New York World's Fair- Part 4

This day we visit more of the different national pavilions at the World Fair. First up is two images from the Nation of Greece that was in the Hall of Nations.

Next up is another national pavilion, this time a building of its own in the Government section. It is a close up of the medallion at the entrance to Portugal.

Last image for today features the crowd around a pavilion. I cannot identify the building, I thought it was for General Electric, but that building does not look like this one. Please let me know....

Souvenir Friday-Wonder Bread Hungry Bear Poster

In 1972 Bear Country opened at Disneyland with a new fast service restaurant the Hungry Bear. The major sponsor of the restaurant was Wonder bread. In order to recoup the investment by Wonder bread, WED created advertising signs to promote the product. This poster is in the style for Bear Country with a great Western look. If you compare this to the Bear Country Jamboree attraction poster it matches the same design and coloring.

New York World's Fair-Part 3

More images from the fantastic New York World's Fair of 1939. First up is a nice image of the Ford Pavilion located at the Transportation area of the Fair. The photograph is taken from the Garden Court.

Next up is a close up of the electrical statue from the General Electric Pavilion. The composition of the photograph is fantastic.

Next up is another great image of one of the statues. The statue was titled Speed and was sculpted by Joseph Reiner and stood in the court of Communication. In the background is the Crosley building. At that time, Crosley was a major manufacturer of radios.

Final image is from one of the pavilions and is another photo with great composition. I would love to know what is in the boxes everyone is carrying and what has happened to the photograph that is being snapped.

1939 New York World's Fair- Part 2

Today is the continuation on the journey through the 1939 World's Fair. First, to answer a question from yesterday, it is my understanding that all of the statues were destroyed after the fair.
The first photograph for today is the entrance of the British Pavilion. The Pavilion was home to many exhibits including replica of the crown jewels, a heraldry exhibit, a Magna Charta room containing many historical documents and a restaurant.

Next up is the statue by William Zorach titled Builders of the Future. The statue was located in the Court of Roses. The second image is a close up of this art deco statue.

A favorite of mine is this image of the statue and quote from Lenin that was at the entrance the USSR Pavilion. Really great propaganda piece presented by the communist nation. The statue represents the heroic spirit of the Soviet Civil War and the figures are the common people- heroic worker, peasant soldier, sailor, woman and youth.

Final image for today is another statue group. The statue is the Four Victories of Peace by John Gregory. The location was the court of power. Notice in the zoom photo the electric vehicle on the lower left hand side.

1939 New York World's Fair- Part 1

Today I start a long series of photographs of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The photographer took shots of many of the buildings and also the statuary throughout the fairgrounds. I do not know as much about the 1939 NYWF, so if I caption a photo wrong please let me know. First up is the France Pavilion in the Government zone. The photographer focused on the restaurant on the second floor which introduced the chef system to America. (Yes, this is where all the celebrity chefs trace their history.)

Next up is the statue of Europa by Gleb W. Derujinsky and was located in the Court of the Railroads. All of the statues were fantastic Art Deco masterpieces and this one is no exception.

Next up is the Perisphere. This reminds me of Spaceship Earth at EPCOT Center. It also reminds me of the Things to Come the 1930's H.G. Wells Science Fiction film.

Final image for today is what must have been a wonder, the ability to walk through a waterfall at the Electrical Utilities Pavilion.

Things From the Gate- 1955 Ticket Flier

As I was looking through my collection, I came up with an idea to show the variations of paper brochures and fliers that were distributed at either the Parking lot gate or at the Main gate. The first series will focus on the various ticket fliers. These were handed out as you paid for parking and listed the price of the ticket books. The first ticket flier was handed out in October 1955. The genius of the ticket book was that people could be better distributed throughout the park and rides, with everyone with a ticket book believing they needed to ride that smaller attraction since they wanted to use the tickets up. Also remember the first ticket books just had an A, B and C ticket.

I will continue with this series on every Monday. If you have any ticket brochures or fliers that I do not have, please let me know.

New Fantasyland Construction 1983

As stated in the last post, 1983 was a busy year at Disneyland. One nice thing that Disney did was continue to operate the Skyway allowing guests to overlook the construction project that was Fantasyland. First up are two photographs of Cinderella's Prince Charming castle and the topiary Casey Junior sign.

A quick view of Sleeping Beauty Castle getting the roof redone.

My favorite construction image from 1983, the walkway to Storybook Canal boats with construction trucks.

1983 Visit With Characters

1983 was a watershed year for Disneyland with the New Fantasyland construction and opening. However, today I am posting images of kids posing and playing with the costumed characters. First up are photographs of characters having been dislocated by the construction. In this case, Gideon the cat and Gepetto hanging out in Tomorrowland.

The second set of photographs is of Winnie and Tigger posing at the souvenir stand by the Bank of Main Street. My eyes go to the postcard racks showing the great set of cartoon postcards, guidebook and dial guide to Disneyland.

Souvenir Friday- Donald Duck and Corky Recording

During the first year at Disneyland, young guests could go into a recording booth and sing a song and interact with either Fess Parker as Davey Crockett or Donald Duck. In this example, a young guest named Corky sings The Ballad of Davey Crockett with Donald. The souvenir envelope was used for other items that were to be mailed from Disneyland. The Disneyland label on the record is unique to these souvenir recordings.

Here is the recording: Donald and Corky . Sorry that it is so scratchy.

Wagons Outside Jeffries Barn Knott's Berry Farm

A nice set of two black and white photographs of kids playing on the wagons outside of Jeffries Barn at Knott's Berry Farm. Keep your eyes out for the young brother who cannot climb as high as his older brothers.

A Balloon and His Boy

A wonderful and fun set of an early balloon boy. Although the photographer was pathetic in shot selection, framing and even focus, it is still neat to see a young boy posing with his red balloon throughout the park.

Hi Diddle Dee An Actor's Life For Me

Every time I see Gideon or J. Worthington Foulfellow, I start singing Hi Diddle Dee from Pinocchio. This is a great shot with two adorable kids posing with Mr. Foulfellow.

With the same group of photos was this action shot of the Autopia in 1971.

Souvenir Friday- Mary Blair South America Note Cards

For today's souvenir Friday, I thought I would take a little trip to South America with a set of note cards featuring Mary Blair artwork. First up is the box that holds the set. Very nice 1940s graphics and design.

The set consists of 4 different cards, each card being duplicated once. The first image is Balsa Boats on Lake Titicaca in the Andes.

Next up is Peruvian Market.

Next up is Street Vendors is Cuzco, Peru

Final image is Peruvian Street Scene Clothing Shop.

The final note card is not from the set, but one I found seperately. I believe this is a later card featuring not Peru, but rather Mexico. The title is Boats of Xochimitco Mexico.

The blog will be quiet over the weekend as I am in Anaheim for the National Fantasy Fan Club show. Stop by and see me if you are attending the show.

Random Photographs From 1966

From the same group of photographs of the last couple of days is this random selection of images from 1966. First up is the lovable Aunt posing in Fantasyland. I like the light pole and of course the trash can in the background.

Matterhorn in a pretty bare state.

Monstro the Whale with the light house ticket booth on the edge of the photograph.

The castle from the Hub.

Let's see, photo of Castle- check, photo of Matterhorn- check, photo of Monstro- check....photo of Chicken of the Sea ship-CHECK! I guess they visited all the normal spots.