A Pair From August, 1963
I have two nicer-than-usual scans for you on this fabulous Friday! Starting with a look at the Douglas Moonliner. This might even meet the criteria to be a "postcard-worthy" scene; there is no higher honor. A single blue Skyway gondolas is partly hidden behind the rocket, and the Tomorrowland terminal for the Skyway is back to the right. Divorced from context, the large angled shape to the right (part of the Rocket to the Moon building) is kind of startling. Love the telephone booth in the left foreground!
Next, also from August of '63, is this photo of a zooming Monorail - zooming so fast that the camera's shutter couldn't capture it without a little bit of motion blur! It's in the western(ish) part of the parking lot, near the fence that separated the real world from the world of fantasy.
I'm sure you noticed the mounds of dirt, along with some pickup trucks and what might be some sort of earth-mover. Massive changes were underway in Frontierland, including the earliest construction of the Haunted Mansion, the removal of the Plantation House, and changes to the Indian Village. Of course some of those changes eventually became part of New Orleans Square.
2 comments:
Major-
Yes, that just might be 'postcard-worthy'-! As for the Monorail/parking lot image, hiding in the back on the left is the Disneyland Hotel tram.
Thanks, Major.
I agree, it's a nicer-than-nice picture, with the bright sunlight and blue sky. But it strikes me as odd that the Douglas Moonliner always looks a bit stubbier than the TWA Moonliner; a little thicker around the middle and not quite as tall. WHY IS THAT!! Just an optical illusion? Something about the vertical stripes, or the colors? That "angled shape to the right" is part of a Martian pyramid.
Hmm, I don't remember ever seeing a Disneyland two-toned Monorail before; yellow and blue? And white? (I guess that makes it 3-toned) When did that happen? And for how long? Somehow it looks less futuristic to me. Or is this another optical illusion, like the Douglas Moonliner? Maybe this is the Red Monorail. ;-) Those huge mounds of dirt really do look strange. Also, impressive!
Nice photos, Major. Even if they leave me a bit befuddled.
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