Christmastime Yo
I recently scanned a batch of oversized transparencies - none of them were in cardboard mounts, instead they were just loose in an envelope. They took some effort to scan, but it was worth it! You'll be seeing many more of them in the coming months, but for now I have two Christmas-themed pix. It's December nineteenth, after all, and time to get into that Yuletide spirit.
I believe that many of the transparencies are from 1956, though it is hard to be sure. I love this morning view of Main Street USA... the street looks pretty empty, but I think nearly everyone has rushed to the Plaza, leaving just a Streetcar, a Horseless Carriage, and that fellow who seems to be chatting with the driver.
Overhead, charming decorations exactly like those you might have found in any city add a festive air.
This next one was in the same batch of transparencies, but the color is quite different. And the sky appears to be much cloudier, so it must be from a different day. Guests are dressed for cool (but not cold) weather; I like the girl with the pink skirt, so very 50s. At first I thought she was wearing mouse ears, but I think it's just a big hair bow.
9 comments:
Major-
Talk about tasteful decorations... something that has vanished from the Disney lexicon.
No kidding about that pink skirt - which appears to have a mind of its own-! The expression on that lady in the grey suit looks as if she had ordered a Coke and instead was served a Pepsi-! Oh, the indignity. And after watching a flurry of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet episodes, I'm quite well-acquainted with how Coca-Cola goes with everything and Xmas time is no exception.
Thanks, Major.
This first photo really benefits from the oversized format. We get to see a lot of stuff that would normally be out of frame. According to the street clock, it is 10:00 AM, so the Park may have just opened? The guy on the right may be talking to the Horseless Carriage driver, but I think he's just talking on his Bluetooth. Or maybe he envisions himself walking down a fashion runway, displaying the latest in Disney couture.
Yeah, miss Pink Dress has a bow in her hair, not Mouse Ears. That dress of hers is so stiff and unyielding that it can't quite lie down properly. I thought the girl in front of her also had a bow, or an artificial flower in her hair. But upon looking more closely, it's just the face of someone walking toward us. There's someone in uniform back there in the Castle archway (black suit jacket, white hat). I think the startled lady in the left foreground has just witnessed a Killer Swan attack. I don't see any sign of The Dent; must be the flat lighting?
I see that I have copied Nanook again, in my comment... such is life.
Thanks for the BIG slides, Major. (Yo)
Those garlands over Main St. look like they might have actually been made of real pine boughs. NICE! But they should have wired them with several thousand "icicle" lights per garland.
On the extreme left side of that first pic, we can see the little "Castle," over one of the Emporium's doorways. When and why was that removed, and where is it today?
Love, love, love the Main Street picture! And I believe we can credit Mamie Eisenhower for the "pink" trend of the mid-1950s.
Photo 1 could almost pass for a real town, assuming the misty castle in the background is only a dream.
I’ll agree to the late 1956 date since we have established that the Fancy Cans were rolling out in early 1957 and that Main Street and the Entry Esplanade were some of the first locations (and Frontierland with log-textured ones). Still, there are only four cans visible which seems pretty sparse. I do like those tasteful garlands and ornaments.
Photo 2 is wonderful, but I wish those gray banners were a just little more brightly colored to contrast with the proper gray stone. The classic 50’s people are worth the price of admission.
I thought the person to the far left was carrying a bottle of wine, but now I think it’s a lady carrying a purse.
Nice views today, Major!
JG
Nanook, I really do love the tasteful decor, but I guess Disney felt the need to “wow” the folks who go to the park three times a week. Argh. I was wondering what was up with that pink skirt. Wind? It doesn’t look windy. Static cling? Who knows. Wow, I haven’t see “Ozzie and Harriet” for decades, but I definitely watched a lot of it back in the day.
JB, yes, it is likely that the park opened at 10:00 - no earlier than 9:00, but many vintage flyers state the 10:00 opening time. Maybe that horse’s name is “Bluetooth”?? It could happen. Maybe in the mid-50s, stiff unyielding skirts were the fashion. I hope it doesn’t break when she gets into a Mr. Toad car. I think the person in uniform is a security guard, and not a visiting military man. And I’m sure the weird flat lighting has made the dent completely un-seeable!
TokyoMagic!, I wonder if anybody who works for Disney understands that Main Street is supposed to look like a real (or at least “movie real”) small town main street, and not a Las Vegas version? Wow, good eye on that castle, I don’t ever recall seeing it before (though I probably have).
Steve DeGaetano, I didn’t know Mamie liked pink. It was before my time! She did like bangs (aka “fringe”), I wonder if she made that style more popular?
JG, ha ha, you are using Chuck’s scientifically-accurate trash can dating method (scuba-something). Even more dependable than carbon dating. I’ll bet littering was not quite as common in the mid-50s as it is today, so fewer trash cans were required. The whole 2nd photo is very gray, I’m guessing that the gray banners were there to put emphasis on the castle, but the overcast sky didn’t do the scene any favors. Of course the banners did become more colorful soon afterwards. Bringing your own bottle of wine to Disneyland? Great idea! Put it in your gigantic stroller, they’ll never look there.
I think the over-the-top Christmas decorations on Main Street are the result of several things. Main Street was once a place that older guests had vague memories or family stories of. Now it's so far removed from the present, Main Street is Americana Fantasyland and fantastical decorations are part of the theme in the minds of the Imagineers and guests. Also, as Christmas decorations have gone over the top on houses in my own area, Disney is expected to do something beyond what someone with a Home Depot credit card can do in a weekend or two.
In the second picture, I see staining on a few of the towers, especially on the far left. I guess they routed the rain collection to the outside walls - I would have expected drainpipes inside the walls as an invisible solution. I wonder if that was a historically correct detail someone insisted on when they built the park.
Very nice. I think the Dent has not yet occurred. The streaks started early on as we can see. I always resent the squirrel down-spouts they “fixed” that problem with…they are out of scale and started the regrettable trend towards disrespecting the integral design of the Castle.
That lady just tried the first sneak peek of Beverly, a beverage making guests gag at WDW for decades. Or Mickey’s head just fell off into the moat.
MS
Major, the word you are looking for is Disneyoskubalchronology. I am currently developing a doctoral program in that subject for the University of Phoenix.
It just occurred to me that there's no overhead catenary wire above the streetcars. Where do the horses get their power from?
The fellow in uniform in the castle archway appears to be wearing Navy or Coast Guard officer's dress blues (at this point in history, the Coast Guard uniform was identical to the Navy's with different buttons and insignia). I believe security hosts in this era wore dark shirts with dark hats in winter, although I am not 100% sure about that.
Loving these photos. Thanks, Major!
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