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.

Early Tomorrowland Exhibits: The Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow

It’s a day of being stingy, as I present only 1 new image to represent the Crane Plumbing Bathroom of Tomorrow, which opened on April 5, 1956 and was also called Fun With Water. It featured a display of citrus yellow "Criterion" fixtures, designed by Henry Dreyfuss. The last part of this exhibit was called "Industrial Flow Control,” which was a display of "Valves in Industry," where guests could use the valves to control the flow of water in a colorful display of transparent “pipes.”

This previously posted image of the Spaceman shows the entrance to this "attraction." The Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow became part of the past when it closed on August 31, 1965.



See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland Tomorrowland photos at my main website.

Early Tomorrowland Exhibits: The Dairy Bar

I don’t know a lot of info on this particular "exhibit" in Tomorrowland, other than its operating dates of January 21, 1956 to September 1, 1958. One thing I can speculate on is that Walt needed some cash and the American Dairy Association stepped up to the plate. Using the slogan, “Today’s Food Builds Tomorrow’s Man,” Disney was able to barely justify the presence of this exhibit in the middle of Tomorrowland. Guests could see what future farming might be like before partaking of a glass of “Nature’s most nearly perfect food” at the Dairy Bar. Note the Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow on the left side of this photo:

Here guests crowd around the displays:

Read the story of your dairy products while seeing the future of milk delivery in a helicopter!

Here’s Rusty Frost (or so the photo caption tells us) at the Dairy Bar:

See more vintage & current Tomorrowland photos at my regular website.

Early Tomorrowland Exhibits: Dutch Boy Paint Gallery

Today’s installment of the Tomorrowland Exhibit series shows photos from the Dutch Boy Paint Gallery, which lasted from March 1956 until 1963, featuring “Our Future in Colors.” The other 3 photos I have from this exhibit feature the color disks on the ceiling. Guests could "have fun with color" by arranging the color wheels; musical notes would let you know whether you’d picked a good or a bad combo! First up is from January 25, 1956:



August 1956:



Undated:



As an extra bit of fun, here are some pages from the 1957 Dutch Boy Paint Disneyland Coloring Book; feel free to get out your Crayolas for this one!







What a caption!









For Katella Gate, here is the closeup of the ceiling banner from yesterday’s post:



See more vintage Dutch Boy Paint Gallery in Tomorrowland photos at my regular website.

Early Tomorrowland Exhibits: Monsanto Hall of Chemistry

Originally, Tomorrowland was more akin to a State Fair, with a number of "exhibits" that featured products from outside sponsors, such as Kaiser Aluminum, Monsanto Plastics, and Dutch Boy Paints. This latest series will feature images from these exhibits. First up is the Monsanto Hall of Chemistry, which lasted from opening day until September 1966. When it was removed, Monsanto’s replacement was the cult classic Adventures Thru Inner Space. In its place today is the Star Tours attraction. This post begins with 2 exterior images; the color shot is from 1956, and the BW image is undated.



Interior views are always difficult to come by, due to lighting. My collection has 2 interior shots. The first one shows The Chemitron, huge test tubes of the eight basic materials found in nature which helped to produce the 500 different Monasanto chemicals and plastics.



From August 1955 comes this previously posted interior shot taken by a young couple visiting the park for the first time:



See more vintage & current Tomorrowland photos at my regular website.

To see more fantastic images of the Hall of Chemistry, be sure to visit Kevin Kidney’s amazing blog.

Disneyland, March 1959

I’m still in my Christmas food coma, so today will be a quickie, featuring 3 images from March 1959 (yup, just like the title says!). Image #1 is your basic Town Square & Horse-Drawn Street car shot. #2 is a parking lot view that is more notable for its background than its foreground. The detail shot is provided to show the construction of the Matterhorn.

Last one for today shows the Keystone Kop band playing outside the Opera House. These guys would be fun to have back at the park. In the background you can see the poster advertising the recently opened Grand Canyon Diorama.

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my regular website.

The Holidays at Disneyland, Pt. 2

Merry Christmas from Daveland; in between baking pies, cranberry sauce, and heating up the ham, I am posting a few images from the December 1967 Fantasy on Parade, beginning with the Toy Soldiers marching down Main Street. Coming up behind the Soldiers is none other than Santa Claus himself, surrounded by some of those silly reindeer that Kevin Kidney loves so much!





One of my favorite holiday traditions at Disneyland is the Candlelight Processional. Unfortunately, I was not near a computer this year when tickets went on sale, so I missed this year’s event. Few holiday programs can get you in the spirit like this one. Here’s an image of Cary Grant presiding over the festivities at Disneyland; he was the narrator in 1973 & 1974.



Meanwhile, over in Orlando (gotta’ give a little equal time for those Imaginerding fellers!), here are a few images from their 1983 Christmas Parade. Sharp-eyed readers will notice Kevin Kidney’s silly reindeer. Apparently they prefer Florida’s climate to SoCal’s.













Back to the kitchen! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! See more vintage & current Disneyland Christmas/Holiday photos at my regular website.

The Holidays at Disneyland, Pt. 1

It’s the holidays, and while I am out doing my last minute shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole (Paycheck) Foods for Christmas Dinner, you can all relax at home and view today’s blog entry, devoted to Christmas/Holidays at Disneyland. Picture 1 & 2 are most likely from 1956, and show The Christmas Bowl, which was the precursor to The Candlelight Processional (which began in 1958). These photos were taken at Magnolia Park and show the Bandstand that moved from Town Square, Central Plaza, and finally Magnolia Park in Adventureland. Check out the poor schmuck pic 2, balancing a table on his nose?!? The things people will do for attention.



Here’s a nice publicity shot from 1963 showing the Disneyland Carolers, with the Matterhorn Star towering over the background:



A few years ago, I took the Holiday Tour at Disneyland, and the guide pointed out the door on Main Street that belonged to Benjamin Silverstein, the Jewish Doctor. Naturally, this provided a nice segue for the guide to talk about Hanukkah and the Jewish Traditions.



This year was the first year I had noticed a Menorah on Main Street, shining in one of the windows on the west side of the street above the Fortuosity Shop (previously the Upjohn Pharmacy).



And even though there was much ballyhoo about Disneyland having an artificial tree for the first time, it would be difficult to notice unless you looked up close, as the "tree" is literally jammed with ornaments.



New Orleans Square is one of my favorite places in the park to visit during the holidays; it looks like Mardi Gras & Christmas all in one:





For those of you celebrating the Holidays, hope you have a safe and happy one. See more vintage & current Disneyland Christmas/Holiday photos at my regular website.

Classic B&W, June 1957, Pt. 7

Let’s board our Pirate Ship on the Peter Pan Dark Ride attraction in Fantasyland and whisk off to Neverland. Peter Pan is about to go down for a refurbishment; awhile ago, the rumor was that Fantasyland’s most popular dark ride was going to get larger Ships that could carry two rows of guests instead of one, thus increasing the capacity. Shot #2 is a lovely view of Main Street U.S.A. at night, practically devoid of guests.

And that, dear readers, is the end of this 2nd black & white series. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post as I just might bring a little color back into this blog. See more vintage Disneyland photos at my regular website.