One of the last remaining keepsakes from my first visit to EPCOT Center in 1984 is this postcard of Spaceship Earth. It's the lone survivor of a set of Future World postcards that were once prized souvenirs and wall decorations which eventually got lost in the many transitions of life's mature movements.
As a 10-year-old, I was in complete awe of the progressive architecture of EPCOT's Future World section. (As much as I enjoyed World Showcase then, it would take me many years to appreciate it at the same level.) These were remarkable sights to be seen during those times, and some of these buildings are still quite astonishing even in a modern context. And there was something particularly transcendent about visiting Future World amidst the colorful skies of dusk and summer in Florida.
Many take postcards for granted in this day and age as they've become an irrelevant form of communication, as friends from afar can instantly communicate the joys of their vacation with picture messaging, Tweets and e-mails. But Disney postcards were always more than just a way to write to friends and family; they were photographic souvenirs that captured a moment in Walt Disney World's time, however short it might be. (And the postcard designs would change quite periodically.) And for many they were miniature windows into a world of the future where we visited in the past, a capture of an experience engrained in our memories and that we'd yearn to return to. Now I can go on YouTube, blogs and message boards to get daily views of the parks, but back in the '80s, we had postcards and a journey into imagination.
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