Disneyland Ephemera
One of my favorite things to collect is ephemera - mostly paper ephemera - from Disneyland. These days, prices can be astonishingly high for choice examples; and even relatively common pieces have been fetching higher prices on eBay, much to my bafflement. Here's a random selection of items for you.
Here's a brochure encouraging guests to get a guided tour; it's pretty scarce. There's no date, but there is a clue inside that helps us date it to 1962. Can you stand the suspense?
It's always amazing to see what it cost for admission and a ticket book. Using a certain year (you still have to wait for it) we can calculate that $4.75 for an adult "Jumbo 15" ticket book is the equivalent of about $43 in today's money. Still an incredible bargain, even with inflation. I believe I've seen a variant of this brochure.
Reading?? If I wanted to read I would go to the library, am I right? The park was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, how many people made long trips to Anaheim only to find the gates shut? Luckily Knott's Berry Farm was just up the road. SO... under "Special Events", there is mention of a live TV broadcast from Disneyland on Saturday nights. The D23 website tells us about a program called "Meet Me at Disneyland", a summer series of television shows on Los Angeles independent station KTTV airing live from Disneyland weekly from June 9 to September 8, 1962. The Osmond Brothers made one of their early television appearances on the show. Now you know!
This next item is neat little flyer (hard to find, but they do come up on eBay once in a while) announcing the opening of "Pirates of the Caribbean". Maybe you've heard of it? So exciting! It blows my mind to think that the Auctioneer figure pictured on the cover used to be the pride and joy of the company, being one of the most advanced AA figures. He has retired to a sandy beach somewhere, replaced by a female pirate named "Red".
Imagine seeing "Pirates" when it was brand-new! Now most of us know every gag and detail, but back then it was all a source of wonder and amazement.
A related item is this mini-poster from the Magic Kingdom Club. It's 9" X 12", on stiff tan card stock, and it's pretty neat.
And finally, here's a commonplace item, an old locker token. I've always wondered how so many of these wound up on the collector's market. Did people pay for a token and not use a locker, just for the souvenir? Did they leave their Fabergé Easter eggs in the locker when they went home? I need to know!
I hope you have enjoyed today's Disneyland ephemera.
34 comments:
Major-
The 'paper items' are lovely, as always. The stylized drawings of the adults almost has them in some sort of trance, as they head-off towards the land of Ticket Books.
Although apparently not twins, there appears to be a matching pair of tops on two gals who are taking "... a thrilling plunge down a waterfall".
Thanks, Major.
"...how many people made long trips to Anaheim only to find the gates shut?"
Sorry, folks; park's closed. The moose out front should've told you.
As always, the illustrations in the brochure are gems. I especially like the kids' Mickey ear hats.
I can still remember my first time riding Pirates. I had never even imagined anything like it.
I wonder how many people got Ken-l-land and the Baby Station mixed up and left their baby at the doggy place while pushing their pooch in a stroller all day?
I've always (well, not always, but sometimes) wondered what those huge 'cuffs' are on yer typical pirates' boots, as seen on the POTC flyer. Seems like they would fill up with water (either from rain or rough seas) making the pirate's legs very heavy and awkward to move about. I'm sure they'd be excellent at fending off venomous snake bites though. I suppose the cuffs fold down when needed, but what would that purpose be?
Instead of getting rid of this iconic AA figure, they could have added the redhead as an additional auctioneer; problem solved!
I love the font they used for "Pirates of the Caribbean". Probably not an actual font, but rather, hand drawn.
Thanks for sharing these ephemeral items, Major.
- Jingerbread Boyz redux. Now being played, on the silver screen, by the Kodiak Bear Bros: Keith, Kevin, Ken, and Dingo (a brother from another mother)
I've always loved a magic carpet ride whisking me speedily along a road to adventurous fun! 1962 seems about right given that Tour Guide costume- that line drawing looks like Connie Swanson who became the Ambassador in 1966 after being a Tour Guide. It's interesting to note that in most of the early advertising it speaks to "value" quite a bit...and they used words such as "economic", and "tickets are good forever!"...well, almost forever (a long time, anyway.) It's also interesting to note that the prices from 62 to 79 did not really increase in price that much at all. I don't remember specfically, but I think when I started it was 8.50 for a Big 10 adult, and then when we went to passports it was $12...that was in '82? Correct me if I am wrong. I had no idea the auctioneer was gone, but I suppose I don't pay much attention when it comes to ruining things. That he was an "AA" makes sense to me given all that rum those guys were drinking in the last act of the show. I was not amazed when I first went on Pirates as a kid. It must have been 1968. I screamed through the entire thing. Everyone in that boat must have loved me. I used my moms hands to cover my eyes. I was totally traumatized. My mother loved it.
The last time I rode POTC (after the last "redo"), the Auctioneer Pirate was still atop the steps and still trying to hold an auction. He's now auctioning chickens, and he asks the question, "Do I hear ten? A ten for a hen!" It's completely inane. The redheaded wench has now been turned into a pirate. She tries to tell him that the other pirates would rather have rum. So basically the Auctioneer is still there, but he has been reduced to a bumbling idiot.
As always, I love the graphics on the vintage DL ephemera! Thanks for sharing these items, Major!
- Tidings Magic!
“He has retired to a sandy beach somewhere…” A subtle warning to not cross swords with the kulturny kommissars? “Now proceed at your own risk. These be the last friendly words ye'll hear. Ye may not survive to pass this way again...”
Bu, I was so traumatized by my first trip on Pirates when I was 2 1/2 that I refused to ride it again for five years. I remembered standing up in the boat in a storm and seeing water splashing over the gunwales. And skeletons, which the culture had told me are innately scary - no bones about it.
"Only at Disneyland would you "fall up" a waterfall." OMG sounds amazing!
Bu, I remember that passports to the Magic Kingdom in Florida were $17 in early 1983. I remember it clearly because my father was so outraged that it cost that much, he was going to turn us around and go back to where we were staying in Daytona, and Mom had to talk him down. That's less than $50 in 2021 money! And we each had $5 to spend on food for the day. That'd just about get you a Coke OR a Dole Whip today.
The only part I really remember about my first Pirates ride is the pirate ship and fortress battle. I was in 7th heaven. It was so, dare I say, awesome in every sense of the word. Just like a dream.
Love the brochure. Disney wouldn't think of putting the words fair maidens and climax in the same sentence today. My mouse ears kept falling off my head going down that waterfall if I remember correctly.
Thanks Major, great brochure. My parents used the lockers occasionally, but no tokens came home, so our eggs must have came home with us.
The auctioneer pirate is a handsome rogue; his shirt is fashionably untucked because, as related by costumer Alice Davis, the European-schooled sculptor who created him was a bit too anatomically correct.
The promotional material always says "a sleepy Caribbean seaport", but it struck me recently that we are seeing half a dozen towns under attack, since there seems to be a pirate captain in almost every scene: bombardment, well dunking, auction, chase, inferno, etc.
I can remember my first time to ride DL Pirates! I was about 10 and the only thing even close to it that I had seen was The Speelunkers Cave (correct spelling) at 6 Flags Over Texas. My main thought of Pirates? SCALE! This ride was huge! (Speelunkers took place in tight caverns). Since we went on it at night, there was no discontinuity between the indoor ride and the outdoor reality. In fact, I think I was a little confused when we got to the burning town as to if we were inside or outside!
By the way, the WDW version is pretty lame. It's better than nothing, though.
Stefano, I don’t know if you had the chance to read our comments on December 1 (re the November 30 post on The Dent)...but you were the first to mention The Dent, in August, and we’re wondering how you first heard about it or discovered it.
I’ll check back later...am tied up, at the moment.
Major, great sleuthing to winkle out the date of this brochure. The graphics are charming as always from this era, going a long way to soften the wall-of-text. It’s a lot to read and process between the car and the entrance. Still, several paragraphs are missing their graphic accents. Maybe this edition was produced in a hurry?
I remember when we first got 15-ticket books, I felt like Howard Hughes or Willard Whyte. We alway left our Faberge eggs in the car, I don’t recall using a locker till I went with my kids in the 90’s.
I sure do remember the first Pirates ride, my Mom howling at the first drop and just recovering in time to scream again for the second one. We were tipped off to the first one from the brochure and the TV show, but the second one in the dark was an enormous surprise. There will never be another ride like this from Disney.
JG
@Stefano, I have heard a similar story about that sculptor (has to be the same guy), but in relation to the Haunted Mansion. Too long to relate now, suffice to say that as realistic as the imagineering was overall, there were limits to what could be portrayed.
JG
Lovely orange and black posterizations of the Auctioneer. Basically (in printing) a cheap way to "color up" what would be a black and white brochure. I know I'm getting old as locker rental is now more than these ticket books were.
Nanook, ha ha, they were in a “Disney daze”! I have to admit that when I heard about the “plunge down a waterfall”, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go on “Pirates”.
Melissa, I think “National Lampoon’s Vacation” was based on a writer’s actual experience going to Disneyland with his family, only to find it closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I don’t remember my first ride on “Pirates”, but I’m sure I was blown away.
JB, I wonder how many people left their babies at Ken-L-Land on purpose! The little pooch was much less trouble. You make a good point about those cuffs (or whatever they’re called), they don’t seem very practical, though they would hold a lot of candy. And we all know how much pirates loved candy. As for snake bites, there are sea snakes, so anything is possible. I wonder if that font is actually hand-drawn!
Bu, I think that the Guided Tour brochure might have been issued over the period of several years, probably being updated here and there. They did that with other brochures of the time. It’s true about the use of the word “value”, I think that Disneyland had the reputation as an expensive place. Old articles sometimes complained about the price of food and souvenirs, to say nothing of admission and ticket books. And can you believe that it cost 50 cents to park your car?? Outrageous! I would have to look at the old “Vintage Disneyland Tickets” blog to see if a Big 10 adult book was $8.50 in 1982; that must have been right around the end for ticket books, as they eliminated them shortly afterwards.
TokyoMagic!, I know you corrected me about the Auctioneer Pirate fairly recently; but this post had already been written, and I didn’t think to go back and edit it! I try to get way ahead with my drafts, and am currently working on posts that will appear in April, believe it or not. As soon as I saw today’s article (which was as much of a surprise to me as anybody), I thought, “Oh no, TokyoMagic! is going to be mad!”. I’m sorry to make you so angry (ha ha). I wonder how long it will be until Paul Frees’ voice is completely gone from the attraction?
Chuck, I don’t know what a kulturny kommissar is, but I already wish I was one. I was on “Pirates” once, and the young child in front of me screamed in terror the whole time. That was fun.
Andrew, the idea of going UP a waterfall is pretty cool… it’s too bad that the boats often back up at that point, bumping into each other and spoiling the fun. Marc Davis supposedly hated that part, though it doesn’t bother me THAT much.
Melissa, wow, amazing now that passports to the Magic Kingdom were $17 in 1983. Your poor dad, it probably actually was pretty pricey to the average guest. It’s only in comparison with today’s astronomical prices that it seems so cheap. Yes, if you had only $5 to spend on food, you’d better bring your own snacks!
DrGoat, there were certain details that really stood out to me, like the projected rain in some of the cavern scenes, or the cannonball splashes in the water right next to your boat in the fortress scene. So cool! I guess “climax” is kind of a loaded word these days, ha ha. Did you really lose your mouse ears on that ride? What a bummer!!
Stefano, now I have the image of an “anatomically correct” Auctioneer pirate in head, thanks a lot! I guess if the “sleepy seaport” was a big city, there could be room for more than one captain. I clearly didn’t think about it that much!
Stu29573, I remember my little brother was convinced that one of the Pirates looked right at him. I forget which one it was, maybe the pirate who is on the cannon near the end. The scale of “Pirates” really is impressive, the ride just goes on and on… no 3-minute jaunt through some cheesy sets. Even the queue in the beautiful Blue Bayou is a great part of the experience.
Lou and Sue, so STU is the one who started it! Now we know who to blame. Get the pitchforks!
JG, figuring out the dates of old brochures is a combination of fun and frustration, but at least this one had that clue that helped to really nail it down. I agree that most of the graphics on these old brochures is great, though there are some that are so crude that it’s kind of shocking. As if they got somebody’s high school nephew to draw/paint the graphics. I feel like we always got the 15-adventure books, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking. You know, for a short while they sold 20-adventure books, I’ve always wanted an unused one for my collection, but the last one that I saw on eBay went for over $1000! Those drops are so great, not only do they serve a practical purpose (getting guests below the level of the train tracks), but they are FUN too.
JG, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a story about anatomically correct pirates (or ghosts), now I need to know if some bored sculptor actually did that.
No, Major, don’t hurt Stu! Stefano was our great discoverer.
Thanks, Sue! I was really worried there!
Oh, and....LET'S GET STEFANO!!!
No no, Stu...we’re rewarding Stefano!
Oooooooooh.
Ok!
Major, I will email you the HM story about the sculptor and you can decide if it is suitable for a family blog. It is pretty funny and involves Walt himself. It's all hearsay to me, but it came from a reliable source.
JG
@ Bu-
"I've always loved a magic carpet ride whisking me speedily along a road to adventurous fun!" Well then... there's just the thing for you over at Pacific Ocean Park: the Magic Carpet Ride. Suspended from an overhead track, your magic carpet 'vehicle' flew through a dark ride themed around the Tales of the Arabian Nights; or put another way... "Magic Carpet is a fascinating ride through the pages of world-wide fairly tales - on a rippling carpet out of the Arabian Nights". Or, more correctly '... a ripping carpet [formerly] out of the Fox Dome Theatre - the building which housed the Magic Carpet ride-! At least there were rumors to that effect.
And if you're really lucky, you might be able to experience those fairy tales with Zsa Zsa Gabor... just LOOK HERE-!
@ JB-
Make those 'Cavalier Boots'. "Cavalier boots are often associated with pirates... These tall boots were prized by helmsmen and naval officers as they provided excellent protection from rain and spray. Boots of this design, worn with a Sou'wester and oilskins, remained in use among fishermen well into the 20th century when they were replaced with rubber Wellington boots and waders".
Back in the late 70s my company handed out Magic Kingdom Club cards along with other discount cards (Marine World / Africa USA, Universal Studios, Marriott's Great America and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk). My guess is that the various attractions distributed the cards and brochures to personnel departments for free or close to it, writing it off as marketing. If a member wanted the quarterly Disney News, he/she had to pony up a few bucks every three years.
In the back of the Disney News there were always hotel and ticket packages. In the oldest one I have (Winter 76/77) two nights at the Disneyland Hotel with two all-attraction passports (not yet available to the general public) started at $62.50 per adult, double occupancy. If you settled for Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge it was $38.
At pre-Epcot Disney World $148 (adults, double occupancy) was the starting price for:
-- Four nights at the Contemporary or Polynesian
-- Five days' admission to the park (then singular), and a book of 16 attraction tickets
-- Unlimited use of WDW transportation
-- One admission to River Country and some coupons/ tickets for other activities
I was a young adult with a good job, and those looked expensive to me.
That same issue introduced the New Mouseketeers, announced new records and 8mm sound films, heralded the upcoming broadcast of "Babes in Toyland", and plugged "The Shaggy DA" and "Freaky Friday". In those simpler times it was more exciting that today's lush D23.
Nanook, Wow, that flying carpet ride vehicle looks great! I bet it's even more fantastic in color.
About the boots, I'm still not sure how or when or why the cuffs were used 'up' or 'down'. If they wore the cuffs down to keep water out, why would they ever wear them up? Or maybe it's the other way around.
I was in my early twenties when I went on 'Pirates'. So it was an enjoyable, exciting, and awesome experience for me.
The Jungle Cruise on the other hand, well, I'll tell THAT story when I get around to sending the Major my 1957 Disneyland scans.
Lou and Sue, it’s too late, Stu is wrapped in many bandages. I feel kind of bad.
Stu29573, I’m surprised you can type all of those pitchfork injuries!
Lou and Sue, rewarding him with a bag full of worms!!
Stu29573, I guess I need to take an anger management class. Also a baking class!
JG, I just checked my email, I got it! I’ll respond from there.
Nanook, I’ve been intrigued by POP for as long as I’ve been aware of it (which has been “not that long”, relatively), but especially after reading Chris Merritt’s wonderful book. POP would be another DeLorean destination, preferably in the early years when everything was new and fresh and operating!
Nanook, I agree with JB in that the extremely wide opening at the top of the boots would seem to be a bad idea when dealing with high seas or storms. Maybe they packed the space with goose grease. That’s what I would do, anyway.
DBenson, my dad used to be able to belong to the Magic Kingdom Club through the Navy, though I eventually joined it myself when I was a teenager so that I would get the quarterly issues of “Disney News”, which I LOVED. It was always a great day when a new issue arrived in the mail. You are probably right about the profit margins being little to none, but hey, once they got the customers in the park, they would buy food and souvenirs (hopefully). I’ll bet $62.50 for two adults, even for the Disneyland Hotel and the passports, seemed expensive at the time. Though now we wouldn’t even blink at that amount! Thank you for all of the info, you had your Disney News right at the ready! I wonder if I have the same issue? It’s been a long time since I have been through the boxes with my Disney News and Vacationland issues. The “New Mouseketeers”, I sure do remember them, with their colorful mouse ears. I didn’t trust them! Give me the old Mouseketeers in black and white.
JB, I would recommend Chris Merritt’s book about POP if you think you are even a bit interested. He always does an amazing job with his research, and the book is chock full of photos and artwork. See my comment to Nanook about the goose grease. It’s the perfect solution. Now I’m very curious about your Jungle Cruise story!!
@ JB-
The Magic Carpet ride's load/unload area occupied the former 'stage area' of the original theatre. (In other words, the rear of the original theatre structure during the time of POP now found itself along a new midway that was a part of POP). SEE HERE.
The suspended tracks and sets occupied parts of the [then] unoccupied theatre proper, with a portion of track extending out over into the balcony area, black walls separating different scenes - not unlike that of Peter Pan's Flight. I have very strong - if a bit unclear - memories of that attraction, including the 'seaside/salty/musty smell' so often found at buildings located near large bodies of salt water.
In Chris Merritt's great book on POP, there's a lovely color image of a 'Magic Carpet', depicting a couple of kids in the front seat, and whoever is sitting behind them being obscured by two ride operators, decked-out in red/white vertical striped sport jackets with dark grey pants. The multi-colors in the carpeting are hard to clearly discern but does appear to consist of reds, yellows, greens, and black - if not more colors. The fringe is yellow/gold, as would befit a 'proper' magic carpet-!
I can't recommend the book highly-enough: Pacific Ocean Park: The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles' Space Age Nautical Pleasure Pier; and a steal at $25.00 - a 'lovely' Xmas gift, if I say so myself.
Nanook, is that the Arabian Nights version of Santa, whose lap the kid is sitting on? Maybe he's a genie?
I wonder how the Magic Carpet ride compares to Disneyland's Peter Pan ride? They both have overhead tracks and they're both dark rides but... I guess I should look for a vintage video on YouTube.
@ JB-
That would be 'Big Tiny Little', as he was known to his co-workers. (Not to be confused with the pianist of the same name - who performed on The Lawrence Welk Show, beginning one month after Welk's national TV debut in 1955, until he was later replaced by Jo Ann Castle). He was a human 'photo opportunity' and plug for the attraction.
Great post, today, Major! I finally have more time to comment and look at everything, and all the links...
Disneyland's POTC is my absolute favorite attraction (out of all of the DL and WDW parks). I do remember when it first opened and everyone was in "awe!" There was nothing else like it, at the time.
I have not seen Chris Merritt's book on Pacific Ocean Park, and will look for it, now, on the internet. I want to learn more about that park, as my dad did snap some pictures there (in the 50s?) (but I haven't had a chance to glance at those slides, yet). Maybe we'll get some of them posted here, if there are some good ones.
Thanks, everyone, for all the fun, today!
Thanks for all the positive comments on my P.O.P. book - really appreciate it! Hopefully you will all enjoy the Knott's Bear-y Tales/Rolly Crump/Marion Knott one I am trying to finish the writing on, and then the next one is going to be a "Rare Disneyland during Walt's era" book I am doing with Don Hahn for Disney Editions. Super excited to jump into that one!
Nanook, JB (and all) I rode the Magic Carpet Ride at POP. I was pretty young. I don’t have many memories of it except it had some storybook scenes (?). Of course, I was spoiled by my trips to Disneyland and the magical Peter Pan ride with its compact design, black light view of London and it’s sweeping movements. I still get a kick out it.
On my first rides on POTC in its earliest days I was so impressed. So amazing. I soaked up every scene. I loved the moving clouds in the sky and the huge size of the ride. It seemed to go on and on. I know that the boats sometimes back up near the “up” waterfall at the end, but it did give me a chance to take in the audio animatronics without moving to another scene. The last time I rode it was probably 10 years ago and it was still great.
I also once got a "river side" table at the Blue Bayou so I guess my POTC experience is complete!
Sue, even if your dad’s POP pictures aren’t “good ones” we still want to see them!
I found my 3-day Worldpassport from my WDW trip in summer 1984. It was $34 for a child. Eisner apparently wasted no time in raising ticket prices when he came on board.
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