Time period of Main Street

[The Empress Lilly]

Yeah, it's like somebody who can only praise someone by putting down others instead of just complementing someone.

Sorry. Guess I could've expressed myself better.

 

[lazyboy97o]

So I just read a little bit of the Microsoft Word essay on Main Street, which states that the time period is between 1890 and 1910. So in that context, again I ask, are the license plates on the Horseless Carriage real antique plates, since they're not consistent with the time period mentioned above?

That essay is a Landscape Architecture thesis. It is focused on the built form of Main Street, USA and is not interrogating the historicity of the land. 1890 - 1910 is a very common description for the American lands as they are the decades surrounding the turn of the century and contain much of the change and progress that is being highlighted.

There does not seem to be compelling evidence to believe that the plates are anything more than props. In 1915 plates were issued by the counties while state registration plates were made by the vehicle owner. While real antiques are not unusual, they are not the sole or primary means of set dressing. Even if the plates were antiques, they don’t fix Main Street, USA in that specific year.

 

[mharrington]

Anyway, I was asking about the license plates because I have an idea for an attraction (actually @MANEATINGWREATH had the idea first so credit goes to him; I just simply tweaked it a bit) to be put on Main Street, as a connection to Town Square Theater, which has Mickey Mouse there as a magician. The link for the original concept is here: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...open-brainstorming.924777/page-4#post-7600592. And my tweaks for it are here: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/three-mickey-rides-which-one-is-the-best.940296/#post-8187484.

Anyway, I was asking about it because I was intrigued by the license plates of the Main Street Vehicles and I was thinking of using cars like those as the ride vehicles in the ride (I'm merging the vehicles with MEW's caravan concept) and adorn them with license plates like those in the Roger Rabbit ride's queue at Disneyland, so that they have a Disney theme to them. However, I also want the license plates to be time-appropriate. Hence, why I was asking about the time period. That also means that the license plates should not have more than six letters/numbers (the plates in the Roger Rabbit ride's queue sometimes have seven). I'm asking all of this to prevent any inaccuracies in time period.

You may think I'm overthinking this, and I probably am, but I also want there to be attention to detail.

 

[Alice a]

As a lover of Meet Me in St. Louis and Hello, Dolly! -- it's a favorite land of mine. And it's become my favorite land of all, over the past year. Joy, love, romantic Americana.

As a Parks fan, and as I age, Meet me in St Louis holds an ever -dearer place in my heart. It just feels so WDW...

 

[lazyboy97o]

Anyway, I was asking about the license plates because I have an idea for an attraction (actually @MANEATINGWREATH had the idea first so credit goes to him; I just simply tweaked it a bit) to be put on Main Street, as a connection to Town Square Theater, which has Mickey Mouse there as a magician. The link for the original concept is here: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...open-brainstorming.924777/page-4#post-7600592. And my tweaks for it are here: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/three-mickey-rides-which-one-is-the-best.940296/#post-8187484.

Anyway, I was asking about it because I was intrigued by the license plates of the Main Street Vehicles and I was thinking of using cars like those as the ride vehicles in the ride (I'm merging the vehicles with MEW's caravan concept) and adorn them with license plates like those in the Roger Rabbit ride's queue at Disneyland, so that they have a Disney theme to them. However, I also want the license plates to be time-appropriate. Hence, why I was asking about the time period. That also means that the license plates should not have more than six letters/numbers (the plates in the Roger Rabbit ride's queue sometimes have seven). I'm asking all of this to prevent any inaccuracies in time period.

You may think I'm overthinking this, and I probably am, but I also want there to be attention to detail.

Attractions can and do have more specific settings than the land in which they are located. If a specific time and place is important to your story, then include those details. The contents of your plates would relate to that setting. If you’re just including them more as a gag or because people expect car to have license plates, you could also pull from the range of time and across the US, having a variety of different plates from early state issued plates to owner-made plates.

 

[mharrington]

Attractions can and do have more specific settings than the land in which they are located. If a specific time and place is important to your story, then include those details. The contents of your plates would relate to that setting. If you’re just including them more as a gag or because people expect car to have license plates, you could also pull from the range of time and across the US, having a variety of different plates from early state issued plates to owner-made plates.

So you're saying that the ride does not have to fit the land or its time period at all? I'm just asking about this to keep things from becoming too anachronistic. And those license plates are just a simple little gag deal, partly because I saw them on some of the Main Street Vehicles (hence, the shot of the Horseless Carriage). It may not be necessary, though. I thought it would just be a fun little reference to something, but I don't want to get too anachronistic.

 

[Demarke]

The only real true flag is the one in the central courtyard, it gets lowered each day. The ones atop the buildings are missing a stripe or stars, so they do not need to be taken down or lighted each night.

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...merican-flags-on-main-street-usa-i-do.574699/

As to the flag angle, I believe they can be used to date Main Street’s thematic age as well. All of the pictures I’ve seen are of past official flags (not simply modified) and have had the thirteen stripes. Here’s a site that has some close up shots of flags with the 45 stripe layout: https://bigbrian-nc.livejournal.com/12357.html From what I understand, while these are true flags, since they are not the current flag, they are considered banners and the Flag Code expectations would not apply.

This flag was the official US flag from 1896-1908: http://www.usflag.org/history/the45starflag.html and http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagfact.html

 

[Dapper Dan]

So you're saying that the ride does not have to fit the land or its time period at all? I'm just asking about this to keep things from becoming too anachronistic. And those license plates are just a simple little gag deal, partly because I saw them on some of the Main Street Vehicles (hence, the shot of the Horseless Carriage). It may not be necessary, though. I thought it would just be a fun little reference to something, but I don't want to get too anachronistic.

The setting of an attraction typically is more specific than that of an entire land. So, while a land's setting might be "turn of the century small town America" an attraction in that land could be set in a Duluth, Iowa 1908 and still fit the theme.

Really you can do whatever you want as long as the facade fits in with the surroundings. That's how you get Frozen in Norway and Pirates of the Caribbean in New Orleans Square.

Don't beat yourself up over historical accuracy. You're making entertainment, not a museum exhibit. It's more important that things feel right than are 100% accurate. If you want to do gag license plates on 1915 cars, go for it. We are so used to seeing them on cars now, that nobody is going to give it a second thought.

 

[mharrington]

The setting of an attraction typically is more specific than that of an entire land. So, while a land's setting might be "turn of the century small town America" an attraction in that land could be set in a Duluth, Iowa 1908 and still fit the theme.

Well, to be fair, 1908 still fits inside the range of 1890 to 1910. And I was told that the theme of WDW's Main Street was this time period not necessarily in the Midwest, but along the Eastern Seaboard.

Really you can do whatever you want as long as the facade fits in with the surroundings. That's how you get Frozen in Norway and Pirates of the Caribbean in New Orleans Square.

Don't beat yourself up over historical accuracy. You're making entertainment, not a museum exhibit. It's more important that things feel right than are 100% accurate. If you want to do gag license plates on 1915 cars, go for it. We are so used to seeing them on cars now, that nobody is going to give it a second thought.

A lot of people object to Frozen being in Norway (or at least they did when they first heard it was replacing Maelstrom). Granted, it has some inspiration from Norway, but Arendelle is not a real place, it was made up for the film. Here's an example of such objections here: https://micechat.com/80259-frozen-world-showcase/. As for Pirates in New Orleans Square, it gets in a certain way by starting off in a New Orleans bayou before going down a waterfall (and back up again). Also, aren't "accurate" and "right" kind of the same thing? I just don't want this ride to suffer from the same criticism that the Frozen ride got.

Anyway, it's not necessarily required that these cars have license plates on them in the Main Street time period. Like you said, it's just a cute little gag. If it becomes too problematic, I can always just remove them. Besides, most guests may not even see the license plates as they get in or out of the cars.

 

[mharrington]

It actually is a real place:

https://www.visitnorway.com/places-to-go/southern-norway/arendal/about/

"Per Disney, Arendelle gets its name from Arendal, a 16th-century shipping town about a three-hour drive southwest of Oslo"
Read more: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/trav...outhern-fjords-180956427/#btdCgAs5lKEvxDhT.99
Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12! http://bit.ly/1cGUiGv
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Why then do so many object to Arendelle being in Epcot, in an admittedly romanticized version of a real place?

 

[mharrington]

Originally I think it is because Norway wasn't specifically mentioned in the movie. It was just knows as in the Scandanavian geographic region.

And then people found out that there is a real Arendelle, and now that town gets alot of tourists.

So all of this was after the release of "Frozen", then?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Technically speaking, the time period of the Frozen movie is 1839.

Which is right after the Denmark-Norway union that ended in 1814.

In 1839, it was the Sweden-Norway union up until 1905. So at the time of the movie it was one country (Sweden/Norway). So it could have been in either the Sweden or Norway Pavilions and still be historically correct although Arendale is located in Norway.

Flag of Sweden & Norway (1839)

View attachment 337886
Flag of Norway (1839)
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They should move the racing cars from the MK to the Norway pavilion and call it the Swedeway!