Nice Rescans!

As you know, I've been rescanning some slides that (for various reasons) had not necessarily turned out so good during my first attempts, sometimes as much as ten years ago. Today I am sharing two rescans that came out surprisingly well!

Let's start with this 1956 view of the Bertha Mae; the slide had turned reddish-orange, and at the time (2010) I just couldn't get the color-correction to a point that was satisfactory, so I just decided to make it black and white.

Look at how good it turned out this time! Even I was surprised. I love this angle looking down on the Keel Boat, with all of the passengers grouped on top! Everyone's bundled up, so it was a chilly day. A canoe passes nearby; another neat detail is the fact that you can get an idea of what the inside of the Keel Boats was like. Pretty spartan, with simple benches and pads, sort of like the seats on the Jungle Cruise.

From the same group is this shot of Fowler's Harbor, again reduce to black and white (and cropped).

The color is back, and looks pretty decent, all things considered. The Bertha Mae has just pulled up to the dock, you can see that it has the same folks that were in the first photo (the Gullywhumper sits unused). Notice the walkway that led to the tunnel where guests could enter the Indian Village.

EPCOT model photos from Mike Devlin

It's time for more photos from the Devlin family! These come specifically from Mike Devlin, who lived the dream and became an Imagineer during the development of EPCOT's "World Showcase". Mike generously shared some wonderful photos of some of the intricate models that were built for various pavilions - and some models for pavilions that never happened!

Today I'm posting photos of the never-built Costa Rica pavilion. Mike said, "This model was used as a marketing device to coax Costa Rica to join World Showcase, so we really put our hearts into it."

As you can see, this really was an amazing model! In future posts, you'll see that all of the other pavilion models were done (as Mike says), "...in shades of gray to allow the designers to see shapes rather than details". But the Costa Rica model, "...was done in full color from the get-go". 

The style was an interesting combination of traditional Spanish colonial architecture, combined with  almost Victorian-style glass domes and a vast greenhouse, presumably to contain a representation of Costa Rica's lush rain forests. 

This is a neat "high altitude" view showing the pavilion in relationship of the pavilion to the waterfront (the World Showcase Lagoon, I assume). From this angle we can get a better look at some additional structures that have corrugated tin roofs, evoking the kind of buildings that one might come across in the jungle.

This part of the model represents some of the lush botanical gardens that guests would have been able to enjoy.

Here's Mike again: "Costa Rica eventually delined, and the model was destroyed. There were sad faces in the WSC model team that day". Oh man, destroyed.  That hurts. 

Many thanks to Mike Devlin for sharing these photos and some of his recollections. There are more pictures of EPCOT models coming up!

Obligatory Castle Photos, 1957

The year: 1957. The place: Disneyland. The smell: kind of popcorny, with undertones of hot asphalt and blooming flowers. Breeze is about 15 mph from the West. Dad has decided that it's time to take a photo of the boys. "It's for Grandma", he explains. "Aw, gee whiz, Dad...". The little stinkers comply, because what choice do they have, ultimately? But the kid in the red shirt isn't going to smile, no sir. His shirt is half tucked, and his large ticket book is sticking out of his pocket.

Two of the boys have identical striped shirts. Buy them in bulk! Meanwhile, the kid to our left has his own camera - I wish I had his pictures.

Now we're right up close to the castle. Camera boy is hugging the flagpole (banner pole?), but who are those other kids? We've seen them before; it seems as if two or three families made the trip to the park together.

Dark and Mungy Tomorrowland, 1959

Today's slides are from a bunch that is generally very nice; bright, colorful, well-composed, and full of fiber. But it looks like some weather scooted in later in the day, making things (as the title says) dark and mungy. (Yes, I made up "mungy". Think of "hungry", only without an "r").

This one would have been super nice if the photographer had adjusted his q-stop and opened the apache on his camera. Sorry to get so technical. The inside of the Space Bar looks so dark that it seems that customers would walk out covered in ink. The Skyway must have been down on this particular day - as you'll see in a future post, the Matterhorn was under construction.

More munginess; Here are the fountains that could be seen in front of CIRCARAMA building. If you stand on your head, you can just see a smidgen of the Monsanto plastic house to the left.

Pea Soup Andersen's, Solvang, California

If you ever find yourself driving on California's 101 Freeway, just north of Santa Barbara, you might start to notice billboards advertising a restaurant and roadside attraction in glorious Buellton (right next door to charming Solvang) - Pea Soup Andersen's. This restaurant has been a SoCal fixture since 1924 when it was founded by Anton and Juliette Andersen.

This first not-great snapshot shows the famous photo op that allows visitors to pose as PSA's two cartoon mascots, chefs "Hap-pea" and "Pea-wee", as they use brute force to split each pea using a mallet and a chisel. I use a rifle!

The restaurant served typical restaurant fare, but of course was most famous for the pea soup, which was based on one of Juliette's family recipes brought over from France. They serve some 500 to 600 gallons of the stuff a day!

In 1965, PSA was sold to a man named Vince Evans, who added an aviary, and small wild animal park, and a steam train that encircled the property. I never knew about the steam train until I found this undated slide! I wonder what became of this little locomotive? Perhaps it went to a zoo, or even a private collector.

This next photo is dated August 1970, and while the train tracks are still there, their days were numbered. Sometime in 1970 the aviary, zoo, and train were removed to make way for a Danish-themed hotel. Du godeste! 

I hope you have enjoyed your visit to Pea Soup Andersen's!

"New Tomorrowland" Construction

Here are two more very interesting photos taken during the construction of the New Tomorrowland. It must have been amazing to watch the old Land being demolished, and then seeing the rapid creation of an entirely new version! 

I have no idea what part of Tomorrowland we're looking at; does anybody have any guesses? I am assuming that the elevated viewpoint means that both of these were taken from the Monorail. Fans of raw lumber are having a good day today. 

This next one is an interesting shot of the Rocket Jets platform in its larval form. Somehow I was never really aware of the arched supports before, and yet they were there all along. The gantry/elevator is to the left while what would become the new Space Bar (beneath the arches) looks like a concrete bunker. I still find the use of vertical space nothing short of amazing, with the Peoplemover running above street level, and the Rocket Jets themselves above that.

"Disneyland U.S.A." Poster and Press Kit

Steve Stuart (aka "Nanook") is well known to GDB regulars with his fun commentaries; and along the way he's shared items from his personal collection of Disney stuff... here's another neat piece of ephemera.

Steve has a rare poster and press kit for the wonderful 1956 featurette, "Disneyland U.S.A." (from the "People and Places" series). This is probably my favorite of all Disneyland promotional films, showing the park in the early days, all in glorious Kodachrome. It's beautiful! If you've never seen it, the whole thing is on YouTube... check it out HERE. 

First off is the poster, as seen in the fancy mat from Steve's favorite framer! The poster's wavy rainbow hints at the brilliant hues that would dazzle moviegoers; I love the little line drawings of various attractions, reminiscent of the kind that appear in so many vintage brochures.  After a little bit of research, it appears that this 42-minute film appeared along with "Westward Ho, The Wagons!", since both were released on December 20th, 1956.

Here's a neat image showing a Conestoga Wagon, a Stage Coach, and the Pack Mules. I would imagine that this would have been reproduced at about 4 inches wide, in smudged halftones in your local newspaper. 

Here's the cover of the press book; basically a black, white and red version of the poster. 

Who loves slugs? No, not the slimy little boogers that chew on your tomatoes. I'm talking about these little pieces of text and artwork, all ready to go with halftone grays. I think my favorite is the one in the middle. 

Book it now! Theater managers apparently needed convincing to show Disneyland U.S.A. I love the little blurbs that they provide. "42 Minutes of Sheer Enchantment!". "The Most Exciting 42 Minutes That You Will Ever Experience!". So how long is the movie, anyway? Of course these blurbs get the job done, but they're not very inspired.

Presumably, lazy newspaper editors could write a whole article about Disneyland U.S.A. by copying these prewritten promotional pieces. Hopefully they at least mixed things up so that it wasn't so obvious. Just like my school book reports!

I love the big ad for the classic album, "Walt Disney Takes you to Disneyland (A Musical Tour)" - possibly my favorite Disney album (though if you ask me on another day I might list the famous Haunted Mansion record instead). The two articles at the top of the page are puzzling to me - I guess they provided additional material in case a publication wanted to write an extended article.

More delicious slugs! I can imagine seeing these reproduced in magazines and newspapers of the era, along with dozens of other movies and short features. "Now you can see it ALL on the motion picture screen"... sounds like a movie that is not appropriate for the whole family! 

Many thanks to Steve Stuart for sharing this great vintage press kit!

Beautiful Skyway & Fantasyland, May 1962

I am happy to present today's first image, this beautiful view of Fantasyland as seen from the Skyway circa 1962. It's from the same lot as a previous post, and both have bright, amazing colors. Our photographer was facing toward the Matterhorn, but heading back toward the Fantasyland Skyway chalet (recently torn down). Below us is Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, along with a little ticket & information booth. I need two ticket books and three informations.

Zooming in a bit to the left, I wanted a better look at those wonderful old Von Roll buckets in their mid-century hues. 

Some people look for evidence of telephone poles... I like to look for bobsleds when I see photos of the Matterhorn. Upon closer inspection, two bobsleds can be seen!

I'll wrap things up with this nice (if familiar) view from Storybook Land. This gentle attraction is due for an upgrade, and I suggest that they sprinkle in a lot more 4-letter words and offensive humor (i.e. poop jokes). It's what the public wants!

Tropical Serenade, The Magic Kingdom, November 1971

Eight years after the original "Enchanted Tiki Room" debuted in Disneyland ("A Musical Fantasy With An Astonishing Cast of Audio-Animatronic Personalities"), a second version opened in the Magic Kingdom, this time called the "Tropical Serenade". It's a "musical luau"!

Mr. X took some very nice photos of the exterior of the Tropical Serenade; I love the way this building looks so completely different from the California version, especially with that distinctive tower. Presumably it echoes some kind of Polynesian architecture, but I'll be darned if I know which island culture is represented.

Notice the little dome with the muppet-like "eyes". It's either intended to scare away evil spirits or eat cookies.

This one is almost "postcard worthy". I love the stylized bulls (water buffalo?) atop some of the gables. Those orange pumpkin-like lamps are interesting too, I've never seen anything quite like them. Check out the pants on that kid with the yellow shirt!

And finally, a third shot - redundant, but lovely nonetheless.

On Tom Sawyer Island, January 1963

With all of the changes going on in Frontierland, I find that vintage photos now evoke a different reaction than they used to. Tom Sawyer Island will be reduced in size, and some features will be gone forever, though it is unclear at this point what will still be there in a year. 

Tom and his friends built an excellent treehouse - for a short while it was the highest point in Disneyland! Of course by 1963 the Matterhorn had surpassed it; but it was still the stuff of dreams for a lot of kids, and likely a few grownups too. I know that I always wished I had a cool treehouse when I was young!

I'm assuming that many of the rock formations will remain. The settler's cabin has been removed... will another one be built in a new location? Will the Frankenfort that is not open to the public be replaced with one that we can explore? It'll be interesting to see!