Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: May 11th, 2006
Disneyland Double Exposed, 1961
Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is slightly double exposed on the House of the Future. Its mid-evil meets mid-century! Medievalism and modernism have never been so close. For ten years, between 1957 and 1967, the all-plastic House of the Future was just outside of Tomorrowland perched on a pedestal steps from the castle They both represent fairy tales - one speaks of the future as the other of the past.
Who is supposed to be posing for this photo? Is it the twins wearing matching puffed-sleeved-pinafore party dresses over white bobby socks and black patent leather? Or the woman who wears sensible yet stylish shoes and her two followers whose stride seems clearly interrupted?
I don’t know. But I do know that the little girls look like they just stepped out of an animated Disney classic. And their dresses match the giant TV screen-like windows of the house that nearly 50 years after it was built and forty after it was demolished still looks futuristic. Design-wise the House of the Future is a miracle of modernity because it’s still ahead of its time. This was living beyond the space age. Way beyond. So far beyond that time hasn’t gotten us there yet.
Can you just imagine a House of the Future tract? I can imagine dozens of them dotting a hillside covered with bright yellow flowers and lush greenery. Would they be all refrigerator white or come in decorator colors? I can see even the two, three, and even ten story versions. My imagination is inspired and my spirit is soaring!
Come See a lot more of the House of the Future, inside and out, and a whole show about the early days of the Magic Kingdom **NEXT WEEKEND**
CHARLES PHOENIX’S RETRO DISNEYLAND SLIDE SHOW
…at the REDCAT THEATER in the spectacular WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL! Friday Evening May 19 at 8:30 and Sunday afternoon May 21 at 2:00 More Info
Here’s to the Houses of the Future in our future and YOU!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
May 2006
Sets this Slide belongs to:
Space-Age Style & Theme Parks
17 Comments on “Disneyland Double Exposed, 1961”
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May 11th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
holy crap - aren’t those the twins from the shining? www.archiviokubrick.it/film/shining/index.html?main=foto
May 12th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Hey Charles, Looking forward to new book and the upcoming show at Redcat. Those little girls are scary ! Grandma and Grandpa look a little concerned and the flying saucer has landed from another planet. WOW I remember that thing. Can’t wait to see more slides from the ‘Tragic Kingdom’, the slutiest place on earth !
May 12th, 2006 at 9:11 am
You just know the twin on the left is seething because her sister has the better petticoats–again.
The later killing spree and Made for Lifetime movie starring the Olsen twins can be traced back to this very picture.
May 12th, 2006 at 9:57 am
Those girls are creepy in a “Come Play With Us Danny, Come Play With Us” sort of way.
May 12th, 2006 at 10:37 am
Wow, that’s a creepy one with those girls in the matching dresses.
May 12th, 2006 at 11:32 am
I would have to say the twins have just disembarked from their spacecraft.I get the feeling they are just moments away from using their “Secret Weapon” of “Eyeball” Laser beams!They will probably practice on the flowerbed first.It looks as though they already have these Passeres by,under mind control.Afterwards,they will be ready to negociate Earth’s surrender with Mickey The Great! Hi Charles,good pic!
May 12th, 2006 at 11:53 am
YOu know, I’m seeing the sinister aspect of this more and more… note the way, the pleading way, the elders look at the photographer ‘Help, us” they seem to say.
And the odd angles at which they stand (even the trees) — as though a gravitational pull draws them to the children and the awaiting house-shaped-craft.
Clearly, mind control is in effect.
May 12th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
The “spaceship” house in the background reminds me of the “sleeper house” in Colorado. The elderly folks…long lost family on my husbands side
The twins…future mormon missionaries beating a path to the “group” of lost souls…
May 12th, 2006 at 3:36 pm
“Tomorrowland of the Damned!!”
Coming soon to a theater near you.
May 12th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
Certainly Not Haunted Charles!
Yes of course Grandma could indeed be pleading for a saving from those twins (and Grandpa and Uncle Sammy) but not because there is a haunting afoot. I believe she might haunted by … well let’s listen in to Grandma’s interior monologue: “after this gosh durn long day at Disneyland (and time wasted in some kinda robot space house with an automated kitchen and those horrid television phones), these two brats and those two noodle brains are going to want me to make them something for dinner. Oh sure, we’ve eaten wieners and hamburgers and french fried potatoes and ice cream and that infernal fudge, but everybody still wants Grandma to make something delicious. Please Grandma! We need something to eat! Or maybe it will be the dunderhead saying, ‘Gee Mother, I sure am hungry!’ Blasted robot house … makes everyone think it’s easy to fix a nice meal.”
Oh Grandma! You poor soul! But I have a wonderful suggestion for you that won’t account for much cooking, just the opening of a few cans of canned and potted meat products. Yum yum! Looky Grandma! Dinner is a fun appetizer feast! I will simply send over the December 1960 issue of _Everywoman’s Family Circle_ to illuminate the way to “Easy, Elegant Snacks” made with Swift’s Premium meats-in-a-can. Lovely reader, you can make these right along with Grandma:
“Caught short for something special to serve? Not you … not ever, when you keep a supply of Swift’s Premium meats-in-a-can on hand. It’s the modern way to keep good meats in reach. 27 wonderful kinds to choose from. All ready to eat … all easy to keep indefinitely without refrigeration.
Swift’s Premium Vienna Sausage: Cut in halves, heat, serve on picks with pearl onion, stuffed olive, or a cube of Swift’s Brookfield Cheese. Mix equal parts of mayonnaise and mustard for a tangy dip.
Swift’s Premium Deviled Ham: For good munching, stuff crisp celery with Swift’s savory but subtle Deviled Ham.
Swift’s Premium Corned Beef: Mix with sour cream and horseradish. Heap on toasted rye. Broil 5 minutes.
Swift’s Prem: If you’re adventurous enough to try this one, you’re sure to be rewarded by an empty plate. Just place thin slices of Swift’s famed Prem on buttered (or peanut buttered) graham crackers.
Always keep good meats in reach … Swift’s Premium meats-in-a-can!”
Who’s saying “mmm-mmm” now? I imagine it’s not just Grandma and her Crew Of The Damned. Who wouldn’t want a Spam-ish slice of Prem on a graham cracker slathered with peanut butter? My goodness! A dinner made up of snacks and appetizers (and maybe a drink or two) is never improper, and is always in style! Don’t make it a habit, of course, but sometime we ladies don’t want to make dinner — so make it a party! And don’t forget those meats-in-a-can!
xoxo!
Miss Sharon
May 12th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
I know that these are NOT the twins from The Shining, b/c the real twins actually live right next door to me. And they are just as solemn and ultra-creepy. The sweet little girls in the slide look like they were dressed either in homage to Alice in Wonderland….or Dorothy from Oz.
May 12th, 2006 at 10:02 pm
Sad but true…I remember, all too well, the Monsanto House of the Future. This truly dates me but I went to Disneyland the first year it opened. I was not quite 2 years. Sooo, growing up so close to the park was a thrill and always felt like we could never get there fast enough when Dad was driving. For a while Mom was the secretary to the congressman of Anaheim so we got freebies for a while and could take lots of out-of-town guests and be a BIG hit!!
I really loved the House of the Future. I was sad to see it go. It reminds me of my childhood and when my parents were still alive.
I had to look hard to make sure I wasn’t one of those spooky looking blonde kids.
Thanks for the memories!
Pamela
May 13th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Run, old folks, run!!!!! Those girls have a strange, “other worldly” look about them!!! Weren’t they on that spaceship in “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind”?
May 15th, 2006 at 11:34 am
We’ve come a long healthy way since my HS grad year! Grandpop is most likely in his early 60’s, Grandmom her late 50’s - and their “young man” is most likely in his mid 30’s.
May 16th, 2006 at 11:13 am
Yikes—I had to look really close to make sure that the twins weren’t my sister and I. Mom used to do stuff like that to us all the time. But we survived–barely.
May 18th, 2006 at 10:23 am
This is like that movie Coocoon. The two young aliens are luring the elderly onto their spaceship. The aliens promise rejuvenization and youth.
(the end of the movie doesn’t show that they really eat the old people.) Run Gramma! RUN!
August 7th, 2006 at 8:50 pm
The best thing in the house of the future was that the wall colors could be changed with a light switch. I couldn’t wait to have my own when I grew up……..