Random Scans, 1950s
Going through a folder full of scans from the 1950s, I decided to grab two at random and post them together. And I suppose we have sort of a theme, totally by accident!
I quite like this nice view of Tom's Treehouse on Tom Sawyer Island, from what appears to be a closer vantage point than usual. Maybe the photographer had a fancy zoom lens? Tom's Treehouse was good practice for the Swiss Family Treehouse built a few years later. The leaves are kind of sparse, but that allowed for better views. Before the Matterhorn was built, this was the "highest point in Disneyland".
The Monsanto House of the Future was raised up on a column, with its four "lobes" cantilevered over gardens and ponds. It was like a futuristic treehouse! Only with no tree. I wonder why those boxes are stacked up next to the steps? It's not like they need to restock the house with food. Eventually the plastic house outlived its usefulness, but I wish I'd seen it.
19 comments:
Major-
Those boxes appear to be empty - but I'd prefer to think of them as being filled with 'plush of the future'.
That Treehouse shot is a beauty.
Thanks, Major.
In the Treehouse photo, we can see the creek running down the slope from Tom's tree fort.
I wonder what that blobby, white-ish thing is on the left of the photo, halfway up the hill?
In the treeless, plastic treehouse photo, I get the impression that the HotF is still under construction. There's a lot of bareness around it, plus the boxes. It does appear to be open, however. So... I dunno.
I've been watching a few HGTV renovation shows lately. I guarantee, the first thing they would do with this iconic house is, "Those two walls will have to come down. We'll expand the kitchen into where the living room currently is to open up the space. And build a really big island with a marble countertop. The master en-suite definitely needs a walk-in closet with a walk-in shower."
Thanks for the randos, Major. Kind of a fun way to pick which scans to post. Sort of like a slot machine.
JB, I think the blobby thing is a man (on the right) with his hand on the back of someone next to him (on the left).
I have not used this joke in the past, but others have....I'll just be the first one to say it, today. Those boxes contained Soylent Green!
Interesting photo of the Monsanto exit to the House of the Future. How did guests get out? Or…is that where TM!’s Soylent Green came from?
Nanook, if only the actual plush of the future had been so unobtrusive.
JB, I think that blobby, whitish thing on the left-hand side of the photo is part of a tree, but I’m not sure what it is. It almost looks like bagworms.
As a kid the HOF and Tom's Tree House were two of my favorite places in Disneyland.
It wasn't as good as Tom's but the neighborhood kids got together and built a pretty cool tree house in a big wind-break eucalyptus tree in semi-rural Anaheim.
For a house of the future I could only anticipate growing up and living in one. It was going to be so much better than our boring 1956 built home.
Of course the reality became growing up and buying a house built in 1957. Ha!
Thanks for the great pics Major!
Apparently what I have always called “bagworms” are actually called “webworms.” Bagworms are a different species that manifest themselves differently on trees. Sorry for any confusion or head-scratching I may have caused. I should have said “It almost looks like webworms.”
Interesting pictures for sure, like winning the GDB lottery.
Tom’s treehouse is very cool, mine was more like a tree platform, but it yielded hours of fun just the same. Could the photo have been taken from the Mark Twain?
I think the HOTF is getting the wine cellar re-stocked, there’s probably a pile of empty bottles somewhere.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, “Plush of the Future” is the title of my new novel, at all B. Dalton bookstores!
JB, I’ve always liked how TSI has several creeks that issue from the top of hills… water is just bursting from those natural springs. I was also wondering about that thing to the left in the first photo, I think it’s two people walking to the left, we’re just seeing their light-colored shirts. The person on the right seems to be wearing a wide camera strap or something. A bandolier! Just like Chewbacca. I thought that the HOF photo might be a late construction shot, but we can see somebody inside the house. Maybe a worker? But it almost looks like the house is “open for business”, with that “EXIT” sign. Hard to say. Sounds like the designers on HGTV have about three tricks in their arsenal. Too bad they don’t understand the wonders of pink and blue paint.
TokyoMagic!, yes, that’s what I think too! Also, once Soylent Green introduce their new “Berry Blast” flavor, I was hooked.
Chuck, if you walk into a House of the Future starting at the exit, do you mess with the Time-Space continuum? Also, remember the TV show “Continuum”? It wasn’t great. Halley Barry was in it. Bagworms! What’s worse, Yippees or bagworms?
Grant, I always wanted a nice treehouse when I was a kid, but our yards never had trees that were big enough. Where my sister lives, there is a fairly amazing treehouse out in a eucalyptus grove, I think it was built by many people, and just about anyone who wanders by can climb up (the eucalyptus has big branches close to the ground that make it relatively easy for those willing to clamber up). I still remember seeing my young niece way up in that treehouse, and having horrible visions of her falling… thank goodness that never happened.
Chuck, I have already received 15 emails from the American Bagworm Council, those worms are very mad at you for disparaging their good name. For the record, I’ve heard of bagworms, but never “webworms”, I wonder if that is a newer “more correct” name? Kind of like “sea stars” instead of “star fish”?
JG, my older brother had a friend who made a lame treehouse, I think it was built in a large mulberry tree. The only thing I really remember about it is the planks nailed into the trunk that served as a ladder, since they did not allow me up (I was “too little”). And yes, maybe that photo of the treehouse was taken from the Mark Twain!
Treehouses are always amazing. I kind of had one...even with my dad being a carpenter...it was just a few planks over a few limbs in a peach tree. I wanted a Swiss Family Treehouse. I STILL want a Swiss Family Treehouse. I suppose with my gigantic Maples on my property it would certainly be possible. Time or money. Or both. I have neither. I enjoyed that this tree house on Tom Sawyer Island had an "in" and and "out". Amazing. Just like the House of the Future. As a 11 or 12 year old I specifically remember this attribute and thinking "oh...that is so smart..so people continue to walk through...and it flows...like a river." I think I did actually get into the right business by developing crowd control systems and the psychology of human movement in public spaces. Sounds very hoity-toity...but I am pretty sure it's not a "book smart" attribute. The empty boxes (bad show BTW) are probably from the brochures that were given away. I have one (well...I have lots of cardboard boxes...only one brochure)- not sure where I got it...but it's in your "coming soon...(or not so soon)" ..."box of stuff" Major. I want a house of the future too. But I want this one. It's from 60 years ago...AND the future at the same time. There are a few buildings kind of like this in New England...like butterfly houses, glass houses, and some that actually kind of look like this..but aren't plastic. That exit sign is probably in Mike Cozarts garage. It's actually very cool and to the point. MONSANTO PRESENTS...(house of the future...in smaller letters). I see a suit there in the entry. But it may not be a suit since these were the days of the NASA guys. It probably is a random employee to say "THIS IS THE EXIT!"...nicely of course. Back to treehouses...I saw something the other day...a tree in Anaheim that apparently was the "model" for the Disneyland Swiss Family Treehouse. It does very very very much look like it. It still exists, but there is no tree house. It's in someones backyard. The house is non descript. Maybe everyone knows this, and I am the last to know. "Ladies and gentlemen! The winners of this years Salzburg festival! The Swiss Family Robinson!.....The Family Swiss!...They're gone!" P.S. The empty boxes are from a time traveling Amazon Prime delivery. I have boxes exactly like these outside my door too.
Chuck, you say 'bagworms' or 'webworms' - we call them 'tent worms.' But maybe they aren't the same creepy crawlers??
Question of the day: Do you call it soda, pop, soda pop, soft drink, Coke? (We call it 'pop.')
Bu, speaking of crowd control, I would still love to hear how you rounded-up those wandering stragglers when you entered Fantasyland, as a tour guide.
Love the HotF. Thanks, Major.
Sue: stragglers sometimes would purposefully straggle themselves off...you usually knew if a lost soul was lost...or they just wanted to "Garbo" it and be on their own. You can learn a lot from a quick conversation and pretty much, if that person you thought was going to dump you, they probably did- so you didn't spend too much time thinking about it. The "real" stragglers...usually those where shiny objects can draw those moths to the flame...they were different. You had to be hyper aware. Chances are you will lose them many times over in the course of 3 hours. They are always getting popcorn, drinks, bathroom, etc. etc. You wait around for a little bit, but the rest of the group shouldn't have to be punished...so you move on. When these "types" were with you, I ALWAYS made a point of telling people what the next attraction would be...and reiterate the point several times over. In some cases, they would ride after you, and would catch up...or if there was a line...you would see them there, and wrangle them back in. I never chastised those people...they literally don't even understand or realize they are doing it...but I don't wait around long for stragglers either. I only had one lost couple...who went back to City Hall looking for me and graciously got a refund on the tour. They wrote me a very sweet note which I still have. Those were the only two out of hundreds of tours, so I guess my batting average was pretty good. Losing people was not looked at politely by management, as it was $8 out of the till for the day. Yes...two people...$8. I didn't get written up, but there is always a conversation. With an "in-park" of 40K+...please people...you are lucky I didn't lose all of them.
Sue, so it looks like tent caterpillars and webworms have similar "homes" but are different critters. And maybe what I have always called "bagworms" are actually tent caterpillars. All this unexpected learning about insects is really starting to bug me.
I use all of those phrases to describe carbonated beverages because I've lived all over the place. Down here, five hours away from you but without crossing a state line, "soda" seems more common, but my parents who grew up in northern Ohio always call it "pop" (I wonder if the dividing line is 40°N latitude?). The hardest to get used to was when I lived in Oklahoma and every carbonated beverage was a "Coke"...
Host: "Would you like a Coke?"
Me: "Do you have any Dr. Pepper?"
Host: "Yeah, we got all kinds of Coke."
Me: "Um, right, but I wanted a Dr. Pepper..."
Sometimes, what separates is a common language.
Bu, my need for a treehouse is not quite as urgent as it used to be, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate a good one when I see it. I love that you were already analyzing the crowd dynamics at the tender age of 12. “This setup will greatly increase capacity, thus allowing guests more time to buy beverages and souvenirs!” (spoken while holding one finger up in the air, the universal symbol for “I just had a revelation”). I’ve mentioned my admiration of the Monsanto House… the only real issue I think I see is the lack of closet space. So maybe I need a basement, or little Shed of the Future off to the side. Fully furnished, air-conditioned, and all plastic, of course. Kevin Kidney has written about the ficus tree that in Anaheim, that’s the first time I’d ever heard such a thing. There are some pretty amazing ficuses in Beverly Hills, with big sturdy trunks and large roots to trip over. At first I thought those boxes might have the “Fritos” logo on them, but now I don’t think so.
Lou and Sue, nowadays I call it “soda” most of the time, but I remember a girl laughing at me when I called it “soda pop”. As if I’d teleported from the 1950s. As for Bu’s crowd control secrets, I have two words for you: Bull Whip.
Bu, it’s odd to me that people would pay for a guided tour and then be so lackadaisical about keeping up. I’d point my revolver at them (tour guides had revolvers, yes?) and tell them straight up that if they fell behind, it was their own problem, and they could burn in hell for all you cared. But that’s just me.
Chuck, do bagworms prefer “soda”, “pop”, or “Coke”? When we lived in Virginia I remember seeing those caterpillar “tents” in the trees, they were always weirdly fascinating. I expect them to burst open, and spill thousands of shiny, wriggling caterpillars onto somebody down below. It seems weird to me that “Coke” became the generic term for soda, but people ARE weird.
Major-
"...but people ARE weird". Yes they are - a discovery I first made three days ago. (How did I survive in the dark for so long-?)
Tokyo!, I think you're right about the blob being a guy putting his arm on the person next to him.
Bu, both, the Von Trapps and the Family Swiss are indeed gone from their original homes. The difference is that the Von Trapps left of their own accord. While the Family Swiss was evicted by Disney. Evidently, the Tarzan Family made Disney a better offer... or an offer they couldn't refuse.
Sue, definitely "pop" here in the Pacific Northwest. I think "soda" is more of an East Coast thing. Although you here it pretty much anywhere and everywhere. I suppose the more we, as a people, move from place to place, the more often you'll hear either one.
We also had a treefort when I was a kid. It was in a big weeping willow tree. And yes, it had boards nailed to the trunk to use as steps. (Lots and lots of nails!) Unfortunately, the tree blew down in 1962 during what we call around here, the Columbus Day Storm (a remnant of some Pacific hurricane).
Here is a list of possibilities (so far) for the blob on the left:
- A man (or maybe Chewbacca) with his arm wrapped around another person.
- A tree.
- Bagworms/webworms/tentworms/tent caterpillars. They're known as tent caterpillars around here.
I think Tokyo!'s guess gets the prize.
I bet somewhere they're called 'soda pop tent worms.' Maybe in Maysville, Kentucky.
Thank you, Bu, for sharing more. It's great you can joke about it. You obviously learned some great 'people-skills' at a young age.
Thanks, Major, for hosting another fun day!
Never had my own treehouse, but one friend had an elaborate one with a big picture window, almost like a shed on stilts. There were a few platforms made from scavenged lumber in various small woods near me that my friends and I added to over time.
And here's a map of the soda vs. pop vs. Coke regional differences for you (or y'all, depending on region) to ponder.
Weird. I remember as a kid, my family referred to carbonated drinks as "soft drinks," which isn't even on the list. If we were referring to a specific brand, then we called it by that brand's name. Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up, Mountain Dew, etc. When eating at a restaurant, we always ordered by using the specific name of the drink we wanted.
When I was working at Knott's in the eighties, they carried Pepsi brand products....Pepsi, Mountain Dew (later replaced by Sprite), etc. I remember people (mostly young people) ordering by saying "Let me have a soda." Some would even say, "Gimme a soda," which I always thought was pretty rude. Either way, I always found it so odd that people would just use the word "soda" to order a drink. I always wanted to say, "What the hell kind of soda do you want????" Of course, I would ask them nicely. But then they would almost always say, "What kind do you have?" And that is because many people didn't even bother to read the menu, even after they had waited in line for 20 to 30 minutes. So then you would go down the list for them, every single time, for every single person who asked that. It turned out 99% of the time, that they just wanted Pepsi. So one day, I decided not to ask anymore and just give the people that asked for a "soda," a Pepsi. Well, of course those people would end up not wanting Pepsi...they wanted a Root Beer or something else.
Unrelated to sodas and pop, when I worked in the ice cream parlor at Knott's, if someone didn't specify a particular flavor you would ask them what flavor they wanted. They would usually say, "What flavors do you have?" At that point, none of us were going to go down the entire list of 12 flavors for every person, every time it was asked. So we would just point to the list on the wall behind us and politely say, "They are all listed up there."
Many people who are on vacation and/or visit theme parks are pretty lazy. I saw the "trash placed on top of the trash can" scenario which was discussed yesterday, many times at Knott's.....even when the can was empty. People would also leave their disposable plates, wrappers, cardboard boxes, plastic silverware, used napkins, etc. on the tables when they were done, even though there were trash cans placed almost between every table. I'll go further and not only say that many of the people who are visiting theme parks are lazy....many of them are pigs. There, I said it, and I'm glad that I said it.
TM!, some people feel entitled to do whatever they want, regardless of the extra work, frustration, and misery it imposes on others. As George Orwell wrote, “some animals are more equal than others.” I think calling them “pigs” is appropriate on more than one level.
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