Meet Mr. Lincoln 1965

Two publicity images for the Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln attraction on Main Street. The first is a WED Imagineer painting showing the stage and Mr. Lincoln. I believe this was painted by Sam McKim. The information tag on the back reads: Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln-- Disneyland's newest adventure in history, now open in the Main Street Opera House, re-creates the past with awe-inspiring realism as the "Audio-Animatronic" figure of Abraham Lincoln delivers a 10-minute address with complete coordination of speech, facial expression, body movements and other mannerisms--authentic in every detail. The other image is of the completed figure giving one of the speeches. It is really interesting to see how close the set and figure turned out to be in relation to the concept painting.

Walt Disney and Family on Vacation 1948

Straying a bit from the Disneyland theme is the neat collection of items related to a Hawaiian trip that Walt Disney and his family took in 1948. The original owner of this group was lucky enough to be on the same Matson Cruise Lines ship, the SS Lurline at the same time that Walt, Lillian, Sharon and Diane were cruising to Hawaii. The original owner ended up with a great image of Walt at leisure surrounded by his family. A letter sent to the original owner includes some comments about Walt and his family in the fourth paragraph.

Frontierland Central Ticket Booth

A rare shot of the Frontierland Central Ticket Booth. It appears to be on the Western edge of Frontierland in front of the Haunted Mansion. I believe there is a soft drink stand at approximately the same location now. The theming of the building and roof line are an approximate match to the Frontierland Railroad Station.

Carving the Mermaid Submarine Voyage 1959

A model maker and fabricator from WED is putting the finishing touches on this Mermaid to be used as the master sculpt for the swimming mermaids seen in the Submarine Voyage. This photo was one of several that was a part of a large collection sent to a newspaper reporter in 1959 who wrote a series of articles about Walt Disney and Disneyland. It is an image I have not seen reproduced anywhere else.

Flying Elephant

No it is not Dumbo, but rather one of the elephants for the sacred bathing pool in the Jungle Cruise. During the upgrade and addition of the pool, Disney Imagineers added more elephants to the attraction. A press photographer was on hand to capture the placement of one of the elephants. It is interesting to see the compressed air tank and machinery that is used to make the elephant move. The caption on the reverse reads: Flying Elephant- Disneyland's jungle river gets a new shipment of pachyderms for its Bathing Pool of Indian Elephants. Lifted over the trees by a 60 foot crane the animated figures weigh up to 3,000 pounds. Five more elephants were added to the pool including the big fellow coming over the treetops. There are now 23 elephants in the pool. Their hides are molded in pliable plastic then planted with elephant hair to make them appear life-like. Photo is dated May 16, 1963.

Souvenir Friday- p.t.m. Magazine 1967

When the New Tomorrowland of 1967 opened, there was a new Circlevision show with the grand (and recycled) title of America the Beautiful in a completely redesigned theater. To celebrate the opening of the attraction, the Pacific Telephone Monthly magazine featured the opening on the cover and in the front article. The p.t.m. is the house magazine for employees of Pacific Bell. The article includes some interior images of the attraction and pre and post show. The employees who worked the attraction were all chosen from members of Pacific Bell. I have scanned the cover and the article for your reading pleasure. The date of the magazine is October 1967.

Unknown Location Disneyland

I have sporadically been posting images from a large slide collection of an employee who worked at Disneyland. Some of the images are unmarked and the location is unknown. This is one of them. This may be the dining area for Casa De Fritos as the trash can has a Frontierland feel and look to it, but the chairs are not Frontierland style so this may be the Carnation Gardens. However, the floor for the Carnation Gardens is straight concrete. But then the back wall looks like Carnation Gardens.... Any ideas or clues would be helpful.

Tom Sawyer Island Tipis

Once upon a time, not that long ago, in the magic kingdom of Disneyland, there was a Native American village. Though blocked off by a fence due to terms of the treaty, the tipis in there were fully themed. Luckily a photographer who worked at Disneyland stepped through the fence and snapped shots of the tipis. Now the tipis are long gone and the space is the dressing space for Fantasmic performers. The slides were all marked Island Tipis, but some may have been located at the Indian Village.

Two Views of Upjohn Pharmacy Main Street USA

Staying on Main Street for a little while the photographer shot two photographs of the Upjohn Pharmacy. I like the nuclear family in the images, especially the man filming with the 8mm movie cameara and then the lady who I think is the man's mom carrying the camera in the next image. Classic 1950s Americana, especially the shirt on the man. The front of the pharmacy was very ornate but then it turned into pretty blank brick.

Bekins Van Line Locker Storage Area

An early morning shot of the Bekins Van Lines area which eventually became the Global Van Lines location. Both locations served as the locker and storage area until the expansion of the Emporium. If you look in the lower right hand corner there is a mannequin wearing a Mickey Mouse Club outfit and a gentleman working. I would also like to state that the ladder is in a very unsafe condition and I hope one of the two workers let someone know about the ladder.

Frontierland Railroad Station

Rare views of the Frontierland Railroad Station prior to the move of the station across the track. Also notice the signs are for the Fast Freight. Enjoy!

The Thrilling Motor Boat Cruise

For the sign fanatics out there, here are two images showing the signage out in front of the thrilling Motorboat Cruise. I did not know that the river you navigated your boat on was the Fantasyland River and that kids under 8 had to have an adult accompany them on the ride. Just think of all the bored parents with young kids who had to run the roaring rapids! It is a good thing that the ride was only a B ticket ride!

Souvenir Friday- CROW Awards

As you can tell one of the things I look for my collection is items given to cast members. These two certificates are given to the crazed Disneyland cast members who get up at 6 AM to paddle the canoes around the Rivers of America. I like that CROW is Canoe Racers of the World but also stands for crowing that the person got up at 6AM to paddle. Also this is one of the few uses of the B'rer animal graphics prior to the opening of Splash Mountain.

Hortie Van on Main Street

During July an auction was held for signs and banners that were once displayed in Disneyland. The items were from a decorating company located in Pasadena, Hortie Van. The company owned a great station wagon with the painted advertising on the side.

And here is a peak into the window display. It looks like they have a small castle in the window.

Posing with Tonto at Corriganville

Once a long time ago there stood a movie ranch located in the Simi Valley area. This movie ranch was filled with Fort Apache, Sherwood Forest and the Lone Rangers Cave. It was once owned by Ray "Crash" Corrigan a B movie Cowboy. On weekends it was open to the public as an amusement park. As can be seen one could pose with various Cowboy stars including this Native American dressed as the Lone Ranger's sidekick Tonto. I love the juxtaposition of the great checked gabardine shirt and slacks on the man and the skirt and plaid blouse with the fringed leather of the Native American. For more information on Corriganville check out B-Movie Westerns.

Some Drivers and A New Driver

Well I fixed the scanner problem by removing the original driver program and downloading the new driver. And to celebrate the success, here are two images of drivers at Knott's Berry Farm. This must have been one of the popular rides as I have seen other images of kids on these old cars. It looks like they are at the outside of the gates to the park.

Another kind of photographs I collect are kids with toys. I like the Christmas ones where the kid is literally swamped by toys and wrapping paper. This one is nice as I have not seen too many with Cecil the Sea Sick Serpent toys. This image is dedicated to my friend Bob and his wife Danielle who collect Cecil toys.

Scanner Problems

Please check back as I am having Scanner problems and will have to repair before I can scan the images I wanted to post today!

Some Sunday Snapshots

Taking the lead from Major Pepperidge and his Gorillas Don't Blog site, here is a smattering of snapshots. The first is a nice overhead view of the rafts at Tom Sawyer Island with construction at New Orleans Square in the background, along with the Disneyland Hotel Tower and the top of the Haunted Mansion. Compare this post with Major's post of today.

The next two snapshots were purchased together. The first is marked on the back Bonnie Disneyland Sept. 3, 1961. Bonnie appears to be wearing a costume for Main Street. Her shows are keds tennis shoes!

The second is probably Bonnie's mom posing on the Chicken of the Sea Tuna boat. She better hold on as the guy who is steering the ship appears to be taking a hard right.

Souvenir Friday on a Saturday-The Disneyland Magazine Summer July 1960

One of my main collecting interests currently is trying to complete a set of the Disneylander magazines. The magazines were a precursor to the current Disneyland Line. The Disneylander was published by the Disneyland Recreation Club for employees of Disneyland as well as the employees of the various lessees in the park. The magazine was published monthly and filled with great information about employees and stores in the park. This issue is the fifth anniversary issue published in July of 1960. Interior articles focus on each division of Disneyland including construction headed by Admiral Joe Fowler, Publicity, Operations, Merchandise and more.

Early Pirates of the Caribbean Press Photographs

Two 1967 Pirates of the Caribbean Press photographs. The first shows the pitched battle between the fort and the ship. Press release on the back reads: In the cross fire of cannonades between pirate ship and Caribbean port, this crew of Disneyland adventurers sail through "Pirates of the Caribbean" as grape shot and cannonballs land around them. The pirate captain on his bridge gives the signal for an eight gun salute. The scene is one of ten action-packed segments in the thoroughly realistic re-creation of buccaneer days.

The second image is of the serenading Pirates along with the howling dog and braying mule. The press release on the back reads: Pirate serenade- A merry buccaneer trio pauses at dockside for another chorus of "It's A Pirate Life For Me" as Disneylnad guests glide by in their adventurous journey with Pirates of the Caribbean, Frontierland's newest attraction. These three are among 119 Audio-Animatronic figures seen during the trip.

I like how Pirates was originally advertised as being part of Frontierland!

The blog will be silent tomorrow as I am off on a quick business trip. I will post souvenir Friday on Saturday.