Thursday, November 14, 2019

"A Visit to Disneyland", 1963 (Part 3)

Today I'm sharing the third and final installment of scans of a small children's book from 1963, "A Visit to Disneyland". 

That photo of Snow White with the Dwarfs and the balloon seller has appeared on everything from magazine covers to bubblegum cards - I can see why, it is pretty cute. On the facing page, the Carrousel always makes for a good photo opportunity. I was impressed to see that they even spelled "carrousel" with two r's!


There are two ways to view the charming miniatures of Storybook Land; the canal boats, and little Casey Jr. If both were hanging from a cliff and I could only save one, I would have a very tough time choosing!


Oh boy, Tomorrowland! Sometimes I feel as if the photos selected for this book were not necessarily examples that would excite young children - I love the shot of the entry to Tomorrowland, but wouldn't a picture of a kid on a Flying Saucer be better?


Spinning rides like the Astro Jets (or is it "Astrojets"?) probably looked like fun to a kid; The book gets -10 points for depicting Fantasyland's Midget Autopia as the actual Autopia! The emotional damage has been done and I will spend the rest of the day weeping uncontrollably.


We leave Disneyland for now, but not before enjoying a look at what might have been all of the costumed characters that they had in the early 60s, posed around Mickey Mouse's floral portrait.


Perhaps this book got you interested in reading (admit it, you watch too many cartoons); you might want to try another Whitman BIG Tell-a-Tale volume, such as "The Little Boy From Shickshinny", or "Tom Tucker and Dickie-Bird". Soon to be major motion pictures!


I hope you have enjoyed "A Visit to Disneyland"!



11 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

The Midget Autopia rules-! There simply are no others that compare.

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, take off another 10 points for reversing the photo of the Monorail, going over the Submarine Lagoon! Regardless of the mistakes, I love this book!

Chuck said...

If we take off many more points, Slytherin will win this match.

My personal favorite today is the costume convention at the Main Street Station. It reminds me of what it's like trying to organize a group photo. Are Flower and Thumper walk-around characters anymore?

Andrew said...

Hey, at least they got the line drawing of the Autopia car right!

In that Midget Autopia picture, the cars are practically rear-ending each other! That had to be staged. I've been fortunate to ride the last Arrowflite car ride remaining, by the way. It's here at Idlewild Park in Pennsylvania, and I got to go on it before I was too tall!

If I was a small kid, this book would only get me excited to visit.

K. Martinez said...

The Whitman Tell A Big Tale "A Visit To Disneyland" book is pretty cool, however the book I got as a child in 1963 was Whitman's Giant Tell A Tale book "Walt Disney's Disneyland". As a child I'd revisit that book constantly dreaming of a return to Disneyland.

Agree with Nanook about the Midget Autopia. There's just something cool about that attraction. Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic!, I used to hold my Disneyland pictorial souvenir booklets up to the mirror so I could see Disneyland in reverse. I got a kick out of it for some reason like it was different park. Guess I was a weird kid.

JC Shannon said...

Nostalgic views of the park, love it. Ask me how much I would be willing to pay to have an Astrojet in my back yard. Go ahead, ask. It may not be the best of the versions of the ride, but there is something Flashgordonish or Buckrogersesque about them. Great shot of the Douglas Moonliner as well. Thanks Major.

Anonymous said...

My but the costume characters are evoking the uncanny valley! I forgot how, well, creepy, some of the early designs were. Especially with the dwarves. They're like porcelain garden gnomes come to life. Good thing Disney has improved their costume designs since then. Otherwise, great photos and scans.

Anonymous said...

My first glimpse of the park came via my older cousin's map that he gave me after he had gone there. I spent hours pouring over the attractions. Alas, that map was tossed by my mom. However, Ebay came to the rescue and now it hangs framed on my office wall!

Anonymous said...

I would have loved this book to death.

I had several Disneyland guide books purchased over the years and read through them constantly. Usually during the winter, since our family trips were mostly in late summer.

For a while, we could get the Magic Key tickets and membership through my Mom's volunteer connection with the hospital. Volunteers got the same perks as employees, and this membership provided the "universal tickets" where every ticket was a "E" coupon, and I think also at a discount. It also included a subscription to a thin little magazine called "Disney News", which came quarterly.

I wore those out too. A few survived into my children's early youth, but now I don't have any idea where they are.

I did find some of my old books purchased at the Main Street bookstore, including the Walt Disney pictorial version of 20,000 Leagues, which is pretty cool, and a hardcover guide book which everyone in this thread probably already has.

Now I am enjoying them all again, almost 60 years later.

Thanks for this post, Major. I know how much work scanning a book can become.

JG

Dean Finder said...

Clever photo selection on the Tomorrowland page, so that the monorail photo also shows the Submarine Voyage, so they can have an out-the-window view on the other page.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, from what I understand, the Midget Autopia would run whether you stepped on the gas pedal or not. Just my kind of car! Get me to where I want to go, I don’t care how.

TokyoMagic!, ha ha, I didn’t even notice! Just thought it was an unusual angle.

Chuck, I suspect that if I ever tested to see what Griffendor house I belonged to, it would probably be Slytherin! Good question about Flower and Thumper, I think (maybe?) I’ve seen a Thumper, but I wouldn’t bet much money on it.

Andrew, I’ll bet there were plenty of rear-end collisions on the Midget Autopia, you know how little kids are. Of course it is perfectly possible that the photo was staged, too. I’ve heard that Marceline, Missouri is going to get the old Midget Autopia ride up and running, but I don’t know where the money is coming from.

K. Martinez, I know that Giant Tell A Tale book well! Maybe I need to scan that one next. I have never heard of anybody looking at pictures in a mirror the way you did. Interesting! There’s nothing wrong with being a weird kid!! They usually turn into interesting adults.

Jonathan, OK, how MUCH would you be willing to pay to have an Astrojet in your back yard? I agree, I love the fact that the ride looks like a giant toy.

The Magic Ears Dudebro, there you are! Nice to hear from you! Some of those old costumes are pretty odd, but that makes them charming. To me, anyway! Maybe many young children were permanently scarred by their encounters with those misshapen critters. They had artists who were capable of sculpting any character, I wonder why the costumes missed the mark sometimes?

Stu29573, oh boy, those maps are the best! How many boys and girls mentally walked around the park while looking at those souvenirs? I’m glad you got one to replace your lost childhood example.

JG, I remember my Aunt and Uncle told me that they were coming to California when I was probably 12 or 13, and they asked me to make a list of things for them to do at Disneyland. I made an entire little booklet and bound it with staples. SUCH A NERD! Looking back, it’s embarrassing. But oh well! I loved Magic Key tickets back in the day, even though they lack the nostalgia of the old A thru E tickets. Luckily for me this book is small so it was pretty easy to scan, for a change!

Dean Finder, hmmm, that never occurred to me! Maybe that is what they were going for after all.