Tomorrowland '75

"Tomorrowland '75"... it should have been the title of an Irwin Allen movie, but I thought of it instead. Eat it, Irwin!

Both of today's photos are a bit over-exposed, and they have that blown out quality that makes you wish you had sunglasses on while viewing them. But... they're still neat. Just as I never get tired of photos of the old Rocket to the Moon, I also never weary of views showing the Peoplemover and the Rocket Jets; the Mary Blair murals on the right are mostly lost in the shadows, but I just like knowing that they are there. I'm not sure I ever noticed that they extended all the way down to ground-level - at least in this section.


If you stare at this photo for too long, you will become snowblind. Was in the Monorail that passed above the Tomorrowland Skyway station? Or the Peoplemover? Notice that work is being done on the Matterhorn, and a workman's ladder is visible on the lower right. So... I hope you didn't have plans on riding it. There were no other roller coasters at Disneyland back in those days, either!

Meh!

Apologies in advance, homies!

When you see as many amateur photos as I do, you start to realize that truly amazing pictures are pretty rare. Merely "good" photos are more numerous; but the vast majority of photos fall into the "Meh!" category. Like today's examples.

Of all the views that might inspire one to lift the camera to one's eye and press the button, why did this photographer choose to capture this one? It's dominated by the flat, industrial roof above Fantasyland's dark rides, with a partial-but-no-very-good view of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Meh!


Other than the submarine vanishing beneath the waterfall in the distance, the photo is pretty "meh" too.


I guess our photographer gets points for attempting to capture Main Street at night. Looks like they may have used the top of a trash can to keep it in focus too. But I had to lighten the image up a LOT to even get it to this murky state. Meh!

Anything Goes Saturday - Douglas Skyrocket

Just a few weeks ago, on another "Anything Goes" saturday, I noted my casual love of airplanes. I don't know diddly about them, but they fascinate me!

Today's photo, dating from the mid-1950's (red Kodachrome mount) shows the supa-cool Douglas Skyrocket. It looks like it's going fast even when it's at a standstill! Its first flight was in 1948; In 1953, it was the first aircraft to exceed Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound) - piloted by the legendary Scott Crossfield. Douglas built a total of 3 Skyrockets, and they flew with power from a jet engine and a rocket engine. This was all part of the exciting era when designers were breaking records and learning more and more about hypersonic flight... all relating to the early days of the U.S. space program.


It appears that this Skyrocket was on display at an airport, almost certainly in Southern California. All three aircraft survive today. One is in the National Air & Space Museum in Washington DC, another is at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California, and the other is at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California.

Frontierland, January 1960

Continuing yesterday's Frontierland fest, here are three more from 1960... these are from January rather than June, though.

We'll start with this view of the Mark Twain. Nothing too unusual about that... until you notice the activity to our left. Cascade Peak is in the early stages of construction! Apparently lots of wood (and relatively little steel) was used in the framing of this structure, which partially explains why it had rotted out so much that it was torn down in 1998. Neglect explains the rest.


Here's a nice (blurry, but nice) twilight view of the wonderful C.K. Holliday E.P. Ripley as it chugs in to Frontierland station. (Somehow I originally wrote "C.K. Holliday", though I should know better... the picture file is named "Jan_1960_Ripley"!)


The little mining town of Rainbow Ridge had closed for the Nature's Wonderland expansion in October, 1959. It had a way to go, as you can see by the haphazard train rails on the ground, and the unfinished sign above the Last Chance Saloon.

Frontierland, June 1960

Here's a mini-mix from Frontierland! Starting with this shot of the painted desert, including the saguaro desert in the background, and the Devil's Paint Pots, and some geysers. Notice the row of paint cans, as well as a bit of scaffolding... these slides are date-stamped "June 1960", but Nature's Wonderland opened on May 28, so it's possible that the updated Mine Train attraction had not yet opened. Could this view have been taken from the Disneyland RR? I kind of doubt it, but it seems strange that the Mine Train would be operating with so much conspicuous work being done.


Here are a few of the buildings from Rainbow Ridge, including the Marshal's Office and the smaller red structure that doubles as a billboard for the attraction. You can just see part of the marshal's name - "Willard P. Bounds" - Walt's wife Lillian grew up on an Indian reservation, and her father Willard was a blacksmith and federal marshal!


Here's a picture of the Indian Reservation where Lillian spent her youth.

Hubba Bubba, 1956

The title of this post might be intriguing. It might be infuriating. It might even make you physically ill. But all it means is that today's photos involve some serious hub action. And that sounds dirty, but it's not.

Fun with prepositions: this first photo is taken of the hub. And what a seething mass of humanity there was on this fine sunny day! Soylent Green, anyone? It almost looks as if there is a long queue of some kind, but I believe that it was just an unusually busy day.


Fun with prepositions, part deux: This photo is taken from the hub. And this from angle things don't look nearly so crowded. If you look carefully through Frontierland's entrance gates, you can just see the book-shaped sign that showed guests what wonders awaited them on the Rainbow Desert Mine Train attraction.

Petrified Tree, August 28 1965

Many people know the story behind the petrified tree that can still be seen in Frontierland. Walt Disney bought it as an anniversary gift for his wife. What a smoothie! There's nothing like a 5-ton chunk of silica to win a girl's heart. Sure, the thing looked good in their living room, but she wanted to share it with the world, and so she donated it to Disneyland. Because that's the kind of gal she was.


Other anniversary gifts from Walt to Lillian: a weed-whacker, a 16-pound bowling ball, and a vacuum cleaner. What, no audio-animatronic butler?

Two From January 1975

Today's photos might induce drowsiness! Do not operate heavy machinery while viewing.

This first image isn't exactly thrilling, but I do like the novelty of seeing the cast members bundled up for the cold weather! I would opt for the "pea jacket" like the one on the right, rather than the standard overcoat on the left. And for those of you who don't know, yes, it does occasionally get cold in SoCal! Not "14-degrees-below-zero" cold (like I when I lived in Pennsylvania), but chilly just the same.


Two teenagers (up to no good, I'll wager!) exit the Pirate Ship, and admire the cannons that randomly fire red-hot grape shot to keep things interesting for the guests.

New York World's Fair - Emmett Kelly Jr

Send in the sad clowns! Just one will do, come to think of it. Emmett Kelly Sr. developed his character "Weary Willie" - a hobo clown who evoked pathos as well as laughs. This was revolutionary in its day, as most clowns performed slapstick stunts and devoured children.

When Sr. retired in 1960, his son, Emmett Kelly Jr. took over the Weary Willie character. In 1964, Eastman Kodak was looking for a representative to appear at its pavilion at the New York World's Fair and chose Kelly, who rapidly became one of the most popular attractions at the Fair.


Eastman Kodak was so pleased that they asked him to become the touring Ambassador of Goodwill for the company, which Kelly Jr. did for four years.


It was during those six years (two years at the Fair and the subsequent four years) that he became America's most recognized and photographed clown.

I have vague memories of seeing Emmett Kelly Jr. on television when I was a kid... maybe on The Carol Burnett Show or one of the other many variety shows that filled the schedules back in those days. His most famous bit involved trying to sweep up a number of small moving spotlights into a single blob of light. I use a vacuum cleaner, myself.

Anything Goes Saturday - The North Pole

Let's take a trip to the North Pole! Alaska, that is. Located in the Fairbanks area, the North Pole is a popular tourist destination. The most famous attraction is the gift shop seen in today's two photos: the Santa Claus House! A man named Conrad B. Miller (are you taking notes?) opened a trading post in 1952 that eventually because the Santa Claus House; that must have been just a few years before this first photo was taken. I love the "roadside" feel that this picture evokes!

SCH was home to the town's first post office, and for 20 years it received thousands of letters from kids and weirdos who wrote to that jolly old elf.


This second photo was snapped more than a decade later, but things hadn't changed much! A candy-cane striped pole was added to the top of the structure (probably as a response to the millions of insane visitors who inquired as to the location of "the pole"). But the road was still unpaved.


Out of curiosity, I did a search on the Google. Here's the Santa Claus House today. Wha' happen?!