Friday, March 21, 2008

Souvenir Friday- Ward Kimball Grizzly Flats 1946 Steam Up Broadside

One of the influences on Walt Disney to build Disneyland was his love of trains. The love was rekindled and stoked by Ward Kimball who had his own narrow gauge steam railroad in his back yard. In several of the Disney biographies there are specific stories of Walt attending steam ups at the Kimball house. This may have been one of the times Walt was at the steam up as the date is August 25, 1946. This may have also been one of the first steam ups for the train. The broadside is printed as a circa 1880s railroad advertising sheet with the appropriate over the top hyperbole. The drawing of the train is by Ward Kimball with a sly nod to the fact his house was in the middle of orange groves. The item was signed in the 1990s by Ward and his wife Betty. If you would like to see Ward's train, go to the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California as his train is now there in a specific car barn.

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Sweet!

Major Pepperidge said...

Wow, this is neat! 1946, whoo-ee. This flyer reminds me of some of the early Disneyland flyers in the "broadsheet" style.

Cory Gross said...

Wow... Just, wow... That was my daily, weekly and/or monthly dose of totally awesome...

Anonymous said...

Its actually the Orange Empire Railway Museum... its a great place have gone there since i was a kid...

Matterhorn1959 said...

Anonymous-thanks for the clarification. I have revised the name in my blog.

Unknown said...

Wow...

Wow...

Wow...

Matterhorn--that is one of the coolest items I have seen in a while!

outsidetheberm said...

Yes, if you enjoy trains, plan a visit to the Orange Empire. It's worth the drive - especially with the incredible Ward Kimball exhibit.

This is a great item. Thanks!

fusionbomb said...

Ward's humor shines through again. Thanks for such a Hi-res image.

"You are responsible for your own children!" They should have this warning at Disneyland too.

Anonymous said...

I forget the date but the first steamup at Ward's place was in 1943.

This is a terrific piece. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

matterhorn1959, I'm the Curator of Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn, a museum in Griffith Park dedicated to Walt Disney and his railroad layout. I love your site and this piece really caught my attention.

We have an extensive Ward Kimball display in the Barn because of his connection to Walt's own railroad hobby. I was wondering if you could provide us with a high-res image of that poster so that we can use it as part of our display? We would appreciate it greatly and we will be sure to give you credit for it on the caption plaque.

Please e-mail me at nathan@carolwood.org. I would greatly appreciate it.