Two Beauties From July 1969
Happy Friday! May good fortune bring you a box of donuts (my favorite quote from Anaxagoras of Clazomenae). I have two really nice scans to get your weekend started (as the header for today's post says, both are from July 1969).
Over in Tomorrowland, there was a small-ish stage where one might catch The Kids of the Kingdom. They were wholesome, but that doesn't mean that they didn't ROCK! I'm imaging that they are performing "Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In". When the moon is in the seventh house... Or maybe "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies?
Sometime during July of '69, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and guests were able to sit in folding chairs and watch the event on a screen set up on this same stage. I'll bet there was applause and even a few tears. And one sneeze.
Next is this photo of the impressive (and dismaying?) queue for... the Submarine Voyage? Or the Monorail? I'm not sure. That's a whole lotta people!
The days of the giant dyed ostrich feather had passed, but that floppy pink sun hat is not a bad substitute. If you look just above and to the left of the shoulder of the woman in the red polka dot dress, there is a girl with short ginger hair, and... something that resembles a bluetooth phone earpiece. Or else it's a glitch on the slide's emulsion, which is very possible. OR she's from the future!
16 comments:
Major-
Isn't that the Tomorrowland Stage (also called the Tomorrowland Bandstand-?) - described in "Information On Disneyland's New Tomorrowland - A World On the Move" ©1967 Wed Enterprises, Inc.:Special events - musical attractions and dances - are presented at the Tomorrowland Bandstand, located on the concourse between Flight to the Moon and The Character Shop.
HERE's an image showing the Apollo 11 Moon Landing.
Thanks, Major.
Suddenly recalling various little plastic and/or metal things for girls' hair around the house. In retrospect think some of them were deployed to hold curls in place when getting fancy with hairspray.
I most clearly remember inexplicably complicated curlers, consisting of something like a wire brush within a spring covered by a sort of netting. I dismantled a few to extract the springs for creative projects.
Why, I do believe I see Cher (facing away from us) in the center of the first photo (and the close-up). I don't see Sonny anywhere... maybe he's the one taking the picture? Yes, I bet that's it. Probably scouting out ideas for their TV variety show that will debut in a couple of years.
How do we know these are the real Kids of the Kingdom? Their outfits look like a cheerleading squad from a nearby college, so maybe they just got up on the stage, and are punking us. (Yes, I know that punking wasn't a thing then... come to think of it, I don't think it is now anymore, either. The verb "to punk" didn't last very long.)
Major, the sneeze was from someone who was allergic to moon dust.
How embarrassing, there are two boogers stuck in the Matterhorn's nostrils. I bet the Matterhorn's brothers and sisters joked about it for years and years (you know how siblings are) every time Dad got out the slide projector for a family slide show night.
Is that a piece of Fudgie's tail to the left of the booger-encrusted nostrils?
Major, I saw that bluetooth device as well. It looks too specifically-shaped to be an emulsion flaw. Perhaps, as DBenson suggests, it's a hair clip that she forgot to remove. Almost as embarrassing as the two boogers mentioned above.
Good people-watching today, Major. Thanks.
I believe out 1969 time traveler is wearing a c. 1969 Rayovac Hearing aid.
The Submarine Voyage had recently reopened from its ( at the time ) most extensive rehab. During this time a new Monorail and Station had been built to greet the bigger crowds predicted for the soon to open Haunted Mansion.
I forgot to add this; the 1969 time traveler is actually wearing a hair barret clip .
I wonder how many of those "Kids of the Kingdom" members on stage, appeared on their 1968 record album cover?
JB, do you BELIEVE you can see Cher? I think Fudgie was gone by this point in time. Or maybe he just wasn't as visible as he previously had been.
Were those trees behind the Tomorrowland Stage (in Nanook's linked pic, too), planted back there just for the New Tomorrowland? If so, they must have gotten mature trees to place back there. Maybe they were growing in large crates and not planted in the ground? Or were they already back there when the Flying Saucers were there? I need to know!
I also noticed that thing in the girl's ear. I think she purchased one of those little rectangular souvenir Disneyland flashlights they used to sell at the park, and shoved into her ear? You know, just because.
Well, this certainly makes up for the bucketless Skyway cable from yesterday.
I think that’s actually the line for the Skyway restrooms.
Just because that thing in the red headed girl’s ear isn’t a Bluetooth device doesn’t mean she isn’t from the future.
“I mean, we’re all from the future, right? We just haven’t gotten there yet”. Major, I think that was another Anaximander quote… or maybe Heraclitus, with the whole never stepping in the same river twice thing. He was on to something there.
I remember this “Kids of the Kingdom” group. The name sounded vaguely church-y. I never stayed around for live music or parades, take the opportunity of all those folks being distracted to go on rides! The only exception was (were?) the Delta Ramblers at dinner.
Looks like that strategy wouldn’t work for the submarines this day. I’ll go try Autopia. Too bad there’s no bobsled, this picture would improve approximately 300%.
Tokyo, I think those trees were boxed.
Great stuff, Major. Thank you! Loving the crazy hats.
JG
JG, "I think those trees were boxed. "
Agree. The real question is "Were they gift-wrapped?"
Nanook, I have to admit that I always confuse the Tomorrowland Stage with the stage that raises and lowers. Which I guess is the Tomorrowland Terrace (Stage)? I’ve seen that image with the pasted in photo of Neil Armstrong (or is it Buzz Aldrin, and Neil is already on the surface?), Stanley Kubrick did a good job with that one.
DBenson, yeah, I used to see all kinds of odd little hair things around the house for my sister. I was glad that I could just go around with bed-head and nobody cared! Whoa, those curlers don’t sound familiar, maybe I saw some and just don’t remember. I do remember the beauty shops with lines of ladies under those heat-setting helmets.
JB, Oh yeah, Cher loved Disneyland, especially Mr. Toad. “I Got You Babe” is actually about Mr. Toad. I’m sure the Kids of the Kingdom were like Menudo, some would age out, and they would be replaced by younger, cuter people. The outfits are definitely cheerleader-adjacent, for some reason. The Matterhorn cares not about boogers in the nostrils, it has been around for eons, and will be around long after we’re gone. Boogers, shmoogers, it says! And you can’t argue with that. That might be part of Fudgie’s tail, but it’s pretty hard to tell in this lighting. The hair clip being right over the ear is odd, but it’s as good an explanation as any.
Mike Cozart, I thought about hearing aids, but I don’t think that’s what it is. It just looks too long and rectangular. Huh, I wonder what was done to the Submarine Voyage during the rehab? Time to get out my E-Ticket magazine!
Mike Cozart, yeah, but why is the hair clip there of all places??
TokyoMagic!, I don’t have a copy of the Kids of the Kingdom album, so I can’t say. The Disney Archives just released a nice photo of the Kids a few days ago (coincidentally), I think many of the people in that photo are also in my photo. Interesting thought about the trees in the first photo, it would have never occurred to me that they might be in crates or whatever. One of those souvenir flashlights was just up on eBay! I didn’t see the final price, it was the Monorail design, they always go for a lot.
Chuck, in the future, Bluetooth will be replaced by a tooth of a different color.
JG, Heraclitus was a real loudmouth, I never liked what he had to say! Always going on and on about anything. Have heard snippets of The Kids of the Kingdom, I can say that they are *not my thing*. In other words, they rock too hard. I prefer the music of the 1600s. Harpsichords and lutes and such. I agree, no bobsled is no bueno.
Chuck, gift wrapping was free, so why the heck not?
The first picture makes me want to reach through the screen and introduce the young lady in the polka dotted dress to the young man in the plaid pants.
Park patrons providing the primary colors that proper Tomorrowland was known for.
That stage is sort-of still there…just pushed back a bit with the rest of the Space Mountain complex, then covered-over for 3D films before being basically abandoned.
I miss watching the live music from various levels (it felt like being on the set from Logans Run), and the smell of space burgers being grilled at Space Place. Open arcade of games overlooked it all too, and the escalators. Smokey tinted glass and orange floor tiles. I loved the next phase of that same space.
MS
Major, I remember rolling along on the PeopleMover many times behind that stage. That's when it ran the entire length of the Character Shop and then made a gentle loop around the stage, over Flight to the Moon entrance and on to see Progress City. I recall many cheesy pop tunes emanating from that direction but can't remember actually sitting down in front of the stage to watch anything. My family was always on the move to the next attraction - we only had one day to do it all!
That walkway between the Sub Lagoon and the Matterhorn always seemed to be packed with people waiting! I think that line was for the Monorail, with perhaps another line off in the distance going to the Matterhorn. Oh, if only I could travel through those "nostrils" again and look down into the strange shadowy structure of the Matterhorn that was still visible back then!
Major-
"... I always confuse the Tomorrowland Stage with the stage that raises and lowers. Which I guess is the Tomorrowland Terrace (Stage)?
Yes it IS: "The upbeat sounds of today at Tomorrowland Terrace". Where else can one hear today's toe-tapping tunes performed by the likes of: Lazer; Sunshine Balloon; Polo; Krash; Sound Castle, Ltd.; Voyager; Tomasina; and starting in 1975 - Papa Doo Run Run, I ask you-?
Melissa, it’s a love connection! Two garsh dern wholesome kids.
MS, oh I had no idea that the stage was still there in any form, though I’m still not sure I get where it is. Is it the theater where “Magic Journeys”, “Honey I Shrunk the Audience”, and “Captain Eo” were? I agree with you about missing the sensations of being in that Tomorrowland, with sights, sounds, and smells that all added up to something wonderful.
Omnispace, I wish I had your vivid memory! I probably was just not paying attention, and had no context at the time. It wasn’t until many years later that I became the Disneyland fan that I am now (though I always loved the place). Chessy pop tunes, I wouldn’t have it any other way. And I agree with you, I’d give anything to be able to ride the classic Skyway again.
Nanook, whoa, those band names are great. They somehow omitted “Crunch”, but I will take it and form my own band. “Crunch, with special guests, THUD”.
I'll bet there was applause and even a few tears. And one sneeze.
Major, and one guy yelling out, "They filmed that on a soundstage!!!"
Where else can one hear today's toe-tapping tunes performed by the likes of: Lazer; Sunshine Balloon; Polo; Krash; Sound Castle, Ltd.; Voyager; Tomasina; and starting in 1975 - Papa Doo Run Run, I ask you-?
Nanook, and let's not forget the "Cement, Gravel & Rock Co." (1970s), and "Gazelle" (1980s).
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