Happy St. Patrick's Day

May you taste the sweetest pleasures that fortune ere bestowed,
and may all your friends remember all the favors you are owed.

Main Street Omnibus

One of my favorite Main Street Vehicles is the Omnibus. Designed after a type of bus that used to operate on Main Street's of the early 1900s, the vehicle can carry 45 passengers up and down Main Street. One of the neat design elements is the mini attraction posters on the side of the bus. First up is a nice shot of the Omnibus in front of the Main Street station.

Here is a close up of the mini attraction posters from the side of the Omnibus.

Next up is the Omnibus in action.

Finally a snapshot from 1958 showing an Alice In Wonderland advertising sign placed on the bus. Also Daveland- look away...the rest of you can check out the stroller with the neat graphics on the side.

Written on the reverse of the photo is: This is Pat and her Sandy and my 3 girls in Disneyland-(just like a New World) It's really fantastic. July 8th, 1958.

Things From the Gate- Fall 1957 Ticket Flier

In next chronological order for the ticket fliers is Summer 1957. Check out this post of the Summer 1957 Flier. Next up in line is the Fall 1957 flier. The designs for the 1957 fliers are all different. This brochure starts a design cycle that continues through 1958.

A Couple of 25th Anniversary Publicity Stills

In 1980 Disneyland to promote the 24th Anniversary put out a wonderful press kit filled with new prints of vintage photographs. First up is a great shot of Georgie and Davey belting out a few tunes in Frontierland. In front of them are square dancers adding motion to the shot.

The next image is from the opening day parade featuring the Mousekeeters. A classic image featuring the first Mousekeeters.

Busy Day at Knott's April 1956

The family that had the very un-busy day at Disneyland also went to Knott's Berry Farm on the same trip. Knott's at the time was very busy, probably due to the free admission and the lure of a great fried chicken dinner. It appears the park was beating Disneyland for attendance. First up is a shot of Old MacDonald's Farm with the goat on the roof. (Try that in today's society and someone would get sued!)

A nice overview of the Gold Panning attraction. Check out all the folks in line and watching.

Of course everyone must pose with the two cowpokes hanging out at the Wagon Trails Hotel.

But the big draw was free musical entertainment featuring both kinds of music...country and western. The band looks like a great 1940's Western Swing/Hillbilly band.

Souvenir Friday- Alumination

When Tomorrowland first opened, there were many exhibits sponsored by various companies. The companies used the exhibits to promote themselves and their products. One of the larger sponsors was Kaiser who was promoting the new wonder material aluminum. The Tomorrowland aspect of the exhibit was a giant telescope. Of course, Kaiser wanted to promote itself and the method was to try to gain names and addresses of those people who were interested in aluminum. Kaiser made these large cards available for interested parties to complete the back and then leave at the exhibit. A salesman (at that time, most sales was done by men) would then contact the person. (Sorry for the scans as the blue is metallic and did not scan very well.)

The marketing gurus at Kaiser also remembered that kids wanted free stuff as well. So the Alumination card was created, just like a secret society. The kid felt special because of the unique knowledge of aluminum they now possessed.

Slow Day in April 1956 Leads to Nice Photographs

One of the best things about being at Disneyland during a slow day is that some great images can be photographed. First up is a photograph of THE symbols of Tomorrowland of the 1950's, the Time Clock of the World and the TWA Rocket to the Moon.

My favorite image is of a welcoming Aunt Jemima in front of her Pancake Restaurant. Makes me hungry thinking about pancakes for breakfast. Too bad the menu board on the right hand side is not more clear!

April 1956 Slow Day in Frontierland Which Means a Great Time to Build

Continuing with the series of photographs taken on a slow day in April 1956. Frontierland was also empty of people, but was a buzz with construction activity. First up is a nice image of the Old Mill and dock area on Tom Sawyer's Island. Check out all the buildings being built!

What looks like a normal view of the Mark Twain, shows a large mound of dirt in the background. The dirt would become Rainbow Caverns Mine Train ride. You can also see some of the construction on Tom Sawyer's Island.

Finally the photo at the end of the roll, which cut off the rest of the sign. The sign advertises and promotes the new ride being built in 1956.

April 1956 Slow Day at Disneyland

Some more images from a very slow day in April of 1956. First up is a nice image of the rarely seen Headhunters on the Jungle River Cruise. I like the skull tree on the left hand side of the image.

Next up are two images from Fantasyland. First up is a view of the Tea Cups from the Chicken of the Sea Restaurant. You can see that some of the tea cups are empty and there is no line for the ride.

This one is a little harder to see, a late afternoon shot of Dumbo from the Pirate ship. You can see the old style carnival ride base used not only for Dumbo but also for the Astro jets. There is not much of a crowd in Fantasyland.

Things From the Gate- 1956 Elks Flier, 1957 Flier and Mickey Mouse Club

A gaggle of paper pieces for today's post. First up is the 1956 gate flier that was sent to those veterans participating in the 38th National American Legion Convention. The convention was held in Los Angeles, but one day the group headed down to Disneyland. From reading the flier it appears the convention goers had a ticket book for the convention and two of the tickets allowed discounted admission and discounted ticket books. My favorite part of the flier is at the bottom stating that alcoholic beverages are not allowed or served in the park.

Next up is a small folded brochure for 1957. Note that the tickets are valid through June 1957. I like the funky spot illustration for the Jungle Cruise.

Finally I posted a Fun Foto image from 1963 featuring the Mickey Mouse Club on Friday February 25, 2010. The boy in the image is holding one of these cards.

A Slow Day in Spring 1956

Main Street looks positively deserted on this Spring day in 1956. The seats are empty at Town Square and the Main Street Station is a ghost town.

Sleeping Beauty's Castle is forlorn looking in this shot. I do like the umbrellas for shade and eating surrounding the hub.

The cast members have nothing to do as there are no guests to ride the horse drawn trolley so they are having a pow wow. I wonder if they are gossiping about Walt Disney and his new plans for a Mine Ride and a Skyway at Disneyland?

Big Thunder Mountain Views Part 2

More publicity photographs from the opening of the Big Thunder attraction. First up is a nice image showing the town of Rainbow Ridge. This town was held over from the Nature's Wonderland attraction. Although now you cannot walk as close as you used to be able.

The next two images show one of the wild trains traversing the bad lands close to the Big Thunder mine.

Souvenir Fridays- A Potpouri of Souvenirs

Today I am going all Major Pepperidge on you using large words like thingamajig, outstanding, wunderbar and more. First up is a fantastic flier from the outdoor attraction outside of Knott's- Jungle Island. I am enthralled with the history and description of the attraction.

Next up is the exceedingly rare program from the 1966 Tour Guide banquet. The banquet featured scintillating and stupendous entertainment from the guides. I kind of wish I had been there to see the event.

Finally, an unused and unusual studio pass from the Walt Disney Studio. I am thinking the next time I am in Los Angeles, I will use the pass. Do you think the executives would let me on to the Studio lot?

Two Views of Space Mountain and the Space Place

With the re-opening of Captain EO, many people have been nostalgic regarding the old Space Stage theater and the Space Place restaurant that was located under the line for Space Mountain. Here are two views of Space Mountain and the Space Stage theater. First up is a day view showing the old straight escalator entrance to Space Mountain. I have many fond memories of getting off of the Space Mountain ride and then running up the escalator and back on to the ride. Those were definitely the days!

An almost identical view of the location at night. Both of these are publicity shots from the opening of Space Mountain in 1977.

Captain Hooks and Monstro

Two old icons of Fantasyland from 1976. First up is Captain Hook's. Now I know all of you have seen many images of the Tuna ship, but this one shows the changes to the name when Chicken of the Sea stopped sponsoring and Disneyland took it over. One of the biggest changes was the name change instead of Chicken of the Sea, the boat is now named Captain Hooks.

The other icon is still in existence, Monstro the Whale. However it appears from this image he needed some pretty significant dental work with some chipped teeth.

Big Thunder Mountain Views Part 1

Going through my collection of publicity stills, I have discovered a small cache of Big Thunder Railroad pictures from the opening year of 1979. Although it displaced one of my and many others favorite ride, it still is a fun ride and evokes the spirit of Nature's Wonderland. First up is a scene of a train running on the tracks. A special note is to check out the fashion of the riders.

Next up is a still showing the mining artifacts and theming on the attraction.

Things From the Gate- Winter 1956 Fliers

Two different ticket fliers from late 1956. First up is a Winter 1956 flier with the greatest value on earth. The prices are lowered as per the last flier. Disneyland was closed on Mondays.

Next up is the Christmas brochure with the note that it ends on January 6th. I wonder if ticket books purchased on January 6, 1957 were still good (note the brochure still states that all ticket books are good through 1956.)