S.F.'s Disney Family Museum delves into the history of Walt Disney's future through a lively exhibit and an even livelier appearance by that grand raconteur of mid-century retro, Charles Phoenix (pictured here).
Mickey Mouse may have put Walt Disney on the map, but it was Walt's interest in the future—specifically the future of high hopes and unbridled optimism, of cool gizmos and wow-wee Space-Age toys for all ages—that kept the man going.
This summer, San Francisco's Walt Disney Family Museum is delving into the history of Walt Disney's future through a lively exhibit and an even livelier appearance by that grand raconteur of mid-century retro, Charles Phoenix.
Charles Phoenix's 'Big Retro Disneyland Slide Show' takes place three times on Saturday, August 22, at the museum, situated in a historic building on the parade grand at the Presidio, within shot of the Golden Gate Bridge. The evening show is for members only—but the museum makes it easy to become a member.
The exhibit, 'Tomorrowland: Walt's Vision for Today,' opened this month and continues through December 7. "Tomorrow," Walt once said, "is a heck of a thing to keep up with."
"Through animated sequences, musical compositions, sound bites, graphics, audio visuals, vintage posters, and more, 'Tomorrowland: Walt's Vision for Today' immerses visitors in the story of Walt's hopes and vision for the future, as reflected in his creation of the 1967 version of Tomorrowland at Disneyland," the museum promises. Curator is filmmaker Brad Bird, the man behind 'The Incredibles,' among other films.
One feature of Tomorrowland that still resonates with fans of mid-century modern architecture is the Monsanto House of the Future, which a New York Times reporter called a possible "forerunner of the dwelling the typical American family of four may be living in ten years from now."
That was 1957—and the house was composed of plastic wings that floated above the landscape. Its designers were from the school of architecture at MIT, whose boss, Pietro Belluschi, designed the famous 'Life House' in San Mateo Highlands for Joe Eichler.
Phoenix, whose perennially popular shows on the detritus of mid-century America are built around rare photos and memorabilia, says, "Prepare for your imagination to be inspired and your Disneyland-lovin' spirit to soar like never before!"
Phoenix's talk will roam widely through Disney geography, visiting Adventureland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Tomorrowland, and reminding us of such futuristic but now-in-the-past attractions as the Phantom Boats, Flying Saucers, and the Carousel of Progress.
Phoenix will also include "flea-market found Kodachrome images of the Magic Kingdom taken by park guests in the 50s and 60s."
"This performance of my Retro Disneyland Slide Show," Phoenix says, "celebrates the 60th birthday of the greatest theme park on the planet."
Laura Harrison Castro and her successful family-run greeting card business, Harrison Greetings, has an entire line of ‘Retro Modern Holiday Cards’—and lots more. “I just took something I love—the ‘50s, ‘60s, retro, ‘atomic’—and I turned it into that,” she says. The holiday card above, which features Castro’s own Eichler in Orange front and center, was the design that kicked off the company’s ‘modern’ thrust. Photos: courtesy Harrison Greetings
"My Eichler, I love it," exclaims Laura Harrison Castro unabashedly. When it came to mixing her pleasure with the family business, though, she had her doubts.
"I just didn't think anyone would buy it," she admitted. "I mean, who would want an Eichler greeting card?"
The family business is Harrison Greetings, founded in 1959 in North Carolina by the father of Castro's first husband. When the couple was called in to take over the business, Laura was a biological anthropology scholar preparing to work on a doctorate at UCLA. So instead she studied Adobe Illustrator for Dummies—to help out with company design.
"It just happened on a whim that I learned it," Laura admits of her design skills. "Completely self-taught, I've never taken a class…I'm probably doing everything wrong."
With sales for the company having more than doubled in the past 12 years, the evidence suggests otherwise. What's more, it is how Laura achieved this success that is even more surprising. In 2003, she and her husband bought an Eichler in her hometown of Orange and began planning a transition for the business.
"People thought I was crazy to pay that," she said of the four-bedroom, Jones & Emmons-designed home, which cost them $600,000. In Orange, "It was the first-ever [Eichler] to hit that threshold, and it's gone on up from there."
"I grew up being babysat in an Eichler in the same neighborhood I now live in," she said fondly of the Fairhills community.
"We love it. It's such a warm, beautiful house," she said of their home, which accelerated her growing fascination with the world of mid-century modern. "Even if I do move somewhere else, I'll never give up my Eichler. It's like a piece of art."
Soon after buying their home, she and her family gained a reputation there for their elaborate holiday decorating.
"They call us the 'Eichler Griswolds' in our neighborhood," she said proudly with reference to the 1989 film 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.' "People bust in just to get a look at our house."
Much of the holiday décor has a mid-century modern feel, of course, and soon Castro wanted a greeting card to match.
"It started with the one with my house, because I couldn't find anything cool enough," she recalled of her first modernist card design. "I just took a picture of our house and turned it into a vector [graphic]."