Vintage Tiki Room Flyer
It's time for some awesome vintage Disneyland paper! You've probably seen this one elsewhere; if so, you'll just have to suffer through it again.
I love this gate handout/advertisement heralding a new attraction, "Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room". It's an entirely new concept in family entertainment, yo. This was one of the very first pieces of Disneyland paper ephemera that I acquired, and I still think it is neat. I love the two-color artwork, and the photo of the guests. I guess nobody has informed that couple that pointing is impolite. Does anybody know if Marty Sklar wrote the blurb?
On the obverse is this neat ad for the new "Below Decks" exhibit on the Columbia; which means that this flyer is from 1964. The waving sailor reminds me of Ned Land from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"!
About two years ago I was at a collector's show, and found a version of this handout without the Tiki Room ad on the other side. It's just blank. Which is kind of cool! And best of all, this version was UNFOLDED, which is practically unheard of.
12 comments:
I love theme park ephemera and this is a great one. I also love the two-color artwork with the integrated b&w photo. In addition, the dialog balloon coming out of the birds mouths is great, sort of hinting that some of the birds in the Tiki Room will talk.
I remember in some of the Disneyland INA guide booklets the "Sailing Ship Columbia" was listed as summer only and the "Columbia Museum" was listed as a winter only. I assumed that "Columbia Museum (winter only)" meant that when the ship was docked for the off-season, the below deck section was still available for viewing. Does anyone know if that was the case?
And yeah, that's Ned Land alright. This is great stuff. Thanks, Major.
Pointing at robots is OK; they don't mind! Although I've got to say, the stock audience looks more horrified than delighted. The artwork is indeed gorgeous, so crisp and alive.
I'm drawn to that crowd photo, too, Melissa. They could be from any flying saucer movie of the day.
J. Nartubez, I have always wondered the same thing about the Columbia Museum. We always went in the off season when I was a kid and I could never convince my parents to find out. I never actually saw the Columbia "sail" until I was in my 20's. And in an odd juxtaposition, my kids have never been on the Mark Twain.
K. Martinez, these humble flyers are some of my favorite examples of Disneyland ephemera. And they really were ephemeral, as most people threw them away. I don't see a lot of these Tiki Room flyers, and tens (or hundreds) of thousands of them must have been printed. Yes, the Columbia Museum is just what you think it was... I don't know why they don't let folks see the "below decks" stuff when the ship is docked these days.
Melissa, I never want to anger our robot overlords. I suppose the audience reaction is more realistic than what is seen in modern Disneyland ads in which everyone has a giant toothy smile.
Chuck, I was such a Mark Twain guy that I never set foot on the Columbia until about three years ago! Oh man, you need to get your kids to Disneyland to ride the Mark Twain; especially if Fantasmic is down and the Twain is running in the evening!
Major, I need to get my kids back to Disneyland, PERIOD. Because if my kids are there, there's a pretty good chance I'll be there, too. :-)
The first time I boarded the Columbia was when it was docked at Fowlers Harbor, I don't remember the year but it was prior to 1980. I remember a sign placed in the normal traffic flow of people, pointing to the ship. You could tour the deck as well as go below and a CM would wander the decks and answer questions. So cool for a young kid with unlimited energy, my dad sat on the deck and had a smoke (which you could do back then). Just use the provided ash tray, please.
Major, Have you noticed how small the sleeping berths are on Disneyland's Columbia? I'm not sure if that's Disneyland scale going on there or if that was the actual size on the real Columbia.
Chuck, It looks like we got our answer about the Columbia Museum. So does that mean if we've ridden the Columbia AND gone below deck we can count that as two attractions instead of one? - J. Nartubez
Folks were smaller in the past, so the berths are probably accurate.
Ah, good memories rekindled. I'd forgotten about the "Columbia Museum". I do love that ship so. Did anybody know that the ship was designed after HMS Bounty of mutiny fame. I think that's because so little info is available after all these years of Columbia's real look.
Ken, I think we can count that as two attractions. That should increase your personal score on the awesomometer by at least 7%.
@K Martinez:
Yes, the Columbia lower deck was open in the winter when the ship didn't run. I recall that clearly. I did this several times, I rarely got to ride the Columbia as it never seems to be running when I visited. Is the lower deck open at all anymore, seems like this would be an accessibility issue? I don't recall if the lower deck was open while the ship sailed.
And the berths were accurate to scale. The Star of India in San Diego and the Balclutha in San Francisco, both real ships, not replicas, have similar below-deck accommodations.
People in the past were a lot smaller. The armor collection in the Tower of London is proof of that. Most of those knights were little guys, barely came up to my shoulder. Henry VIII was reputed to be a giant, but his suit seemed about right.
It's a whale of tale, but it's all true! I swear by my tattoo!
Splendid paper items, Major.
JG
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