Tuesday, July 05, 2022

Snapshot Prints, 1965

It's time to dig through the digital box of scanned photo prints - circa 1965. It's a random assortment.

Here's a sweet view of the original round Skyway gondolas coming and going above the Submarine lagoon. It wouldn't be long before they would be replaced by the larger rectangular buckets. There's a bobsled, so... you know. Good luck and all that. I guess this photo was taken from the Monorail? Where else would one have been able to get that elevated perspective in '65?


Now we're next to one of the Tomorrowland Skyway supports, with plenty of gondolas overhead, including a few that appear to be "battleship gray", which is sort of an odd choice. I don't recall noticing those before. The others are all in hues of blue and green. 


The "Lullabye Land" crazy-quilt landscaping of Storybook Land looks very pretty here, with a solitary canal boat gliding along.

17 comments:

TokyoMagic! said...

I really like the unusual angle of that first photo. I agree, it must have been taken from the Monorail.

Make that "one of the Fantasyland supports, for that second pic. And there's that little stage that we have seen here before. I'm not sure this is the location where we saw it previously. They were probably able to move it around easily enough.

I hope everyone had a "safe and sane" Fourth of July!

TokyoMagic! said...

Upon second glance, I see that the girl in red (second photo) is climbing around on the rocks. She's going to end up falling in the water below. That oughta learn her! And is she holding a candy apple with a bite out of it?

JB said...

The first pic looks very nice; I kept that one. No Fudgie sighting today; wrong angle and probably wrong type of lighting. Can't have everything.
There's a red dot above the red gondola. I wonder if it's a loose balloon or just a speck on the photo. There's also a smaller blue dot to the right of the red gondola, but that's probably a dirt speck.

In the second photo, I don't think I've ever seen those gray gondolas before either, Major. Aren't we in Fantasyland, not Tomorrowland? Maybe I'm all turned around. Is the photographer standing on the base of that Skyway tower? Or maybe on the tuna boat? I'm so confused! And what is that body of water with the ramp skirting around it? I don't remember seeing that red & white stage thingy to the right before.
Please submit your responses in outline form using 12 pt. Arial font. Thank you.

Tokyo!, aha! It IS Fantasyland! That still doesn't answer my plethora of questions though. And I'm not sure what Little Girl in Red is eating. Looks kinda small for a candied apple. Climbing on the rocks like that, I think she's destined to be duck food.

Thanks for the nice and somewhat confusing photos, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

JB, for the second photo, I think the photographer was standing on the loading platform for Casey Jr.

Chuck said...

Major, the fact that you’ve never noticed those haze gray Skyway buckets before shows just how effective that camouflage scheme is from every direction but below. No wonder they painted battleships that color.

Note the American flag from the Court of Flags standing tall and proud above the roof of the Circarama building. I now understand better why a later flagpole (perhaps the same one) was added in a relatively similar position on the PeopleMover beamway at the entrance to Tomorrowland. It also balances well with the American flag flying just inside the stockade directly across the hub in Frontierland.

JB, the body of water in the second photo is the Skull Rock Lagoon. The “ramp skirting” is actually the wooden walkway over the water to the tuna boat. Don’t recall ever seeing that little stage before.

JG said...

This random assortment fits together well, Major.

The first is definitely from the Monorail, just as it moves into the series of small curves by the Yacht Bar, which is behind our viewpoint. The beige wall to the left is the back of CirCARama.

I agree with Tokyo, no. 2 is taken from either inside a Casey car, or from the platform. We can see the sign for the Pirate Ship, but not the ship, which is weirdly possible. Captain Hooks hook is just visible holding the lantern. This hook artifact was later moved into the revamped Peter Pan ride. A great view right up the Nostrils of the Matterhorn too. Missy in red is fascinated by the buried treasure props just behind the rock outcrop to our left. The water is some distance off from where she is standing and it was possible, although off limits to climb down to the little “beach”. I know this because I always wanted to do it too. I don’t recognize the red and white platform at all.

Photo 3 is just a fine shot illustrating why the Canal Boats were such a great ride. Look at the shrubbery around Toad Hall and Ratty’s place! The young lady CM piloting looks familiar. Did we see her in an earlier posting fluffing up the cushions of her boat? I’m too lazy to look up the post, maybe someone else remembers it? Same hairdo, same color.

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

TokyoMagic!, oh jeez, I have no idea why I thought (or wrote) that the Skyway support was in Tomorrowland. As punishment, I will watch an episode of “I Love Lucy”. We’ve definitely seen that little stage, I think I had one photo with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs standing on it.

TokyoMagic!, I have to wonder how often (if ever) people really did fall into bodies of water, like the Pirate Ship lagoon. Maybe more than we ever imagined. I can’t quite tell what that little girl is holding, but let’s just say it’s a candy apple!

JB, I always look for Fudgie now, and am frequently disappointed. He’s very shy and doesn’t make an appearance very often. I believe that the red dot is one of the lights that was on top of the gondolas. But I’m probably wrong! TM! was right, the photo is from Fantasyland, I screwed up. There, are you happy?! ;-) Maybe you and TokyoMagic! can get together and form a “make fun of Major Pepperidge” club, while I cry in a dark room..

TokyoMagic!, I just figured the photographer was sitting on his wife’s shoulders. As one does.

Chuck, they should have painted those gondolas with dazzle camouflage! For one thing, it just looks cool. For another… well, I don’t have another reason. I always kind of liked the flagpole that was in front of the Peoplemover track, and am not really sure why they removed it. Maybe they could eliminate the employee who had to raise and lower the flag, thereby saving $22 a day. Skull Rock Lagoon is filled with hot pea soup, with chunks of ham.

JG, I don’t think a Casey Jr. train ever gets on that side of the Skyway supports, but I could be mistaken. That second photo is kind of an odd angle, looking almost straight along the Skyway cables toward the Matterhorn, which I assume is what prompted the photographer to take the picture. And you might remember we had a photo (I forget who contributed them) of somebody who actually did stand on that little beach! I always imagined some cast member having a heart attack. Or maybe it was a person who was amused by it. I’m not sure we’ve seen that Canal Boat CM before, she’s facing away from us, so it’s hard to tell. Plus her head is the size of a Tic Tac!

Melissa said...

Keep your arms in the buckets, you goons! I can’t take you kids anywhere!

I like Polkadot Grandma’s wicker purse.It can double as a pic-a-nic basket.

Nanook said...

Major-
I was trying to find an image of that red/white stage - which we have certainly seen here before. If you look at THIS AERIAL IMAGE, then find the entrance to Casey Jr., and the adjacent Skyway tower - look slightly down and to the right and you'll spy the stage.

https://www.davelandweb.com/aerial/images/11_62_Aerial.jpg

Clearly a long lens was used to capture, and compress, all this stuff.

Thanks, Major.

Chuck said...

“Skull Rock Lagoon is filled with hot pea soup, with chunks of ham.” One more reason to regret its demise!

And yes, a Casey, Jr. train on that side of the Skyway supports would be a very bad thing indeed, like the circus train wreck at the end of Greatest Show on Earth. Wonderful - now I can’t get the image of Jimmy Stewart wandering around the wreckage near Fan 1 out of my head. That clown will haunt my dreams tonight...

Anonymous said...

Nanook, thanks for that aerial, it's one of my favorites from the Daveland site, and shows everything we are debating in today's pics.

Looking at the Casey load platform, it appears that the stairs at the west end do push out beyond the Skyway tower, enabling the Nostril Enfilade.

Major, I did remember the kids who had their pictures made on that beach. I envy them since I always wanted to do it too. When I have the Pirate Ship and Skull Rock Grotto reproduced on my sprawling South Seas estate, I will NOT ask them to come over.

Also Major, I looked at yesterday's NOS pic, and you are right, there are two trash cans in the left side, one in the sunshine, another in shadow. There's a song lyric in there somewhere.

JG

JB said...

Tokyo!, ah, Casey Jr. I'm not overly familiar with how the queue and station looks for that ride.

Chuck, I thought of Skull Rock Lagoon but I figured the Pirate Ship, or a piece of it, would be somewhere in sight.

JG, thanks for pointing out the sign and for the description of what we're seeing. I have a better sense of where things are now.

Major, a photo with Snow and the Dwarfs on that little stage?... Doesn't ring a bell.
Major, I do see the red gondola light. But the red dot I'm referring to is higher up from the gondola, in the one o'clock position.
I'm sure it would be easy to form a "make fun of Major Pepperidge" club but it makes us uncomfortable to see you cry. And besides, it was your idea so we GDBers can't use it. It has to come naturally, from the grass roots.

Nanook, I see it! I see it! Wow, thanks for that Daveland image. I finally know where I'm standing and looking!

JG said...

Major, I developed some ambition because I was bored at lunch, and went back to search for the Canal Boatstess that we saw earlier in this post >>

https://gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-pair-from-1963.html

I think this young lady is in today's post. Same color costume too.

And pretty sure her head is the usual size, the tic-tac size is just a side effect of the photos.

JB, you are welcome, glad I could help.

JG

JB said...

JG, you found her! I'm sure that's the same gal.

Major Pepperidge said...

Melissa, those kids are going to learn a lesson when their arms are ripped off by a passing Gondola! Gruesome, I know, but that’s what happens. I hope someday to have a complete wicker outfit.

Nanook, I did a brief Google search and couldn’t find my own photos of that stage… I think there was at least one other showing it right near the Pirate Ship. Thanks for the link to the aerial image!

Chuck, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Greatest Show on Earth, but my memories of it are not great. It’s one of those BIG movies that Cecil B. DeMille was so famous for, but man, the drama is pretty leaden. Maybe I’d appreciate it more now?

JG, “Nostril Enfilade”, a beautiful dance performed in Spain? A spicy entree? The title of a “Yes” album? Now I want to do a feature film about trash cans. One in the sunlight, and one in the darkness. They will learn to be themselves, or maybe that friendship is what is most important, or perhaps that money is the best thing that we can aspire to.

JB, I think the photo in question was a scan of a photo print, but I can’t find it. This happens sometimes, I have a fairly distinct recollection of an image, but it doesn’t seem to show up on Google. And I use a Google blog, so… yeah.

JG, those gals match up pretty well, but it’s still hard for me to be 100% certain. Maybe I’m missing out on some decisive trait?

JB, it’s two against one!

JG said...

Major, the Nostril Enfilade is similar to a Lobster Quadrille, not to be confused with the Lafayette Escadrille, or a Lafayette Espadrille.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfilade_(architecture)

The Nostril Defilade is another matter entirely.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enfilade_and_defilade

JG

Nanook said...

Major-
"It’s one of those BIG movies that Cecil B. DeMille was so famous for, but man, the drama is pretty leaden". I'm afraid it hasn't aged particularly well, so I wouldn't get your hopes up; although it has spectacular color-!