A Disneyland of long, long ago

After all of the pictures of the General Electric Pavilion from the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair I thought it was time for something different. In fact, I thought I would stray outside the realm of world's fairs for a visit to Disneyland. It was my visits to the Fair that led me to work for Disney, so why not follow the link?

I'm restoring a batch of large format slides from around 1958 or so. There are quite a few things shown that are no longer part of the Happiest Place on Earth. Here's one, for example.



This view was taken from the Mark Twain. I bet the stagecoach was a lot of fun given how popular westerns were on TV at the time. Looking at the kids sitting up top sure shows how things have changed in terms of theme park safety. Not a single seat belt anywhere in sight.

About 20 years after this was taken you could still see them remnants of the old stagecoach road in places. Disneyland was closed to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays in the off season, and I used to enjoy walking out there along the river. It was very peaceful, with flocks of ducks and geese stopping by the river. Someone had dragged a chair out there and put it under a tree so it wasn't readily visible when the park was open. It was a great spot to sit and enjoy lunch.

These slides are fun but they are a bit challenging at times. They have some scratches and mildew, but worst of all the color has really shifted. Here's a view of the same slide after cleaning but before color adjustments.



Thanks once again to the wizards behind Photoshop.

GE Brings Good Things to Life

I don't know if General Electric was using that slogan during the days of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, but they sure had a lot of different products that were intended to make life easier, or so said the hostesses scattered throughout Medallion City. The huge crowds that came to see the Carousel of Progress all had to pass through this area on their way out of the building, but it looks like most of them weren't sticking around when this picture was taken...

Even more General Electric! - Part 14

Here's a seldom seen portion of the General Electric Pavilion at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. This is part of Medallion City, which was what GE called its product display area. Here a pretty hostess, wearing white gloves no less, extols the virtues of GE air conditioning and other products for the home.

General Electric - Part 13

The Nuclear Fusion demonstration basically consisted of a countdown, some indicator lights changing color, then a mighty bang and bright flash. That was it. Oh, there was one thing more. This big display showed the results of the test, counting down how many neutrons were involved, the temperature, etc. I'm still not sure what it all proved, but this was high tech stuff indeed back in the days of the Fair.

General Electric - Part 12

There it is. The future of the world's quest for energy, at least as GE foresaw things back in 1964. Behold the mighty Nuclear Fusion Generator. Please ignore the signs of leaks, though, and please don't touch the water, well, just in case. Ever hear of "the Pepsi Syndrome"?

OK, the device itself wasn't much to look at, but when they wound it up and things went well, there was a mighty flash, a very loud bang, and more than one or two scared viewers. We'll take another look at the fusion demonstration tomorrow.

General Electric - Part 11

Where did the last week go to?

Anyway, back to a look at the General Electric Pavilion at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. It's finally time for the Sky Dome Spectacular. The guests seen here have just seen the show, which showed the forces of lightning displayed on the inside of the pavilion's dome. The lean rails will look familiar to anyone who has been to one of the Disney Circlevision films. I wonder if the staff warned even back then that "They will not support your weight nor that of your child"?

With the film part of the show over everyone is about to head off to the ominous sounding Nuclear Fusion Demonstration...

General Electric - Part 10

Here's another rare view of the rarely seen upper level of the General Electric Progressland pavilion at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. The winding corridors have come to an end, and when the pre-show is over, it's finally time to head towards the Sky-Dome Spectacular!