Two Nice Ones From March, 1962
I have a pair of pretty nice photos, circa March 1962 - starting with this view primarily featuring this tower (pylon?) from the Fantasyland Autopia. It is adorned with international traffic signs, and topped with a big freakin' eagle! The Richfield Eagle, that is. His buddy is over in Tomorrowland, but Richfield Eagles are very territorial, so they avoid each other for the most part. Some say that, late at night, you can hear them calling to one another. "Screeeeee! Screeee!". It's pretty annoying, frankly.
Notice that more international traffic signs have been hot-glued to the Monorail beamway nearby.
Next we see the back of the same man's head as in photo #1, he used Vitalis to keep his hair neat and tidy, but never greasy. He's heading into Tomorrowland, gazing at that crazy Clock of the World. At the moment he can't decide if he likes it or not. "Nuttiest dang clock I ever saw!". It probably didn't help that the clock wasn't working, you can see it says that it is sometime after 9:00 PM. Somebody forgot to replace the uranium again.
28 comments:
Major-
These are some odd images, as the photographer has done a dandy job of capturing the backside of the gentleman in both pictures during his time at Disneyland. I presume this is 'witness relocation' documentation you've heard so much about-! (Always love that little man in the Kodak Picture Spot signage).
Thanks, Major.
I wonder what the view is from the Kodak Picture Spot? Is the Fantasyland side of the Matterhorn to our left? Maybe that's it.
I'm not sure, but isn't the "three fences" location near here?
Hmm, so why does the clock say (appr.) 9:30 PM? I've never heard of The Clock breaking down before. But I suppose it must have, occasionally. As you noted, Major, it's hard enough to figure out the time when the thing is working properly. But when it's busted? Fuggedaboutit. Could it be 9:30 AM?
Nice view of the Moonliner, with the puffy clouds in the background.
Nanook, 'witness relocation' is as good a guess as any. Why indeed would our photographer get the backside of that gentleman in both pics? Maybe he's somebody famous. (He doesn't look like Uncle Walt.)
Major, thanks for the sunny, blue-sky photos of the Park.
@ JB-
HERE you go. Gracias, Daveland.
My parents had a coffee Percolator that was in a similar shape as the WORLD CLOCK . It was one of their wedding presents from 1963. It was silver , black and walnut ….. but when ever I see the Disneyland clock I think of coffee percolating for desert or my parents having a diner party and my sister and I sneaking in to spy on the guests.
That really is odd that the Clock of the World is showing the wrong time, either stopped or out of synch. And unlike most stopped mechanical clocks, this one only tells the right time once a day.
Which has me wondering…after it stopped due to an electrical outage or somebody forgetting to feed it Swiss crystals, how the heck did they set it? A big crank on the side? A few good men on stepladders rotating the top? A strap around the numbers hitched to a team of horses? A water cannon aimed at an angle? A jet engine bolted to the rotating disc? I want answers. I think I’m entitled to them. I want the truth! Did you order the Code Red? DID YOU ORDER THE CODE RED???!!!
The Fantasyland Autopia pic is wonderful! Five stars all the way.
Thanks, Major.
Lots of interesting coats, and one solitary winter-weight babushka. Is that lady on the stripey bench wearing a fur stole, or are my eyes just blurrier thanI though? The Richfield Eagle always looks like he belongs in Ancient Egypt.
A sparse trash can count today, 2 in pic 1, 1 in pic 2, but all are beautifully themed. Fantasyland Autopia has Fantasyland themed cans.
The first pic is very meta, being a picture of a Picture Spot. There’s a theme for a post, a series of pictures of Picture Spots, with none taken FROM the Picture Spot.
Maybe the World Clock was mistaken for a cocktail shaker and had too much gin poured in?
These are fun Major, I know I saw this Park, but barely recall it.
JG
@ MIKE-
Is your parents coffee maker a Chemex-? SEE HERE
@ MIKE²-
Or, perhaps the Wearever Tricolator... AND HERE.
Nanook, I’ve seen other batches of photos, where the photographer follows their spouse around, catching the back of their head. It’s a little odd, but.. so be it.
JB, yeah, not sure if the view is of the Fantasyland Autopia, or the Midget Autopia - or something else. I believe you are right about the “three fences”, though I have never been 100 percent sure of where that was. I’ve seen other photos where the Clock of the World was clearly not working, so maybe it broke down regularly. Or somebody forgot to wind it!
Nanook, YOU can send Daveland a check! ;-) (Are we sure that’s the view from that Picture Spot?).
Mike Cozart, I’m not sure if your parent’s coffee maker was a Chemex, but those are famous for their “modern” shape and simple function. My mom and dad had one too, a wedding present.
Chuck, so many questions, so few answers! I actually would love to know more about how the clock worked, how it was serviced, etc. I’m sure that info is long-gone, sadly. Unless it’s in the archives! Might as well be on the moon, I guess.
K. Martinez, five stars! A compliment indeed!
Melissa, I think the lady has a mink stole, or something like that. Very fancy. And the Richfield Eagle belongs in my living room!
JG, oh boy, I have MANY photos of Picture Spots, even “post Kodak” (GAF and beyond). The World Clock’s resemblance to a cocktail shaker is strong, I have to wonder if a martini lunch was an inspiration.
Nanook, Mike described silver on his parent’s coffee maker… my mom and dad’s Chemex looked exactly like the one you linked to. No metal! The Wearever Tricoloator is quite a design, I love it.
JB, i can send a screen snip of the 3-fences location to Major, it is in that general area, but hard to describe, more "around the corner" on the northern edge of the Matterhorn walkway. On Googel Map street view it is still 3 different fences.
Re Chemex, we drink very little coffee anymore and have gotten along for years with a little 2-cup french press, and our son gifted us a lovely new Chemex just like that one to use when he visits, since huge volumes of coffee are required for his daily intake. I was like that once.
Melissa, I'm not sure what that fur stole, but he won't get away with it.
JG
JB, maybe I can get this streetview link to work.
The 3-fences intersection can be seen in the center of this view (dated 2016, copy the link text and paste into your browser):
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.81326,-117.9174049,3a,59.5y,106.64h,89.56t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szl8ET8SMbYv2jKaP9Co34g!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dzl8ET8SMbYv2jKaP9Co34g%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D107.95157%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
Zoom into the center of the view as far as possible. (You can zoom the photo by holding the control key and using the mouse wheel). There is a couple sitting on a white wrought-iron bench in the shade, the 3-fence intersection is just above the head of the gray-haired man. It's not quite under the monorail beamway, but is in the shadow of it.
You can even make out that each fence is a different pattern. One fence is black in color and separates the walkway from Autopia and runs roughly East-West.
The second is blue or teal in color and separates the walkway from the Sub Lagoon and runs roughly North-South in the photo, but follows the lagoon curve behind the viewpoint.
The third fence is gray in color and might be chain link, and it separates Autopia from the Sub Lagoon, and also runs roughly North-South in the photo.
JG
HERE's an article all about the 'three fences', with some great detail views, and a great aerial map. (It's the same as the 'three tenors', actually).
@Nanook, thanks for that article.
The first time I heard of the 3 Fences was on the (now-defunct) blog "Vintage Disneyland Tickets". I had assumed that he was the one who noticed and named the condition. Maybe it was known before?
Great to see the estimated ages of the respective segments. Fascinating that fence 3 is original to 1959. Finally, one thing that isn't broken that current management hasn't ruined.
I can see it coming now, Johnny Depp starring in "The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Treasure at 3 Fences." directed by Tim Burton with music by Danny Elfman.
"Cliegg Lars and The Rebellion at 3 Fences: A Star Wars Story" written and directed by Rian Johnson, set design and art direction by Kim Irvine and Seven Hundred Cases of Pink Paint."
JG
Thanks to Nanook and JG for the links and info. I'm still having trouble orienting myself in today's photo, compared to the Google street view. There aren't many visual clues in today's photo that still exist.
Major, I was gonna say that The Clock was powered by dilithium crystals, but the Clock was removed about the time that Star Trek became a thing.
JG, there is so much corrosive sarcasm dripping from your comment that I had to quickly move my keyboard, to keep it from dissolving into a puddle of plastic.
I keep hoping somebody will market reproductions of the old Kodak picture spot sign -- the one with the silhouette of a photographer perched on it. My patio needs it.
JG, yes, I was thinking that the Sub Lagoon could be seen in the background of the 3 Fences - I first learned about this feature on the “Vintage Disneyland Tickets” blog, and love that there is still a tiny piece of old Tomorrowland (or is it Fantasyland?) there. Thank you for the link!
Nanook, I’d love to know if Tim at Vintage Disneyland Tickets was the person who discovered the 3 Fences, that sure was a long time ago. Looking on his blog, I see mentions of the feature going back to early 2008 - 14 years ago!
JG, Oh, ha ha, I guess I should have read ahead! I really don’t know if the 3 Fences was mentioned on one of the many park forums out there, or if he discovered it himself. He did used to take quite a lot of photos when he would visit Disneyland. There was a time when I would have been excited at any movie directed by Tim Burton, but I’ve been pretty cool on his last half-dozen movies. Not sure what happened to him, it’s like he lost his fastball, so to speak.
JB, I think I made a dilithium crystal joke about the clock long ago, but maybe it was actually in regards to something else. TOS does come up on this blog now and then! JG’s venom is like the Alien blood, it will dissolve the hull!
DBenson, that would be a pretty cool thing! Come on, Etsy creatives!
Major and JB, I'm sorry I soured your day.
In hopes of making up for it, here is a Googel map link to the viewpoint of today's photo 1.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.8134888,-117.917505,3a,75y,13.35h,88.96t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s3ECX9UZ6u8dosStA2LTuBQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D3ECX9UZ6u8dosStA2LTuBQ%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D100.17035%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
This is roughly the same orientation as the photo, but maybe 10 steps further west, the Fantasyland Autopia entrance canopy would have been on our right, but it is gone now, the monorail beam is to the right and also straight ahead. IASW is visible under the beam in the modern view, but IASW did not exist yet in the old photo. Bobsled queue is to the left.
I hope this helps.
JG
Never noticed all those radio antennas’ towers with rocket-tips, making such a statement. It screams ‘imagine soaring buildings right here’…where we haven’t built any. All those bubble lamps enhance the impression of being something interesting too. While the giant bird of paradise are in fact mighty impressive.
MS
NANOOK: my parents coffee Percolator looked closer to the second image. It was also electric. It had a translucent (glass??) knob at the top where you could see coffee bubbling up inside .
Major : Leon and Jack did a E Ticket magazine feature called Disneyland transitions and the three fences were included… I’m pretty sure that issue predates 2008. I don’t have the issues at hand but I think the E Ticket article may even go back to the 1990’s or the earliest 2000’s.
The knowledge of those fence /railings go back earlier than that. In the company’s MINNIE’S MOONLIGHT MADNESS scavenger hunt games … ( sometime between 1990-1993) one of the Clue Stations featured cryptic photographs of areas inside Disneyland…. Technically you could figure out the area if you were not already familiar… once you identified the area you would go there to be given your next clue …. And one was the triple fence meet … and most contestants were very familiar with this Theme transition.
Incidentally another photo for a Clue Station was the brick test wall arch drinking fountain panel - also a well known “legend” in the very early 90’s because of a series of Disneyland details articles appearing in THE DISNEYLAND LINE ….in the 1985 period.
JG, not soured at all! I enjoyed your caustic sarcasm (that's the best kind!) Thanks to your link, I finally found the three fences location in the Google maps view. If you turn around and walk a few feet back, there's a small path to your left. It won't let you go down that path, but you can zoom in and see where the 3 fences come together.
JB, thanks, I was starting to feel bad. Mike C's post yesterday was putting me in a bad mood vis-a-vis the current management. I hope to see some favorite places once more before they are bulldozed.
I'm glad you got oriented to the 3 Fences. I have some close-up photos that I took a few years back, but I'm too busy to look for them.
Mike C., I seem to remember my Dad commenting on the Main Street test wall, which would have to have been no later than the mid-70's.
JG
DBenson, I'm with you. What a novel way to advertise Kodak throughout the park.
Thanks, Nanook, JG and all—for the exact location and info on the 3 fences. Now I know.
JG, I feel like you do. To think my beloved NOS might be ruined someday. :-(
It was hard enough losing that beautiful courtyard to Flub 33–a few years back.
On my next trip to DL, I also hope to see the 3 fences, and the red and white light bulb—before they disappear. I guess that makes me a true Disneyland geek.
Thanks, Major.
Sue
JG, you didn’t sour my day, sorry if I gave that impression. Thanks to your links, I am pretty clear on where the Three Fences are! I feel like it is inevitable that those will “go away” someday, I mean, who (except us) cares about a fence? It will make me sad.
MS, yes, those towers with the “rocket tips” are very distinctive, and you’re right, they imply “soaring buildings” without having to actually build those. Pretty sneaky. Giant bird-of-paradise plants are such a SoCal thing, I have a fondness for them.
Mike Cozart, oh interesting, I’m sure I have that issue of “The E-Ticket”, but it’s been a while since I’ve looked at them. Those guys are definitely the die-hards who would notice something like the Three Fences. “Minnie’s Moonlight Madness”, that’s not something I am familiar with. The fact that somebody used the Three Fences for an official park-endorsed scavenger hunt impresses me mightily. I always assume that most employees know the obvious stuff and the stories that we have all heard a 100 times. I still think that “test wall” is so odd, even in Colonial days, brick buildings did not have that wavy, warped appearance. Maybe Walt wanted a German Expressionist Main Street.
JB, I guess I am numb from all of the shenanigans at Disneyland, I don’t lose sleep over it anymore. It would be pretty easy to do a search on the old Vintage Disneyland Tickets blog, just look for “Three Fences”, he did multiple posts about it.
Sunday Night, I believe that Kodak had used Picture Spots at other events, pre-Disneyland, though I can’t say for 100% certainty.
Sue, I think they get an awful lot of mileage out of that red and white lightbulb, and I don’t see Main Street changing that drastically (though you never know). The Three Fences… let’s just say I am nervous. Hopefully somebody can take a photo of you when you are next to the fences!
“Maybe Walt wanted a German Expressionist Main Street…”
I can see it in my mind - The Main Street of Dr. Caligari.” That would be a fascinating Metropolis to visit.
Post a Comment