Expo 67, Montreal, Canada, North America, Planet Urf

Today I have four photos from "Expo 67" for you! This was the first official World's Fair since the "Century 21" Expo in Seattle in 1962 (the 1964 New York World's Fair was not sanctioned by the "Bureau International des Expositions", making it "unofficial" - though still very awesome).

Originally intended to be held in the Soviet Union to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution (!), it eventually wound up in Montreal to commemorate Canada's centennial. 

This first image appears to be a photo of the entry gates into the Fair. There's lots of overcoats, evidence of a chilly day.

The Fair site was enormous, covering large areas along the east shore of the St. Lawrence River, as well as two sizable islands (Saint Helen's Island and Notre Dame Island). Expo 67 was the most  popular World's Fair of the 20th Century, with one day's attendance exceeding 500,000 people! FYI, Shanghai hosted "Expo 2010", and in 6 months over 75 million people attended.

Along the shore of the river we can just see an elbow of the Italy pavilion jutting in to our left; next is the Czechosolvakia pavilion (the building with the black borders and the one with the vertical stripes next to it). The bright yellow building just visible is part of Venezuela's pavilion, and in the distance is the massive USSR pavilion. Notice the monorail, called the "Minirail".

This next view shows the ornate Thailand pavilion to our right; the curving red spire just to its left is part of the Ethiopia pavilion. The hexagonal building in the distance held the "Man the Explorer" exhibits, while the angular buildings to our extreme left are part of what was known as "Africa Place" (with more Venezuela just behind it).

In this last view, we have the "Man the Producer" pavilion (which resembled the "Man the Explorer" building with its angled hexagons). The series of vertical red pylons is part of the "Economic Progress" pavilion, with the United States' geodesic dome in the distance. To our right is the "European Communities" pavilion.

I have at least 50 slides from Expo 67 (after selling off a bunch) so if you are interested in seeing more, let me know!

Tomorrowland, 1957

I have two excellent photos from Tomorrowland for you today! We'll start with this great shot of the Monsanto House of the Future when it was brand-new. It still looks wonderful, nearly 60 years later. I'm not sure if the designers considered this example to be full-sized, or if it was more of a "proof of concept", but I think that something like this might actually appeal to homeowners today if it was scaled up, perhaps 50% larger. Or twice as big, what the heck! Mid-century design is all the rage today, after all.

Are companies still trying to design efficient, sturdy, attractive, affordable houses these days? Or have they all given up, conceding that the general public wants a traditional home and not some crazy plastic mushroom?

Next is this nice view of the Tomorrowland Autopia load area as seen from the Skyway. Look out, the Richfield eagle is heading right toward us! The landscape isn't very... well, landscaped. It looks like the drought-parched front lawns of many SoCal homes that you'll see today.

Zooming in, we can see a pair of little girls at the wheel of a light blue vehicle. Now that I am paying attention, most of the cars are in shades of blue or green, so the tomato-red example really stands out.

Happy Couple, 1959

You know, sometimes I see vintage photos of people, and I just get a sense that I would have liked them if I'd ever met them. 

Check out this couple, for instance! I call them Helen and Pete. Helen is a stay-at-home mom who loves decorating and cooking dishes from foreign lands (have you heard of this crazy thing called fondue?), and is famous for her dinner parties. Pete is a manager at Boeing, is an excellent golfer,  and he is learning how to play the ukelele. They've been married for 27 years and have two kids, and are looking forward to a trip to Japan next May. Helen is already learning some handy Japanese phrases because she is a considerate traveler. Arigatou gozaimasu!

See? I'll bet you like them too. But I saw them first.

There they are again, having a swell time in Frontierland. I hope Helen has taken lots of wonderful color footage with her movie camera. 

More EPCOT models

Here are more photos of some early EPCOT models, as shared with us by former Imagineer Mike Devlin! I don't know about you, but I love models of just about anything.

Let's start with three photos of the Mexico Pavilion. According to Mike this was at least the third attempt on the pyramid design, and one rejected concept showed a pyramid with glass sides like a modern office building. I agree with him when he says, "Thankfully, historical accuracy won out"!

Notice that this model was built in shades of gray, including the foliage; Mike said that this was done so that the designers paid more attention to the shapes and designs, rather than being dazzled by superficial colors. Once the design was finalized, Mike said that the models were repainted in the finished hues.

I have never been to EPCOT, but I'm guessing that the Mexico pavilion does not have all of those spiky agave plants (or whatever those are supposed to be). Nothing like sharp pointy plants in a place where the public is going to be!

How about this beautiful model of the Italy pavilion? There's the reproduction of the campanile in St. Mark's Square, with the Doge's Palace to our left. I don't know if gondolas were ever a part of the actual pavilion as it was built, and if the public was supposed to be able to ride in them.

This second photo shows the model as seen from the back. Mike says, "The building in the bottom left was created to house Michelangelo's David, hopefully on loan to Disney for EPCOT's grand opening (it didn't happen). I took the time to create a scale version of that statue for the model, asking Blaine Gibson for tips about armatures and modeling clay". Wow, Blaine Gibson!

Thanks to Mike Devlin for sharing these great photos and his great descriptions! There are more to come.

Random Disneyland Stuff

Like the title of this post says, today will be all about some pretty random Disneyland stuff. Hopefully it's fun stuff!

First up, how about some complimentary main gate admission tickets? They're from various years, so the price went up and up. From what I understand, it now costs over $20 to get in! Who am I, Richie Rich?? These tickets are supposedly still valid, though I don't intend to see if they work.

This next one is unusual; it's a pass for the Carolwood Pacific Railroad - Walt Disney's miniature railroad that ran through his property in Holmby Hills (which is right next to Beverly Hills). As you can see, the pass is dated "1954", though history tells us that Walt stopped operating the "Lilly Belle" in 1953 due to an accident in which a child was scalded by steam, and probably also because plans for Disneyland were really starting to coalesce. I can only assume that these passes were printed up before Walt decided to put the Lilly Belle in storage.

If anybody knows anything about this little plastic token (beyond the obvious), I would love to hear it! Who received these, and why? 

And finally, how about a gate handout from 1972? The cover art refers to the Main Street Electrical Parade, which debuted in June of '72, so only a month before this flyer was printed. The back cover (on the left) lists the many choices for both daytime and "nitetime" entertainment, including the All-American College Band, the "Kids Next Door" in Tomorrowland, the Royal Street Bachelors, the Pearly Band, Los Camperos, and Teddy Buckner and His Band - to name just a few.

The inside artwork is a mixture of styles from the 50's and 60's, though the colors border on "psychedelic". Notice that the map shows "Bear Country", which had opened in March of that year. There was lots of music in the park at the Tomorrowland Terrace, the Tomorrowland Stage, the French Market, and the Plaza Gardens. What a wonderful era in the park's history!

I hope you have enjoyed today's Random Stuff.

Frontierland, September 1963

This first photo is not the most inspiring thing in the world, but I have to admit that the entrance to Frontierland was very pretty back in 1963. Walking over a bridge to enter this land feels like another one of those transition akin to a cinematic dissolve (much like entering the park through the tunnels beneath the railroad tracks). Aunt Patty (on the bridge) senses the change deep down in her lizard brain. She also inexplicably finds herself craving flies.

Davy Crockett loved arcade games, including favorites like Skee Ball and foosball to newer offerings like "Asteroids" and "Space Invaders". He always had a deerskin sack of quarters handy, and would generously share them with Georgie Russell. Walt Disney wanted to pay tribute to this "hard fact" in American history by building the Davy Crockett Frontier Arcade. Bleep bloop!

Sacred Elephant Bathing Pool, July 1963

In 1962, Disneyland's Jungle Cruise underwent a seven million dollar refurbishment - pretty impressive considering that the whole park had cost somewhere in the neighborhood of seventeen million dollars back in '55. One of the main additions was the sacred elephant pool. You know it, you love it!

Based on a scene like this, elephants lead pretty good lives. Eat and eat, and then go frolic in the cool waters of the Ganges (or some other Indian river). As a kid I always loved the baby elephants and was jealous of their ability to squirt water from their long noses. Near the center of the photo is one pachyderm who seems to be crawling up the bank, or sunning himself, or something. I never could figure out exactly what he was doing.

I suspect that the Jungle Cruise water is not the cleanest in the world (maybe I'm wrong), but the elephants are having so much fun that I want to dive in and join them. Especially if I get to sit beneath the waterfall.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Chuck (you all know Chuck, right?) produced this stitched-together version of both of today's photos. I did one too, but his turned out better! My excuse is that I have Olympic fever. Anyway, many thanks to Chuck for taking the time to do this great panorama view!

U.S.A. "Then and Now"

Today's "Anything Goes Saturday" post is an example of one of my favorite things - looking at a vintage view of a scene, and then trying to find a more contemporary view in order to compare and contrast.

Let's start with this neat slide from Colorado Springs, with the magnificent Antlers Hotel. This was the second hotel... the first one burned down in 1898. The owner rebuilt it in 1901 in a style described as "Italian Renaissance"; it had 200 rooms, a restaurant, a ballroom, fireproof walls, tapestries, and mosaic floors. It also offered a nice view of nearby Pikes Peak. Several U.S. Presidents stayed there, including Theodore Roosevelt.

This second version of the Antlers Hotel was torn down in 1964, presumably because it was not profitable, and possibly because it was seen as hopelessly outdated - a fate many older buildings suffered in the 1960's. 

I love this first photo (circa 1963), in large part due to the picturesque shops and theaters along Pikes Peak Avenue. The cinema to our right is showing The Nutty Professor (in color!). "Stella Stevens - his favorite student!". She would have been my favorite student too. In the distance another theater is showing "PT-109" starring Cliff Robertson. 

A new 14 story structure was built, and it opened in 1967. Whoa, what happened to all of the charm? It's certainly more clean and modern; the word "sterile" comes to mind.

Next is this 1962 photo of a colorful building in Winnemucca, Nevada. It's the "Star Broiler" on West Winnemucca Boulevard! Note the variety of colorful wooden Indian figures out front - the mark of a quality restaurant if ever there was one. It was also a casino, in case you were tired of hauling around all of that money. 

I found a few photos of vintage postcards that I thought I would share; here's the first one, looking very much like my photo. I love the fiberglass steers on top of the building!

At some later date, the multicolored stripes were changed to shades of pink. Eventually the entire building was covered in vertical neon stripes, which was quite impressive.

Nowadays it is the Winners Casino. Howdy Partners!

Tomorrowland, 1972

 There aren't many things in this world that I like better than a beautiful photo of vintage Tomorrowland - and today's first example is a lulu. The photographer was aboard the Peoplemover, or at least I believe so. 

I love the perspective on the Skyway buckets as they head toward (and from) the openings in the Matterhorn. The square buckets look like plastic ice chests - as if they were insulated to help keep guests cool! Down below there are Peoplemover vehicles, and Monorail Red, as well as some Autopia cars. All under a cloudless sky on a perfect July day.

This one is not quite as dazzling, but it still offers an interesting view as seen from the Disneyland Railroad while stopped at Tomorrowland Station. In this photo and the previous photo, the Peoplemover trains are empty for whatever reason.  But if it wasn't running, how could the first picture have been taken from it?!

The Plaza and Frontierland, July 1958

You can't get to many places in Disneyland without first passing through the hub and Plaza. Besides, that Bavarian castle has a way of drawing crowds, like a lightbulb draws moths. Notice the Horse Drawn Streetcar heading toward us, I'd never really noticed how the track hugs the curb in this area.

You know how I like to zoom in for a bit of retro people-watching. Dad is going to get tired of carrying that kid on his back real soon. The Monsanto house is just visible, let's go there! 

Judging from the shadows on this July day, it looks to still be later the afternoon. But it won't be dark for many hours! Notice the buckaroo next to the trashcan. Lots of guests seem to appreciate the many benches and umbrellas.

Next we finally leave Main Street and are in Frontierland. This is an unusal angle with the shooting gallery in the distance. I tried scanning this one with a different color profile, and some weirdness resulted. Oh well! Once again I enjoy looking at the vintage people.