SOP Saturday- 1962 Summer Training Program

This is a very unusual item, the draft and schedule for training Disneyland employees for the summer of 1962. I believe this was sent to all supervisors and managers to involve them in this important training. Additionally the training was not just for new employees and the summer employees, but all employees including those from the lessees and WED were required to attend. I like the justification for the training at the front of the document, I wonder if it still holds true today? Note I do not show the entire document as the last pages are just training dates.

Souvenir Friday- El Zocalo Ash Tray

About 6 months ago I posted images of an outdoor market area in Frontierland. This area was known as the Mexican Village and also as El Zocalo park. Here is an image of that area as it looks in Disneyland 2007:

One of the souvenirs that was sold there was this Mexican sombrero shaped ashtray. The ashtray does come in a couple of colors, having owned a yellow one in addition to this green one. All have the Mexican painting of cacti on them. The name on the brim is part of the ceramic design as is the Walt Disney Productions on the bottom. I have seen other sombrero's marked for hotels in Baja California and Mexico.

More Views of Disneyland 1977

Here are several more views from the same trip to Disneyland in 1977.

A nice view of the Tomorrowland of my youth with the Peoplemover in front of Matterhorn mountain.

The Disneyland band playing a full concert at the Town Square. The band leader does look like a person from the 1970s! In the background is the Main Street Cinema and it is playing Charlie Chaplin. Does anyone know when it switched to playing all Mickey, all the time?

A nice moody shot of Main Street from the hub. The sign in the front left is for the First Aid and Lost Children area.

My favorite image of the lot is this one for Skull Rock. I have distinct memories of eating tuna sandwiches and looking at the Skull.

And this is from one of my favorite areas in the park, Snow White's wishing well. If you have not been there, I highly recommend it. And with the new Princess area, they no longer have the Snow White meet and greet in the location. The spot has returned to a nice quiet out of the way part of Disneyland.

The Rescuers at Disneyland 1977

Over the years there have been many different costumed characters roaming Disneyland. In support of the studio's twenty third film, The Rescuers, characters from the film showed up in the park. I believe the costumes are now in a permanently retired area. The first two shots show the mouse hero Bernard in meet and greets. The first shot includes one of the little pigs and a salivating Big Bad Wolf thinking of a pig sandwich with a mouse chaser.

The second shot shows Bernard meeting a young child. I like the kid in the white pants as he is wearing an Incredible Hulk shirt.

Finally a shot of Oroville the Albatross signing autographs in the Plaza with Tomorrowland in the background.

To be honest with you, I think I have only watched this film once and never saw the sequel. The story and characters are not that appealing and during this time period when I was growing up, I was not that excited by Disney animation. Maybe I should revisit the film? I do like Orville as he appears as a fairly interesting and fun character and fondly remember Disneyland at this time.

Sleeping Beauty Castle and Update on Yesterday's Post

Well it was a Monday morning for me...the post of the Mark Twain is actually of a movie prop at Universal Studios. On Daveland Universal Studio Website the same river boat can been seen. Thanks for all those who wrote and for Major and Dave for helping to ID the image. And also the second image was flopped, but is now orientated correctly. Today's image is just a pretty shot of the park icon. Enjoy.

Two Views of Frontierland

The first image shows a very barren Frontierland with not many trees and other activities. This shot really looks as if the Mark Twain was on the mighty Mississippi River going through the wilderness. I believe this was taken in 1955 from one of the wagons in the deserts of Frontierland. I believe this was taken in the evening with the Twain parked as there is no one on board.

A nice 1960 shot of the Old Mill with the Matterhorn and Golden Horseshoe in the background. Of course this area is now undergoing its second major change in its lifetime.

Made In the Shade

Major Pepperidge of Gorillas Don't Blog has been putting up some interesting photos. So to complement his photo's I went through some of my collection and have posted images of umbrellas and shade canopies from Disneyland. Most of the umbrellas appear to be from Fantasyland and can be seen in Major's shots of the Dumbo ride from the skyway he posted on February 3.

And to complement shaded areas, here are two shade canopies from Tomorrowland area. I like the multi color fiberglass to give it a futuristic look (remember when the future was going to be filled with color?) Also some more of the wonderful chairs for eating in Tomorrowland. The eating establishment is the Yacht Bar located next to the Submarine Voyage.

I hope you all enjoy these obscure and esoteric images. What possessed the photographer to take these shots is a mystery to me. However, I am glad he did.

SOP Saturday- Main Street Vehicles

I have always enjoyed the Main Street Vehicles especially the large Omnibus and the taxi cars. This is one of the best SOPs with great history on the vehicles and also one of the first ones I purchased so many years ago. The page with the signs and route on the back is very nice and I believe one of my fellow bloggers owns some of those signs.....

Souvenir Friday- Pirate Ship Vinyl Bank

I thought that with everything at Disneyland turning into Pirates to showcase the fact Pirates have been part of Disneyland for years. This is a nice vinyl bank that looks kind of like a purse. The great graphic on the front is of course the Chicken of the Sea Pirate ship in all its glory. The small lock on front I guess is to keep your saved pennies from your mom or dad stealing from your bank. All in all a pretty cool early piece of park merchandise that was for sale at Tinkerbells Toy Shop.

Ward Kimballs Emma Nevada at Grizzly Flats Postcard

Today I am going to step a little away from Disneyland and show a postcard from Walt Disney's genius and one unique person- Ward Kimball. The postcard is of his full size train the Emma Nevada at the train station at Grizzly Flats. Ward was a unique person who definitely enjoyed life. The train was featured in several magazines in the 1940s and Ward was one of the first private citizens to have a steam engine and to restore and collect full size railroad equipment. His toy collection focusing on trains and transportation was also legendary. This train is now at the Inland Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California. Ward had a very strong influence on Walt Disney and the Santa Fe and Disneyland railroad. For a great interview with Ward Kimball, bop on over to Sacred Tree of the Aracuan Bird.