Today’s images show a trio of ladies from the 1960’s that I am going to dub The Golden Girls. Two of them are admiring the landscaping outside the House of the Future. I am loving the gloves, visible here in this closeup. If you try to grab those attraction tickets out of her hands, she will cause serious damage to your cranium with that purse.
How do I know these ladies were at the Monsanto House of the Future? Because I recognize the edge of the sculpted chair and the display panels nearby, visible in this previously posted 1963 shot. The House of the Future seemed to attract those Golden Gals; notice the two on the left wearing a white sweater? That’s the standard uniform for that generation. It’s true.
Here are all three Golden Girls departing the Submarine attraction; one dared to remove her gloves. I’m sure she will be shunned by the other two.
Our adventurous gals took a ride on the Skyway during the golden hour of sunset. How about this gorgeous shot of Skull Rock Cove?
it’s a small world appears to be in operation, and the House of the Future is still around, so I’m going to guess that these images are from 1966.
I know somewhere in my collection I have a better shot of that toy train contraption seen on the right side of this detailed view, but I’m too lazy to dig it up. Anyone? Anyone? [UPDATE BELOW]
The Matterhorn appears to be down for the count:
A pickup truck can be seen on the left and the water has been drained from the attraction:
UPDATE: this photos may be much later than what I thought...or could be part of different batches. I found two April 1977 shots of the toy train outside of small world:
See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.
So many firsts on this post. Wow. I could not figure out what that "building" was behind those ladies in the first post. It took a while to realize that's just a wall of glass panels and info about the House of the Future. Even the reflection in the glass gave nothing useful away. Even the corner of that Frank Gehry park bench didn't help me. That is quite a tall berm between Casey Jr. and the Pope Ranch. I often wondered how people didn't see the horses from that train; now I know why. I have absolutely no idea what that orange spire is in the last few pics of the train you speak of. Was that spire left over from Midget Autopia? Doubtful since that wasn't part of the attraction's theme, but what is it? That train you mentioned looks like something from a Toys for Tots sign. I see CMs wearing white staffing it so... Ice cream? Fancy janitorial carts?
ReplyDeleteDave, I especially like the 5th image.
ReplyDeleteI just texted Bu (who comments on Gorillas Don’t Blog) who worked at Disneyland...I believe he knows more about that train by Its a Small World. We’ll see if he comments.
Sue
Because I have the slide and scanned it, I was able to see a reflection of the HOF in one of the panels. That tipped me off and then I was able to see the edge of the funky chair.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sue - I know I have a closeup of the toy train...just don't know where it is. Need to comb my site for it! The chase is on.
The train is the "Ice Cream Train", and a few years later in 1980 it would have it's own custom awning/covering more "Small World" in aesthetic. These awnings depicted in the photos look very "Autopia" in design. Also, the paint on the train was a bit more calm/small world leading into the 80's. This is the only wagon (s) at the time that had ice cream stock in them all of the time as they had their own freezers. The other wagons in the park relied on dry ice. I have scars on my arms to this day. This location was coveted as you worked along side your peeps and it was always a fun jolly time. The revenue that this location produced was quite astounding in itself. Carnation Ice Cream Bar, OJ Bar, Ice Cream Sandwich .50. Frozen bananas: .60. We made thousands of dollars in a day...in each wagon...and each car was it's own wagon...so do the math, it's a lot of ice cream bars and a lot of $1 bills to count. I see a balloon vendor there as well, which in my day was not an "official" location...but these have changed. I also don't see a lot of "yellows" which was the costume for this location...must have come in the later 70's. The yellows were a polyester/cotton shirt without a lot of stretch. There was a red band on the end of the short sleeve shirt. The red band was cotton and had absolutely no give. The goal was to get your biceps bigger so that the red band would be on the top of your bicep: and be immovable there instead of trapped around your elbows where your emerging manliness was concealed. Muscles were not particular popular in general (by supervision anyway), and if your costume did not fit properly in any way, or "detracted from the show" you were asked to make the necessary amendments to your body. I'm pretty sure we signed something that spoke to this, and was also mentioned in orientation. True stories, and quite a different time. ahhhh....to be 18 again....
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great info, Bu! Sounds like the Golden Girls shots might be from a different batch than the Skyway shots, as there's no way the House of the Future was still around in the late 1970s!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the updated pics and thank you Bu for that great insight. Everytime I think I know how many trains have existed at Disneyland ( in one form or another ) someone adds another train.
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