Restored picture of Enterprise first arrival.

[feek61]

The original photo was taken just outside of the model shop that built the ship prior to it being loaded on a truck and sent over to the studio. They built all kinds of stuff there (if I remember correctly aircraft models) so no telling what other things people saw sitting out on the sidewalk. I would imagine though that the Enterprise would have at least made passer-by's curious

 

[Warped9]

And it's also amazing how disinterested or uncurious some people can be. They could walk by with barely a glance.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I think many people back then would know it was a model of a fictional spaceship. Especially the ones who'd seen Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and various episodes of The Twilight Zone. It would come across to those people as a cool flying saucer with rockets attached.

 

[Keith1701]

Very Nice for sure

 

[JWPlatt]

...passer-by's...

Passers by
Attorneys General
Boards of Review

And so forth. When modifying the noun, pluralize the noun - not the modifier. Just doing my part to fix the internet.

 

[Maurice]

...pluralize the noun—not the modifier.

Use an em dash not a hyphen. Just doing my part to fix the internet.

 

[spockboy]

The original photo was taken just outside of the model shop that built the ship prior to it being loaded on a truck and sent over to the studio. They built all kinds of stuff there (if I remember correctly aircraft models) so no telling what other things people saw sitting out on the sidewalk. I would imagine though that the Enterprise would have at least made passer-by's curious

Here is a very rare shot of that very model shop I just restored.

Spockboy

 

[Maurice]

^^^Dig it!

 

[The Old Mixer]

And how does one create an em-dash in this godforsaken place?

 

[JWPlatt]

In Windows, hold down the Alt key and type on the numeric keypad: 0151

Yeah, no thanks. If it's not on the keyboard, it doesn't exist. Some editors convert a double hyphen to an em dash. Xenforo doesn't, as far as I know.

 

[The Old Mixer]

— Yeah, that's a pain the ass. With all due respect, @Maurice , I'll just get by with gold old-fashioned, typewriter-age double hyphens. --

 

[Green Shirt]

In Windows, hold down the Alt key and type on the numeric keypad: 0151

— — — — — —
That wore me out.

 

[Maurice]

Talk about missing the point, guys. I only did that to show how easy it is to nitpick another user's typing.

(But since it was mentioned, FYI for OSX users you just hold down option & shift and type a hypen to get — and option and - to get an en dash – )

 

[alensatemybuick]

As I recall (my Dad was an IBM field engineer and told (and showed) me back int he late 70s), the way the old Selectric typewriters worked, if you brushed a key VERY lightly, it could result in an incomplete "signal" getting though (but enough to register that a key had been pressed) , and the default in such cases was an en dash no matter which key it was. Or was that a hyphen?

 

[spockboy]

What I wonder about, and hasn't been brought here or the other recent thread that ran the similarly close shot as the first one shown by the OP, is what might have been the impressions of someone seeing this, walking down the street? Given an idea by one of the boffins around as to its upcoming use, do posters think that some at least might have had a presentiment, even to a slight degree, of the immense piece of the development of the televised sf form that they were gazing at, to say nothing of a global popular cultural phenomenon that might be soon aborning? How long was it out on the street? There certainly could of been a number of people that passed by, a decent percentage still living. Of course, anyone online can claim to have been such an incredibly fortunate individual, but for those whose claim is actually in earnest, it would be fascinating to hear their impressions, as it was likely something they would never forget.

Thoughts?

That's a great question. Whenever I look at old footage like this...
https://archive.org/details/Httpsar...eet_VisuallyLossless-Plus-Screener-Quality-HD

...my first thought is inevitably, "What were they thinking about?" I remember my first viewing of Star Trek at age 11. It was a lot to take in, so at first I defensively said "this is dumb" After the episode finished however I was hooked for life.
I suspect at least several people would have reacted the same way to seeing the 11 footer with statements like "that's weird" or "what the hell is that thing?" Anything unique or ahead of its time usually garners a negative response at first because the person doesn't understand what they are looking at which frustrates them or makes them feel silly for not understanding.
Some would have smiled and shaken their heads thinking "Ahhh Hollywood, there you go again" or may have looked at it with wonder thinking "I love living in this town!" "Where else would you see a giant space ship on the sidewalk?"

Perhaps some people, not familiar with Science Fiction, may have thought it was some sort of giant machine part.
It is a very odd shape when you view it objectively.

This fascination I have with the past is what motivated me to restore the picture(s) in the first place.

What do you think they would have thought?

Spockboy

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Perhaps some people, not familiar with Science Fiction, may have thought it was some sort of giant machine part.
It is a very odd shape when you view it objectively.

This fascination I have with the past is what motivated me to restore the picture(s) in the first place.

What do you think they would have thought?

Spockboy

Considering the era, the aforementioned rocket and saucer ideas could have pointed a few onlookers in the right direction, but we also have to remember that people tend to collect a wealth of information--visual ideas and file them in their mind as hard facts, so for the average Californian, "spaceship" would not be the first thought, since in their minds--particularly in that early Space Race period--only thinks of then-traditional rockets. Modification or influence does not enter the consideration.

 

[Drone]

That's a great question. Whenever I look at old footage like this...
https://archive.org/details/Httpsar...eet_VisuallyLossless-Plus-Screener-Quality-HD

...my first thought is inevitably, "What were they thinking about?" I remember my first viewing of Star Trek at age 11. It was a lot to take in, so at first I defensively said "this is dumb" After the episode finished however I was hooked for life.
I suspect at least several people would have reacted the same way to seeing the 11 footer with statements like "that's weird" or "what the hell is that thing?" Anything unique or ahead of its time usually garners a negative response at first because the person doesn't understand what they are looking at which frustrates them or makes them feel silly for not understanding.
Some would have smiled and shaken their heads thinking "Ahhh Hollywood, there you go again" or may have looked at it with wonder thinking "I love living in this town!" "Where else would you see a giant space ship on the sidewalk?"

Perhaps some people, not familiar with Science Fiction, may have thought it was some sort of giant machine part.
It is a very odd shape when you view it objectively.

This fascination I have with the past is what motivated me to restore the picture(s) in the first place.

What do you think they would have thought?

Spockboy

Well, just on the rather prosaic side, if some people present had been informed by the craftspeople around as to the purpose of this odd form, I would think that at the least, the information might have been filed away, with something like the thought, "Huh, a space ship that looks like that? A bit different than the usual presentation, that's for sure. Maybe the show it will be featured on will be different in character than the usual crap I've seen. Might be worth a try. What did they say it would be called again?"

Nice to think that someone might have some loftier or more overarching flashes of insight, but maybe that's a bit unrealistic, thinking about it some more.

 

[JWPlatt]

I did a quick search for "evolution of spaceship design in science fiction." I think it would be an interesting topic for a research paper or a book. Maybe one already exists. I'd only be interested in all imaginary designs going back centuries or millennia, culminating with the Apollo era, including Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey. The modern era - post 1972 - of practical space travel and popular science fiction would overwhelm the topic. So for example, I'd include Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and such but omit everything after Star Trek. An "evolution" needs a very long time scale and all the newer stuff would be very compressed. It might be interesting to have a sequel book to cover the 1970s and beyond.

Here's a small taste of what I found on the history of space travel concepts:
http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/93537/what-was-the-first-sci-fi-work-to-feature-a-spaceship

There's a great poster showing the scale of every spaceship design in the modern era, but it's all too new. The Independence Day ship appears largest. Search "poster of every science fiction spaceship."

 

[Warped9]

Actually this discussion is quite old. In many books I've read about space travel I have often seen references to the imaginings of people in times long past throughout history and evolving through more modern times and our greater understanding of the real science involved.

Today, and already for many decades actually, people are theorizing about the possibility of FTL travel--how might it be done and what form it might take. This is really little different than what we went through imagining and developing the power of atmospheric flight and then simply getting into orbit and space and reaching the nearest planets.

What "spaceships" look like is influenced by artistic imaginations and trends as well as a measure of scientific understandings of a given time.

 

[Search4]

Ok here's a good tidbit. You've seen the rollout photo in Burbank... and that second photo more head on... well this wasn't the digital age. Film came in rolls. They took a whole roll. Not just 1-2 shots. We've reviewed them for the restoration, since it is "the first", but don't have permission to release.

BTW - of course, the model was heavily modified, and repainted, for the second pilot and for production.