Happy Friday! I have two very nice randos for you this time.
This first scan is from a slide hand-dated "April 12, 1968" - which means I can refer to Jason's Disneyland Almanac for some fun facts. April 12th was a Friday; the park was open from 9:00 AM 'til midnight. The high temperature was a pleasant 69º, dipping to 54º in the wee hours. In the photo, our photographer was in Tomorrowland, right next to the multi-trunked Senegal Palm. That flowerbed is full of colorful blossoms. Asters? Or some kind of fancy daisies? I have no idea, really! This angle is unique in my collection, I like the way the Skyway is angled overhead, passing (seemingly) above Rolly Crump's souvenir stand, while the blue Monorail sits at the station, waiting to zoom into hypersonic speeds.
Next is a nice photo from July, 1972. I'm kind of surprised that I don't have more good pictures of the Alice in Wonderland attraction, especially since a portion of the ride was outside, ready for any photographer to snap a pic. Here's a "snooty caterpillar" vehicle in lilac, with an impressive six guests aboard. I've always liked the detail of the "false eyes" on the sides. Most of the kids look sort of zonked out, but the girl with the orange top had fun, anyway.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThat 1st image is definitely taken from an unusual angle. Those flowers certainly resemble some variety (or varieties) of daisies.
Just the idea of a caterpillar ride vehicle is delightfully inspired - and then having it be a snooty caterpillar is just the icing on the cake. (Note to self: Use 'snooty' in a sentence at least four times today...)
Thanks, Major.
The Senegal Palm is at its peak harvesting time. Its colorful, succulant fruit is dangling temptingly from its fronds, The yellow-colored fruit is at perfect ripeness. The cyan ones still need a few days to reach their peak. The red ones are way too ripe and mushy, leave them to the birds and squirrels.
ReplyDeleteMajor, I agree, this photo has a nice composition. Plus a lot of color. I don't know what those flowers are either. I'm gonna guess daffodils. :-p
What a great picture of the Alice ride! (Even with the zonked out kids.) We don't get many close-ups of this ride. The gray walls really make the colors pop.
Nice, colorful, crisp, randos, Major. Thanks.
Disneyland seemed sunnier, warmer and brighter in the 60’s and 70’s.
ReplyDeleteThat lady sitting at the planter almost looks like she’s wearing the 1968-1975 Disneyland paper shopping bag!!
I believe those flowers are Gerber Daisies.
ReplyDeleteMike, I'm glad to know the dates that the psychedelic DL shopping bag was used. I had always wondered about the exact years that it was introduced and discontinue. How long was the bag that followed it used....when did they start using the multicolored bag that we saw in the 1985 parade pics on Wednesday?
These are two VERY nice randos, Major! Thanks!
Tokyo knows - Gerbera daisies, and a might fine display of them. Glorious photo. To me it looks like a plastic shopping tote bag on the bench itself.
ReplyDeleteMS
These are very nice randos. The first one really seems like future in LA, just imagine the Matterhorn being a natural feature near Griffith Park. And the second one is just WOW, great to see this perspective of the Alice vehicles and decor (right down to the white landscaping rocks that were once the rage)!
ReplyDeletethanks, Major
Nanook, I will accept “some variety (or varieties) of daisies”! Don’t think I won’t use “snooty” four times today.
ReplyDeleteJB, “fronds”, what an odd word. I thought that the red ones would be the sweetest and best, but what do I know? “Daffodils”, the flower that should be mentioned in every poem “O pretty little daffodil…”. I’m always happy to get a nice shot of the “Alice” ride, it just looks great every time.
Mike Cozart, I see what you mean about the shopping bag woman!
TokyoMagic!, I guess I’ve heard of Gerber Daisies, named after the baby food company. Did you know that the Gerber Baby is me? It’s true! I wonder if the multicolored bags you mentioned came right after the “psychedelic” bags were done?
MS, ah “Gebera”, TokyoMagic! was close. I assume that the planter full of flowers is long-gone. The poor lady, she was so much more than a plastic tote bag!
LTL, maybe if they’d built Disneyland on the lot near the studio, we would have had a Matterhorn overlooking Griffith Park! I know, it wasn’t enough land, but Walt would have found a way. Now, with so much “drought landscaping”, white rocks are back.
5 Santa Fe logos! That's a record, I think. That is a sweet view from the planter.
ReplyDeleteCall me silly but that outside twisty part of Alice has always been my favorite, made better by sitting on the back of a snooty caterpillar.
Thanks for the randos Major
Zach
Disneyland was warmer and sunnier back then. Starting with Big Thunder Mountain, they made things aged, weathered and muted. Then came Fantasyland with its bright and pastel colors being replaced by the new Fantasyland with its muter colors. Next Tomorrowland lost its warmth when they changed the colors PeopleMover vehicles into white and silver with stripes. That brought a coldness to the land. Then it's like lets make everything weathered and worn. It's definitely not the same park anymore. Remember when Walt said, let's make the Haunted Mansion beautiful on the outside and we'll take care of the inside with the dark colors and scares. Even Rainbow Ridge was more colorful and warmer in its Mine Train days. Loss of the Skyway also meant less color in Disneyland. Blah, blah, blah.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Major.
Photo 1 is beautiful, a near perfect view of Tomorrowland. I was going to guess zinnias, but gerbera looks right too.
ReplyDeletePhoto 2 could be from the MB, documenting Alice. Those zoned out kids are wondering what they just saw…
Terrific views to end the week! Thank you Major.
JG
zach, I gotta admit, that’s a lot of Santa Fe logos in one photo! I do love the twisty part of the Alice ride, but I always thought it was best to be up front. But I’m not sure!
ReplyDeleteK. Martinez, you make a lot of good points about the colors that have changed at the park; I guess I’m torn, sometimes - I like the look of the “New Fantasyland”, even though it lacks the cheerful colors of the original. I was not nuts about the “steampunk” colors of Tomorrowland, and was happy when some of the clean whites came back. And yes, why did they feel the need to ruin the Peoplemover vehicles? Even the Monorails went from three nice colors to “white with stripes”. Boring. Weirdly, they’ve upped the colors on Main Street, or maybe it’s more that they use the wrong colors, like “baby blue”, “Easter yellow”, and those multicolored bricks that feel “off”.
JG, if you showed me a photo off a zinnia, I would have to shrug. I’m an embarrassment to my flower-loving mom and grandma! That second photo does resemble the kind of thing from the MB. Glad you liked these.
TOKYO: that white bag with the colorful attraction and character vignettes we saw in those 1985 posts seemed to have debuted in 1985 in paper and at some point changed to a thin but string plastic …. First with just very large bags … then all sizes . That was used from 1985-1989/90 approximately. Prior to that was the “castle & Fireworks” on an orange/ yellow bag from 1977-1984/85. The Castle & Fireworks was also used from 1975-1977 with a white background and a blue background….. HOWEVER I’m not sure if BOTH were available at the same time or was it blue then white OR white then blue?? I have seen both colors WHITE and BLUE of bags with receipts in them dated 1976….. but I have a AMERICA ON PARADE record in a white bag with a 1975 register receipt …. (??)
ReplyDeleteI remember at the cast overstocked sales previous bags or out-date anniversary bags were used. This was true in the coffee break room for employees - the cabinets were always filled with plastic wrapped sleeves of past wax and foam logo and anniversary cups. Anytime there was a cast appreciation party or something with cake and drinks …. Out came the old ( old unused stock)orange and White Castle & fireworks waxed paper and foam cups!! One time during a DL management training class they gave use “notepads” to use …. They were literally the unused waiters tabs from Carnation Ice Cream Parlor!! - we wrote on the blank backsides. During one of the classes my friend Debbie and filled out a Carnation order tab and slid it over to me …… and my Carnation check was for 625.00 in ice cream!! Lol … I still have her joke “check” somewhere….
I love the color in these photos! This was also “my” Tomorrowland but 12 years later, so I know it well. Gerbera daisies: correct: however they are commonly referred as “Gjer-burr” daisies…potato potahto…they are lovely flowers and are super duper in arrangements although they are heavy and need to be wires. I can’t grow them here in the NE, but I did grow them in SoCal and they grew like weeds near the ocean. I like seeing the Rolly “Central Ticket Booth” and he had a brother: the “Hatmosphere” across the way. And a sister with Tomorrowland Terrace: and the big daddy Tomorrowland Stage. And the little one: The Character Shop. However There was once a misspelling: public, The Chacter Shop…so from that time on…in the early 80’s I’ve called it that. I miss the Chacter Shop…I don’t need Star Wars stuff…I need tiny TV’s and cool “future” wares. Thanks Major!
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