Sunday in Space

On the afternoon of April 10, a number of my friends texted me, “Are you photographing the landing?” I had just left a shoot at a nearby gym and had no idea what they were talking about. I was educated about the Artemis II first crewed lunar mission in over fifty years. Huh. Why hadn’t I heard about this? Growing up in the 60s/70s, anything related to space travel made frontpage headlines and EVERYONE knew about it. Seems kind of fitting I guess that I recently acquired this 1950s image showing the Disneyland Spaceman and Spacegirl, when the world was obsessed with the moon.

The gent in the previous photo is one of the most frequent cast members in my collection of Disneyland Spaceman shots. Here he is in color with two young adoring fans:



And again in black and white. Do you think the little nerd in front ever blossomed?



Again in color:



Circa 1956/1957:



Others portrayed this character, including the cast member captured below in this undated 1950s image:



Want a closeup of his gizmo? Of course you do! I believe the partially hidden patch is for early Disneyland sponsor Kaiser Aluminum.



This 1962 shot is a bit dark, but still a fave:



…because of this guest and his feathered hat. I wonder if that hat would have been allowed on Big Thunder Mountain?



In other news of my ignorance, I had no idea that the Spaceman and Spacegirl were semi-back at Disneyland. According to MC43 on X/Twitter, they make special guest appearances. I need to get out more.

See more Disneyland Spaceman/Spacegirl photos at my main website.

1960s Riviera in Palm Springs

Thanks to the miracle of genuine FauxD©, you can step back in time to November 1961 and see the Riveria Hotel in Palm Springs in all its vintage glory. According to the slide inscription, this was taken during a Grocers Convention. Sounds like a boondoggle to me. Below is the more panoramic composite view:



A closeup of the marquee and vintage cars:



Still craving more 1960’s Riviera shots? How about this batch from June 1961?



I couldn’t find anything on Billy Allen or the Nunez Brothers Trio, but came across a short bio on Jeri Sullivan:

American singer and songwriter. Birth name: Leona Louise Schlosser. Born November 14, 1918 in Jersey City, Hudson, New jersey, USA. Died June 276, 2003 in Palm Desert, Riverside, California, USA. She was known mostly as a nightclub singer and sang with many orchestras including those of Bernie Cummins, Orrin Tucker, Johnny White, Lou Bring, Bernie Leighton's Swing Four and Freddie Shumake and his band. She also sang with The Mel-Tones (who changed their name after she left to "Mel Torme and The Mel-Tones"). Sullivan also dubbed singing voices in movies, including for Virginia Mayo in "A Song Is Born" (also known as "That's Life") (1948). Though she wrote other songs, she is mostly known for a song she helped edit but was given full co-writing credit for: "Rum and Coca Cola". After the song hit #1 by The Andrew Sisters, lawsuits followed. These went on until it was settled in 1948-9, allowing her to keep copyright but she, Morey Amsterdam and Paul Baron had to pay $150,000 to the original lyricist and composer of the song in Trinidad. After taking time to settle the lawsuits, she returned to singing on the nightclub circuit.

Ah, those warm, lazy, summer days in Palm Springs when lounging by the pool is just about all a body can handle.



What I believe is a semi-matching shot from 2010:



A few more showcasing the multiple pools at the hotel and a few lovely ladies:







See more Palm Springs Riveria Hotel photos at my main website.

Easter Memories

Today’s Easter memories are circa 1966. As a young tot in San Diego, you can see the jolly anticipation on my face of collecting Easter eggs. As the youngest of three, I was allowed to be front and center with my two older brothers.



In our house, Easter was almost as big as Christmas when it came to celebrating. There was the Easter egg hunt followed by a very hearty breakfast made from scratch by Mom. Although Easter is a religious holiday, I cannot ever remember being told the meaning behind the celebration or ever having that discussed in our household.



Sure, we went to church on Easter (one of the two times we went during the year), but Jesus and Christianity were saved for the minister, not discussed at home. The home celebration was completely secular. New outfits, bunnies (the toy kind), candy, coloring eggs, and chocolate…lots of chocolate.



I helped flip the pancakes for our Easter breakfast.



Meanwhile, over in the land of Shirley…for Easter, 1936, Shirley received this gigantic card from Kansas. From the accompanying publicity blurb:

Shirley Temple proudly displays a huge Easter Greeting Postal Card autographed by five hundred little girl friends of Hutchison, Kansas. The card is eight feet long and four feet high.



With postal rates today, you’d probably need to take a second loan out on your home to be able to send this gigantic card. Anybody recognize the names on here?


In 1940, Shirley posed with a gigantic stuffed bunny and colored eggs that spelled out the holiday. I wonder if Shirley placed them or if the prop man did it? Time is money, so most likely it was the prop man.



A color portrait from the same Easter session:



Shirley fandom aside, for Easter, it’s Judy and Fred all the way. You just can’t beat “Easter Parade” (1948) as the annual classic to watch. Below is a newly created caricature of Judy from the film’s finale.



While Gene Kelly (originally cast in the male lead until he injured his ankle) would have made a more age-appropriate pairing for Garland, you can’t help but root for Garland and Astaire to walk triumphantly together down Fifth Avenue at the end of the film in the title number.



For all who celebrate today (Christian AND secular versions!), I wish you a Happy Easter!

See more photos at my main website.