Fake Places
Rubber Tanks and U.S. Army’s 23rd Special Troops
A great book called Secret Soldiers: How a Troupe of American Artists, Designers, and Sonic Wizards Won World War II’s Battle of Deception Against the Germans is about…well, just that. It covers the U.S. Army’s 23rd Special Troops and how they waged surreptitious “battles” against the Germans using deceptive techniques. These techniques were sometimes as... »
Disneyland Main Street: Fake, Well-Done, Increasingly Insignificant
One of the most prominent, yet ignored, features of Disneyland is its Main Street. Even though thousands of people walk through Main Street every day, it is vastly ignored. Too bad, because Main Street is one of the best features of Disneyland. The main elevations for Main Street were drawn up by a former... »
Volcano Redoubt in You Only Live Twice (Film – 1967)
The true face of the James Bond series, at least throughout the Sixties and Seventies, isn’t Sean Connery. It’s a German-born set designer named Ken Adam. Born in Berlin in 1921, trained as an architect in London, Adam’s hand has influenced film style through movies such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Ipcress File, Goldfinger,... »
Fake White House in Suburban Maryland – James J. Rowley Training Center
In an April 5, 1982 TIME magazine article, it was mentioned that a fake White House and Blair House (the little auxiliary house across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House) were going to be built in Beltsville, Maryland: Thomas Jefferson, the architect President, designed parts of the White House. Now with Ronald Reagan, the thespian... »
Matterhorn – Disneyland June 14, 1959
Let’s say right off the bat that it’s not the “Matterhorn.” Official term for it was “Matterhorn Bobsleds, because the included roller coaster was a big deal. Such a big deal: the first steel roller coaster in the world. But we’re less interested in the bobsleds than in the mountain itself–a 147 foot fake mountain... »
