Tomorrowland, June 1962
FYI, today marks the 6,500th GDB post! I normally don't celebrate such a thing, but it will be almost two years until #7,000, so I might as well mention it!
Aw yeah, it's Classic Tomorrowland time! Some might argue that it's the best time of all. Don't argue, just be nice.
It might be June, and it's probably hot, but that doesn't mean that these fellows aren't going to wear their three-piece suits. Aloha shirts and Bermuda shorts are for barbarians. Need a hankie? Ask a guy in a suit! You can tell from their body language that they really want to buy a souvenir hat (those ostrich plumes, I mean, who can resist?), but they also don't want people to get the wrong idea. I've never noticed the "Your Name Free" text on the sign before. The Kirk Douglas rocket looms over everything.
Nearby, guests enjoy floating on a cushion of air in their own Flying Saucers! I'm not sure I ever imagined crashing into other flying saucers, but to each their own. Peeking up above the trees to the left is the Spanish tile roof of the old Administration Building, and we can see the tip-top of Main Street Station too.
21 comments:
Major-
It's too bad that somehow the Leidenfrost Effect couldn't have been successfully employed for the Flying Saucers. Perhaps then they really would've floated on air over great distances...
Happy 6,500th post, Major. And a big thanks for keeping 'it' going-!
Happy 6,500th, Major! That’s a lot of candles. I’m glad you’re still posting…you make everyday fun for all of us, and we greatly appreciate all you do!
By the way, I need to correct you. That’s the Donna Douglas.
And how do we know that it isn't the Michael Douglas rocket? (Donna Douglas? Don't make me laugh, Sue. Elly May is a girl! They don't name rockets after girls!) Michael was probably born around this time, and having Dad name the rocket after him would make a nice celebrity-type birthday gift. I'm sure that sort of thing happens in the Park all the time; just ask Bu! Wow, there are a LOT of pink ostrich plume hats! They must've been in high demand... Or maybe the bird farm only had pink ostriches.
There are quite a few older folks floating around on the Saucers. Usually it's the young 'uns zipping across the sea of blue. Flattop spotting on the NASA guy CM leaning against the railing. 1962 would be the year to spot flattops; just before the Beatles paddled their way across the pond.
I'll echo what Nanook and Sue said so well. Happy 6,5000, Major.
That looks like some pretty thick June gloom. Or maybe it was smog. I wonder if everyone's lungs were hurting when they inhaled? I remember those smog alert days, when I was a kid. But then again, I was up to three packs a day by the time I was in Kindergarten
Seeing that lady's purse on the floor of her Flying Saucer (far right), makes me wonder how often people dropped things onto the main floor of the ride. Were people more careful back then, or did they drop things like hats, glasses, cameras.....and cell phones?
Sue, I need to correct you. That's the Oliver Wendell Douglas.
Thank you Major, for the last 6,500 posts! And here's to the next 6 posts! Ha, ha! You thought I was going to say 6,500, didn't you? ;-)
Ha! Add some of those pink ostrich feathers to the rocket, and call it “Lisa!”
Ha! Add some of those pink ostrich feathers to the rocket, and call it “Lisa!"
Sue, and she would have an apartment up there at the very top of the rocket, because we all know that Lisa "just adored a penthouse view".....dah-ling.
I wonder if guests ever requested their names but skipped the hat??
I remember even in the 70’s all the Disneyland hat shops had tons of plumes ….. they were still very popular .I wonder if they were included or if they were an extra charge? I remember how badly I wanted a Pirates of the Caribbean hat as a little kid … I was petrified of the attraction - mainly because of the waterfall drops. I was famous for running out of the pirates building to avoid having to ride . So my parents lied and told me the only way for people to get the pirate hat was to ride the attraction without screaming or causing a scene. So the next time I managed to ride pirates without a scene or freaking out. I got my pirate hat right away … And I remember distinctly the castmember writing my name on the pirate hat then showing me a fistful of ostrich plumes choices for the hat …. ( were they real ostrich plumes??) anyway I picked a black /white/grey plume. I wore that pirate hat the whole day and at home all the time …. I was even a pirate for that Halloween. My mom
Did NOT let me wear it to church. I actually still have the original remains of the embroidered hat … it crushed and crumpled - the feather plum disintegrated decades ago and part of the felt skull & cross bones are missing …And the chin strap elastic broke just as long ago but I can’t bear to part with the worn out piece of junk knowing what it meant to me at one time.
HAPPY 6500! "Sixty Five Hundred posts of fantasy, Sixty Five Hundred posts of Fun....and we've only just begun!" That 1973 parade song is stuck in my head somewhere so I had to have seen it in person...Suits and Nasa hair cuts...classic Disneyland! Even on a hot day I will suffer in a coat still bringing back memories of "coats don't come off until it's 90 degrees!" or was it 85....(one of those.) I do not like seeing coatless TG's and I'm not even sure they have a coat for their costume now. Everyone needs to suffer like we all did! for the magic!!! Douglas for Douglas Flutie: born slightly after these photos were taken. I wanted to also say Lisa Douglas: but it was taken. I settle for Douglas Rockets...sponsored by Flutie Flakes. I like seeing the top of the Dominquez Manse, and a little scrap of Main Street. There is pandemonium going on the flying saucers. This ride looks like an operational nightmare, and of course: it was. Grandma w/hairnet: she is super confused. I'm not sure many mortal grannies would be on this ride: she must have been a pistol. Seems like all these saucers would just bunch up and go nowhere, as your ride also depends on others. I am getting anxiety just thinking about it. NASA seems to be non-plussed..."This thing will be closed in a MONTH!"...I suppose they said. There is a great fondness for these saucers which I don't share too much: I like the design: and they remind me of the Bewitched episode where the space dogs landed in the Stevens backyard. Didn't someone have one of these saucers in their garage or something? I remember seeing a really banged up one somewhere....(?) I know where you can still buy ostrich feathers if you need them: seems like it would be very not PC, but Broadway and Vegas still need their feathers. I remember an interview with Ginger Rogers talking about that feather dress she wore dancing with Fred Astaire...feathers everywhere. Thanks Major. Looking forward to 6501 tomorrow.
Happy 6500; Major. Thank you for GDB, the gift that keeps on giving. We are very grateful.
Any chance those suits are imagineers? I’ll bet they are going to use ostrich plumes to clean the hole in the rocket’s chin.
The Flying Saucers were a grand concept, but implementation was another kettle of ostriches.
Driving out to Solvang this week, we passed an ostrich farm, they had a bountiful supply of plumes on-the-hoof, as it were.
Mike, knowing you still have your pirate hat makes me happy. That’s a great story.
JG
https://www.ostrichlandusa.com/
Enjoy all!
JG
Major, Happy 6500. My brothers (including Patrick) and I enjoy your blog every day. Keep up the excellent work!
The future is all about shapes! And colors! (But mostly triangles.)
Major-
How about Douglas Douglas pronounced Douglas Douglas-! That'll fool 'em.
@ Melissa-
... and olives and toothpicks...
Nanook, your idea is genius, I love the thought of the Saucer skittering around on a hot skillet! There is no downside!
Lou and Sue, thanks! You know, Donna Douglas would not gain fame as Elly May until a few months after this picture was taken. As much as I loved her!
JB, if they named rockets after girls, they would have named one the “Ethel Merman”. You know it’s true. Didn’t Kirk Douglas have another son? I can’t remember if he was older than Michael. Maybe he knew that only Michael was worth noticing. Looking at that Flying Saucers pic, there are two ladies who appear to be having a conversation. “When is Petey going into the second grade?”.
TokyoMagic!, hey, we get June Gloom so thick that you have to turn on your windshield wipers. It’s true! I wonder if I would have taken up smoking if I’d been born a decade earlier? I doubt it, but peer pressure is a thing. Good question about that purse, you know that things fell onto the floor of the Flying Saucers, I guess skilled CMs could tiptoe out there and retrieve the items. And I DID expect someone to say “Here’s to the next 6,500”, so I’m glad it wasn’t you.
Mike Cozart, yes, I want my name monogrammed onto my arm with yellow thread. The customer is always right! I was scared to go on “Pirates” after hearing kids at school talk about it, I was under the impression that at some point we would go UNDER water. I am sure they were talking about the drops, but you know, kids are stupid. So I did not want to go under water! I don’t remember being super scared once I finally went on the ride, but I’m sure I was still nervous. I’m glad you still have your pirate hat, the wear and tear makes it that much more beloved.
Bu, I feel like I must have heard a “we’ve only just begun” Disneyland jingle, but they all kind of mush together into a feel-good cacophony. I know what you mean about a coatless TG, and yet… on a 103 degree day, I would also take pity on the poor men and women. Give them all those classy mesh shirts! Is it just me, or did Eva Gabor seem like the “nice” Gabor sister? Zsa Zsa seemed like a real diva. I wonder if those two ladies on the saucers are discussing how the hell to steer their vehicles? “I can’t get this damn thing to crash into kids!”. It’s too bad that none of the Saucer vehicles has survived - unless one shows up in a big auction someday. Just imagine! I guess they were too big for most people to hold onto, though these days there seems to be no shortage of people with endless money and endless room. I assume that ostriches didn’t need to die to give their feather to hats? No idea.
JG, I definitely thought that the “suits” could be Disneyland execs, or possibly Imagineers. But we’ll never know. Please, fewer sentences about cleaning holes. Wow, I drive out Solvang way a few times a year, and I don’t recall seeing an ostrich farm. Maybe you take the secret road?
JG, ah, looking at the map, Ostrichland is a tiny bit off of the beaten path, but I’m glad it’s there!
Tommy Tsunami, thank you! I like thinking that Patrick is still enjoying GDB!
Melissa, triangles are way better than parallelograms, everyone knows it.
Nanook, I feel like I’m missing a joke (as usual) with “Douglas Douglas”.
Major-
Everyone, unless they are a true 'movie buff' will be missing the Douglas-Douglas reference. It's taken from the original A Star is Born (1937), starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March. Gaynor's character has aspirations of becoming a Hollywood star, and is 'noticed' by 'boozehound' Norman Maine - played by March. The studio is [naturally] unhappy with her given name (Esther Victoria Blodgett) and is attempting to brainstorm a new name for her. The studio head, Oliver Niles - played by Adolphe Menjou realizes Victoria can be turned into 'Vicky'. But Vicky, what-? That's when the studio press agent - played with sarcastic brilliance by the inimitable Lionel Stander intones with his great gravelly voice: "Vicky - Vicky... pronounced Vicky - Vicky-!!
You can view (and hear) the scene HERE.
Happy 6500, Major... wow !
TM!, you beat me to the Green Acres joke. Now I've gotta go with, oh, I dunnu, the Sir Douglas Quintet Rocket.
PS, 6500, wow!
6500 Thank Yous.
MS
6,500 posts. You need to take a vacation Major. I'm exhausted thinking about it. But a HUGE congrats is in order. Now I will get on my saucer and slide my way across the half circle. I never thought about bumping into the others. I was a smooth glider. That feeling of effortlessly scooting across the field of air cylinders was an experience I've never been able to duplicate since. It was sad to see them go away so quickly. KS
Way too many aspects of Green Acres hit close to home growing up in farm country, but in a good way.
As afraid of “pirates of the Caribbean” and “haunted mansion” as I was when I was young I was also enamored with them … I drew pictures related to them and talked about them constantly…. Lol.
I’ve mentioned before it was the Disneyland preview of coming attractions exhibit of the Thunder Mesa model ( it was a 1972-1973 exhibit of WDWs future expansion) and the construction of big thunder that really sent me over the edge … I couldnt ride big thunder soon enough - every time a teacher , neighbor, relative or friend got to ride before me I INTERROGATED them for details . It’s funny to look back at how wrong their impressions were or memories or understanding the storyline … I had a 5th grade teacher tell me that “raccoons play with dynamite and run up a tree before the explosives blow up the mine tunnel!” Lol - obviously they had combined elements , created new memories. A neighbor across the street rode Big Thunder and told me that “you go thru a waterfall but it’s just a filmstrip and you don’t really get wet” (???) a friend at school said at the end of the ride the big thunder train dropped them off in front of a bank ( they were confusing the DLRR stopping near Bank of America on Main Street. And I remember by aunt telling me that a dinosaur tries to attack the mine train (???)
When I was little I always was seeing parts of the pirate song but incorrectly sang “Yo Ho - Yo Ho , The Pirates FIGHT for Me!” My mom would correct me and I would insist she was mistaken . Lol!
SINGING ( not seeing)
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