Recently, I was contacted by GDB reader Tom Devlin, who generously gave me some slides from his family's trips to Disneyland (and more!). Amazing! They are super fun, and I am jealous, since I don't have any pictures from my own family trips to the park (in spite of the many times that we went). The readers of this blog should get a kick out of them.
I'm starting with a group from April 23, 1960 (I love that we know the exact date). "Jason's Disneyland Almanac" tells us that this was a Saturday, and the park was open from 10 in the morning until 7 o'clock at night. The high temperature was a mere 62 degrees, and the daily attendance was 15,358 - not exactly crowded (April 22nd drew less than 6000 people)! Jason also let's us know that this day included a kid's amateur dog show.
I thought I would start with this nice shot of the Town Square side of Main Street Station; the Devlin clan is on the lower steps (minus dad, who was presumably taking the photos).
From left to right we have (I believe) Mike, Joe, Mary Jo (mother), sisters Mary and Judy, and brothers Pat, and Tom himself, waving his felt Disneyland pennant.
Tom says that Mike is posing with his Zorro sword!
Next is this nice portrait of three of the Devlin boys; Pat (who loves him some popcorn!), Tom, and Joe. This area looks so different, with the trees and the lovely flower bed right in the center of the hub, where the "Partners" statue now stands.
Stay tuned for more Devlin family photos over the next few months!
Thank you Tom, for sharing your personal family photos with us! Do you still have that felt pennant? (And is that a person on the Castle balcony?)
ReplyDeleteTom-
ReplyDeleteYes indeed - thanks for sharing these wonderful images of both Disneyland and your family. It's quite the clan-!
It would appear from the last image the "Partners" planter was then populated with Iceland poppies, if my eyes aren't deceiving me.
Thanks again.
These are great, Tom! I like the portrait photo of the Devlin boys at the Plaza Hub. Nice! I'm looking forward to more of your Disneyland family photos over the next few months. Thanks for sharing these!
ReplyDeleteWow, there's one trip for which I have no memory!
ReplyDeleteHow nice of him to do that. I also wish my Dad had taken slides of our many trips there. I bet Mom had her hands full with that clan :) I have to laugh at what Patrick says because my memories of our trips back in the 50's and early 60's are pretty much non existent unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteOh, so much fun. Thank you for sharing these.
ReplyDelete@Tokyo, I think that is a person on the castle balcony. I have seen CM's up there during park hours before. Not sure what functions are accessed from that location. The balustrade is quite low in proportion to the forced perspective, so people destroy the scaled illusion.
JG
Disneyland Fact No One Cares About #192: There remains an (themed) access door to the castle "balcony" (referred to as The Allure in park-speak) from the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough. It was occasionally propped open for park visitors to utilize through the mid-1960s. My friends and I wandered out there from time to time when we were kids and I've seen photos from the early days of mere mortals (some of who were enjoying a smoke) gazing back at Main Street, U.S.A. from that relatively unusual vantage point.
ReplyDeleteWhen I worked at the park, old-timers told me The Allure was pretty much a ventilation fix for the stuffy walkthrough and that Sleeping Beauty ride operators would lock it closed at dusk. Of course, we’ve all seen publicity photos of official Disneyland events with characters, etc. out on The Allure from time to time but it hasn’t been open to the public (at least not on purpose!) for decades.
Hey, I warned you this was something no one really cared to know about! ;)
Anonymous, That is some cool information. Those certainly were lucky people who were able to go out onto The Allure and look back at Main Street from above. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I looked at the original scan, and that really does look like a person on the balcony of the castle!! Good eyes, as always.
ReplyDeleteNanook, those Iceland poppies are coming to our country and taking the jobs of local poppies!
K. Martinez, there are some 40 images from various Devlin family trips - and then there are some from Universal Studios, Marineland, and more!
Patrick Devlin, wow! It must be like looking at photos of somebody else who looks just like you!
Irene, it WAS very nice. I always thought that my mom must have had her hands full with four kids, but SIX… I can’t imagine. And yet she always looks very calm in the photos that we see of her (more in the future).
JG, I was going to post a blowup of the balcony, but it looks pretty fuzzy. However I am reasonably sure that it really IS a person, walking towards the left.
Anonymous, how in the world did you get up on the second level of the castle when you were a kid? JEALOUS! I’m glad I don’t smoke, but if I did, I would want to do it from up there. “The Allure”, what a kooky name for it, and yet apt. And I think you’ll find that a lot of GDB readers are loving your inside information!
K. Martinez, that is definitely something I would have wanted to do.
@ Anonymous-
ReplyDeleteWith this group I don't think there's really such a thing as "Disneyland Fact No One Cares About #..." (DFNOCA). That's what we're all about here. "The Allure". I know there's a good story behind that one.
Perhaps a "lady's cigarette" can be marketed with that name, and its first TV commercial can be shot RIGHT THERE-! It's got to be at least 25-feet away from a parapet, flanking tower or watch tower.
I don’t think “allure” has anything specific to do with Disneyland, that’s just what wall-walks are referred to in castle terminology. On the other hand, I love the new lady’s cigarette marketing idea! ;)
ReplyDeleteThese are great! It's always fun to see pictures of GDB readers here, and in this case we have a regular commenter highlighted in a photo provided to the Good Major by his brother. These are truly priceless.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Tom!