Thursday, September 03, 2009

Souvenir Plate, circa 1962

I haven't shared a souvenir item with you for a bit (not counting posters), so today I present to you this fantastic plate! Now, I generally hate the idea of souvenir plates ("Star Trek" plates, "Wizard of Oz" plates, "I Love Lucy" plates, Norman Rockwell plates.... PHOOEY!). But this one is different. No porcelain or even earthenware for me... it's plastic, baby! And just look at that great artwork, very reminiscent of the illustrations that were found in other early Disneyland items.

This plate is undated, but the presence of the elephant from the Jungle Cruise's "Elephant Bathing Pool" makes this no earlier than 1962... let's just say it's from the mid-1960's.


Proof that this plate is from the desolates wastes of Sun Valley on the planet Melmac!


If I had to eat Brussels sprouts, I would be much happier eating them off of this plate.

13 comments:

Chiana_Chat said...

What a cheerful plate :D

Also as you probably noticed it has the TL Rocket so can't be post-'66.

Jim said...

I agree with you that most souvenir plates shilled nowadays are just plain tacky. But there is an endearing and kitschy charm to this offering that renders it...dare I say?
Palatable.

Matterhorn1959 said...

Hey- did you break into my kitchen and grab this off my wall? This is one of my favorite souvenir plates.

Major Pepperidge said...

Yes Patrick, and now it's mine, all mine! Mwah ha ha!

Katella Gate said...

The graphics are great, but the cherry on the cheesecake is that it's "Made with Pride, Made with MelMac".*

*Not a real slogan. I had a Darren Stevens moment and just went with it.

Sereina Elwert said...

I love the graphics on the plate!!

Lawrence Tate said...

Naw, Darren Stevens would be even cornier than that. Something like "Mac and Cheese, on a MelMac will please". And that's with Sam's help after a harrowing half hour having been transformed into a mouse.

This plate is terrific. If the Indians were combined with the cowboy, and Pirates and Ghosts are added, you could sell these today. Although I would take it with it's mid-60s charm any day. You would also have to colour the sub yellow, add Nemo, Buzz and so on.

Made in USA? Those were the days.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Wow, what a fun plate, the Melmac Plastic is what makes it so special, great graphics!

McMann and Tate would be pleased with the Darren Stephens references in the comments, I bet you could find one of these plates in the kitchen at 1164 Morning Glory Circle.

Katella Gate said...

Actually, I think the most magic thing about Darrin and Samantha's house is you could open the windows on the weekend and hear the Partridge Family practice across the street.

Vintage Disneyland Tickets said...

Also, I think the Munsters were on the next block at 1313 Mocking Bird Lane... Then the Cleavers are are down just a few houses in Mayfield! I want to live in that neighborhood!

Nancy said...

Katella, i love the Partridge Family! one of Keith's GFs (Tina)lived in the Stevens house in the early 70s after they moved out :)


this plate is great...thanks for sharing! you guys have all the great stuff ;)

Jim said...

I am sure that the Munsters and the Cleavers were up at Universal City. I think the Stevens and Partridges were down in Culver City somewhere. Where is that link to the backlots page?

Lawrence Tate said...

The Stevens and the Partidges (and Major Nelson's) are on the old Columbia lot in Burbank. Still there, today it's known as Warner Ranch.

http://www.1164.com/ranch/index.html