Does this make you feel older?When Disneyland...

Does this make you feel older?

When Disneyland opened in 1955, Tomorrowland was described as a futuristic vision of the world in the distant year of . . . 1986.

Tomorrowland has been spiffed up a bit since then. Among its first exciting displays were Kaiser’s Hall of Aluminum Fame, the Dutch Boy Paint Color Gallery (“Our Future in Colors”) and the immortal Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow.

Yesterdayland: Walt Disney originally wanted to put Mickey Mouse Park (as he first called it) in Burbank. But there was opposition from the City Council, including one member who said: “We don’t want the carny atmosphere in Burbank.”

Disney also considered turning an old railroad yard in Downtown Los Angeles into the Happiest Place on Earth. But he settled, of course, on Anaheim.

It was a dream come true for Orange County, which figured to always prosper until its economy disappeared into the Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow.

SPEAKING OF THE FUTURE: One of the questions we hear most often from readers in these troubling times is:

“Steve, what is the way?”

We’re not sure. But we can suggest three roads to take, courtesy of sharp-eyed Sal Lombardo of West L.A. (see photos). Easy Way and Old Fashion Way are in Anaheim, by the way.

ANALYZING THE CRUMBS: OK, so we’ve established there was no truth to the urban myth about a Neiman Marcus customer being tricked into paying $250 for a cookie recipe in Dallas. That was the reason the alleged Neiman Marcus recipe has been appearing on the Internet--the victim supposedly was getting her revenge by giving it away. But what about the recipe itself? Teh-han P. Chow of Northridge writes: “I decided to try it out. It tasted nothing like the ones sold in the posh department stores.”

This disclosure undoubtedly will be seized upon by those who say the Internet should be regulated. No more inferior cookie recipes!

IT JUST DOESN’T COMPUTE: After the typewriter company, Smith Corona Corp., filed for bankruptcy, KCAL-TV’s Cary Berglund interviewed Angelenos for their reaction. One young man told Berglund he had no reaction because he’d never heard of Smith Corona. Then he added, by way of explanation: “I don’t drink.”

Bartender, make ours a double.

miscelLAny An ESPN special on baseball broadcasters, “Voices of the Game,” credits L.A. fans with originating a custom. (No, it wasn’t the ritual of leaving games early.) It can be traced to (1) the emergence of an electronics product in the 1950s, (2) the speaking skills of Vin Scully and (3) the large number of terrible seats in the Dodgers’ first L.A. park, the Coliseum. The custom: Bringing transistor radios to the ballpark.