Busy Afternoon on Main Street

A slight traffic jam on Main Street in an early afternoon in 1959. Several of the Main Street vehicles are out on the street...the Horse Drawn Trolley, Fringed Surrey and behind the Trolley is the Horse Drawn Fire Wagon. The crowd appears to be fairly large and the lights on the shops are beginning to turn on.

Disneyland River Traffic

The Rivers of America has many different ships that navigate the twisting river. First up is a nice image of the steamship Mark Twain pulling away from the dock on the journey around the Tom Sawyer Island. The picture was taken in the late afternoon with some nice shadows and dappled light on the water.

A second view of the Mark Twain, this time sitting at dock. It will be interesting to see how the redesign of the river proceeds.

The last image shows many of the other ships and watercraft on the Rivers of America. In the foreground is a canoe with a happy group of guests paddling their way around the island, while one of the Keel Boats awaits passengers and the Columbia sits at Fowler's Harbor.

Italy Day and Night, 1939 New York World's Fair

The Italy Pavilion from the 1939 New York World's Fair. The first image shows a day view of the statue of the goddess Roma with the waterfall and reflecting pool.

The second image is at night. The Italy Pavilion featured arts and crafts, tourism and manufactured goods from Italy. The second floor featured a fancy night club restaurant with recipes from the famous restaurants and cruise lines of Italy.

King Arthur and Negendei

The first image is a nice overhead view of a busy Fantasyland with King Arthur's Carousel in the middle of the land. Playing at the Fantasyland theater is Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day right next to Snow White's Scary Adventure. In the background can be seen the Plaza Pavilion and the Plaza Inn buildings on Main Street.

The second image is of the Enchanted Tiki Garden with a family waiting for the start of the Tiki Room show. In the background can be seen Negendei the Earth Balancer and the sign for Pele. The boy looks like he visited the Disneyland nurse station for a small injury on his knee.

Souvenir Friday- Town Square Realty Grant Deed and Packet of Dirt

One of my favorite unusual Disneyland souvenirs is the packet of dirt that was given away by Town Square Realty. The lessee promoted real estate and development in Orange and Los Angeles County. A visitor could stop by and view information on suburban tracts and also own a small packet of California dirt. The packets of dirt do show up, but the accompanying deed and envelope never show up. The deed is nicely illustrated and has a neat embossed seal.

The packet features a graphic of Sleeping Beauty Castle on one side and a clear view of the dirt the guest now owns.

The mailing envelope is very simple and almost crude in it's design.

Storybook From the Skyway

Two nice images of the Storybook Canal Boats from the Skyway. First is an overall view showing the always smiling Monstro with it's a small world in the background. I like the lush landscaping for Storybook and Casey.

Next up is a closer image of one of the Storybook boats. I like the quilt in the background and Toad Hall on the left hand side.

Treehouse and a small world.

Two nice views of some fun attractions in Disneyland with great background music. First up is the Swiss Family Treehouse that featured the Swisskapolka as a theme song. I was hoping this image featured Earl Archer who was one of the main cast members for the Swiss Family Treehouse, but it does not look like him.

Next is an overhead view of it's a small world which of course features the classic Sherman Brothers theme song. This view shows the open area with the Storybook Canal Boats on the left and the Motorboat Cruise on the right.

Ready to Spin

The cups are all loaded and ready to go into a spin. A very busy Fantasyland is in the background.

Fantasyland Benches

A lovely portrait of a painted bench in Fantasyland. It appears this fancy bench sits in front of the Peter Pan attraction. I love the different colors that are painted on the bench.

Nature's Wonderland

A great view of the Nature's Wonderland attraction in Frontierland. This is another photo I would love to step in to and enjoy the attraction one more time.

Sunshine On Teacups

A lovely image of the Teacups in dappled sunlight. Taken from the Skyway, the picture is very arty with the sparkling sunlight and the psychedelic design of the ride's surface. Note the Teacups do not have doors but just a chain to keep the guests in the ride.

Blue Peoplemovers

On a chilly Southern California day all the Peoplemover vehicles have turned blue. The sky is a gorgeous blue with light clouds but the crowd is non-existant. The entrance features the soaring spires of both the Monsanto and Bell Telephone attractions. I just want to step into this photograph and ride the Peoplemover one more time.

One More Night Image of Main Street

One of my favorite food spots on Main Street was the Sunkist Citrus House. A great spot to get some juice and a doughnut in the morning, or a nice lemonade in the afternoon. The sign had a nice visual effect with the lights changing from on and off to simulate movement.

Souvenir Friday- Sea World Hawaiian Punch Drink Card

Many years ago Hawaiian Punch sponsored a pavilion and restaurant in Sea World in San Diego. One of the highlights of this pavilion were the drinks made with Hawaiian Punch. The pavilion was themed tropical and featured a classic tiki exterior and interior. Note the great background featuring tikis framing the drinks. The back of the postcard features a nice image of the pavilion and its lovely tropical theming. Also I love the tag line Add Gin, Rum or Vodka and serve as cocktails, too. Now to find some yellow base...

Monsanto Exterior Tomorrowland 1967 Style

The design of Tomorrowland 1967 was spectacular with the entrance featuring soaring silver colored towers and great planters filled with plants that looked from the future. This is a nice view showing the height of the tower and design and also the great planter. The design emphasizes the Monsanto sign for the Adventure Through Inner Space attraction.

Adventure Through Inner Space- Miniaturization Control

A rare interior view from the Adventure Through Inner Space featuring the Miniaturization Control graphic. The graphics developed for this ride are some of the best Mid-Century Modern scientific designs with great representations of water molecules, ice molecules and down to the atoms.

Hills Bros Coffee Garden Sign at Night

When Starbucks opened in Disneyland, many fans were very vocal in their complaints of commercialism, sell out and Walt would have never put Starbucks in his park. Yet, there had been a coffee shop for many years in Disneyland. Hills Brothers was one of the largest and best known coffee manufacturers in the 1900s until today. The brand sponsored a lovely coffee garden where adults could get their morning, noon or evening cup of joe. This great night time image features the taster which was created 1906 and pays homage to the Ethiopian origin of the coffee.

The Crystal Arcade Sign At Night

A nice night time image of the lovely sign on Main Street for the Crystal Arcade. Enjoy this rare night photograph.

Souvenir Friday- September 1955 Issue of Coca Cola Refresher

The Coca Cola Refresher was the in house magazine for employees of Coca Cola. In September of 1955, the magazine featured Disneyland and the Coke Corner located on Main Street. Not only did the magazine tout the fantastic corner, it also promoted Disneyland. One of the more interesting photographs in the article is of Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Walt Disney on opening day. Over at Daveland was a post featuring s similar photograph of the same trio. Eddie Fisher was sponsored by Coke on the radio at the time with his program Coke Time. I have scanned just the article that features Disneyland.

Skyway and Pele

Two different Disneyland trips by the same family yield two nice images. First up is a nice view from the Matterhorn side of the Submarine Voyage lagoon featuring the Monorail, Skyway and in the background the Carousel of Progress. The photographer also managed to capture one of the submarines coming head on and one at the dock. I am sure most of you miss the Skyway as much as I do.

The second image is one of my favorite set pieces in the Enchanted Tiki garden outside of the Tiki room, Pele. The photographer was kind enough to get the sign in the image.