1988 Frontierland Sights

Three images of sights seen along the banks of the Rivers of America circa 1988. First up is the change to the Burning Settlers Cabin. The change was to make the burning due to a drunk moonshiner instead of a dead settler killed by Indians.

Next up is a nice image of the friendly natives village. The Indians are doing their chores.

And as a parting image, the Indian Chief is saying goodbye and happy trails to you.

Tomorrowland 1988

Scenes from the Tomorrowland of my youth. I was going to school at San Diego State University and had started collecting Disneyland items when these photographs were taken. The Peoplemover cars color striping had recently changed to mainly white with color stripes.

The planters are still in use at this time and looking as lovely as ever. The pattern of the background is nice with interesting modern symbols.

Of course the Tomorrowland of my youth featured the lovely Mary Blair tiles showing communication and travel. If I remember correctly, these are from the communication side of the murals.

Souvenir Friday- A Couple of Rare Postcards

Two rare postcards. First up is the hardest to find Art Corner postcard. Lady and the Tramp had just been released to theaters and this card features all the characters in Disneyland. I like the representation of Disneyland in the background. The caption on the reverse is: Disneyland Lady, Tramp, Jock and Trusty, from Walt Disney's recent picture "Lady and the Tramp," send greetings from the Magic Kingdom of of Disneyland. This card, designed by the artists of the WALT DISNEY STUDIO, is one of the many unique items distributed exclusively by the ART CORNER at DISNEYLAND, Anaheim, California.

The next postcard is one of my favorite, I love the Global Van Lines truck and also the two attraction posters in the background. I always glance over to this building every time I visit Disneyland and hope to see the truck and building.

Disneyland Circus Fantasy Parade Floats 1988

Four stunning shots of the various parade floats and vehicles in the 1988 Disneyland Circus Fantasy Parade. First up is the Steam Calliope pulled by a team of horses. Dressed out in Disneyland colors of blue and white.

Next up is the Wild West float with a live Mountain Lion and Goofy as a weightlifter (what weightlifting has to do with the Wild West is a mystery to me.)

A shot of some scarce but fabulous characters from Saludos Amigos. I wish these characters especially Jose would be out in the park more often.

The final float is the exotica section including a large lion, snake tamers and New Orleans with B'rer Bear and B'rer Fox.

More Pictures From Disneyland Circus Fantasy Parade 1988

More images from the colorful Circus Fantasy Parade of 1988. First up is a shot of the Western Side show. Centered in the photograph is a live Mountain Lion on the float and Goofy looks like he is dressed as a strong man.

Next up is a view of the Exotic section of the parade. B'rer Fox appears out of place in this section.

A lovely view of dancers. It looks like the doll heads from the America On Parade was recycled for this parade. This parade was very colorful and featured lots of show girls.

Another view of the dancers with the doll heads.

Disneyland Circus Fantasy 1988

These photographs are a little out of sequence but they do show the Circus Fantasy Parade from 1988. The photos are from the end of the parade featuring Mickey and the grand finale float. First up is one of the early floats with a nice graphic of Circus on Parade and two show girls.

Next up are a couple of showgirls dancing their routine during the parade.

Last two images are of the final float with the large Disneyland Circus Fantasy 1988 graphic.

More images from the parade tomorrow.

1988 Disneyland State Fair Captain Zoom

One of the attractions brought in to create excitement and entertain the guests was Captain Zoom and His Amazing Cannon. Captain Zoom would be shot out of the cannon onto a large net over Main Street. I am sure that must have been spectacular to witness. First up are two images of the parade to ground zero for the big shot.

And here is the landing in the net.

Souvenir Friday- Outside Postcards

With the success of Disneyland, many motels sprung up in Anaheim to house the many visitors. These motels offered souvenirs to their guests. In most cases, the souvenirs were created and purchased from vendors who were not Disneyland authorized. The vendors created many different and unauthorized souvenirs including these 4 postcards. What is neat about these postcards are that the views are unusual and many times are aerial views that you do not see in the authorized postcards. First up is a view of the Exit of Disneyland. I like the font that approximates the Disneyland font. Also check out the ticket booth on the right hand side.

The next postcard is a view of Nature's Wonderland Railroad showing the painted desert.

Another aerial view of Disneyland, this time circa late 1960s showing Tomorrowland.

Last image is a multi view with the Matterhorn, Frontierland, it's a small world and Storybook Canal boats. An interesting choice of views.

This post is in honor of a fellow blogger and friend, Ken of Disneyland Postcards blog died suddenly this week. His smiling presence at shows, his discussions of postcards and his joy and love for Disney and Disney history will be missed. My sympathies are extended to his family.

Pigmania Part 3

The last 4 images from State Fair at Disneyland in 1986 are of the actual races. Not quite as fun as the last 8 images, but still fun and nice images of the actual races.

Pigmania Part 2

More images from Disneyland's State Fair promotion of 1986 featuring the Pigmania races at the Big Thunder Farm. It appears that Billy Hill and his Hillbillies had a blast performing and cheering the pigs on. How many of you remember going to the Pigmania races?

Two of the Three Little Pigs helped sing with Billy and also promote and cheer on their brethren.

Pigmania Part 1

I do not usually purchase photographs from the 1980s, but this collection which I will be posting for several days (weeks) has too many interesting photographs of events and State Fair. The starting set is of Pigmania which was pig races held at Big Thunder Ranch during State Fair in 1988. The musical act was Billy Hill and the Hillbillies. The pig races were held in a tent and the crowd was divided into fourths to cheer for their pig to win the race. Of course, Billy Hill and his wild band warmed the crowd up with their antics and music.

In the spirit of the Olympics, here are the Three Little Pigs as torch bearers.

Tomorrowland and Frontierland

Four last views of the images from Ken at Disneyland Postcards blog. First up is a view of the Submarine Voyage and Monorail track. A long description on the back of this photograph: Submarine (1 of 8) Also part of monorail system we went down on Ethan Allen takes about 20 minutes trip underwater. See shipwrecks, mermaids, sharks, coral, etc. Also shows miniature car freeway.

Next up is a shot of the Monorail with a long description: Monorail- 4 coaches- around 40 people per coach, travels 45 MPH- 2 1/2 miles between Disneyland and hotel Helioport (sic), we rode in very front! He has 4 complete trains in operation every 5 minutes.

A nice view of the Columbia. The photographer was not as verbose on this description: Full size sailing ship Columbia. Loads 250 people on 20 minute cruise- around island, etc.

And of course a picture of the Mark Twain. The note on the back is Sternwheeler River Boat Mark Twain (We rode on 2nd Deck front) Runs by original steam boiler-only oil fired now.

Souvenir Friday- Global Van Lines Postcard

One of the more unusual and hard to find postcards is this one featuring a large moving van from Global parked in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland. But in reality, this never happened as this is a photograph of the semi moving van superimposed on a picture of the Hub.

Frontierland, Disneyland June 1963

More photographs with notes, this time in Frontierland. First up is the sailing ship Columbia in partial sale. Noted on the reverse is Full rigged- full size reproduction sailing ship Columbia.

Next up is a view that could be seen by the Columbia or the Mark Twain and I know a favorite of many Disneyland historians, the burning settler's cabin. Note the dead settler in place at this time. I have posted a close up of the dead settler. This photograph has the following note: Settlers cabin + dead settler burning- dead at hands of indians- not visible in picture. Picture taken from deck of Riverboat stern wheeler Mark Twain- cabin- forts, Tom Sawyer island. Cabin is in actual flames (must be fireproofed)

Last image for today is the mine train engine #2 at the load station for Nature's Wonderland Railroad. Written on this photograph is Old mine locomotive + train- Western town in background (from somewhere in Colorado Mining country) they take people for 20 minute ride thru tunnels- simulated mountain terrain, etc.