Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Early Tomorrowland Exhibits: Kaiser Aluminum


Let’s start out the new year with the bright & shiny Kaiser Aluminum Exhibit. Guests saw this 40' polished aluminum telescope at the entrance. Naturally, the pen for the guest book was made out of aluminum. The mascot of this exhibit was KAP, the Kaiser Aluminum Pig, which is a reference to pig aluminum (the unmilled rough form of aluminum). The exhibit bemoaned the past without aluminum and extolled the virtues of the future (space suits and more), thanks to aluminum. In this next photo, you can see KAP on the right-hand side.


I believe that the K-7 on this man's spacesuit refer's to Kaiser...experts feel free to chime in on that one.


In the excellent book Disneyland the Nickel Tour, the authors tell that Kaiser Aluminum wanted out of Disneyland almost 3 years before their 5 year contract had expired because they felt that the Disneyland TV show had competing sponsors on it. With some persuasion from Walt, this exhibit stayed on until July 1960. Happy New Year to everyone - what a year it has been. This blog and my regular website have opened up so many opportunities for me; many thanks to the readers and co-bloggers who make it all worth it. See you back here in ’09! More Disneyland Tomorrowland photos at my website.

5 comments:

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Who doesn't love the Kaiser Aluminum Pig? Great post of the long lost interior, thanks Dave. Happy New Year to you! Thanks so much for all your hard work and dedication! See you at the Park!

Anonymous said...

Dave, can you zoom in/rescan to show the pig larger? And do I also see him inside of that stylized eyeball? What's he doing "in a pig's eye"??? ;-D

Unknown said...

The little guy in the stroller looks a little unsettled by Astronaut K7.

Great photos!

The Viewliner Limited said...

Thanks for another great year of pics Dave. They are all appreciated. Happy New Year, Richard

disneyland tickets said...

awesome tomorrowland pics. even the black and white ones are very clear in detail. its funny because its already tomorrow and it looks nothing like that. also aluminum wouldnt last in space.