You know how, after you've eaten a rich meal on Saturday, you might just want dry toast and warm tap water on Sunday? No? Maybe that's just me. Anyway, today's photos are the equivalent of dry toast and warm tap water.
We'll start with this view of some fountains along the front of the "Hall of Chemistry" building in Tomorrowland. The slide is undated, but judging from the scrawny plants, must be from pretty early - 1955 or '56. Like other fountains at the park, these occasionally drenched guests on windy days - shame since fountains are (as the kids say) "da bomb". Note to self: I need a giant atom diagram.
Next, from "sometime in the '60s" comes this odd (but also kind of pretty?) photo of one of the waterfalls that cascades from the peaks of the Matterhorn, tumbling into an Alpine lake. One can appreciate the extra care taken to provide the flowers - one of the little details that were important to Walt.
The Hall of Chemistry photo is OK... it's in focus, and the lighting is pretty good. Although, a bit flat. It does serve as a historical document showing what this wall and fountain looked like. It would have been great as a nighttime image!
ReplyDeleteThe Alpine lake does look nice with all those petunias. But the focus of our attention is the Monorail beamway... which doesn't look too exciting without a Monorail going by. If the photographer had only took the time to move the pesky track out of the way, it would have been a much nicer photo... Or at least waited for the next Monorail to come gliding by.
Enjoy your dry toast and warm tap water, Major. And thanks for the photos.
Major-
ReplyDeleteAs there aren't any flagpoles visible, I'm thinking the first image is from 1955. 1956 images have the flagpoles present - at least the images I can find with dates - but we all know how inaccurate they can be...
Thanks, Major.
HAHA! I love the little wire fence in the first image. Standing proudly.
ReplyDeleteJB, you are so right. That 2nd image would've been fabulous with a Monorail zooming by!
Thank you, Major.
P.S. JB and Nanook [and everyone], don't forget to change your clocks (fall back). I recall hearing a story about a family where several members each changed the clock by an hour...so the entire family was ahead (or behind) by 3 hours, that first morning. :o)
This is the first time I've noticed the electrons represented on the giant atom symbol. At least, I'm assuming that's what the tiny circles are, and that the larger ellipticals represent the path that the electrons take around the nucleus (that center circle?). I'll wait for a chemistry major to correct me.
ReplyDeleteElectrons are dashing about me, like so many fiery comets. Can I possibly survive?
Why limit dry toast and warm tap water to Sundays?
ReplyDeleteThere’s something about that lone, scrawny tree or bush in the first photo that draws my eye to it. Not sure if it symbolizes life emerging triumphant over the bare earth or hope that will be dashed when it gets too big and it mercilessly cut down.
The second photo looks so…empty. It’s just crying out for a bobsled or a monorail or a keelboat.
Sue, when I was 10, I remember one time change when I woke up earlier than the rest of the family because they’d all forgotten to change their clocks. I decided to let them sleep in, got myself ready, and rode my bike to church…where I discovered the doors were locked. I had set my clock forward an hour in the fall instead of back. It was pretty cold and I didn’t have any gloves with me, so I waited to greet the surprised janitor when he arrived and went to both services and Sunday School that morning.
TM!, I think we established years ago that that is an atom of beryllium (if I recall correctly, I embarrassed myself by double-counting and identified it as oxygen, which partially helps explain why I majored in film rather than math or chemistry), although I suppose it could be a planet or moon with 4 satellites.
Major, these are more than dry toast and warm tap water, there’s at least a toothpick included.
ReplyDeletePhoto 1 shows that nice ceramic mosaic tile facade. This product is making a retro comeback and I think it’s great. These appear to be one inch by one inch tiles so we can count the tiles and figure out how tall the fountains are.
Photo 2 shows the very short pylons (pylons!!!) as the monorail glides around the mountain, the train makes its nearest approach to the ground and blasts that air horn right at ear level. At least the pylons look short, maybe they are the same height as all the others and the soil is piled deeper around them for false perspective so the petunias appear taller?
Thanks for the dietary pics today. I can’t wait till lunch.
Remember everyone, the time change logic is very simple, “Fall Forward and Spring Back”!
JG
JB, neither of these is too awful - there have been plenty of Snoozlier photos in the past. But you know how it is, there is just something a bit lacking in them. I know we’ve seen this wall (and fountains) at night before, I’ll see if I can find the pic to link to.
ReplyDeleteNanook, first there were trashcans as a date indicator, now it’s flagpoles!
Lou and Sue, there is something charming about the little wire fences. Buy it by the roll! You can usually tell that a picture is early if you see the fences. I remembered to change my clock back at 1:30 in the morning, and then it was only 12:30, but I was tired. So I went to sleep.
TokyoMagic!, now I’m wondering if the electrons lit up, maybe red, at night? That would be cool! And yes, the elliptical paths are the orbits of the electrons, caused by sorcery.
Chuck, you make a good point, any day is good for toast and tap water. One time I put margarine on my toast, but it was too decadent. Now I feel sad for that little tree, it was almost certainly removed. Hopefully in a kind manner so that it could be planted elsewhere. I also wished for a bobsled, but life is cruel, and as the Rolling Stones said, you can’t always get what you want. They also said, “I’m a monkey! A m-m-m-m-m-m-monkey!”. Wow, the very thought of riding a bike to church while my family slept is beyond comprehension. If elected President, I will propose that we “fall back” one hour EVERY evening.
JG, not just a toothpick, but one with the little cellophane curlies on it! The most luxurious thing of all. I do like those little ceramic tiles, and would love to have a home covered in those. I like the square tiles, and I am also fond of the hexagonal examples. Boy, those really are some short pylons, they must have been harvested after only a few years.
Major-
ReplyDeleteWell, because we can... it's blue. JUST LOOK HERE. This [1960] view shows the flagpoles.
I love images of the original Tomorrowland. This is no exception with a nice photo of the Hall of Chemistry facade and my favorite little wire garden borders still looking in pretty good condition. Add to that the new plantings and I'd say we have a really great early Tomorrowland view. Thanks Major!
ReplyDeleteMajor-
ReplyDelete"first there were trashcans as a date indicator, now it’s flagpoles!"
Just wait until we start using toilets as date markers...
If you look waaayyyyyyy over to the right on pic #1 you can see a plentitude of dirt...lot's of dirt...I'd put this very very early in '55. Marigolds do best in full sun, so I'll say it's still Summertime, and they look so tiny and new...along with the other evergreens that have parked in the planter in front of the fountains. The little "Builders Emporium" wire fencing is so charming. I have a few rolls of this in my backyard and use it to keep the bunny rabbits away from my little sprouts in Spring. Note to all: rabbits can squeeze through the tiniest of holes...and although the little wire fencing was oh-so-cute...the rabbits enjoyed full meals before figuring out how to escape the little prison yard I had set up just for them. I wonder how a "Hall of Chemistry" would do today: honestly, I think a lot of boys would still clamor to see things exploding, or endless foam coming out of a beaker....I would enjoy all these things too in the Hall of Chemistry. That little tree sure grew up after checking out the other link. It's interesting to note that the general architecture of the spaces in Disneyland still ring true...I'm talking about the skeleton of architecture, WookieWorld excluded. I am wondering if any original 1955 walls exist underneath the many incarnations of Tomorrowland. Perhaps behind the murals, then the Mary Blair murals, and then: 1955. It's worth the urban anthropology, and silly me would buy a piece of 2 x 4. The Petunias of the Matterhorn: so very pretty and very typical of a northern hemisphere locale. They could have planted Edelweiss, however, mine did not make the season, and I'm not sure they would not have made it here...they need to be ignored, and must have VERY specific care...but ignore them...a conundrum...I did get some sweet white flowers right before they shriveled up. Perhaps they will come back in late winter: "possible, not probable". The family farm in Norway has petunias planted all along the front of the house when summer rolls around, and the smell is very old fashioned. Every time I smell petunias it takes me back 50 years. They do not like the North East...I try every year...and every year they rot. Perhaps in planters up high for next spring....I marvel at things like the Monorail beam and pylons: each one needing to be very custom. I wish I had the brain to engineer things like that. We need those people: I am not those people. Math: "no", Art: "yes". We all have the things we do well. Thanks Major for Snoozing (tm) it up this Sunday.
ReplyDeleteYay, water-feature day! I’m ecstatic that Disneyland seems to be keeping the always-shoulda-been-there moat fountains.
ReplyDeleteMS
Nanook, that’s some picture!
ReplyDeleteSunday Night, you know me (I’m Major Pepperidge!), I love Tomorrowland, the older the better. Except for the “New Tomorrowland”. But it’s great and I sure would love to hop in a time machine to see it with my own eyes.
Nanook, I’m going to write my doctoral thesis on determining dates using toilets!
Bu, there does seem to be a lot of dirt just sitting there, unloved. Perhaps this really is from 1955, I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question. Does that wiring actually keep the bunnies away from your plants? They can jump too, a little one-foot fence shouldn’t be much of an obstacle for a healthy, hungry bunny. I was fascinated by chemistry sets as a boy and always wanted one, but my mom and grandma were convinced that I would either set fire to something or kill myself. Or maybe blow something up. Or all three. I don’t think any of the old Tomorrowland buildings exist, or even their skeletons, but I could be wrong. I’d love it if something is hidden behind the scenes, but the 1967 redo was so massive and all-encompassing. It sounds like Bill Evans knew what plants would do well in SoCal, and from what little I know, edelweiss would not enjoy the hot dry climate. I have no idea what a petunia smells like, but can it be better than the aroma of dozens of citrus trees in bloom? Even now that smell sends me back to my childhood, standing in my grandparent’s yard.
MS, there are fountains in the moat???
Major, petunias smell somewhat like cloves.
ReplyDeleteThe massed plantings do suggest an Alpengarten with flowers that will bloom in California conditions much longer than the real things. A local arboretum ere in NJ has an Alpengaren with correct plants and they bloom beautifully with tiny flowers but only for a few weeks in spring. It would be disappointing to have them around the Matterhorn.
ReplyDelete