Boy was that fried chicken tasty! Welcome back to July 29, 1973. We’re still at Central Plaza standing in front of the gateway to Tomorrowland.
Once you get over the shock of the floppy white sun hats and the sloppy sandals (sorry folks...the stylish 50’s and 60’s are a thing of the past now!), step up to the Adventure Thru Inner Space attraction sponsored by Monsanto.
Nothing screams “1970’s Future” better than these wall tiles...
or Rolly Crump’s spired planters:
Even though they seem more at home in Fantasyland, Mary Blair’s Tomorrowland murals were a beautiful one-of-a-kind work of art:
This is hardly a worthy substitute. Insert gasps here, please.
See more vintage and contemporary Tomorrowland photos at my main website.
I have a confession to make. Although I have been to WDW seven times, I have only been to DL once. It was the summer between my 4th and 5th grade years. That is...1973. Also, no pictures survive of that trip. These are, therefore, very special to me! I'm keeping my eyes peeled for myself, my mom, or my grandparents!
ReplyDeleteI love love love Mary Blair's tile murals, but have to admit that they aren't very "Tomorrow-y"....
ReplyDeleteAccording to the PeopleMover narration, the murals were supposedly a reminder that "tomorrow belongs to our children"....or something like that. Aren't those orbs at the top of the second mural supposed to be satellites? Okay, okay, I agree, better suited for Fantasyland perhaps....but they should have never gotten rid of these Mary Blair masterpieces!!!!
ReplyDeleteI miss those planters full of flowers!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post, only bad part was that last photo, ugh - looks like those strips we printed on an inkjet printed then pasted up there!
ReplyDeleteStu - I know the feeling - one day, I am sure you will find a photo with yourself in it. Major - agreed, but as Tokyo pointed out, with the proper Marketing spin, anything can fit!
ReplyDeleteNow that's what I'm talking about!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!:
ReplyDelete1967- "Now as we approach the PeopleMover Station, you can see Tomorrowland's theme murals, symbolizing the happy spirit of children -in today's world and in tomorrow's"
1974- "As we approach the PeopleMover Station, you can see the colorful murals, symbolizing the happy spirit of children -in today's world and in tomorrow's"
1982-1995 "As we near the PeopleMover station you can see colorful murals celebrating the joyous spirit of children everywhere-a reminder that tomorrow will be built by our youth"
Obviously those 1967 entry corridor murals contain a great deal of symbolism: The Bell Pavilion shows children communicating with each other (via music?) on three represented continents : Asia to the left, the North America in the middle (it is “America The Beautiful” after all) and Europe to the right. And above them are communication satellites!!
ReplyDeleteThe Monsanto Pavilion is much more direct- the Sun “Mr. Energy” and other shapes representing motion and the playing children also symbolizing their boundless energy.
Nice photos. Are you sure about the date they were taken because the Tomorrowland entrance fountains weren't converted to planters until 1975 (as a result of the late 1973 "oil/energy crisis"). The TSI burning cabin was changed over to (the perfectly awful) mylar fire effect at the same time before going "dark" completely for a number of years. Again, really cool photos!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: if these pictures are all indeed from the same batch and date......it would be 1973 as in the first shot the GE medalion sign is visable in the distant-this was removed by 1974 when America Sings replaced the GE Carousel of Progress.
ReplyDelete