Nice RANDOS!
I happen to love Randos; I hope you do too! This first Rando is from August 1959, and it features two swingin' fellas who are mighty excited to see the brand-new Tomorrowland Monorail. It's funny, I somehow still see the young boys that these grown men used to be; maybe Disneyland helps to bring that out in people. Behind them in the Keelboat/Mark Twain/Canoes poster, and then the fabulous 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea poster, one of my absolute favorites. This Kodachrome image managed to capture the hot pink lettering.
Speaking of the Monorail... here we are, a mere three years later (August 1962), and average Americans are sick of Monorails! The new trend is to have as many rails as possible. Three? Pretty good. Six rails? Even better. Nine rails? Now you're talking! I just feel safer with more rails. See you on my Nonarail! Meanwhile, the Skyway, which has no rails, glides hither and yon through the Matterhorn's stony nostrils.
All three of the ladies are wearing babushkas! I can only assume that this picture was taken way before August, when there was still a chill in the air.
7 comments:
Major-
These images are beauties. I particularly enjoy looking at the 1st image wondering if the wooden 'poles' jutting out from behind the AP frames are topped-off with American flags, as the R-W & B bunting on the train might indicate this image was taken around the 4th of July.
Any day is a good day for a babushka-! (And I do believe we can just barely spy the front end of a red Matterhorn bobsled on the extreme right edge in the middle of the frame).
Thanks, Major.
I love Randos too, Major. It's like a box of chocklits... well, you know the rest.
Haha- The elderly gentleman on the left has no forehead, while the guy on the right is ALL forehead. Really nice color in this one.
I'm still waiting for our Hoverrail, or "SkyTrain" as I called it in one of my RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 parks. I had a monorail train on an invisible track so it looked liked it was flying through the air.
This second photo is making my eyes dart every-which-way; no definite focal point to lock onto. There are lots of things to grab our attention, but they're all on the periphery. Still a nice photo though.
Whoa, good eye, Nanook! I didn't see that bobsled at all. That is, assuming it is a bobsled... It's on the track after all... I suppose it could be a wayward popcorn cart.
Nice-looking Randos, Major. Thanks.
I love the two men standing in front of the posters, Gramps is slowly being eaten by his Old-Man trousers, like a fabric anaconda, and Sonny has the required Disney Guest uniform, short-sleeve shirts, sunglasses, with ticket book and ballpoint pen in the shirt pocket. But they have matching shoes! Matching each other too! That 20K poster is a real winner, notice how the “20” is just slightly larger than the rest of the “000”. Real subtle style.
The Matterhorn is a great pic too. I’m glad his hay fever cleared up before heading through the Nostrils. I used to wonder what “Alweg” meant, but now I know. One benefit of increasing age, I guess. Noticing the Santa Fe logos too. And we get both the train and the poster today, a side effect of the luck brought by that tiny bit of bobsled.
Thanks Major! Great stuff.
JG
Nanook, those poles sported flags from around the globe, celebrating the new additions to Tomorrowland (the Matterhorn, Monorail, and Submarine Voyage). Daveland has a few good photos of those flags (I might too, but can’t remember for sure). I did a quick look at his page but couldn’t find them immediately (I’m away from home), but I swear they are there! That red thing MUST be a bobsled, but I sure would have never spotted it!
JB, hey, somehow foreheads just become a fact of life as men get older. Mostly. Lucky for me I have most of my hair, but even so, it isn’t what it used to be. RollerCoaster Tycoon sounds like fun, I’ve never played but have heard about it for years. I like the idea of a “flying Monorail”. The red “bobsled” looks almost like a bouquet of flowers, though that makes zero sense.
JB, ha ha, why do those trousers start to go higher and higher? I’ve never understood it. I’m like the cool kids, my waistband is low. Like “showing all my underwear” low. I’m cool darnit, I’M COOL! You need a ballpoint pen with your ticket book so that you can check off the attractions you’ve already done on the handy checklist on the inside back cover. I guess I never really noticed that the “20” was bigger than the rest of the lettering on that poster! “Alweg” is a portmanteau of “Alfred” and “Wegenheimer”. I did my own research.
Very beautiful pics. The first pic is wonderful.
Speaking of babushkas, has anyone heard from Melissa? I miss her. I hope she's okay.
Thanks, Major.
In the original THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, the alien ambassador tells the little human boy playing with his Lionel electric train set “to tell him about the trains where he comes from that ride in the sky and use no tracks ….” But I get the impression he isn’t talking about a monorail .
I know I’ve mentioned before how Disneyland slapped the Santa Fe logo on the monorails despite that they were not an actual monorail sponsor , but to pacify Santa Fe with some vague sponsorship extent contract wording …. But I’ve always wondered what ALWEG (WEGAMATIC) thought of this ?? And I understand Disney used the ALWEG name on the monorails despite Bob Gurr had to basically completely re-design the straddle system for Disneyland .
It’s sad today the Disney company is not capable of engineering and developing their own technologies anymore for the parks and have to purchase or license it all from other companies.
two men in first photo...
"Let's take the double-decker WholeNineYardsBus to TomorryLand!"
"Yeah, and ride the Unirail"
"Are you daft? It's called the Solorail"
"OK. Then this attraction poster says to visit 20,000 Leaks Under the Ceiling."
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