Two Beauties from August, 1963
I just scanned a group of slides from the summer of '63, and wanted to share two especially nice examples with you on this Friday!
First up is this very cool shot of the yellow Mark II Monorail as it glided along the beamway; it left the Tomorrowland station not long ago, then paralleled Harbor Boulevard, and then curved to the right, now on its way to the Disneyland Hotel (behind us). In the distance is Melodyland; I thought perhaps that it had only just opened a month or so earlier, but keep reading! I now believe it might still be under construction - it's not gleaming white the way I usually think of it.
SO! I thought I knew what was going on when I initially viewed this slide on the light table, but upon scanning it I see some interesting details. Notice that the Moonliner in the distance still has the TWA paint scheme, though it is lacking the actual "TWA" lettering (since Trans World Airlines ended their sponsorship sometime in 1961). BUT... by 1962, it had been repainted with the Douglas paint scheme. What the heck! Somebody must have kept this roll of film in a drawer for many months (hey, my mom did that sometimes). Meanwhile, notice that the people (not many of them, either) are all wearing cool-weather clothing, definitely not August attire.
2 comments:
Major-
Melodyland opened on July 2, 1963 - and judging from the image, I think the building is indeed ready for 'prime time' - right on down to the Melodyland flag flying atop the peak of the "tent".
Thanks, Major.
Wow, something about this Monorail photo makes it pretty striking! We've seen similar pics before, but this one is special. Maybe it's the clarity, or the camera angle, or the closeness of the Monorail. That red and white station wagon is also rather striking. Are you sure that's Melodyland? It looks like a huge pile of dirty snow; so common in SoCal.
Another striking photo! And again, we've been treated to this view many times before. But the clarity, the lighting, the color, the camera angle (are we standing on a bench? Top deck of the Omnibus?), everything came together just right to make this photo rise above the rest.
I'm wondering what's going on with that mom (or grandma) and kid closest to us. The kid seems to be refusing to go another step toward Tomorrowland. Maybe he's afraid of the Future. The girl in the pink pants is marching to her own drum.
These really are beauties. Thanks, Major.
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