Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Theme Parkeology - Way Back Style!

Theme Parkeology (theem pahrk\ŏl'ə-jē) = the study of details, minutiae and history of theme parks. Akin to the archaeological study of human habitation, theme parkeology looks at the often layered and detailed surroundings. Theme Parkeologists relentlessly pour over the tiniest scraps to glean any information about an area of a theme park, past or present. (Term first coined by the original Theme Parkeologist, Jeff Pepper at 2719 Hyperion.)
I present an image from our 1985 Way Back series. Just two people posing in front of the Universe of Energy. Pretty innocuous, right? Not to the Theme Parkeologist!


If we take a closer look at the bag that the young lady is carrying...
We can get an idea about the type of marketing and graphics that the parks were using back then.

Or the oh-so distant relative of PUSH all the way in the back? Not to mention that you can see a row of the older Disney strollers, the color of the cement work, the planted flowers...

Want to learn more?

3 comments:

SamLand said...

I have a new goal in life. I aspire to be a theme parkeologist. Thank you for the career advice!

Jeff Tatanus said...

This is exactly what my girlfriend would make fun of me for... but it's the type of things I'd notice too.

Disneyphemera said...

I've been following your site for a while now and love it. It actually inspired me to get my Disney books organized in a book shelf. One other thing to point out...the red Mickey ears on the girl with the bag.