like the one in the second photo, untucked shirt, rolled up dungarees, black shoes. I've said it before, but out of the 20th Century, fashion circa 1960 has worn better than any other period.
Fudgie was filled in by this point, along with the enclosure of the bobsled track behind the upper waterfall. Too many people having their nice clothes sprayed.
@ Bu-
ReplyDeleteTHIS should help.
Agreeing with Bu, the Pancake sign is Chao’s. Assuming everyone knows the story of Chao’s, right?
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking it was weird that a Chinese restaurant featured pancakes, but that dish was kind of a craze around that time.
Remember IHOP, and in my home town there was a place called Pancake House etc. I wonder if Waffle House started then too?
And they did move the Yacht Bar, using the same dolly later used to move the Matterhorn from Tomorrowland to Fantasyland.
And “ketjap” is a Malaysian/ Indonesian condiment, so the sauce etymology discussion continues…
https://www.food.com/recipe/ketjap-manis-39318
Wonderful pictures, Major. Thank you.
JG
And no less than 8 trash cans in the first pic, 3 in the second…
ReplyDeleteJG
Pardon me, NINE cans. There's one lurking at the far left of the shot that I couldn't see on the iPad.
ReplyDeleteJG
I understand that those fiberglass chairs with the folding tables in front of the various 'bars seem futuristic, but why were they set up in rows and columns instead of small groups? I'd feel like I was waiting for the professor to start a lecture while enjoying my Space Mist.
ReplyDeleteStefano gets bonus points for the "Boatniks" reference. I could have actually been there on this day, but I would have been one month old, so it's unlikely (I didn't drive quite yet).
ReplyDeleteSome people call them futuristic chairs, but I call them retro school desks. Potato-tomato, I guess.
Nice, cheerful pics today, Major, without any obvious messy killing going on (rare for this blog, I must say).
Bravo!
This Tomorrowland is a riot of shapes and colors. Even the ketchup and mustard dispensers at the Yacht Bar are contributing to the atmosphere. With all those different roof textures and colors in the first shot, I nearly missed the Richfield Eagle altogether.
ReplyDeleteNanook, SO MANY BARS. And yet… not alcohol. You know some guests were disappointed. I assume that the photographer was sitting for that second photo but… maybe it was taken by a three year old!
ReplyDeleteJB, it never occurred to me that the Autopia cars were laid from eggs by the Richfield Eagle, but it all makes sense now. Thanks, high school biology! Finally, school comes in handy. I do have big plans for my summer home, or should I say, my FOURTH summer home. You can’t have too many houses, that’s what I say. There’s definitely at least one bobsled (the red one), hard to be certain about what’s going on down below. Fudgie might be on a break. Easter Island is right next to Switzerland (thanks, Geography class!), so it also makes sense that the Moai would be carved into the mountain.
Chuck, ever since “Futurama”, I have wanted to travel via pneumatic tube. It would be fun, and scenic. Did they drop food from the Skyway? I mean, I did, and the Disney police kicked me out. But it’s OK when THEY do it! I bring my own Coke syrup, and mix it with “Pirates” water, that stuff will give you a headache, but it is refreshing. The fire hydrant is practically incandescent, which means that I over-saturated the colors. But I am not responsible, it must be somebody else’s fault. You make a good point about the various breeds of strollers, hard to believe that they all have the same origins if you go back far enough. I love the metallic colors on those old gondolas, silver, bronze, copper, metallic green and blue… they’re all great!
Andrew, aw man, I wanted that one! But you called dibs, so (according to the Geneva Convention) it belongs to you. Orange is my favorite color. Interesting about the supports eventually being replaced to hold TWO tracks, good observation. I really do love that Yacht Bar design, it would make a swell cottage out in the woods.
Bu, yes, the Administration Building does kind of vanish into the background, possibly because it is not that interesting visually. Our eyes go to the little Autopia cars and the multicolored Skyway buckets. Somewhere on this blog I have a photo where you can see Chao’s a bit better, and people all commented about how it often gave diners “intestinal distress”. Fun! The little red condiment dispenser is for atomic ketchup. It’s just like regular ketchup, only you just use a drop. Yes, the Yacht Bar was originally in a different location, the story is that it was lifted up by crane and repositioned!
DrGoat, I’d like to think that I would hurry right over to Tomorrowland, but we usually took a trip on the Disneyland RR before we did anything else. Probably not an efficient use of our time, but my parents were running the show. I am guessing that the buckets contained minnows. Just a guess!
ReplyDeleteStefano, yes, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as the Yacht Bar! He’s hulking and muscular, but he has a lovable sense of humor and can quip like Robert Downy Jr. I’ve never seen “The Boatniks”, I think by the time it came along I was too sophisticated in my movie watching. “Mother, let’s go see ‘Five Easy Pieces’, it should be a hoot!”. That’s how I talked back then. Did you know that the 22nd top grossing movie of 1970 was “The Ballad of Cable Hogue”? I have never heard of it, and I was alive then!
Nanook, just looking at the photo makes me instinctively reach for Pepto Bismol.
JG, Pancakes and Chinese Food, the classic fusion of two cuisines! I guess you could get mushu pork with those little pancakes? Don’t forget the plum sauce. We went to Sambo’s when we wanted breakfast, I always loved it there. I can still picture sitting with my grandparents and trying A-1 Steak Sauce for the first time. Delicious! More ketchup trivia, keep it coming.
JG, whoa, 8… no NINE trash cans! Almost a record.
Dean Finder, it does look like the chairs are sent up in groups, though they are back to back. I’d prefer it that way, I don’t want to be facing some stranger when I’m eating. I make a lot of grunting noises when I eat. In some countries it is considered a compliment.
stu29573, what about “Superdad”? Or “Gus, the Placekicking Mule”? So many of our greatest movies came from Disney. Sounds like you are a young whippersnapper! I think of those chairs with the built-in tables as being just like the ones at school.Hopefully the ones at Disneyland were scaled up for adults.
Melissa, I agree with you; I don’t even know how much of the “riot” was intentional, but it sure looks great to my eyes today.
Major; I just watched The Ballad of Cable Hoag recently. I had not seen it in a few years . My dad made me watch it many years ago when it was on tv and I really liked it. And all you 1965 GREAT RACE fans should watch it as there is a rare appearance of the LEASLIE SPECIAL automobile ..... painted in green and cream!! One of three identical looking cars made for different filming sequences of the Great Race. As Cable Hoag’s search for gold is fruitless , he ends up discovering a small little watering hole and THAT becomes his fortune maker ... as time goes on miners , desert travelers Pay to get water . Eventually he opens a small restaurant as well. Then gets water contracts with a major stagecoach line to provide food , water for passengers and horses. Then a contract with the territorial prison brings him even more money. As time rolls along the 20th arrives and the mining towns become ghost towns and the stagecoach company sends out its last scheduled coach . Things look bleak and lonely ..... but soon the Automobile travelers begin to arrive in need of water.
ReplyDeleteThere is another movie of the 70’s that re-uses another Lesslie Special from the Great Race ... this time painted red I recall and stalls on RR tracks and is demolished by a approaching locomotive. I believe this one is the battery powered film car used for indoor sound stage filming sequence. The Peterson Automotive Museum in LA had a Great Race display .... with the only surviving lesslie special and Professor Fates Hannibal Twin 8 ... ( the none functioning scissor lift version) also on display were some original props like Professor Fate’s “sounding honing torpedo prop and sone original posters and banners announcing the 1908 New York to Paris Great Race!
Chuck, Darwin would be fascinated by that genetic drift. Too bad he didn't visit Disneyland before publishing "On the Origin of Species". I'm sure he would have included the many variations of strollers in the book.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the two bronze Skyway buckets as well. But since you already mentioned them, I will refrain from drawing any further attention to them. ;-)
Bu, thanks for not delving too deeply into the Disneyland locker room smell. Much appreciated!
Stefano, the jeans on the little brother of the kid you mentioned are also substantially cuffed, but they're still about 5 sizes to long!
Fudgie was gone by 1962?!? Nobody told ME!
Nanook & JG, now I'm confused. Is it a Pancake place or a Chinese food place? (How can it be both?) Next you'll be telling me that Shimmer is both, a floor wax AND a dessert topping!
Major, ah, the photographer was sitting... I didn't think of that!
The thing I remember most about high school biology class is those jars with sticky, mealy stuff in the bottom for fruit flies to eat... before being etherized to death so we could look at them under the microscope. Sorry Stu, for the messy killing. A day on GDB without messy killing is like a day at Disneyland without sunshine, I always say.
Mike, thanks for the Great Race info. One of my favorite movies.
Major, I think there might be ten (10) trash cans, every time I go back to that photo, I find another one.
ReplyDeleteWorking right to left, there is one (1) in front of the Autopia exit sign, then right above that, there are four (5) at the Space Bar, then moving left, another one (6) behind the Autopia gas pump under the awning, below and left of the Eagle.
Further left, one (7) in front of the fluorescent fire hydrant, and another behind the hydrant (8) and a bullet shaped can (9) on the loading zone by the burgundy car, and last, there is one (10) far left by the Skyway stairs near the Autopia exit turnstile.
No excuse for dropping trash on the ground in Tomorrowland that day! And yes, I think this is a record for trash cans in one photo, although some of the Main Street pics come close, with the cans on parade all the way to the Hub.
JG
Even the kids are well dressed.
ReplyDeleteThe waterfall mist must have been nice right here.
Mike Cozart, so odd! How can I not even remember the NAME of this movie, one that was pretty popular when I was a kid? You didn’t mention who the stars were, I need to IMDB it. Was anybody famous in this film? It sounds kind of interesting in that “1970s” way. I’ll have to look up the Leslie Special too, since that is not something that I have at the forefront of my brain. Fans of “The Great Race” must know it though, whatever it was. I remember seeing several Great Race vehicles at the Petersen Automotive Museum, but they weren’t on display when I went a few months ago (the first time I’d gone since it had been redone). That’s a great museum, for anybody from out of town - and you’re right near the La Brea Tar Pits too (and LACMA, though that is under construction for the next few years).
ReplyDeleteJB, I seem to remember seeing other angles in which the seating did angle out into the main drag of Tomorrowland, so I imagine that the photographer was sitting in one of those “school desk” seats, and he/she decided to snap a photo. I mostly remember dissecting a fetal pig in high school class, it was kind of gross, but we all got over our squeamishness in short order, and then dyed organs would find their way into people’s hair, etc. Yuck.
JG, you have convinced me that there are indeed 10 trash cans! Like you said, there was no excuse for dropping trash on the ground, and yet… people did it anyway. It’s amazing how lazy/careless some folks can be. I would never just drop a bunch of trash on the ground! It goes against my entire being.
Michaeland, ah, there’s nothing better than getting some of that waterfall mist on you on a hot day! One of those sense memories that brings one back to Disneyland.
When I open my next restaurant and make a take-a-way post card of it, I want to make sure the art director pays special attention to a greasy dirty air vent...clutching pearls...mouth agape..."oh dear". PANCAKES (BIG LETTERS) disneyland (small letters). Thanks Nanook! The Boatniks is one of my favorite movies ever..for real...the score is amazing...reminds me of my childhood as a lot of those scenes were filmed around me...great cast...Norman Tokar directing..a quick "puff piece"...always enjoyable- maybe I will watch tomorrow. I have the VHS.
ReplyDeleteJB, at last - somebody else who remembers Shimmer!
ReplyDelete@ JB-
ReplyDeleteI would never say that; but I would say "Certs is a candy mint. Certs is a breath mint-!" 'Stop... you're both right-!'
THE GREAT SCOUT AND CAT HOUSE THURSDAY - 1976
ReplyDeleteThis is the other movie with one of the Lesslie Special Automobiles from the Great Race ... that gets destroyed by a steam train!
Chuck: Shimmer : the floor wax and dessert topping.
ReplyDelete