Above and Beyond. That’s where you’ve gone. And thinking about all the amazing things you all are finding and figuring out, I have that feeling I get while watching a parade. With fireworks. And confetti. And silly string, the kind that doesn’t get stuck in your hair.

It’s probably because I went so long thinking I had to do everything on my own. Yes, Grandpa believed in the power of optimistic people teaming up and joining forces. But Mom? Well, let’s just say she’s been looking out for me. She’s tough, independent, and she raised me to be the same. But I personally love the idea of merging both those worlds. Grandpa AND Mom’s.

This isn’t about me, though. This is about making sense of the last week or so, giving credit where credit is due.

First, I came across a nuclear fusion brochure in Grandpa’s apartment, and Stephen figured out that the message on it was written in shorthand. Chad’s grandmother and Reid’s mother translated the message, discovering a possible schedule for meetings with Wernher (Von Braun?), (Ray?) Bradbury, and Howard (Hughes?).

Who knew Grandpa knew shorthand!

Then we discussed Wallace from disneycartography.com, who posted his own map of the refreshed Tomorrowland in 1959. There appears to be three locations on Wallace’s map that seemed to be designated as points of particular interest – Submarine Voyage, Tomorrowland Monorail Station, and Tomorrowland Autopia.  Kalani found a secret code at the Midget Autopia statue. And Hastin found two more codes at Submarine Voyage and Tomorrowland Monorail Station.  Amber then pointed out those codes are U.S. patent numbers.  But what do they mean?

Then – remember those World’s Fair records I mailed out last week?

I mailed the records out to a bunch of you to thank you for all your help and hard work. After receiving one of the records, Elizabeth discovered that they were multi-grooved, with an extra track containing alternative narration for certain World’s Fair attractions – the Carousel of Progress and the Primeval World diorama.*  The audio for Side A can be found here and Side B can be found here.

James figured out that the alternative audio narration on the record was intended for special VIP guests. I believe each alternative narration was meant to be listened to at specific points in their corresponding attractions! The extra track audio hints at advancements in technology that didn’t come about until well after 1964.

A while back, we found out from Lott’s email footer that we can access protected pages on his website by adding a slash after the Lott Family Construction URL, followed by the codename of the project requested. After I posted a note about Grandpa that hinted at his involvement in something referred to as “eticket59”, Stephen entered “/eticket59” at the end of the Lott Family Construction URL and unlocked access to blueprints for the original Tomorrowland.

From the ‘client area’ on the Lott Family Construction website.

Within the original Tomorrowland blueprints, Jody and Stephen discovered secret keys to those patents, and the secret meanings of the patent diagrams were revealed. Shining light on top-secret tech. Finally illuminating what “Signal Flag,” Auto Apparatus,” and “Mark 0” were code names for!

Either way, all of the work you did and discoveries you found continually inspire me to continue on. To forge ahead. Undaunted. Overall, awesome progress this week. Looking forward to tomorrow. Always.

*Update:  Oops!  In my sleepy haze last night I posted the wrong name.  Silly me.  After listening to it, I think Stephen is right and the track is referencing Primeval World.

Now I’m*really* late to lab – gotta run!

From the ‘client area’ on the Lott Family Construction website.

Stephen had a pretty interesting theory about those notations in the corners of some of the blueprints:

Secondly, Benjamin (and Zach and Fred!) asked Michael about grandpa and got this in reply:

Dear Benjamin,

Oh, yeah. I think he was a writer or some such. I think we chatted at the Fair a bit… but that’s all I really remember.

Yours truly,
Michael T. Lott

–

Lott Family Construction, LLC
1309 North Aurora Street
Ithaca, NY 10605

(607) 218-5820

–

This e-mail and the information it contains may be confidential and privileged and is intended solely for the use of the named addressee. If you have received this message in error please inform the sender immediately, delete all copies, do not disclose the contents to any other person or take any action based on them. If you’re a client and need to access your files online, type our website, a slash, then your project code to view your documents.

I’m kind of tripping out right now. Michael might have known Grandpa? And they were both together at the World’s Fair? Geez. Small world. (Yeah, I said that. Because it’s true!)

When I set out to make this film, I thought a little research and a couple of interviews would answer the few questions I had about Grandpa. But the questions are only leading to more questions. And, as many of you have long suspected, it’s becoming clear that Grandpa was more than just a teller of stories; he was in the middle of one!

More and more I feel like making this film and sharing Grandpa’s story is the best thing I can do. Feels good. Feels right. So right that I even get the sense that Mom could be on board. Little by little, here and there, I’ve been bringing up Grandpa. And she hasn’t freaked out. In fact, sometimes, she even responds! So, it must be a sign. Right?

Called the number for Lott Family Construction (Michael’s accent is spec-tac-u-lar) then poked around his company’s website. If he did work on Progressland like he says, it looks like he was at the Fair there same time as Grandpa. Trying to set up an interview to talk to him — especially if he knew Grandpa back in the day! If I can get some audio, maybe I’ll use it as voice over for the plethora of World’s Fair photos.

Check it.

The number still works!