Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Matterhorn

Here are two very nice photos of the mighty Matterhorn, probably dating from around 1960. These were Ektachrome slides that had turned an obnoxious shade of pink, but they restored reasonably well. 

This first one almost looks like an old ad, or perhaps a photo from a vintage guidebook. The haze (also known as smog) makes the mountain look sort of dreamy and far away. It is astonishing to think that this massive attraction was built in about a year. (Check out that waterfall to the left, cascading a full five stories… very cool).


This view is taken over by Sleeping Beauty Castle; the old 3-car red Monorail zips past (surprisingly low to the ground, but at that point it is in an area where guests are not beneath it). 


AND NOW for some extra added details, as requested by GDB readers. This first one is for eagle-eyed Alonzo P. Hawk (I guess I should say "hawk-eyed"), who spotted "…something red and blue standing next to the waterfall toward the top". Well I'll be darned, there's a person up there!


Melissa wanted to get a better look at this lady's dress to see if she could tell what the pattern is. I don't think it's roosters, but I'll be damned if I can tell what it is.



9 comments:

K. Martinez said...

That second shot is amazing. The fence railing around the Matterhorn is so low, almost waist high. It would be easy to hop over and get into trouble. Nowadays the fence railing is higher than most people.

Nice set today! Thanks, Major.

Anonymous said...

These are both terrific, and its tough to pick a favorite. I'm a big fan of the square format because there's a cool, sort of neatly-boxed feeling to the square that allows you to position the main subject almost anywhere. And when your subject is called "Matterhorn", you are obliged to let it frame itself!

Bill, squarely in Denver

Melissa said...

Wow, these really are picture-perfect, adworthy shots.

This Ideal American Family (I assume child #.5 is out of frame) could be selling anything from life insurance to AAA membership. I’ve zoomed in as far as I can to see what the print on Mom’s dress is – it almost looks like roosters. Can somebody with better peepers corroborate or debunk?

The bit of greenery in the upper left corner sets the whole thing off like the parsley garnish on a dinner plate. Just lovely.

Alonzo P Hawk said...

I spy with my bloodshot eye.

Something red and blue standing next to the waterfall towards the top.

Mountain climber, repair worker, giant woody woodpecker, yeti food?

Great shot btw with a good long build up leading to mono red and the Mater-horn.

Anonymous said...

Good eye Hawk! That worker is checking the backside water levels - then he'll move over to the Jungle Cruise and check under water.

Wa, wa, wa.

Bill in Denver

Anonymous said...

That couple in the first photo (which is wonderful, BTW) look so very much like my Mom and Dad probably looked at that time.

I remember both having similar clothing patterns and hair-do's and cuts.

Thanks to all who spotted those tiny details.

Major and I have discussed before how low the monorail track seems to be in the location of photo two. It seems to be a combination of the steep slope (forced perspective) and the track descending (monorail going downhill) at this point. I can't recall if there is a grade change in this area, although I know there are some gently sloped ups and downs in the area over Autopia.

It seems so weird to have that big train so close to the ground, you can almost touch it.

Thanks Major and my fellow GDB junkies for such a great mini-tour today.

JG

Melissa said...

Thanks for the zoom-in on Mom's dress, Major! I think maybe it's just an abstract pattern. (Or the chicken that didn't make it across the road in time.)

I took the opportunity of this excellent Matterhorn post to play around with Dave's amazing recreation of the Matterhorn photo-op cutout wall over at Davelandblog. He did a beautiful job with it and its sister image of the Jungle Cruise.

Now, I don't know if the Matterhorn cutout was still around in 1972, but if it was, you can bet Jim and Linda would have been all over it. I filled one of the other spaces with another familiar face from that year.


Major Pepperidge said...

Great job, Melissa! But who is the fellow at the summit? I don't recognize him.

Melissa said...

I grabbed a guy out of a 1972 Sears catalog to play Jim. I was going to put Lisa in the blank space, but she's facing sideways.