A Family Trip to Disneyland May 1956 Part 4

A quick run west across the park brings us to Frontierland. Dad seems to have liked the Mark Twain but not much else in Frontierland as he only took two photographs. Both are of the Mark Twain. The first has a nice panoramic feel to it, with the lovely young daughter posing on one of the fence posts.

This shot shows the Twain at the landing. I think I like the theming in this photo with boxes and baggage on the front of the main deck.

A Family Trip to Disneyland May 1956 Part 3

Continuing where the family left off yesterday, we head into tomorrow...Tomorrowland. A quick stop at the front to pose at the Clock of the World.

Then to the icon of Tomorrowland, the TWA Rocket to the Moon. This is a site that appealed to many photographers. However, I never tire of seeing photographs of the rocket.

A close up shot of the base. The gentleman in the suit and hat is taking a picture of the sign with a camera on a tripod. I wonder where those photographs are now?

A Family Trip to Disneyland May 1956 Part 2

Continuing on with the family trip in 1956 up Main Street to the hub and Sleeping Beauty Castle. A quick snapshot of the activity at the courtyard.

For those who like details and obscure signage, here is a close up of the Fire Sign that is on the A shaped sandwich board.

A short walk towards Tomorrowland and a look back shows this view of the Castle. I like the wooded feeling in the foreground as if the castle was surrounded by a forest.

Now on to the next land, Tomorrowland.

Tune in tomorrow to see more....

A Family Trip to Disneyland May 1956 Part 1

Starting a new series of black and white snapshots in one of the old style cardboard photo holders. All photos are dated May 1956. We start off at the Main Street Train Station. It appears the little girl was prepared for her visit with her Mousekeeter hat. The two images at the beginning of the roll have this funky ghost image from loading the film.

The second image is of Town Square and the Main Street Station.

The final image for today is looking down Main Street with the Horse Drawn Trolley coming towards us. Look how empty the streets are, no clanging of bells to have people move out of the way.

A Sunny View of the Matterhorn

For a lazy Sunday, a nice sunny view of the Matterhorn. Almost looks like a postcard.

Two Jungle Cruise Views

A dealer at the San Diego Comic Con had some Disneyland slides. The majority were souvenir slides, but there were these two nice views of the jungle sites from the Jungle Cruise. The first is an ancient Cambodian Shrine idol built by ancient Cambodian Shriners.

The second slide is of the second most feared animal in the jungle, the African Bull elephant. And I think everyone knows who the most feared animal is in the jungle....

Monorails on the Move in Tomorrowland

Two slides from seperate collections. The first shows the skyway with the Monorail track and Rocket to the Moon in the background and the Submarine pool in the foreground. Unfortunately the slide is very scratched and washed out.

The second view is of the opposite view of the Monorail gliding over the Submarine pool.

Now I am off to the San Diego Comic Con. Next week I will be back to my regular publishing schedule.

Cascade Peak From the River

One of the more scenic elements on the Rivers of America was Cascade Peak with the three sisters falls. A nice image of the falls as taken from the front of the Mark Twain in the early 1960s. This is approximately where the old Mine train now rests.

More Opening Day July 17, 1955

Continuing with the images from the viewmaster reels. The first image shows the Teacup ride with no doors and no chain. I believe a chain was added shortly afterwards and a door added in the 1960s to keep people from spinning out.

The second, third and fourth image today are of the Horse Drawn Street car. I love the worker carrying the large mirror used to lighten the area for filming.

There must be someone on the trolley the photographer knew or was famous. Any body recognize a famous face?

More Opening Day Activities July 17, 1955

The park opened at in the early afternoon prior to the telecast. Most people hung out on Main Street to have a view of the parade and festivities. The first image is from the stairs leading to Main Street Station showing the Opera House and the early crowds. I wonder if they all kept their tickets?

A similar shot down Main Street showing Town Square decorated for the festivities.

Another shot of the forklift method for the camera. I believe they are testing the camera and the set up.

Opening Day July 17, 1955 Main Street

Several years ago I purchased a lot of opening day paper items from the Anaheim newspaper. This was kept by a photographer and his son was selling it on E-Bay. When I picked the items up, I asked if there were any other Disneyland items. The gentleman who was selling the items said yes, there were Viewmasters that were marked for opening day July 17, 1955. Of course I purchased the viewmaster slides as they were personal reels with the opening day in 3-D. To celebrate the 53rd year of Disneyland, here are a couple of images from Main Street on opening day. The first shows Town Square with the International Street sign up on the wall by the Opera House.

The second shows one of the camera set ups they used to get a taller view of the festivities. Of course KABC was the Los Angeles ABC affiliate.

Unfortunately I did not get the slides and another dealer purchased them and broke them up. I do know several of the people who did purchase the slides.

Fantasyland September 28, 1962

A rather empty Saturday morning shot of Fantasyland with the Matterhorn in the background dated September 28, 1962. According to the day in history for Disney, this was the day of the 3rd Annual Dixieland and Disneyland so everyone must be sleeping in for tonight's festivities. I can only count 5 people in the photograph!

Just a note that the blogging may be sporadic as I make my way to California for the National Fantasy Fan Club and Disneyland birthday. I do have some nice surprises up my sleeves for those times I can post!

Souvenir Friday-Jimmy Starr Letters

Here are two interesting letters that were sent to Jimmy Starr from Disneyland. Jimmy was one of the original park lessees, operating Jimmy Starr's Show Business. The store specialized in Movie Memorabilia such as photographs and postcards of stars. He also had a small display of movie wardrobes and props. Jimmy was also the Hollywood entertainment reporter for the Los Angeles Herald Express. The first letter is a letter of appreciation for the positive review of Disneyland from opening day.

The second letter introduces Jimmy as a lessee at Disneyland. The letter would have been used by manufacturers to verify that he was legitimate and credit worthy.

More Navy Liberty Images

Our intrepid sailor did take some interesting images. Rather than talk at length about them, I will just show the photographs.

So which ones are your favorites?

Liberty at Disneyland

Many US Navy sailors when their ship is docked in a harbor get to disembark the ship and go ashore to visit scenic places. In the case of these photographs, the scenic place was Disneyland. I would assume the ship was in Long Beach Harbor before heading out to a long West Pac cruise. The first four images are of the Jungle Cruise, with two images from one of my favorite scenes, the trapped safari.

Like most young men in the Navy while on leave thoughts turn to pretty women. One pretty woman is this Alice surrounded by Walrus, White Rabbit and Mad Hatter.

The sailor also found this pretty Snow White. Written on the back of this photograph is Taken on my last liberty @ Disneyland with Snow White.

Disneyland Friday September 26, 1958

A small grouping of early Polaroid photographs taken on September 26, 1958. What is interesting about the photos is the off season maintenance and construction. First image is a view of Tomorrowland with the Rocket in the background. Unfortunately the photo is a little faded on the right hand side where the great directional sign is shown. And a little warning to those who are stroller challenged, there are two strollers in the picture.

The next image shows some work being done to the castle. This could be the addition of some gilt work to the top spires and towers, or an addition of tiles. The scaffolding adds an interesting texture to the castle.

The final shot shows the construction wall around the Viewliner as it was being removed. This is the Tomorrowland station for the attraction. I have included a close up of the Viewliner sign which I don't think I have ever seen before. Below the sign it appears there was a whole story about the train of tomorrow.

POP Ocean Skyway Ride

A nice snapshot of the really cool Pacific Ocean Park Skyride. Shaped like diving bells with large windows, these sky buckets went over the water along the pier. The view must have been spectacular.