Here's a nice pair of crisp, clear images from 1957-ish (by my guesstimate). First, a lovely view of Main Street Station at 1:20 PM. The sun is bright, and the sky is blue with only faint wisps of clouds. The best thing is, of course, the attraction posters, including two rare examples - the Art Corner to the extreme left, and the Main Street Station poster just to the left of the Peter Pan poster.
Next is a shot from the Plaza looking into Tomorrowland, with the Avenue of Flags - only 48 of them in '57. Inside the CIRCARAMA building, guests could view the 360ยบ film, "A Tour of the West". If Disney has a copy of this in their archives, I wish they'd release it for nerds like me to watch. Wouldn't it be fun to see the famous sights of The West as they looked pre-1960? Maybe they even go to Oxnard!
Major-
ReplyDeleteThese are lovely images, but let's change that '1957-ish' date to some time in mid-1958; as that's when Space Station X-1 was re-named to Satellite View of America.
Thanks, Major.
Wow. You already did a good job describing the many attributes of the Main Street Station photo, so I'll just say "wow" again! Something about the diagonal angle of the wispy clouds really adds to the scene.
ReplyDelete"Maybe they even go to Oxnard!" The dream! The color saturation on these photos is excellent. Several of the original Disneyand orange trees are covered in fruit... I mention that only to teasingly frustrate Bu, who is forever searching for that particular holy grail.
Really nice images today, Major. Thanks. Now I'll go to bed with visions of Disneyland dancing in my head.
The original colors of Main Street Station were just so much more pleasing and harmonious than they are today.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear the cheers from our Attraction Poster experts.
ReplyDeleteMS
Never noticed the tops of the attraction poster frames have metal "curlicues." The paint on them matches the background greenery so well that the curlicue on top of the Skyway poster completely disappears.
ReplyDeleteI am very much not an attraction poster expert, but I still enjoy seeing them posted on the fence like this. I wish this practice had never stopped, or, having stopped, would return. I guess it interferes with guest photos of Floral Mickey.
ReplyDeleteThere is just a sliver of the House of the Future in photo 2, and a hitching post where you can tie up your Horse of the Future during lunch. Some of the best contrasts in the Park.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, I didn’t look it up (obviously) but I thought that Satellite View of America was there in ’57. Thanks for the correction.
ReplyDeleteJB, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - good, bright sunshine really makes all the difference in these vintage photos. Everything could be identical, but if it was overcast, the whole thing would be “blah”. I am frustrated for Bu, the Disney company missed out on a real money-making opportunity. How many folks would love to have a scion from an original Disneyland orange tree growing in their yard? A lot, I’ll bet.
Steve DeGaetano, I AGREE.
MS, I feel like I’m *kind* of an Attraction Poster expert! Or maybe just an “extreme fan”. A rare Art Corner poster just sold at auction for around $5,000, which is low (believe it or not) - though it had tanning and damage.
Steve DeGaetano, it’s true, those wrought-iron curlicues really do blend in - you only really notice them if the lighting is just right.
JG, I kind of wonder why they decided that the posters needed to be removed. They did wind up putting many on the Monorail pylons outside the park, perhaps they decided that that was enough. They didn’t block Mickey’s floral portrait, but nowadays there is often a line of people waiting for their turn for a photo, so that actually might have been one reason. I want to ride a Horse of the Future!
Major, the Horse of the Future is powered by the Hay of the Future…
ReplyDeleteJG
^ And you can use the horse-pucky of the future to fertilize your garden of the future!
ReplyDeleteThe light and shadow on the front and side of the station features is so perfect, it almost looks like a CGI rendering.
ReplyDeleteThe color choices of the elements (windows and doors) along with the handcar are one of those things that the imagineers got right. I can't describe why, but it's clearly correct.