THEATRICAL OPERATION:

The specially designed building in which General Electric's unique theatrical presentations will take place houses an entrance lobby, four separate theaters, and an institutional-product room. This structure is immediately behind the street facades.

The audience will move from the street itself into the lobby, where the theme and atmosphere of the stage shows will be established. From the lobby, the audience will then enter the first theatre for the presentation of Act I.

Each of Edison Square's four theatrical presentations will last approximately three minutes. Each of the theaters is designed for a capacity audience of 125 people. This audience, as a unit, will move progressively through the four theaters, entering the General Electric institutional-product room in approximately 15 minutes.

Thus, a total of 2,125 people per hour will be able to attend the General Electric Theater in Edison Square. This method of traffic control will enable approximately 25,000 people per day to see this show, a total comparable to the daily capacity of Radio City Music Hall and also equal to Disneyland's highest capacity and most popular ride, the Adventureland jungle boat cruise.

Audience progression from one theatrical setting to the next will be accompanied by specially created music and lighting effects which set the mood and theme of each presentation, and maintains the continuity of the entire production.

This music will be typical of the era which each individual production portrays: the days of pre-electricity, the early period of electricity, today and the future. Correspondingly, the music will include "tinny" phonographic sound, brassy radio, typical television audio reception, and the brilliance of hi-fidelity.

PROLOGUE circa 1878 the wizard's progress:

Designed to establish the feeling and atmosphere of the entire General Electric show, the Prologue to Edison Square's theatrical productions will take place in the lobby which visitors enter directly from the street.

The audience may wander at their leisure to view and enjoy the five full-dimensional dioramas which will be featured in this lobby. These dioramas will depict some of the most dramatic moments from Edison's life. Specialized lighting and animated effects will be utilized to make the dioramas "come alive."

The period represented in the Prologue is around 1878, this date marking the birth of the General Electric lineage. The climactic scene, the "40 Hour Watch," shows Edison and his associates finally achieving their goal, when in 1879 this first incandescent lamp burned for 40 consecutive hours.

Special Disney created theme music, lighting effects and voice recordings will announce the beginning of Act I of the theatrical presentations. The audience will then proceed to the first theater, the footlights come on, the curtains are drawn and the stage show begins.

ACT I circa 1898 1% inspiration 99% perspiration:

Act I will present on stage a unique play in which the setting is an American home just prior to the turn of the Century, in 1898. This particular home has been selected as a model for the period, containing all the very latest up to date furnishings and appliances.

It is the days of pre-electricity. Our narrator, Mr. Wilbur K. Watt, is an incredible electro-mechanical man. As he rocks hack and forth in his armchair, he describes the scene we see on the stage. It is almost as though Mr. Watt were alive, for his movements are synchronized and life-like as he describes the play.

As though the scene were a Broadway play coming to life, Mr. Watt takes us into this model American home of 1898, where we will meet all the wonderful characters who will demonstrate the "newest" home appliances which have made life easier for them.

Like Wilbur K. Watt, these characters are full-sized electro-mechanical figures. Walt Disney and his creative staff will bring them to life before our eyes. They will move, talk and go about their daily household activities, actually acting out their roles in the drama.

Each member of our cast of life-like figures is highly stylized, dressed in the mode of the day and anxious to demonstrate these "newest" appliances so that the scene on stage becomes a living, vital drama of their home life.

Various aspects of their everyday existence will he acted out as the spotlight features the Monday wash, the newest ice box, the new model in stoves and other "modern conveniences," some of which are detailed on the following pages. Mr. Watt will explain these "new gadgets" as the play progresses.

Assisting Mr. Watt in the presentation of this stage setting is the musical background, grinding out the theme songs of the day on a phonograph whose sound, though sometimes scratchy, is nevertheless "hi-fi" quality of its day.

Before we leave this family of 1898, Mr. Watt will make the optimistic prediction that some day, the very latest electrical appliances will help these people to Live Better Electrically.

As Act I is completed, the music will increase in tempo, the house lights will go on, and the audience will progress into the second theatre for Act II.

SCENE 1 Fun On Monday

The high speed Modern Marvel is the world's best Washing Machine ...We know why this washer is best. First, the tub must be made of the best materials possible ... Second, the hoops must never break ...Third, all castings must be perfect. This machine can be worked either sitting down or standing up ...

...If you're tired of watching the Missus spend all day with the wash, get one of these Modern Marvels! It will do an entire wash in 4 to 5 hours!

Just think, Ladies, how much more time you'll have for canning and other recreations !

SCENE 2 The most popular entertainer in the world

The talking machine is no longer a curiosity, it is not even a novelty. It has made for itself a place almost in every home and is the most popular entertainer in the world ...The talking machine of today is a musical instrument and better than any other musical instrument because it combines them all—a whole band or orchestra.

Today the Waldorf Astoria, New York City's most famous Hotel, the mecca of wealth and fashion, entertains its guests at luncheon with a tapering arm disk talking machine ... An ideal musical instrument for home use, a perpetual entertainer and ever-ready source of pleasure and amusement ...

SCENE 3 Saves a woman's strength

The Dust Killer Vacuum Cleaner is the most successful hand vacuum cleaner ever offered. Cleans By Air Suction ...The modern and only thorough method of Cleaning house Sucks up dust, dirt, and germs.

Saves Strength And Health ... Brushing and beating heavy carpets and rugs severely tax a woman's strength and often undermine her health. Most every woman who cleans house has heavy furniture to move, stepladders to drag around. and beds to take down—jobs entirely too heavy for her strength ...The dust she must breathe, usually reeking with filth and germs, is liable to cause tuberculosis or some other deadly disease.

SCENE 4 Home on the range

The Family Friend, biggest and heaviest cast iron range possesses every improved feature complete with reservoir and warming closet. Has the following features...Main Top, Covers, Contort and Anchor Plates.

...Can be easily utilized for broiling or placing fresh fuel on the fire with-out disturbing what is cooking on the top of the range. By simply lifting the door with the Alaska wire handle a broiler may be inserted thru the opening and you can broil and toast to your entire satisfaction

....Large Sure Oven perfectly square and air-tight absorbs and radiates the heat, keeping uniform temperatures oven with an unsteady fire.

ACT II circa 1898 The Initials Of A Friend

We have now moved into the second stage setting, the transition accompanied by theme music from the old phonograph. As the lights brighten in the theatre, we hear our narrator, Wilbur K. Watt, describing the scene on stage, a post-war family in the year 1918.

The play now depicts a model American home in the early days of electricity. Although it is electrically lighted, containing all the very latest General Electric household lighting, refrigerators, toasters, stoves, water heaters and other fine appliances and furnishings, this up-to-date home is also a veritable jungle of wires.

Our electro-mechanical cast of characters will again actually move, talk and demonstrate all the latest, up-to-date lighting and appliances, accompanied by sound effects from the vacuum, wash machines and other conveniences and energy-saving devices. Before our eyes, these appliances will be operated by our life-like cast, just as they were used in 1918

The theme music, sometimes drowned out by the deafening noise of an elevated train passing by the window, now emanates from the brassy radio, playing the popular tunes of the time. As the radio music increases in volume, Mr. Watt makes the prediction that radio is becoming so real that you can almost imagine sound becoming sight.

The audience then progresses into the third stage setting for the presentation of Act III

SCENE 1 The Copper Wire Jungle

The convenient way—the G-E Cord Connector is another convenience, often a necessity for use with all kinds of portables. It permits attaching an auxiliary cord to standard length cords, thus lengthening them indefinitely. However distant the baseboard or receptacle, the source of current is brought within easy reach ...

Hot Point Electric Iron—perfectly safe—attaches to any light socket instantly begin to iron in 3 or 4 minutes and you iron continuously. No heat in room, no fuss or bother ...

... and look at that new hot water heater ! Put a bell and a whistle on it and it would take you right down the river to Natchez,

SCENE 2 Its Not The Heat Its The Humidity

Electric fans bring cooling breezes; Mazda lamps brighten the home and relieves the eyes ...ask us to help you select the labor-saving electrical appliances best suited for your home a little motor can do it for 1 1/4 cents per hour.

...Now there's what I call an invention ...this runs right off the wire like Ben Franklin's kite string.

ACT III circa 1958 Live Better Electrically

The theme music tells us that we have now reached the present day in our evolving electrical drama, and are viewing, on stage, another American family in its model contemporary home of the year 1958.

Mr. Watt's prediction of 50 years ago has come true. We are indeed seeing an American family Living Better Electrically, with the aid of all the very newest interior lighting and automatic home equipment.

This American family of 1958 is enjoying the comforts of its combination family room and patio. Outside, it is snowing, but they never even notice: their radiant heat and climate control shield them completely from the weather while they swim, watch television or bask in the General Electric "sunshine."

Our electro-mechanical cast of characters acts out the drama. Mom is keeping tabs on the kids through the scanner which allows her to see any other room in the house. She has already set the automatic equipment for Dad's dinner, which is cooking by itself while she relaxes.

Before the lighting and musical effects signal the end of Act III and we move into the final theater, Mr. Watt, ever the optimist, can't help taking leave of 1958 without the prediction that some day, these same people will be travelling into outer space.

SCENE 1 The Great Dinner Mystery

Blink your eyes and the dinner is done ... Hot food from a cold oven...Foods may lie served in the same dishes they are cooked in ... eliminates scouring pots and pans ... A poached egg in 20 seconds, a hot sandwich in even less. A baked potato in 4 minutes ... even a medium sized chicken roasts in 20 minutes rather than the 2 1/2 hours usually required.

SCENE 2 If You Build A Better Mouse

A new way of life ... and it's only just beginning!

Can you remember what it was like —before television?

It isn't easy, is it?

For television has changed our tastes, our habits and our family living so profoundly, we wonder how we ever got along without it ...

ACT IV circa 19?8 More Power To America

Ever moving toward the future, we have reached the ultimate of present predictions in Act IV, the year 19?8.

The scene is a penthouse overlooking New York City of the Future. There are stars above us and stars below us in this "island in the sky."

The audience itself is on stage in this scene. We walk in and make ourselves at home among the space scanners, the ultra-modern furnishings, and the new automatic, time-saving devices.

Mom is programming her dinners for the entire week in her automation-controlled kitchen. She presses a button, and her "cooking" for the week is completed, with the proper diet and calorie content included in each meal for every member of the family. She takes a look into an electronically controlled scanner, presses another button, and the bedroom is cleaned automatically.

Through the skyview, space ships are seen racing across the nighttime sky toward their destination: anywhere in the universe. We actually experience a view in another scanner, of a space ship landing on Planet Venus, an everyday event for these people of 19?8 which causes no excitement in the household.

This, then, is the promise of the future that Wilbur K. Watt spoke of: the promise that is embodied in the words "Progress Is Our Most Important Product."

SCENE 1 Automation Comes Home

In the automated home, the portable Programmer controls household operations ... temperature control, illumination control, push-button doors and windows, intercom video, monthly menu programming, caloric and protein measurement, supplies inventory, food preparation and processing, audio scheduling of appointments and dates, mobile floor cleaner, self-propelled serving carts.... Here are the appliances of the future ... Household duties and services performed at the touch of a button ... a wave of the hand.

SCENE 2 Space Ships To Anywhere

Interplanetary television receivers are in every home... On our wall screen is a telecast from Venus covering the arrival of a space ship from Earth . . . Among its important passengers is Mr. Wilbur K. Watt ... His predictions, his anticipations are reality.

As he disembarks ... lie sees The Initials Of A Friend affixed to the power plant of his space ship ... symbol of service, mark of quality ... assurance that Progress Is Our Most Important Product.

Adjusting the oxygen dial of his space helmet, lie steps confidently into the Future.

EDISON SQUARE STATS:

Site: Edison Square is located just off Main Street at the Plaza... the hub of Disneyland and entrance to each of the "lands''

Traffic Pattern: All tragic entering or exiting Disneyland is patterned to lead to and from the Plaza via Main Street ... Similarly, all traffic into and out of each of the "lands" converges at the Plaza.

Key Location: Determination of this geographical site for Edison Square was designed to take full advantage of this basic traffic pattern and strategic location.

Identification: As each of the "lands" has a befitting and symbolic Marquee. the Edison Arch Marquee will be distinctively significant.

Exterior: The street encircling Edison Square... complete in every detail... will contain approximately 500 lineal feet of residential facades.

Building Interior: Completely temperature conditioned and sprinklered... interior area comprising approximately 40.000 square feet contains the entrance lobby, four theaters and the institutional-product room, with adjacent back-stage and work area. Space is provided for flexibility of office arrangements and conference rooms.

Audience Progression and Traffic Flow: Controlled automatically...Lighting, sound and entrance-exit doors of each of the four theaters will be synchronized with each of the four theatrical productions. providing absolute production continuity and controlled audience progression. Pre-conditioned in the atmosphere of the entrance lobby ... and apprised of the attraction sponsorship the general audience is grouped in the pre-entry area into unit-audiences of 125 people maximum. The relative position taken by each guest in the pre-entry grouping will be maintained throughout the entire production . Audience position is on a four level viewing platform, each level separated by a continuous railing, which extends through each of the four theaters. Grouping completed... automation takes over ... the unit- audiences moving as a synchronized unit through the four productions and into the institutional-product area.

Guest Participation: With each presentation requiring approximately 3 minutes... overall production time will be approximately 12 minute,. Allowing one-half minute for unit -audience progression between each production. each unit-audience will enter the institutional-product area in approximately 15 minutes from the time it entered the first theater.

Maximum Capacity: The attraction and its facilities are designed to accommodate a maximum capacity of 125 people every 3.5 minutes... 17 unit-audiences or 2,125 people per hour 21,250 people on a ten-hour daily schedule..., 31,875 people on a fifteen-hour daily schedule...

From Disneyland Report To Anaheim And Orange County 1958:
Liberty Street:

Already gaining wide national attention, Liberty Street will excitingly dramatize the events of the Revolutionary War period of our history, presenting these historical events in such a way as to give our guests a better personal understanding and pride in the American way of life. In essence, Liberty Street will tell the story of our American heritage and its relationship to Freedom of Enterprise.

The Street itself will be an architectural composite of several American cities as they existed in the 1770 Revolutionary War era. The shops and exhibits, all in actual operation, will be representative of the types of enterprises which were in existence in American cities at that time. After passing into and through the old operating section of the shop, visitors will transcend into an exhibit of the business or industry which is directly related to the origin of the shop.

Liberty Street's presentations, in two 500-seat auditoriums located in Liberty Square, will be designed to give each spectator an "experience" rather than just a "show."

The "Hall of the Declaration of Independence" will present the Framing, Signing and Proclaiming of this most famous of all human document, utilizing narration, special effects and new techniques in three-dimensional viewing.

The mighty cavalcade of American History, as seen through the eyes of our Presidents from George Washington to Dwight D. Eisenhower, will unfold before spectators in the "Hall of the Presidents of the United States." Life-size sculptured and costumed figures of the 34 Presidents will be featured.

A scale model of the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C., hand carved by an artisan who devoted many years to the task, will also be highlighted by dramatic lighting in a rotunda setting in Liberty Square.

Edison Square:

Thomas Edison Square will be a type of "permanent home show," contrasting the "old" of Edison's time with the "new" of today and tomorrow. The old family life, such as a home and its living room, will be contrasted with the modern conveniences that contribute to the leisurely living of today.

A central theme throughout Thomas Edison Square will show what the great inventor, Edison, did to contribute to the changes shown in the exhibit.