Thursday, September 07, 2006

Tomorrowland Autopia 1966

This post is for all the signage freaks out there who love images of the various signs that were at the park. This set consists of signs for the Tomorrowland Autopia when Richfield sponsored the ride. The Eagle on the globe was one of Richfields trademark signs and is often seen in pictures of Tomorrowland and also pictures of Richfield gas stations. But other signs were unique to Disneyland such as the C ticket sign:

The outside covered line also had a large long sign advertising the ride. The sign was obviously designed with the design aesthetics of the time period, appearing as a googie style sign with two different type styles. The Autopia typestyle seen in this image and of the Eagle is amazing. I have strong memories of waiting in this line with anticipation to drive my car and bump my brothers in front of me, although we all know that bumping was not allowed. With lots of brothers, it was always a fight to get behind one you wanted to bump!

Though I do like the new Autopia since it is a lot longer and the imagineers were able to redesign and keep the ride, it does not speak to the future as this sign does:

This sign obviously uses imagery from the Man in Space series to create a Tomorrowland sense of place.

2 comments:

Daveland said...

You made my day. That eagle on the globe is amazing - would look great on top of my house. Wonder what happened to it...probably best that I don't know.

Major Pepperidge said...

I didn't mind getting bumped by someone I knew, but when some strange kid crashed into me, I didn't like it! Great pix, neat details of the signs.