Space-Boy: 1957

The gun is a Zoomeray, made by Tigrett sometime around 1952. The company continued to make them for many years.

The barrel was a "Chinese Yo-Yo" -- a paper spool that, with a flick of the wrist, would launch forward two or three feet before snapping back into place. The toy came in red, yellow or gold. Red was the most popular. Today, reproductions are available through novelty stores.

Wow= The Tower is STILL there!

http://swapatorium.blogspot.com/2007/01/arrows-to-atoms-space-tower.html

This made me think of Norton's helmet on the Honeymooners episode. You couldn't buy a costume that detailed today.

Crockett cap, check
Steve Canyon helmet! with drop down visor!
I can smell the plastic still...

Looking at the poster, captioned "From Arrows to Atoms", it would appear that the gizmo on top of the space helmet it the emblem of the entire expo. The shadow in the background must be a larger version of the space gizmo, which is both an arrow and an atom at the same time. There were probably many of them all over the grounds, and I would guess one big one at the center of the grounds. Sort of like the Trylon and Perisphere of the '39 World's fair.

How wonderful to see a photo from Oklahoma where I currently reside, thank you for sharing. These two cutiepies would be in their mid-50's about now (I'm much older) and LAST YEAR was the Oklahoma Centennial, 100 years of statehood. You may remember that in Tulsa they dug up a car that had been buried in '57 and it was rusted out and totally wasted, what a pity. This "helmet" made from a fishbowl looks VERY unsafe and like an accident waiting to happen from either suffocation or accidentally hitting your head on a post, claustrophobia, heat build-up or any number of possible mishaps. Heaven help the kid if they were unable to get the fishbowl off and had to break it to remove it. Yet he was as happy as a clam and the girl could not be more adorable. This is a real day-brightener, recalling the carefree, halcyon days of oblivious joy and fun that were the nifty fifties.

Were you also wandering around the grounds in that outfit during the event? Somebody was; I remember seeing him.

Dad was from Atoka, and at that time there was a gentleman there who collected and restored nickelodeons. One of his was on the porch of the restored saloon, and everybody was marveling at it -- it was one of the complex ones, with a real violin inside that was played by rotating wax disks.

Dad saw the card, smiled, and dropped in a nickel. The machine played perfectly, of course. For a little while we had smiles and people dancing to the music.

The nickelodeon collector's shop burned down in the late 80s or early 90s, destroying at least fifty machines.

Regards,
Ric

Looks like you were given a genuine Acme Disintegrating Gun for your space belt, as well. Terrific picture!

At least you didn't get cooties!

...apparently. Going by mid-50s illustrations, cartoons and comic books, every kid had either a space helmet or a Davy Crockett coonskin cap. I didn't have either. I didn't even get to Disneyland until 1960. God, I was deprived.

Is that the shadow of your antenna on the backdrop behind you, or are you communicating with another Space-Boy?

So cute. Looks like you might have had a lil crush there. Great pic, thanks for sharing.