Things From the Gate- Summer 1960 Ticket Brochure

Same design, this time for Summer 1960. Note that the ticket prices may change on June 10, 1960.

Casey Junior Railroad

One of my favorite rides and a must see every trip to Disneyland. It is a fun ride with great visuals and a quick way to see Storybook Land.

I hope you enjoy the quick trip through this fun attraction.

A Picnic at Lakeside Amusement Park 1972

The cover and short one page article on a picnic by the veterans and old timers of the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad. Of course they rode the train at Lakeside as seen by the cover. I am a big proponent of frequenting and supporting local amusement parks and Lakeside has kept its charm and look. I am looking forward to hitting the park this weekend to see how the off season treated the park. I hope it looks as good as it does in these images.

Souvenir Friday- More Gibson Greeting Cards

More of the Gibson Greeting cards. This time the Time Clock of the World.

And the Mark Twain Riverboat.

Two Views of Tomorrowland

Two views of Tomorrowland on a Monday in the early 1960s. What is nice about the images is the park is closed and empty with the exception of workers. First up is a shot of the Monorail station with Monorail blue in station and workers doing some maintenance on the station. Below are several rare Nautilus General Dynamics posters on the posts.

A shot of Tomorrowland where it appears the asphalt has been swept and cleaned (there is a rope in the foreground with rags tied to it.)

Main Street Vehicles

Many readers know that us Disneyland fanatics lament the loss of activity in Tomorrowland. However, I also lament the loss of activity on Main Street. There used to be many vehicles driving on Main Street as well as vehicles parked on the side streets. First up is one of my favorite vehicles to ride as it still goes up and down Main Street. The Omnibus is a great way to view Main Street.

Other vehicles included the horse drawn fire engine. Though not a large capacity ride, it appears to be fun to imagine yourself as a firefighter in the 1910s.

Another way to ride up and down Main Street was to ride these Horseless Carriages. Talk about low capacity, but they were a lot of fun to ride. As can be seen in the background of this photo, the motion really adds to the atmosphere of Main Street.

Final image is of everyone's favorite (well at least one of my favorite) vehicles on Main Street, the Carnation Milk Truck. Usually parked on a side street, it enhanced Main Street. Walt loved to fire this truck up and run it on Main Street.

For a great history of the Carnation truck, check out post from Gorillas Don't Blog.

Three Stores on Main Street

One simple photograph, three different store fronts.

(Another favorite image from years ago.)

Things From the Gate- Winter Spring 1959 Ticket Brochure

I originally thought this was for Winter Spring 1959-1960, but based upon the dates on the back, it is from 1959. The yellow coloring does not work very well and is hard to read. I wonder who was the graphic designer for these brochures?

Purchases at the Denver Postcard Show

Yesterday I went to the Denver Postcard show. Luckily there are dealers who travel from many places, so the chances of me finding something for the collection is increased. I purchased the following items from one dealer and all will go into the collection. First up is an interesting overhead snapshot of the Storybook Canal Boat ride. I like the tables where the modern queue is now located.

Next up is a nice postcard featuring a theme park and tiki. Floridaland was a theme park in need of a theme. Not only was there a porpoise show, but a full Western town with Can-Can dancers and shoot outs, deer park, Indian village, and a themed tram ride. The front entrance had the requisite parrots and other tropical birds found in other Florida tourist attractions. The park closed in 1971 and became a housing development.

A cool advertising postcard from the Tilt A Whirl manufactured by the Sellner Manufacturing Company of Minnesota. Looks like the rides were built on a farm.

Souvenir Friday- Gibson Greetings From Disneyland

From 1955 until 1960, Gibson Greeting Cards was the purveyor of stationary and greeting cards on Main Street. One of the nicest set of cards done by Gibson was a series of greeting cards with a photo on the front of an attraction and a witty saying on the inside. First up is a card featuring the Main Street Railroad.

Of course the Rocket to the Moon was also featured.

In 1960, Hallmark became the purveyor of greeting cards and created the fantastic set of PDL cards.

A Couple of Favorites

I posted these images quite a while ago. The scans I had were from positives and as I was going through some stuff, I found the negatives. I decided to post them as they are such cool images of attractions that have changed. First up is the old Snow White facade in Fantasyland.

The second is of the World Beneath Us exhibit with an art show out front.

Adventureland Buildings

Four images of the architecture of Adventureland. First up is the Railroad station for the land- the Jungle River Cruise depot. Although covered with the detritus of many safaris, the structure has the design of a railroad depot with a central ticket area and open air waiting rooms.

Next up is the commercial section of Adventureland. The style of architecture is reminiscent of the found building material structures in many towns and cities in Africa. This style of construction is also used in Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

Another style of construction is the hut style with a straw roof and bamboo as seen in many imagined South Seas oasis. The style of hut is seen in many Tiki restaurants built during this time.

Speaking of restaurants, the Plaza restaurant had a split personality. On the Main Street side it appeared to be Victorian in design, and on the Adventureland side the restaurant is early Polynesian pop style like the first Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic's restaurants.

Some Freedomland Ephemera

Freedomland was short lived, but did create some ephemeral items that are interesting. These items came with the Freedomland publicity photographs I have been posting. First up is a photograph of a display promoting Freedomland. I believe this was up in a bus station somewhere in New York City.

(Note the image is large so you can see the photos in the display...and I really want that poster.)
Next up is a ticket order form. In 1962, Freedomland went to a ticket book less system with a pay one price system, similar to Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica. At this time, Freedomland was on shaky financial standing.

Final item is a copy of the Freedomland Day Proclamation from the Mayor of New York City. On June 19, I hope you will celebrate Freedomland Day!

Things From the Gate- Fall Winter 1959 Ticket Brochure

Continuing the same graphics, this time in a rose color. I like Date Nites during this time period.

More Freedomland Publicity Images

More Freedomland publicity images for today. First up is a night view of the Satellite Bowl in Space City, the Tomorrowland section of Freedomland. The band is quite cramped on stage, but the crowd is dancing up a storm.

Next up is an image of one of the balloon sellers at the front of the park. The location was the first (and last) souvenir stand in the park, selling guide books and other items. Note the balloons the lady is holding are the Mickey Mouse balloon within a balloon.

The last photograph for today is my favorite, a group of nuns posing at the Horse Drawn Trolley. Nuns in full habits at a theme park, sign me up!

Some Freedomland Publicity Photographs

Two neat publicity photographs from Freedomland in New York City. First up is everyone's second favorite burning building- the Old Chicago Fire. The attraction was a guest experience. The fire men would come rushing up and conscript volunteers to man the fire pumps and put out the fire. This was repeated several times a day. Judging from the photo, this was quite a draw.

(Of course everyone's favorite burning building is the settler's cabin on Tom Sawyer's Island.)
It would not be New York City without some politics and a rally. The photograph shows a rally for Gubernatorial candidate Frank O'Connor parading through Old New York City. Mr. O'Connor was a candidate in 1966. This photo documents the final year of this amazing theme park. Unfortunately like Freedomland, Mr. O'Connor was not successful.

I want to let you know of a new blog focusing on Tiki architecture. Mike is a fantastic historian of vintage Tiki establishments and a good friend.