Hooray for Disneyland ephemera! Normal people threw this stuff in the trash, but lucky for us, some folks squirreled it away so that people like me can pay too much money for it.
First up is this large-ish paper bag from Blue Bird Shoes For Children store, which was located next to the Eastman Kodak shop on Main Street from opening day in 1955 to September 13, 1957. I am assuming that the bag is from a store outside of the park, but I can find little information on the history of Blue Bird Shoes (other than that they were a part of the Shoe Corporation of America).
Here's a small single-fold brochure heralding the second annual "Cavalcade of BIG BANDS at Disneyland"! I have at least one other Disneyland paper item mentioning this event, so it must have been kind of a big deal. I've never seen another example of this particular item, however.
If you happened to enjoy big bands, the lineup was impressive. Lionel Hampton, Gene Krupa, Les Brown, Charlie Barnet, and park regulars the Elliott Brothers.
Darnit! Some guy wrote on the back! Collector value: ruined.
If you print out a copy of this next item, you will be transported back to 1965 so that you too can attend the 8th anniversary party of the Magic Kingdom Club. You can thank me later.
I hope you have enjoyed today's pieces of paper ephemera.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI love this sort of stuff. And talk about the last real vestiges of Big Bands... pretty impressive-!
Thanks, Major.
I also love this type of ephemera. Thanks for sharing it with us, Major. And cheer up. I think there are products out there now, that could help you remove Les Brown's signature from the back of that flyer! And if not, there is always "White Out."
ReplyDeleteI took a trip to '65 like you said and attended the banquet. I mentioned your name and was escorted to the VIP (Very Important Pepperidge) table, where I was seated next to Walt himself. I felt the need to lament to the big guy, and struck up a conversation. I said "Walt, I gotta get this off my chest." "In the future they will raise prices so high that your average family is hard pressed to pay." "To stay at the Disneyland Hotel, you gotta take out a loan." "They shortened the Rivers of America to put in an attraction I'm pretty sure you would hate, and the crowds are getting worse every year." Walt nodded looked at me and said, "Jiminy Crickets Jonny, next you will tell me they tore down the Skyway! I could only hang my head and weep on my very small Bluebird shoes.
ReplyDeleteJC Shannon who knows what the next 56 years may bring? Perhaps the future Goriltes of 2075 may consider the early 21st century the Golden Age ... or maybe not.
ReplyDeleteWell, I printed out a copy of the "Magic Kingdom Club Special Guest" pass and I wasn't transported back to 1965 like you said. I'm still sitting here in 2019. What did I do wrong? Maybe I didn't do what the "Flight to the Moon" hostess told me to do which was to take along all of my personal belongings including my imagination.
ReplyDeleteI too love Disneyland ephemera. Thanks, Major.
I love that jaunty Blue Bird logo. I wonder if that's one of his own feathers on his helmet. I would have thought that a shoe store would do well at Disneyland, but I guess a day at the park was more leisurely and less full-force pavement-pounding than it is today.
ReplyDeleteImagine all the first rate entertainment at the standard admission price. BTW...back then '..don't you step on my Blue Bird Shoes!' I recall that brand. KS
ReplyDeleteI was at an estate sale and I found a Gene Krupa album for a quarter. I bought it, even though it wasn't in very good shape. On the way home, I mentioned to my wife how I wished someone hadn't written on the cover. When I looked closer it says, "To Dan, I hope you enjoy this! Gene Krupa." I had it appraised and the album is worthless, but the signature is worth 110 bucks!
ReplyDeleteNanook, it is pretty surprising how many quality acts Disneyland got in those days. I was just looking at one flyer from 1968, and you could see The Cowsills, The Lovin’ Spoonful during one Easter week. Amazing! I’ll have to share that one on the blog one of these days.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I had no whiteout, so I just colored the entire back of the thing with a black Sharpie. Voila!
Jonathan, ha ha, you had quite an adventure! I can imagine Walt (salty as ever) saying, “Who the hell is this Major Pepperidge?”. I’m sure many of us have wondered what Walt would think of the prices for today’s park, if (by some miracle) he was still of sound mind and body at the age of 117. I assume he wouldn’t be happy about it, but who could have possibly foreseen the incredible popularity of the park over 60 years after it opened?
Gnometrek, as frightening as it seems, you could very well be right!
K. Martinez, hm, maybe there’s a problem with the polarity of the multiplane fromulator? Those can be tricky. Did the hostess for “Flight to the Moon” actually remind guests to “include your imagination”? I didn’t know they were doing that heavy leaning on “imagination” back in those days (I thought that was more of an 80’s development). Did she say anything about “wishes” or “dreams”? ;-)
Melissa, I think that the blue bird killed an ostrich for that feather in his cap. But he’s been desensitized to violence, after seeing so many shoes made out of blue birds.
KS, OK, I can’t tell if you’re kidding, did Blue Bird Shoes actually use the line, “Don’t you step on my Blue Bird Shoes” in advertisements? If so, I like it!
Stuart Powley, wow, I love stories like that! 110 bucks, that’s like real money. Somehow I don’t think my Les Brown autograph would excite too many people, but I like it anyway. I have a “Dixieland at Disneyland” flyer (from the early 60’s) signed by most of Count Basie’s band.
"Hey kids, we're going to Disneyland!"
ReplyDelete"Yay!"
"To buy some shoes!"
"Meh"
Major...I was kidding of course. As Skip Wilson used to say...'The Devil made me do it" :) KS
ReplyDeleteIf I was 117 years old, I wouldn't be happy about ANYTHING.
ReplyDeleteMajor, why would the signature destroy the value of the item? Seems like an extreme case of pickyness. For me, one of the fun parts of a used book or record album is some trace of the prior owner, notes in the flyleaf or margins, old bookmarks, etc.
ReplyDeleteI bought a used book recently and found a bookmark for the 1965(?) season of the New York Metropolitan Opera. I'm now putting it to it's original use.
JG