Tinselman

Highway in the Sky

Do you love mod streamline? Do you love elegant 1960s duotones? Do you love vintage Disney? If so, If so, The Republic of Tinselman highly recommends this 1966 Disney Story Guide and Operating Procedures manual. A handsomely designed, 31 page pamphlet: it's the finest kind of manual for Walt Disney's finest kind of Disney attraction. I promise, you'll get your fill of some fascinating reading. Like this paragraph from page 5, "The Story Behind the Story:"

The Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System was unveiled at Disneyland June 14, 1959 by Walt Disney and Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Mrs. Nixon and their daughters, Tricia and Julie, also participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, which were viewed by a national television audience watching the special "Disneyland '59'" TV show. Since that time, the Monorail trains have carried most of the heads of state–kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers–who have visited Disneyland, as well as millions of other Disneyland visitors from every state and nearly every nation.

Of course, this is just the beginning. There are also the intriguing (and detailed) procedures. And maps. And diagrams and photographs throughout. Stuff from the park has posted this Disney treasure in its entirety. Take a look!

Note: Stuff from the park's server is now overloaded and the operating procedures are temporarily unavailable. However, Tinselman has kindly saved a few photographs from the manual for your viewing pleasure (click all images to enlarge). Enjoy.

• Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Operating Procedures
• Disney's Haunted Mansion Operating Procedures
• Previous Tinselman Disney posts

Splash

Night at the Fair – click to enlarge

It was grand. It was colorful. It was futuristic. It was the 1964-1965 New York Worlds Fair! In a 25 page photo spread, National Geographic called the fair, "A journey round the world. A look back in time, and a window on the future. A treasure house of religious faiths. A procession of products. And a dream of 'Peace through Understanding.'" Modern Mechanix has been kind enough to post the article in it's entirety, and it's stunning.

Looking through the photos, you can't help but notice It's a Small World, the Disneyland ride which made it's premier at the fair and is still popular at Disneyland. It wasn't the only Disneyland attraction (or technology) that made it's premier at the fair: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and Carousel of Progress, introduced at the fair, were popular at Disneyland for a long time after. Most importantly, the animatronics and the omnimover transportation, introduced at the fair, are still in use today at all the Disney parks.

• Previous posts – Disneyland
• Previous post – Rides and Attractions

 

Sky Bear

click image to enlarge

Unfinished concept for a small side project on which a good friend and I are working.

Manuscript of the Republic

Click image to enlarge

If we, of the Republic of Tinselman, had our way, our capital city would be housed in a gigantic spherical structure, where plaster dinosaurs kept vigilant watch alongside boulevards of dripstone.

But alas, our hope for such greatness were dashed to pieces, when our first attempt at a city was set ablaze, and our Saviour Khan vanished beyond the far reaches of the galaxy. Now, in his absence, we are but left to dream.

And so, to aid us in our dreams, we turn to the Journal of Ride Theory Omnibus. Why? Because it's utterly cool and freakin' amazing! In short, it'll blow your mind. It's nothing less than a Manual to Tinselistic Wow-Magicical! But... bear in mind, we must do everything possible to keep this manuscript out of the hands of our enemies! It will unquestionably stretch their imaginations into unknown territory. It may give them the power to finally destroy us.

Images from Journal of Ride Theory Omnibus, Edited by Dan Howland. Copyright©2004 Ride Theory Press.

Ipanaman Says

Such a strange little flier, isn't it? It was handed out at the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair; can you guess what it's advertising? Click on either of his shifty eyes for the answer!

Obviously, Tinselman has no room in his life for this shifty-eyed Ipanaman. But I do enjoy much of the artwork of that period. And world's fairs are a particular favorite here at Tinselman! That's why I practically couldn't tear myself away from the web archives of the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair (brought to us by the University of Chicago).

Many of the pamphlets and guides are visually stunning. And you can download the entire documents (like the one to the right) as high resolution PDF files! Yummy-fun!

To find the scanned files, first go to this page. From there, select 'keywords' from the drop-down menu. Next, make sure you select the 'Search only digitized items' check-box. Finally, without entering anything into the search field, click the submit button.

Have fun!

Previous World's Fair and Expo posts:

• Faux Victoria Falls
• Mareorama (and Suchlike)
• Yesterday's Transport of Tomorrow
• Atomium and Mini-Europe
• Big Happy Futurama

Arbitrary Histories

For the past 19 years, Chinese artist Cai Guo-Quiang has been busy: paintings, sculptures, performance art (mostly fireworks and explosions) and temporary exhibits. As explained on his site, his work draws on a wide variety of traditions and materials such as "fengshui, Chinese medicine, dragons, roller coasters, computers, vending machines and gunpowder."

This river, made out of bamboo and resin, is a good example of one of his works (plus it's incredibly whimsical and I like it). In 2001 it snaked its way across the floor of the Musee d'Art Contemporain de Lyon. If visitors wished, they could explore the twists and turns of the river in one of three yak skin boats.

Cai Guo-Quiang's roller coaster was first exhibited in 2001 in Lyon, at our same Musee d'Art Contemporain, but the photo above is from its 2003 exhibit in Gent, Belgium (and it's multiple-rooms this time). Of course it's not exactly built for thrills but you do get to stare at Guo-Quang's ceiling mural as you putt along!

Dreams of Fair Victoria

I wish I had been there, I wish we'd all been there because, even now, I can still hardly believe it's true. And neither will you.

It all started when the government of Southern Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) wanted to show their stuff. So they laid a plan. A beautiful plan. They decided to put Victoria falls into a gigantic room, project a fake day and night on the ceiling, fill the room with all manner of tropical loveliness, and bring the room to the 1939 New York World's Fair (where thousands of people would be impressed).

The above is a cut-away drawing of the beautiful plan... and you're missing something if you don't take a closer look.

The falls-in-a-room was actually a scale replica but, at 22 feet high and 186 feet long, it was still a sight to behold. The Southern Rhodesian's were proud of this impressive attraction, as well they should have been! Most impressive was the 60,000 gallons of water a minute that plunged over the edge of the abyss.

Unfortunately, things didn't end so well for the falls... all because of the "depraved and obscene" activities going on at the attractions nearby like "The Congress of Beauty," "The Amazons" and "The Crystal Lassies."

The Southern Rhodesians got really really mad! The reputation of their great wonder was being sullied – lowered to the height of mere eroticism... "Where's Victoria?" the visitors began to ask, "We want her, we want to see the voluptuous but seductive Victoria... from Rhodesia!" That kind of thing made the Southern Rhodesians want to spit fire, and they had finally had it up to here. They removed their seal, lowered their flag, and wiped themselves clean of the New York World's Fair... and Victoria Falls.

• More 1939 World's Fair postcards

Mareorama (and Suchlike)

a

My dear Citizens of the Republic of Tinselman, you are by now hopefully aware of the great, the astounding, cyclorama (see previous posts 1 & 2). You are amazed... as well you should be.

With only slight exaggeration, I can most assuredly state that the cyclorama was the single greatest invention of the 1700s. Though ridiculously simple in design, it was still able to completely envelop spectators in events and times far beyond their hum-drum lives. Perhaps an historic battle. Perhaps an exotic city. Hey... this was just really good stuff...

b

Just not good enough. Ergo, the Mareorama: a simulated sea voyage from Nice to Constantinople (via Venice) on an elaborate steamer. The Guide to the Paris Expo (1900) explained how it all worked:

"Immense canvases unroll slowly, steadily, and noiselessly before their eyes, and the rise and fall of the boat, together with the shifting scenes, complete the illusion that one is really on board a steamer, cruising in front of some well-known seaport cities of the Mediterranean."

The mareoramas, the cycloramas, all the "ramas": they have now almost all vanished. Their technology is, I guess, obsolete. Oh well. Whatever the case, I would have loved to have taken a voyage on that ingenious steamship-contraption!

c

• Cyclorama, Cineorama, Mareorama and Myrioama
• Previous Post 2 – Cyclorama in Distress
• Previous Post 1 – Cyclorama Reality (QTVR of Cycloramas)

d

e

(click images or names below to enlarge)

a. Mareorama – Scientific American, 1900
b. Visitor's booklet – Gettysburg Cyclorama
c. Foldout panorama – Shiloh Cyclorama
d. Shiloh Cyclorama (could be reinterpreted as a cake?)
e. Tower cyclorama in London

Futurama Returns (again)

Isn't that auditorium just a bit imposing? So brave? So new? So crazy-humungous? It's Futurama, GM's brilliant propagandistic tool, used to convince a 1939 American public (and leadership) that the future should be full of lovely things like conquering nature and replacing everything that's old with things that are powerful and massively overwhelming (see above lovely building).

In reality, Futurama was about selling cars. The masses (that's us) were larely not going to buy cars until there were sprawling (multi-billion dollar) roads built from one side of country to the other. But who was going to build those sprawling highways? These mega-modern freeways of tomorrow. General Motors? No frickin' way! And so they sold the masses (us) on a bright big beautiful vision of a perfect tomorrow. Futurama was one of these sales tools. Next thing you know, the government was tearing up the train and trolley tracks and making Futurama a reality.

Who can be blamed for all of this? Some may argue we're better off. Regardless, the exhibit itself must have been a monumental feat. And an impressive ride! I found this video of the ride online but you may want to start a little less than halfway through (the beginning is boring).

• Futurama Post – May 26th, 2005
• Futurama Post – May 25th, 2005

Images from the Futurama movie

Atomium Reigns

Down, down, down we shrink, 165 billion times into the fascinating world of the atom. We're either exploring a single iron crystal or we're visiting Atomium in Brussels, a colossal molocular model, designed for Belgium's 1958 Expo by engineer Andre Waterkeyn. The Atomium was planned to be disassembled within six months. Now it's considered by some (like the ultra-reliable wikipedia) to be the Eiffel Tower of Brussels.

If you visit Atomium, you'll get a suprise treat: the atomic structure is so big that all of Europe beneath it has been sucked into a time/space vortex and become oddly miniaturize. In scientific terms, we call this phenomenon "Mini-Europe" and the sensation is strongest directly at the crystal's base.

Or it may just be a little park of miniatures. Unfortunately, they forgot to make a miniature of the Atomium itself, which would have been somehow perfect. What a disapointment! For that, you'll have to travel to Minimundus in Austria.

More links:

• Atomium on Belgium currency (before Euro)
• For Sale – Atomium's old panels
• Photos of other miniatures from Minimundus
• Tintin.com (also from Belgium, but really doesn't belong in this post)

Four Years of Freedom, Part II

Are you still dreaming of visiting the long-extinct Freedomland? Now, through the miracle of technology, you can do more than dream. You can visit Freedomland, just by watching this Freedomland "moving-picture" (with original music!). It will take to back to the early 1960's: the heyday of that most wondrous of freedom-themed parks.

(thanks iain)

Four Years of Freedom

Imagine this, if you will – walking from New York to Chicago to New Orleans (and the Southwest) to San Francisco – all in one short day. At Freedomland Theme Park, such a thing was possible. Freedomland. A miniature United States. It was even built in the shape of the United States (though a visitor to the park would have never known it without taking a look at a map of the park). Freedomland. A 205 acre celebration of freedom and U.S. patriotism... in the bronx!

Unfortunately Freedomland was not quite as successful as its inspired predecessor, Disneyland. In fact, word has it, it was just plain boring and, in 1964, after dumping four years and over 50 million dollars the park, Freedomland was finally forced to close its doors.

But the memory of Freedom lives on! All you ever wanted to know about the park (and more) can be found at Rob Friedman's Freedomland website. And don't miss his collection of Freedomland memorabilia.

Reader comment: Bob Mangels says,

Freedomland was a great park, not boring at all as you inferred! One of the best parks ever built! Way ahead of its time. It's demise was part of a plan for a housing project that would gain the land owner a better return than any amusement park could.

       

Additional links:
• Dafe.org Freedomland Article
• Disney's America – A dead Disney concept, similar to Freedomland
• Journal of Ride Theory Omnibus, by Dan Howland

Cyclorama in Distress

The year is 1961, and these men are working fast and furiously on Richard Neutra's Cyclorama Building. They probably would be pleased to hear that their work would come to be called "one of the showplaces of the National Park System" by the New York Times. The Washington post would praise it for being "quietly monumental but entirely unsentimental... and fearlessly modern." Eventually it would make the National Register of Historic Places for its "exceptional historic and architectural significance."

Neutra really put his heart into this one toward the end of his life. So you have to wonder what his reaction would be if he had any idea that the National Park Service was now rarin' to tear the place to the ground. It seems that somebody important prefers a "more appropriate" architectural style... and a big parking lot.

Please help protect Neutra's creation by signing this online petition.

Incidentally, the cyclorama displays a 40 foot high painting of the 1883 Battle of Gettysburg.

Cyclorama Reality

A cyclorama is not some futuristic vehicle. It's not the newest component for your hi-fi. Instead, invented back in 1787, the cyclorama was the world's first successful stab at virtual reality. The idea was simple: put people in a big round room where any and all surfaces are painted to look like an amazing place or event. Perhaps it's a far-away city. Perhaps it's a famous battle. In any case, the cyclorama audience was (and still is) instantly transported to worlds they could have previously only imagined... or something to this effect.

A few of these old cycloramas are still in existence. If you can't personally visit one, check out these QTVR panoramas:

• The Battle of Bergisel
• View of Innsbruck

Futurama Continued

For those of you who can't get enough Futurama... go here, here or here.

Big Happy Futurama

If you had been lucky enough to visit the New York World's Fair in 1939-1940, you might have seen a sci-fi metropolis, similar to the the one shown above, at General Motor's Futurama exhibit. I'm talking the real Futurama. The original Futurama. The incredible 37,000 square foot Futurama, stuffed full of over 2,000,000 miniature buildings - Norman Bel Geddes' miniatized, ultra-modernized city-of-the future. The hit of the show! Lines to get in grew up to over a mile long!

Tiny cars, small waterfalls, little puffy clouds, miniature airplanes hovering by - all within an incredibly intricate landscape. Future, baby, future.

A second Futurama was created for the New York World's Fair in 1964-1965. Here, terrestrial cities, undersea communities and lunar colonies were displayed side-by-side, in one big, happy General Motors universe. Wow!

For more info on Futurama, check out The Journal of Ride Theory Omnibus, edited by Dan Howland.