Merlin's Magic Shop & Adventureland Bazaar, August 1962
It seems like it's been a while since we've had a good look at Merlin's Magic Shop, located in the courtyard of Fantasyland, right near the castle. Unlike most other original 1955 Fantasyland buildings, Merlin's is beautifully detailed, with hand-hewn half-timbers, steep swooping rooflines, crooked rain gutters, odd little windows, multiple chimneys... it's pretty swell.
Zooming in on one window, we can just make out a few items; the gorilla mask, what looks like several Randotti skulls, and packaged novelty items (A joy buzzer? Soap that turns your hands black? Hot chewing gum?); I have no idea what that oversized key is for (as if it was for a human-sized toy robot). If you can identify anything else, let me know!
In the other window, there is not much to ID - I assume some of those colorful shapes are magic paraphernalia. There's a ventriloquist dummy that resembles Jerry Mahoney - it's that bright red hair.
"Help! I'm stuck in this magic shop!".
Next, we're outside the Bazaar in Adventureland, our photographer seems to have been very interested in the architectural details, and maybe some of the "stuff" on the upper story - metal pans, clay pots, and that saltwater taffy machine.
17 comments:
Major-
And don't forget the all-important mail box at Merlin's-!
I believe that 'oversized key' was supposed to be placed on the trunk of your car - although most-often seen riding around on the rear ends of Volkswagens.
I'm thinking that yellow/white 'card' above and to the left of the gorilla mask could possibly be a Wooly Willy... with "Magnetic Personality". "Draw whiskers, hair and eyebrows with this magic wand.
Thanks, Major.
This is during the time that Steve Martin worked there. It’s fun to think he could be inside there now!
My brother had a similar ventriloquist dummy, "Danny O'Day." He used to do the Nestle's Chocolate commercials with his dog friend, "Farfel." I think Danny O'Day use to come to life at night and wander through the house looking for sharp implements.
That's one big salt water taffy machine! Ha, ha! The first time I ever saw a taffy machine was at the Farmers Market in Hollywood. I remember there was a little Charlie Brown figure inside the glass case, and I think a Snoopy figure, too. If I remember correctly, Charlie Brown was turning a little crank like the figures inside Disneyland's popcorn wagons.
Thanks, Major!
A few years ago that Merlin’s Magic Shop sign came up for sale on eBay …. Several excited bidders were hopping to win it until someone contacted Steve Martin and rather than bidding swooped in and bought it - the seller canceling all the current bidders. GET IN LINE MARTIN! You’re not THAT funny!!
Mike, but does Steve Martin still have the sign, or did he turn around and sell it for 10 times as much as he paid for it? ;-)
Speaking of that sign......what does it say on that bottom line, below "Merlin's Magic Shop"?
Yes, Merlin's Magic Shop is an old-world architectural marvel. I wonder how this shop got the 'full treatment' while the other Fantasyland structures did not? Obviously, time and money were the key factors. But why this particular one? Probably because it's the first building you see when you cross through the Castle; gotta make a good first impression!
First window: There is a set of "Groucho" glasses, eyebrows, nose, and mustache on the left. Maybe a fake beard above that? A couple of fairytale-like figures next to the gorilla mask.
Second window: I can't really ID much of anything here, other than the ventriloquist dummy. That little sign hanging above the window says, "Kodak Film".
Ventriloquist dummies are, to borrow Major's expression, "of the Devil". Somebody obviously went out of their way to make them as creepy as possible! Toy Story 4 makes good use of these dummies' creepiness.
Adventureland Bazaar: This is something I would take a picture of, too. All that 'stuff' serves no purpose other than as theming... and it's great theming! I think we concluded that the "taffy machine" was a rack for drying dyed yarn or cloth?
Tokyo!, I was wondering what that line of text says, as well.
Good "stuff", Major! Thanks.
Two of the five(?) words on that sign’s bottom line are Merv Taylor…..
Something something Merv Taylor Pope(?)
Sue, maybe the sign reads, "Merv Griffin's Lovely Coconuts." ;-)
The early operator of Merlin's was "Taylor and Hume Inc." so it makes sense that one of those words might be "Taylor." But I couldn't make out "Hume" in any of those other words.
I think those first two words are James Hume. And, per Daveland, “Merv [Taylor] and James Hume had two magic shops in Disneyland, as well as a drugstore and camera shop in the Disneyland Hotel.” (Thank you, Daveland!)
Still not sure about that last word…
Sue, okay....I think that last word is "Props," the abbreviation for the word "Proprietors." I believe we've seen photos of the DL Hotel's magic shop signage, right here on GDB. Wasn't it called, "Magicland"?
Ha! TM!—I was just going to say what you said about proprietors (it took me a few extra seconds to Google it—to confirm the correct abbreviation for proprietors).
And here's proof that we don't need to go any further than right here on GDB, for backup information:
,a href="https://gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/one-mans-trash.html">Disneyland Hotel's Magicland
And maybe Magicland was more about Toys, Souvenirs, Sundries, Liquor, Cameras, Film, and Processing, than "magic tricks." It looks like they had a large selection of View-Master reels:
Magicland Toys & Souvenirs
Gee, I've been messing up on links, lately. Here's that link again, for an earlier post of Major's:
The Disneyland Hotel's Magicland
I think Merv Griffin's Coconuts are for GDB AFTER DARK...and even then: it's questionable. Eva Gabor was Merv's best friend, Eva wanted a TG to write a book about her (the TG's) adventures in Disneyland with the rich and famous. Didn't happen...yet. In any case: Merlins Magical Mailbox! With an Anaheim postmark, which kind of contorted guests who expected a Disneyland postmark: which was not legal. We started selling stamps at City Hall when (fuzzy memory) something happened where stamp machines had to be taken out: (fuzzy memory) I think because they needed public access (?). Happy to be fact checked on that one, and all I know is that it was a "Pain in the Pinny" to sell stamps...that is a very old fashioned saying: "Pinny" meaning "Pinafore" as you certainly could not refer to parts of the body. My grandmother said it all the time. The one that taught me "BTM" which was the polite was of saying "Bottom"...which was rude for respectable types. "Get off your BTM!"....I hear all sorts of things these days on Television....and even in the "BTM" days...we definitely saw our share of topless women on TV...THAT was OK. But don't say BOTTOM....ahhhh....I digress....and I do know that Steve Martin has a soft spot for his Disneyland days...which is kind of sweet...so I think he still has his sign somewhere...it's kind of why I want a popcorn wagon in my backyard: with the little "turner" in a Red Tour Guide costume....sounds good, right? Thanks Major!
Not only was Merlin’s highly detailed, but it was that weird shade of blue-green. I always thought that was very odd.
I never failed to go in here and admire the tricks and masks. I wanted a rubber mask but they were so expen$ive. I did buy a “joy buzzer” for electric shock handshakes and on another visit, a toy vase with a ball that you could make to disappear. I might have bought them from Steve himself, but who knows.
That Adventureland building is an architectural marvel, traveling from Guatemala to East Africa and Mali in the space of a few storefronts. I guess people there store their pots and pans on the roof where lions can’t get them.
TM, I remember the taffy machine at the Farmers Market, but the one I saw most often was at Crill’s Taffy in Morro Bay that specialized in salt water taffy. Crill’s is still in business and I bought some taffy there a while back, about 50 years after my last purchase. I’m still not sure why it is “salt-water” taffy and not “fresh water” or even “brackish water”, but the last one wouldn’t sell, I guess. Off to Wikipedia to research!
Thanks Major!
JG
Nanook, I will never forget the mail box! Wow, I would have never guessed that the oversized key was just a gag to put on one’s car. These days I always assume that things like that would just be stolen by a random passerby. I think you are right about the “Wooly Willy”!
Lou and Sue, he could be wearing the old “arrow through the head”!!
TokyoMagic!, somehow I remember Farfel, but I don’t remember Danny O’Day. Did you hear that somebody is going to remake the old Anthony Hopkins movie “Magic”? With that creepy dummy! I’m wondering if I first saw a saltwater taffy machine at the Farmer’s Market as well. They were fun to watch! But I don’t remember Charlie Brown or Snoopy, and I was into those Peanuts characters back then.
Mike Cozart, I remember the blog that told the whole story about that Merlin’s sign. I didn’t recall that the seller cancelled all other bids though!
TokyoMagic!, there was a two-part documentary about Steve Martin on Apple+ a year or two ago, I believe that you can see the Merlin’s sign in one segment. I can’t quite read what that text at the bottom of the sign says, but (in looking for better photos of it), found one of Steve holding his sign, and it lacks that text.
JB, I’m sure it was (as you said) and issue of time and money. And I guess once they had the “medieval faire” tent-style buildings that served perfectly well, it didn’t seem important to change. Obviously they waited until 1983 to upgrade, and they did a beautiful job of it. Yes, I see the “Groucho” glasses. I remember thinking that ventriloquism seemed so cool, but I’ve never seen anybody do it to the point that you couldn’t see lips moving, or throats moving. I remember one ventriloquist moved his head around a LOT in an attempt to hide his tells.
Lou and Sue, I have never met a real person named “Merv”.
TokyoMagic!, I was thinking that the words might have something to do with Taylor and Hume, but like you, I couldn’t quite make it work.
Lou and Sue, considering that I’ve seen more than a few items that say “Taylor and Hume”, it’s weird that they needed their given names on the sign.
TokyoMagic!, yes, the store at the Disneyland Hotel was called “Magicland”.
Lou and Sue, you two need walkie-talkies! Over!
TokyoMagic!, it’s funny, I posted another Magicland bag for an upcoming blog post, it’s basically the same as the pink bag, only it is paper (presumably older). I hadn’t thought of the pink bag in forever.
TokyoMagic!, I know, those links can be tricky. One little thing can make it not work.
Bu, I don’t know much about Eva, but she seemed nicer than Zsa Zsa. She had pretty good comic chops. It’s nice that she and Merv were such good friends, I wonder how that happened. Was she on his talk show and they just hit it off? A Disneyland postmark would have been nice, maybe they could have had rubber stamp that wasn’t a postmark, but would still indicate that your item had been mailed from the park. Perhaps that was a USPS no-no. You can buy stamps at any grocery store, is it really a pain to sell them?? I don’t remember my grandmother having any cute euphemisms for butts, but she had other funny phrases. If somebody was anxiously awaiting something, my grandma would say they were like “kitty at the rathole”. I always thought that one was so odd. Based on Martin’s book “Born Standing Up”, it is clear that he fondly recalls his days at Disneyland. I’m still not entirely sure why he left it for Knott’s (I’m sure it says in the book, it’s been a while), but maybe he just wanted to do more comic acting.
JG, I like that blue-green color as well! There must have been a reason behind it. Sometimes old stucco or plaster can be greenish from algae, could that be the thinking? I had a joy buzzer, but felt guilty using it on anybody I liked. Not that it hurt, it mostly tickled. Adventureland and Frontierland both go more-elaborate buildings, while Tomorrowland and Fantasyland got some nicer designs, and others that were basically industrial sheds, gussied up. You can sure buy lots of saltwater taffy in Morro Bay! I used to buy a bag of my favorite flavors, but it’s been years.
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