The Front Entrance Plus Pigs!

From 1964 a couple shots of the front entrance. First up is a nice (albeit somewhat blurry) image of Mickey Mouse posing with two adoring fans in front of his floral portrait.

Next a group portrait of the elders in front of some of my favorite Disneyland collectibles, attraction posters.

Next up are two images of the Three Little Pigs and Big Bad Wolf having fun in Fantasyland. I really dig the pig costumes.

Things From the Gate- Hootenany 1965

During the height of the folk rock explosion, Disneyland hosted a Hootenany night on Mondays throughout summer. Quite a line up featured on the bill...though I am not that sure I would classify some of the performers as folk rock.

Louis Gottlieb was part of the Limeliters and a comedian, Sam Hinton was a folk singer and marine biologist, I could not find anything on Cathy Taylor, Jose Feliciano is best known for Light My Fire and Feliz Navidad, The Aquamen sound like a surf group and most Disneyland fans know Clara Ward and the Yachtsmen Quartet.

Mayor Of New York Being Taken For a Ride

Robert Wagner the Mayor of New York from 1954 to 1965 rides the Autopia driven by his son. He may have been out in California for the preparations for the 1964 New York World's Fair.

Florida Gardens

A trip to Florida visiting several garden road side attractions. First up is the Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Next up is Cypress Gardens, a fantastic roadside attraction.

Last Garden is Busch Gardens. First up a nice shot of a parrot riding a bicycle.

A pose with one of the fiberglass draft horses.

A bathing maiden in one of the many waterfalls. I would love to have heard the banter about where the guy wanted to pose.

Souvenir Friday- Disneyland Hotel Wallet

A souvenir item that is being opened lots of times today by lots of people. It looks almost like the manufacturers took a postcard to create the wallet.

Hans And Fritz On the Matterhorn and More

A fun trip in the early 1960s with some unusual photographs. First up is a rare view of the benches between the Matterhorn and the Fantasyland Autopia. In the background there is a speeding yellow monorail.

Two views of the Mad Tea Party. The second one appears that they are really trying to spin.

A view of Tomorrowland from the Monorail. Everyone's favorite (and different) attraction appears although the Flight Circle is almost cut off.

A group shot looking up at something.

Look it is Hans and Fritz climbing the Matterhorn.

World's Fair Wednesday- Four Different Views

Four different views from the 1965 New York World's Fair. First up is an image of the US Space Park with rockets from the space race.

Next up is a colorful image of the Chrysler AutoFare with the largest automobile.

Next up is an overhead view of the Vatican Pavilion and the Belgian Village.

One of the biggest draws at the Fair was the Vatican pavilion with Michelangelo's masterpiece sculpture the Pieta.

Hungry Monstro

Two group photographs taken just before Monstro swallowed them all.

I love the random kid in this one.

Things From the Gate- Crane in Disneyland

So this is not really from the Main Gate, but it is a fantastic brochure. In 1955, Crane was a sponsor in Tomorrowland and their exhibit was the Bathroom of Tomorrow. The entrance had a fun interactive fountain as shown on the front cover.

The interior shows a couple of different bathrooms of tomorrow.

This little piece is part of the brochure and lists the Crane products used.

The back cover features some of the dioramas and displays once you had seen the bathroom of tomorrow.

Be sure to click on the images for larger scans.

Unknown Southern California Amusement Park

All right, I am stumped. I thought this might have been Beverly Park, but the train does not match. And I can not at the moment think of other amusement parks in the area that match this train. The photographs are stamped on the back "Please credit James J. Hunter 5950 Carlton Way Hollywood" I looked up the location on google maps and it is currently an apartment complex. First up is the train, with the name of a famous toy train- The American Flyer.

A really cool you drive it auto ride with a neat Art Deco style of car.

A great airplane ride. I wonder what happened to these ride vehicles.

Of course the park had a Ferris Wheel.

A Fun 1967 Visit to Disneyland

Some fun photographs from a trip in 1967. First up is Castle Rock on Tom Sawyer's Island. Let's wave back to the two girls.

A wonderful image of the Caterpillar coming down the leafy path for Alice In Wonderland. Let's all wave back!

A nice view of the clock tower for Small World. This is one of my favorite features of the attraction.

The two girls sitting on the raft, getting ready to head over to meet Tom Sawyer. Background shows the still incomplete Haunted Mansion.

Of course the girls could not resist the World Famous Jungle River Cruise. One of the young ladies is holding one of the INA Disneyland guides.

Souvenir Friday- Key Holders

During the early 1960s, Disneyland gave out cards which allowed entrance to Disneyland. The cards were named keys. The keys ranged from Main Gate, Silver to Gold. As part of the presentation, the keys were given out in folders. First up is the Main Gate Key folder. The Main Gate key allowed entrance to Disneyland, but did not include any ticket books. I believe most employees as well as other employees of suppliers were given these keys.

The next level was Silver which included ticket books such as the 10 adventure ticket books. This key was given out to more senior employees as well as to higher level suppliers and friends of Disneyland.

Final one is the Gold Key which was given to dignitaries, movie stars, Governors and even Presidents. The key allowed larger ticket books such as the 15 adventure tikcet books.

All of these folders were purchased years ago when a dealer showed up at one of the NFFC shows and was selling of a collection of tickets used as examples by a long term Main Gate employee.

Mickey at the Mickey Mouse Club Headquarters

From when the Mickey Mouse Club had it's headquarters at the Opera House.

World's Fair Wednesdays- Rockets and Dinosaurs

Today's 1965 New York World's Fair images focus on the Rocket park that was a hit with the crowds.

The other images are from my favorite attraction.

1984 Parade

Going back to when I was a Senior in High School, George Orwell was once again popular and the Olympics were in Los Angeles, Disneyland celebrated Olympic Spirit. A highlight for many high school bands was to march at Disneyland. I am not sure where this high school was located, but the band and color guard did get to perform at Disneyland. The nice thing for these slides are the great long gone stores on Main Street. Check out the Town Square restaurant in the background.

Plaza Pavilion with the great mature trees. I understand the reason for cutting back and down the trees for viewing, but I do miss them as it gave Main Street an early turn of century look.

Check out Rings and Things as well as the Sun Sweet dried fruit and nuts in these next two pictures.

In front of the Opera House.

Final image is in front of the Train station. I still miss the large trees.....