Disneyland's Monsanto House of the Future!

Awhile back, I wrote a post about the time Imagineers tarted up Cinderella's Castle to look like a birthday cake for the park's 25th anniversary, and how every Disnerd keeps at least a mental list (mine may be a hard copy!) of extinct events and attractions that they are super bummed to not have been around for.  The Monsanto House of the future is next on my list.

Developed as a collaboration between Walt Disney, Monsanto, and MIT Scientists, the house existed as a walk-through attraction in Disneyland's Tomorrowland between 1957 and 1967.  With all its components made of the brand-spanking new consumer product, plastic! (HA!), the house was set up to show visitors what domestic life in (the then far-off year) 1986 would look like.

One thing I can say is that between Space Mountain, Spaceship Earth, the Contemporary, and this, Disney sure has a way with white, 'futuristic' buildings.  That sounds like a post in and of itself.  Enjoy these images from a 1954 issue of Life Magazine:

Film Friday: Decades at Pop!

The subject of today's Film Friday is a set of photos I took at Pop Century, one of the hotels on Disney property.  Even though Pop is classed as a value record, I still love the themeing here.  Its bright color scheme lends itself well to lomography, and I love the way this set of photos of the large decade sculptures turned out.  These were shot on 35mm with my Diana mini! Enjoy!

Disney Mermaids: Mermaid Tryouts at Disneyland!

Although Disneyland opened in 1955, it opened without three of its most iconic attractions: the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Monorail, and the Submarine Voyage.  These did not open until the park's first large-scale expansion in 1959.

Although the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Monorail still exist in their original form, the Submarine Voyage has been re-themed several times.  As someone who never rode the attraction in its original form, I lament this loss given that I love the steam-punk aesthetic of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea, the film on which it was based.  My lamentation increased a jillion-fold when I found out that the attraction originally included LIVE MERMAIDS!!!  Check out these photos from mermaid-tryouts at the Disneyland Hotel:

So cool.  Uncovering awesome, obscure factoids from Disney history is what keeps me coming back for more.  Here's a video where you get to see the lucky ladies who got the job in action! (Skip to 1:00):

Vintage Disneyland Grad Night Posters

One of things that fascinates me about Disney is how, for so many, it has become interwoven with collective notions associated with American childhood and coming of age.  Sometimes, I wish I could get in a time machine set for 2006, write American Studies instead of Sociology on the declare major do-hicky, and then write my thesis on this very topic.

For Southern Californians, one such pivotal event is Disneyland Grad Night.  Started in 1961 and continuing to this day, the event provides a safe environment for high-school grads to spend graduation evening.  I think it is a super groovy tradition, and I wanted to share some super groovy vintage posters from the event I came across!  I think they are just so neat… they solicit from me a peculiar nostalgia for a time I never experienced.  The one from '71 with the stylized line drawing of the park map really appeals to me for some reason.

1968

1969

1970

1971

1971

Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments!