Entering Town Square, Plus More - June 1970
I had fun with today's photo - not only is it a great image, but we get some quality souvenir action too.
We'll start with the main scan featuring this June 1970 view from just inside Town Square, looking back toward the west tunnel beneath the train tracks. As usual, I enjoy observing all of the people - the hairstyles, the hats, the fashions. And oh yes, let's not forget the wonderful E.P. Ripley on the tracks above!
There's some cool Disneyland ephemera to be found in the photo, too. Notice the flier in the hand of the lady with the pink scarf.
I have two different examples of this flier (with different dates) - "Disneyland's SUPER SUMMER", featuring "Show Me America". The use of a color photo on the front of this flier might be a first for one of these kinds of gate handouts - usually they had fairly simple graphics.
Looking inside, we learn that "Show Me America" was "A sparkling, fast-paced musical tour of the world's greatest tourist attraction". Graceland?? Why not go see Buck Owens and the Buckeroos on the Tomorrowland Stage? Not to mention "Sound Castle, Ltd." at the Tomorrowland Terrace, the Kids of the Kingdom, and catch the fireworks with "Fantasy In the Sky" at 9 P.M.
Zooming in on another part of the photo, I spy a rack of souvenir paper items; they are like old friends! I'll go through them starting from the top and working my way down.
There's a 1968 souvenir guidebook, with the famous photo of Walt Disney signing autographs from the Firetruck - this image appeared in the August, 1963 issue of National Geographic. The 1968 guide was not replaced until 1971.
Just because, I thought I would add this photo - National Geographic posted a nice, more complete version of the image that was on that cover.
Extra, extra! TokyoMagic! pointed out an item that I did not even notice! Below the guidebooks you can just see a corner of one of these awesome "dial guides". This green version went through five or six variations as rides were added or removed. My scan shows version #2, which I believe is the one most commonly found (though I do have them all!). Anyway, you just turned the dial, and a pink dot would appear next to an attraction (in this case, "Adventure Thru Inner Space"). Look at the back of the item and you could get a little info. Simple and brilliant.
"Disneyland Dial Map"? I thought it was a "Dial Guide"! So.... so dizzy. For all of you postcard collectors out there, notice that this was also technically a postcard! Mail one to your friends - and one to your enemies, who will then become your friends.
To the right of the dial guide are several postcard folders. There are multiple variations of this folder (over the years, certain photos were removed or replaced with more up-to-date examples), but they all have the pink cover, and I believe that they all have the same photo of the train station on the reverse.
Below that is another postcard folder, this one featuring the Haunted Mansion, which had been open for less than a year at this point. I'll bet they sold a ton of these! Bonus points for the use of the word "funtastic".
The next several racks have these little flip books; I used one of these when my young niece wanted to understand how animation worked. I've seen versions that are from the Art Corner, and others that omit the mention of that store.
And finally, the bottom rack has copies of this popular collectible - "Magic from the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland". I bought one of these when I was a kid - it is filled with simple magic tricks, along with some nice illustrations that are Mansion-related. There are two variations of this one, be sure you have them both!
I hope you have enjoyed the photo, and all of the cool paper ephemera!
16 comments:
Major-
And there's even a postage stamp machine conveniently-placed right there with all those cool souvenir items. (Who needs a smart phone-??!!)
Great images, all.
Thanks, Major.
Wow, this post is ephemeriffic! I love the artwork in the Show Me America flyer, especially the dancing teens under the Sound Castle, Ltd. blurb.
I hope Sound Castle, Ltd. was singing "Sugar, Sugar"! I love all of those souvenirs. Thanks for posting the individual pics of each of them, Major. The black squares that we can see just below the ear of the guy on the far right, are strips of souvenir slides, hanging on a display carousel. And could that be just the corner of a Disneyland "Dial-A-Guide" that we see below the pictorial souvenir guidebooks on the rack?
Nanook, the stamp machine made sense, considering that you could actually mail an item from Disneyland. Just drop it in one of those small mailboxes located throughout the park. It looks like the machine dispensed 1-cent, 2-cent, and 4-cent stamps.
Melissa, yes, those teens are having some energetic fun. Maybe *too much* fun! Cool it, teens. Maybe you need to behave more like the people dancing to Ray McKinley and his Orchestra. Meanwhile, I'll dress like the banjo guy.
TokyoMagic!, no, that man is actually wearing some nice dangly earrings. He was way ahead of his time, or something. And thanks for pointing out the Dial Guide, I somehow did not even notice it. Confession time: I write these posts in my sleep. I have added the DIal Guide to the post - thanks again!
I have the pink covered pack, but I really want the magic book! Then maybe I could make the broom do all of my housework! Or I could keep doing what I do now, which is pretty much ignore it until it drives me nuts...
Back to the Haunted Mansion, though, did anyone else set up "Haunted Houses" as a kid? My cousins and I would set them up in bedrooms or garages. They stunk, but they were fun to do...Just a random "old dude" thought...
Thanks Major. Really nice to see those images. That '68 guidebook is the only one I have that I actually kept from that trip. I ran across the pink postcard book when my sister and I were going through old papers after Mom passed away. A pretty emotional moment for us.
The "Show Me America" flier is the winner today! Love the graphics!
I remember Buck Owens and the Buckeroos! All we gotta do is "Act Naturally". Sometimes Lawerence Welk would make an appearance on our TV (thanks to grandma), but it was HEE-HAW! that our family loved and watched regularly. Lots of big country stars of the day made appearances on that show. It was sort of a country version of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In". Corny Jokes, but lots of great country music.
I lost my Haunted Mansion magic book a long time ago. :( Great collection of paper ephemera and collectibles today, Thanks, Major.
The scan of the E.P. Ripley is worth the price of admission all by itself. Those white shades are a bold fashion statement! I want 'em. Of the come later attractions at Disneyland I love the Haunted Mansion and Pirates. I confess, I never have seen HM magic book before. Is it super cool? If I had one of the "attraction location wheels" in my collection, I would be a very happy camper, so absolutely cool. Thanks for the scans I will dine out on them for the rest of the day!
Wow, what a great tour of the souvenir stand. Major, you have quite a collection of stuff.
My Mom had an orangey paisley dress much like the lady on the right is wearing.
Skeptical sunglasses guy on the far right has the appropriate combination of camera case strap and ticket book in breast pocket.
I think we had the fire truck cover guide book too, but I'm sure it's lost forever.
@Ken Martinez, Hee-Haw was a constant in our household too, right next to Welk. We were not fans of the electric "Bakersfield sound" as put forward by Buck & co. Dad preferred the more acoustic Nashville variety. I didn't really identify with any of this until a recent visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, which is very informative on the various styles and branches of country music. They also have a great exhibit on the Hee-Haw program, with instruments of the performers, Junior Sample's overalls, Grandpa's glasses and much more, all displayed in a cornfield like the show set. Worth a visit if you are in Nashville, it really put me in touch with my roots, for good or ill. Just call BR-549 for details.
JG
stu29573, I love those postcard folders; back when my Disneyland postcard mania was a its peak, I wanted to try to get all of the variations (somebody published a guide to those folders, believe it or not). But then I realized that I would basically have to buy every one that was on eBay and hope that it was one that I didn’t already own. Too much work and money! I never set up a Haunted House, but we had neighbors who did, and they were pretty cool, even though they were low-tech.
DrGoat, Since that ’68 guidebook was sold for three years (longer than most), there are a lot of them out there. I had one that my grandmother bought and eventually gave to me, but at some point I spilled soda on it and ruined it. I can empathize with what it must have been like to find that pink postcard folder among your mother’s papers - I found things that my dad had saved that surprised the heck out of me; with few exceptions, he didn’t seem very sentimental. And yet there were things from fishing trips and other family adventures, tucked away in the box where he also kept his cuff links.
K. Martinez, oh man, Hee-Haw! I thought that show was corny when I was a little kid and had almost not context for humor. I can only imagine how corny it would look if I could watch it now! But it was hugely popular. I was always mystified by Junior Samples. WHY? As for my copy of the Haunted Mansion magic book, I used to trace the pictures in it, and basically ruined it over the years. I finally bought a new one, but it doesn’t have the nostalgia that my original did.
Jonathan, white shades are totally back in fashion. Like white watches! The HM magic book is cool in my opinion, but I guess it depends on your expectations. It’s basically page after page of simple magic tricks with nice illustrations that are often only marginally related to the actual ride.
JG, “sunglasses guy” meant business. My dad liked Hee-Haw, his parents liked Lawrence Welk. I did like Buck Owens and Roy Clarke (they were pickin’ and grinnin’!), and the sexy girls were always a plus. When you mentioned that phone number, I imagined somebody having to climb a telephone pole to answer (like Mr. Douglas in “Green Acres”).
Stu, when I was a kid we lived in a house that had a basement apartment we didn't rent out. Every Halloween, we had a big party and Mom and her gothy friend would make the apartment into a haunted house. Disney's "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House" was always part of the soundtrack. I remember one year, Dad and his sister, without telling anybody, beforehand, put on ski masks and came and looked in the basement windows. Scared the snot out of us all, including Mom!
(It was easier to have one big party in October then separate parties for my September birthday and my sister's November one.)
Major, when I was in Kindergarten or 1st Grade, I set up some kind of family competition (nobody remembers just what it was) and made award medals out of paper for all of the participants. They were kind of cheesy, colored with teal, maroon, and gold (1st place), silver (second place), or copper (third place) crayons.
I remember my dad taking his third place medal and sticking it on the inside lid of the cufflink case that he kept all of his pin-on uniform items in. It's still there today, held up by the same tape I stuck on the back in 1975.
You never know what will mean something to someone else.
Major, That's funny that you mention Junior Samples. At an adult Halloween party way back in the 1970's, my dad went as Junior Samples and my mom went as Minnie Pearl complete with the price tags. I remember that very well. Yeah, the show was country corn, but I love corn just as much as I love sophisticated humor. It's variety and all good in my book.
JG, My cousins in Culver City were huge fans of the "Bakersfield Sound". I really love the era of country music that featured the likes of Hanks Williams, Kitty Wells and other country singers from the 1950's.
wonderful post today!! I collect both postcards and guide maps. I often buy the postcard folders that have the collections. I have the This Is Disneyland among my collection.
I can hear Sugar, Sugar by The Sound Castle with Kurt Russell...and I have it on my phone playlist :D
thanks for the great views today!
Ha, ha....I don't know why I thought it was Dial-A-Guide instead of just Dial Guide. That's sort of like "Dial-A-Joke," "Dial-A-Prayer" or some of those other "976" numbers from the 1980's. Today, Disney probably would probably find a way to enter into that market with "Dial-A-Princess" or something like that. Of course, someone could do an "adult" version of that too, but we won't go there.
I just bet that that lady's head is blocking one more souvenir that was always on those racks, and that's the Disneyland "Hi-Lites" books that were spiral bound and contained little "post card" views of the park. Gee, it seems like the souvenirs were so much cooler back then. I guess kids don't care about these kind of items anymore. Now it's all about the light sabers, bubble wands and princess garb.
When you stay at a Disney Resort at WDW, you can order a wake-up call with a character's voice. (I've never done it myself; I'm almost always sharing a room with somebody who gets up later than I do, and the phone would wake them up more than my cell phone alarm does.)
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