Disneyland Hotel, July, 1961
I have two very nice photos from the Disneyland Hotel, circa 1961. The ads told us that it was THE WORLD'S MOST EXCITING HOTEL! And who am I to contradict them?
For one thing, they had a Monorail passing through by '61, and that's pretty amazing - even now. There's the Mark II "Big Red" Monorail waiting at the station. BUBBLE DOME! The world was better when vehicles had bubble domes. There is a bevy of white/beige cars, a certain Junior Gorilla might be able to ID them. I'm especially digging the tail fins on the beauty in the middle!
I don't know why, but it has always amused me that the Disneyland Hotel's main restaurant was called "Le Gourmet". "The Squat and Gobble" was already taken, admittedly. We get a good look at the pierced beams that lend this old part of the Hotel so much of its mid-century charm. And oh yeah, more cars!
15 comments:
Major-
"... white/beige cars..." Let's see if we can't get a bit closer to the real color names that made auto enthusiast's hearts go pitter-patter... That 'tailfinned beauty' is a 1957 Plymouth, possibly in Sand Dune White. To its right is a 1960 or 1961 Ford Falcon, possibly in Corinthian White. And finally, there's a 1960 Rambler, possibly in Festival Rose-!
In the 2nd image, the three cars facing us begin with a 1961 Ford, probably in Starlight Blue. The next beauty is a 1955 Chevrolet, possibly in Skyline Blue -or- maybe Cashmere Blue. And finally, a 1955 De Soto, probably in Birch Gray.
NONE of the cars can hold a design candle to Bob Gurr's [truly] futuristic design for the Monorails-!
Make that "by Gourmet. "Le" Gourmet sounds as if Harry Shearer was responsible for naming the restaurants.
Thanks, Major.
Yeah, where are all the bubble domes today? Besides the Disney Monorail, we had the Jetson's bubble domed air car, and the Proteus submarine from "Fantastic Voyage". Not sure if we can count Captain Kirk's "Enterprise". -- maybe. We can probably include the Bubbleator elevator from the '62 Seattle World's Fair. Also the "Firebird III" concept car from the Seattle Fair.
Like major said, dig those crazy tail lights on that middle car, man! Very nice photo of the Monorail at the station.
Love those Erector Set beams. As Nanook noted, the sign says, "by Gourmet" not "Le Gourmet"! Was the restaurant actually "Le Gourmet"? Then what was "Gourmet", a restaurant chain? Light blue must've been the 'in' color for cars that year.
Nice, bright colorful photos, Major. Thanks.
Speaking of restaurant names, "Coffee Shop" was not very creative, though everything else about the hotel was.
Wonderful pictures from a wonderful era. And when cars were cool and had cool colors (thanks, Nanook), unlike today's wide range of color choices: white, black, gray. (Parking lots, today, are sooooo boring.)
Thanks, Major.
NANOOK : that is definitely a Plymouth….. but look closely and it appears to actually be two-tone with the FURY trim …. As opposed to the more sedate BELVEDERE. A 1959 Plymouth Fury was the star of the movie CHRISTINE.
Was there ever any vehicle more beautiful than a MARK II MONORAIL?? Except maybe a MARK III…
These evoke a wonderful era in design, from the cars to the structures to the Monorail. These pictures make me smile (if a little wistfully).
Mike, ”Was there ever any vehicle more beautiful than a MARK II MONORAIL??”
Tough call, but I think this might be a close second.
Nanook, I will take the Plymouth, please, though the Ford Falcon would be OK too. Please deliver them to my Malibu mansion! “Corinthian White”, “Festival Rose”, “Starlight Blue”, awesome. Ha ha, I like my fancy LE Gourmet better, I would wear my monocle every time I ate there.
JB, you can see a bubble dome in that first picture! One of the things I like about Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s kustom kars is that he often used bubble domes, he knew that they were cool (or should that be “kool”?). Nanook was right, it is “By Gourmet”, but I misremember it every time.
Lou and Sue, they could have called it a “Java Joint”! I do see the occasional paprika, scarab green, or sapphire blue cars, but you’re right, most are not very colorful. I think it has largely to do with thoughts of future resale?
Mike Cozart, I love the name “Plymouth Fury”, I wish there was a car called the “Honda Snit”. Those Monorails are pretty great!
Chuck, ha ha, I love all of those George Barris creations, the Batmobile, the Monkeemobile, etc. There is something wonderful about that Beverly Hillbillies jalopy (not sure of its official name), in spite of its ramshackle appearance!
@ MIKE-
I tend not to get down into the 'series' or 'trim' levels unless the images are really detailed. Yes, it's a two-tone paint job but from what I can see, (for 1957) in order to be Fury, it's missing the fancy side trim, which includes three, small horizontal S/S 'stripes' placed on the sides of the rear fins, and the 'Fury' name is placed just behind the gas door - both missing here. In its place, is the trim level name - which seems to be placed too high to be a 'Belvedere' - so possibly a 'Savoy'. Again - it's just too hard a call to make with certainty; but a Fury it ain't.
As for Christine, it's definitely a 1958 model year Plymouth - appearing to be a Fury - the model year easily given-away by the horizontal nameplate trim at the front edge of the hood, and the horizontal 'stripes' of the front grill for the 1957-58 model years. (The 1959 model year front grill changed to an 'egg carton/checkerboard' pattern).
I forgot about the Savoy …. But that was mostly used as a fleet car ( taxis, police) the biggest taxi livery in LA used savoys. Bu it’s mega rare to find a Savoy sedan in the USA … it was popular in Canada . There was also the grade down from the Fury “Sport Sedan” basic. Yes Christine was totally a 1958 … I think I typed 1959 thinking of the Monorail debut.
It’s funny how heavy and dowdy a Plymouth Savoy Or Belvedere can look compared to the Fury - even the names sound “heavier”.
Correction : LOS ANGELES used Plymouth Belvedere Taxis … and Savoy police patrol cars.
@ MIKE-
I'm unfamiliar with the 'Sport sedan'. For 1957 & 1958, the 'bottom-of-the-line' was the 'Plaza', then the 'Savoy' - (along with the 'Suburban' line for a higher-level trim for their station wagon). The 'Belvedere' was considered the top-of-the-line - BUT the 'Fury' was a sub-series, TOL, considered performance-oriented - and only offered as a two-door hardtop, with a 235hp - V8 318ci engine. Additionally, a dual-quad, 318ci engine, producing 290hp was available - and are quite rare today, as they were back then.
On the Hotel, I believe those are speed holes to make the hotel go faster.
The white/black/gray car thing is a combination of hip hop fashion culture and car manufacturers convincing people it preserves resale value to simplify sales. It's easier to move cars off the lots if they're in a limited color set.
A few years ago I was commissioned to build two Plymouth Dealerships c1960. One was a duplicate of the client’s father’s actual dealership - it wasn’t very dramatic …. The architecture didn’t match the feel of the period. The second was also under his dad’s dealership name but he wanted it extreme “googie” so the majority of the car models were Fury’s , the convertibles, the sport suburban , etc. I purchased dealer brochures and marketing booklets for Plymouth, 1959 and 1960 to lift graphics for showroom signs and lounge posters …. And even 1/87th scale brochures sitting on the showroom sales tables. The engines and other cutaways made great signage and mechanics assembly charts for the dealer’s service center. The scale models included EKO, Revell HO/Heljan and eventually Brekina. The models in the showroom range from 1958-1960 …. But in that scale and distance regular viewers will never notice. And the client has a historic and a fantasy salute to his father’s car dealership!
NANOOK;
The SPORT FURY debuted in 1959 …. It is listed as “the top of the line low-priced Fury line” as was available as a convertible and a 2 door hardtop aka “Sport (Fury)sedan” the SPORT FURY seems to appear on in 1959. There were 29 Plymouth models in 1959 and that dropped to 24 in 1960. The Savoy is listed as the lowest-priced in the Plymouth line. BTW in 1959 and 1960 there’s a Suburban Sport 4-door but it’s not grouped as part of the SPORT FURY models …. Which all I can tell is a flared side trim extending up into the tail fin. They don’t build’em like they used to!
@ MIKE-
Thanks for that info-! So much minutiae-! That project sounds like fun.
" It's easier to move cars off the lots if they're in a limited color set."
Dean, you are right. But I remember [and miss] the days when I would go with my dad--and he would pick out the colors for the interior and exterior of a new car, and all the other 'extras,' and then we waited for our car to arrive from the manufacturer. Pretty blue, striking lime green, orange and purple cars were common, on the streets, back then. When looking at today's parking lots, it seems like we're watching TV on an old B/W set, not a colored TV. Oh well, things change.
Mike, is that project pictured on your old blog site? Sounds interesting.
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