I have a pair of nice scans date-stamped "April, 1973". The colors are oddly subdued, but they still have a generally-pleasant appearance.
In this first one, we're looking north on Main Street USA, with the Market House to our right, the Hallmark Communication Center beyond that, and the GAF shop after that (replacing the Kodak shop). Usually people want to capture the unusual sight of a fairytale castle at the end of a turn-of-the-century American main street, but it barely squeaks into this image, so I am wondering if that group of folks directly in front of us could be the photographer's family?
Next, a nice look at the Rivers of America, with folks bustling about on shore. The Mark Twain is in Fowler's Harbor, having a Wankel engine installed. But don't worry, you can still ride The Columbia! It's a good thing I told you, you were about to cry, admit it. Being April, at least one Keelboat and one Raft are sitting unused, but another Raft is loading up to return to the mainland. Peter Fonda is enjoying his popcorn!
Major-
ReplyDeleteIt would appear today's fashion award goes to the little girl in the 1st image wearing the maroon and turquoise cable-? knit poncho w/fringe. Classy.
2nd image = stripes and more stripes.
Thanks, Major.
It looks like the family in the first pic stopped to wait while their second child checks the laces on their Sketchers Slip-Ins.
ReplyDeleteAnd the other day I was talking about Americans scarfing down popcorn. We have a perfect example in the second pic (bottom left corner).
Thanks, Major!
The lighting in the first pic does look a bit odd. Looking at the shadows, it looks like it's pretty early in the day, shortly after 'rope drop'. Maybe that accounts for the subdued lighting? I like the little girl's blue serape, or whatever those things are called.
ReplyDeleteThe second pic, stripes must've been 'in' in '73 [as nanook noted]. There's the teen boy below the Mark Twain, on the right, that lady's sweater(?) would give me a headache if I looked at it too long. And finally, the mother and her child both wearing vertical stripes. The foliage looks nice and dense here.
Ah, "poncho". Thanks, Nanook! (Why couldn't I remember that?... because it's kinda late, I guess.)
Thanks fer the purty pichers, Major.
I'm really liking the first pic for its color tone. So many fashionable people in these pics today.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Major.
Oddly both these photos seem to capture more random park guests - with just glimpses of Disneyland ….
ReplyDeleteMajor : a follow-up to yesterdays comment about the Epcot omnibuses:
Both Disneyland & Walt Disney world loaned all their main st. Omnibuses to Epcot as transport around world showcase was needed . There was also a prototype test bus that was based on a 1925 British route master double deck bus. It was designed by Harper Goff and was built by the same company who manufactured the stage cars for UNIVERSE OF ENERGY and who did the fiberglass fabrication of the WEDWAY PEOPLEMOVER used at Houston Intercontinental Airport. After testing alongside the 4 Main Street double deck buses , it was decided that they were a little more difficult to load and unload and had smaller viewing windows AND the smaller enclosed buses would probably need AC too… so none of the oldtime British style buses went into production ( they actually fit better with the world showcase theme) while Epcot continued to use the 4 Main Street omnibuses the Walt Disney world central shops built built 8 all
New 1983 omnibuses based on the WDW 1971 Bob Gurr Main Street Omnibuses : 6 for EPCOT and 2 for Disneyland to replace the 2 Disneyland originals that rotted away in the Florida weather . The 2 omnibuses at Disneyland today are from 1983. You’ll notice in the DL & WDW park gate guides the OMNIBUS attraction is removed from the listing during the 1983-84 period .
Eventually the crowds along the World Showcase Promenade became too great to safely operate the Epcot omnibus fleet and they were retired with the exception. Of one converted to entertainment use. All the retired buses were sold and used by various companies including a hotel , a restaurant-event company and a miniature golf course center . But now they have all been bought up by Disney collectors .
The wearabouts of the Epcot British style test omnibus is currently unknown.
Those two 1983 replacement Disneyland omnibuses caused a great deal of irritation when they were delivered… as the were mistakenly built WDW size and are technically too large for Disneyland … but as time and operations management changed - that was forgotten about and Disneyland had to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteTwo months before my first visit! I probably saw that exact leaf on the tree to the left in the second frame! No, not that one- the other one that's brighter green. No, no...the GREEN one! Oh, never mind...
ReplyDeleteHere’s are fine view of Main Street with five trash cans in the field. Young Miss in the poncho is in the running for fashion plate, but my money’s on the other young lady in the bell bottom pants, right of center. Enough fabric there to make two pairs.
ReplyDeleteI like photo 2 for no particular reason, just guests walking along the River. Major, I think that the MT sound system was updated at the same time as the Wankel upgrade, they added an 8-track tape deck and a 100 watt/ channel stereo graphic equalizer with quadraphonic speakers.
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, I guess I’m crazy, but I sort of like the mix of turquoise and maroon! I can’t explain why, I just do.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I’m pretty sure that kid isn’t checking their laces, instead she is picking up a piece of gum. “This still has hours of flavor left in it!”. Kids know. As for popcorn, who wouldn’t just pour the last bits into their mouths? No buttery fingers!
JB, the first one is definitely morning-ish, but it still has an unusual appearance. I was thinking that girl was wearing a “poncho”, but “serape” is probably more accurate. Not really sure what the difference is. Stripes were *definitely* in in 1973, horizontal stripes for shirts, vertical stripes for pants. Diagonal stripes for underwear.
K. Martinez, I do like the look of these photos, even though they look like they have a warm filter placed over them!
Mike Cozart, wow, I didn’t know that Harper Goff worked on Epcot, that’s kind of cool that they brought him back. I’d love to see what his bus looked like. Maybe it had big “teeth” on it like the Nautilus! It’s too bad they didn’t make a unique vehicle for Epcot, but it makes sense that it was ultimately scrapped if it had the problems you mentioned. In hindsight it seems obvious that you would want a vehicle that was very “open” for both views and ventilation. I remember you said that the old Disneyland omnibuses rotted away in the Florida rain and humidity, kind of sad. It doesn’t really matter, but it would be nice to ride the omnibuses at Disneyland, with those vehicles going all the way back to opening day (actually not sure those were there opening day - probably not). Thanks Mike.
Mike Cozart, jeez, you’d think that those Imagineers would have realized that Disneyland is not huge like WDW. Seeing them at Disneyland fairly recently, it never occurred to me that they were too large, though. They seem to work just fine.
Stu2973, wow, that is a great leaf, no wonder you are so excited to see it!
JG, I like seeing big bell-bottoms on people in 70s pix, it feels so right. That girl’s bell-bottoms seem especially baggy, or is it just me? Quadrophonic speakers, I remember going to record stores and seeing expensive quadrophonic albums, and wishing I could hear what they sounded like compared to boring old stereo. To this day I still haven’t heard a quad recording.
I had a couple of quad recordings, but couldn’t discern any differences. Probably because I didn’t have quad playback equipment. The car stereo had a kind of pseudo version with front-to-back balance faders combined with the usual R-to-L.
DeleteJG
MAJOR: Harper Goff created the World Showcase as it was built. He created the first concepts with themed architectural pavilions around a lagoon ( as opposed to the indoor mall that it was originally going to be. He also was the art director for manu of the attractions for World Showcase including ones built and not built like the River Rhein Cruise ( German Rivers), Japan Meets The World ( MEET THE WORLD) and a River Thames Canal Ride. He designed the boats for the World Showcase Friendship Fleet … two unbuilt dark rides including a Mr. Toad like “London double deck ride” and a odd Omni-mover ride through Paris at nite where your vehicles start out as Parisian Cafe table and chairs. Besides being instrumental in the development of World Showcase including, he also did development work for several early Future World pavilions. Harper Goff is the father of EPCOT’s World Showcase .
ReplyDeleteMAJOR: Walt Disney World’s IF YOU HAD WINGS -1972 in Tomorrowland was the first Disney attraction to use Quadraphonic recordings and speakers. So did the PeopleMover SUPERSPEED TUNNEL at Disneyland .
ReplyDeleteMike, I knew it! They were refitting the Mark Twain to run through the SuperSpeed tunnel!
DeleteJG
And Major : you do know Harper Goff was one of the designers of the 1976 Discovery Bay and the 1982/84 Re-Design of Discovery Bay …..
ReplyDeleteSo many knit/crochet ponchos my sister and I had in the 70s/early 80s. So many long hours spent sitting in front of the woodstove, picking burdocks out of a wet poncho. And a wet dog.
ReplyDeleteIf I had to judge a runoff between Poncho Kid and Stripy Kid for the Vintage Fashion Award, I think I'd have to hand it to Stripy Kid, just for the commitment to a head-to toe look. The prize is a 45 of this song.
I had a Barbie doll shirt exactly like the red, white, and blue striped top on the lady with the big beehive hairdo (or big pointy hat, I can't tell). Anyway, the steamboat is probably in the harbor getting her twain marked. It wears off in that muddy water.
@ Melissa-
ReplyDeleteYIKES for yipes-!
I have a full 1970s quad home stereo system by Sansui The turntable and reel to reel tape player are both quad. Interesting fact- there were different formats for quad (kind of like beta and vhs for video) There was QS, SQ, and CD-4. My reciever plays all of them and I think CD-4 is the best. It offers completly distinct four channel sound. By the way, it also has "QS Synth" which can make a stereo recording kinda- sorta quad...
ReplyDeleteI've always been a bit chagrined that I never got to ride a World Showcase Omnibus. By the time I was in a position to set my own itinerary in EPCOT and not follow someone else's, they were gone. IMHO, it wasn't just the amount of foot traffic that made the operation of the Omnibuses unsafe, it was the fact that by that time, a lot of guests were starting to treat World Showcase like an all-day frat party.
ReplyDelete