More Vintage Brochures
It's "Vintage Brochure Time"; not a national holiday - YET. But I'm working on it. Soon it will be bigger than Halloween.
I definitely have the "collectors bug", and that includes trying to get as many variations of a particular thing as I can manage. Normal people might not be very interested! I've already shared a number of these "IMPORTANT!" gate handouts, and here are two more.
This first one is from 1957's Fall season. It's not new-mint, but it's pretty nice - you'd be surprised how hard it is to find these without at least one fold, and they often have edge tears.
My theory is that they were given to guests as they paid for parking - giving them some time to figure out which ticket plan worked best for them. The $4.00 15-coupon book for adults is the equivalent of $40 today (incredibly), so taking your family of four was expensive for most people.
I'm a little surprised that there are no special events listed for the Fall season; no fireworks, no parades, that sort of thing.
This next one is from 1958's Winter season. The peachy pink is unusual - this one is really hard to find, presumably because there just weren't that many visitors in the off-season. I'm still trying to find a Winter brochure from another year; one came up on eBay and I didn't buy it because it wasn't in very good condition, but I regret it now. I could always upgrade!
Unlike now, the prices were unchanged after more than a year.
Just like the previous example, no special events are listed. Maybe they didn't list them here, so that these could be handed out for months? I'm pretty sure that guests were often given several flyers or brochures before they stepped through the turnstiles.
I have more of these to share, so I hope you're not sick of them yet!
19 comments:
Nice stuff major! I too have the same condition as you. And when I find out there’s a variation - and I can’t find it - it eats at you!! Lol! I noticed “the happiest place on earth” slogan on the ‘57 .... I know in 1956 they used “Acres of Fun” .... was 1957 the first appearance of “happiest place on earth”? And did they ever use “ more fun than a Runaway bowling ball”?
Major-
It's certainly good to hear even if you're a 'mere' everybody, you can still Have MORE FUN for LESS MONEY with DISNEYLAND TICKET BOOKS.
Thanks, Major.
I see that they were open "every day all year 'round" in 1957. I wonder when they started closing the park a couple days a week in the off season? I could look it up, but I have to go vote before work. And besides - who enjoys research anyway?
It's fun to see (and long for) old prices. It's nothing close to Disneyland, but the cheapest I've come across today is Funland in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where tickets are $0.40 each, and rides cost from one to five tickets, with most costing two or three. And the park that offers the highest quality for your money is Knoebels in Central PA, where you can ride some of the best coasters and darkrides in the country for $3.00 in tickets!
Thanks for more fun ephemera, Major.
I keep thinking we need to jump in that time machine and use the money we have today back then. We'd be rich! Rich, I say!!! However, there is one step you can't forget: turn all your cash into gold! Our paper money wouldn't buy squat in the 50s!
Major, I really like the peachy pink over the darker red. The look is so 1950s, in my mind anyway. I guess the little Scottish bonnet and kilt on Dumbo is supposed to remind you that this is the "thrifty" way to go. Also so 50s. I sort of remember when 'Thrifty Green Stamps' were around, there was another savings stamps outfit called Plaid stamps.
Good for that toaster or TV from the Idea Book.
Stu, Gold was only worth 35 bucks an ounce back then. We need to take a lot 'cause I want to buy some land too.
Nice stuff Major. Glad you still have the bug, along with Mike. Had to ease off on that as I got older. Had to be content with the pile of possessions I accumulated over the past lifetime.
Thanks M.
I think the fireworks and parades were strictly a summer thing during that time and fall was pretty quiet. At least that's the way I remember it was when visiting Disneyland during the Fall season in the 1970's with the exception of the Christmas parade than ran during the Winter holidays.
Love the Scottish Dumbo graphics. Thanks, Major.
Mike Cozart, I am pretty sure my obsession with variations started with Disneyland postcards. “This one has clouds, this one has no clouds”. “In this one, the man has a white shirt, in that one he has a red shirt!”. There are a LOT of postcards with variations. I never thought about when they started using “The Happiest Place on Earth”, now I want to see if it was used earlier than 1957!
Nanook, I love how they hammer home how much a customer would save with each ticket book. That assumes that the guest uses all of the tickets, and we know that most people came home with leftover “A”, “B”, and maybe even some “C” or “D” tickets!
Chuck, I found a blip online that said that Disneyland was closed Mondays and Tuesdays from 1958 to 1985. Wow, that long?! I am unclear as to whether that was true during the summer months.
Andrew, those prices for both those parks seem pretty amazing these days. Do you pay an admission fee to Funland or Knoebels? Or can you just walk in and start riding rides? Until 1969, Knott’s was free to enter, and guests paid for individual attractions.
Stu29573, I’ve always thought about the problem of wanting to go back in time, but only having modern currency! Your idea of converting it to gold (or silver I guess) is a good one. Now I’m all ready to go!
DrGoat, it was Matterhorn1959 who pointed out that Dumbo in his kilt was symbolic of being a “thrifty Scot”, something that I didn’t pick up on. Though I DID wonder why he was dressed that way! I am aware of MacDonald Plaid Stamps. There were also “green stamps” (not S&H), “Top Value” stamps, Blue Chip stamps… and probably many others. I have a Top Value child’s wristwatch with “Toppie”, the gingham-plaid elephant mascot! I remember my mom saving Blue Chip and S&H Green Stamps, but I don’t remember her ever redeeming them for anything. I totally understand easing off of collecting, and always think of a line in the movie Fight Club: “The things you own end up owning you”. It’s true!
K. Martinez, that makes sense, I’m sure that crowds in November were not big enough to justify the expense of a nightly fireworks show, or a parade either. Also, the park closed at 7:30 PM, and they sure weren’t going to be lighting off fireworks at, say, 6:30! I just got another variation (from 1960) of one of these flyers, now I only need one more to get them all!
Major, these are a lot of fun. Enjoying the "nuclear family" graphic where Dad wears a hat, coat and tie to the Park.
Mom collected both S&H Green and Blue Chip stamps. I used to help paste them into the books. I remember she redeemed them for things, but the only thing I can recall for sure was a table lamp for my first apartment when I moved to the big city for college. The stamps faded out after that.
My memory is that fireworks were only in the summer, but not sure if that was only weekends even then.
I think it was fairly common then to use "Scots" motifs for being "thrifty". I did some research on a motel brand where we stayed a couple of times; Imperial 400.
https://www.roadarch.com/modarch/chain2.html
The old signs and matchbooks etc. had a tartan motif to emphasize the good value represented.
https://www.roadarch.com/06/11/impm2.jpg
I seem to remember the green stamps doing a similar thing, but again not sure.
For my part, as I age, I want fewer things, not more, but I want the things I keep to be meaningful. Conversations here on GDB are helping me clarify what that means. Thanks Major and everyone for the daily conversations.
FWIW, Frank Lloyd Wright said that "Many wealthy people are little more than the janitors of their possessions", so there's that.
JG
@ Chuck-
From what I can find, Disneyland began closing Mondays on September 12, 1955, lasting thru the off-season periods. That pattern followed - more or less - thru the 1956-57 Season. But, by September, 1957, Disneyland would [essentially] remain open 7 days/week for the remainder of the 1957-1958 season, and start closing on both Mondays & Tuesdays beginning on September 15, 1958. So the 1957 brochure from 9/16/57 seems to be correct by touting the open every day all year 'round; but it seems to smack in the face for the brochure dated 11/58, when The Park was still closed on Mondays & Tuesdays right up thru December 16th, before opening 7 days/week thru January 4, 1959.
Clearly the whole truth is above my pay grade.
Nope, Major, we don't get sick of seeing what you have to share! As you can clearly see, we keep coming back for more.
Major, in your comments above, you said, "I remember my mom saving Blue Chip and S&H Green Stamps, but I don’t remember her ever redeeming them for anything.
I bet your mom redeemed the stamps for your Christmas presents (that would explain why you never witnessed her doing so).
I love seeing other people's stuff (collections) but I stopped collecting when I started moving my parents' collections into my little house; I became overwhelmed. I'm now weeding-out and keeping my favorite things, like JG (and, only on rare occasions, adding a thing or two). When I started selling and giving away things, I had someone tell me to toss my dad's slides - that no one would want them. I'm glad I didn't listen, as my dad's photos, slides and movies, are now my favorite keepsakes.
The little elephant on today's brochure is cute! Thanks, Major!
Sue
hahahaha! I just re-read what I typed above and realize that it sounds like I'm keeping JG - because he's one of my favorite things.
Sorry JG, though you ARE one of my favorites, I meant that I agree with your prior statement:
For my part, as I age, I want fewer things, not more, but I want the things I keep to be meaningful. Conversations here on GDB are helping me clarify what that means. Thanks Major and everyone for the daily conversations.
Sue
Lou & Sue. The only thing I remember about S&H Green stamps was sticking them in the little books. Mom would set me up with a sponge so I could coat the back of a whole panel of green stamps and fill up the page in one fell swoop. So glad you didn't listen to that person and you kept your Dad's pics and slides. Not only the best of favorite keepsakes, but we have all benefited in the best way from that decision.
I'm trying to actually give a lot of my stuff away to younger folks that appreciate it and will carry the torch so to speak.
Sue, thank you, I would be grateful to be one of your favorite things, I'm sure.
Also interesting that your photo collection is becoming one of your favorite things, I am feeling the same way. I'm spending some of my time scanning old pictures so I can keep them in the safe deposit box and share with my children.
The books I thought were so important many years ago, are now kind of indifferent. I realize that I could buy them again if needed, like many other "things". I tell my kids that to me, possessions are all increasingly "just stuff" and what matters are people, family, friends, internet pen pals like GDB, and the memories we made along the way.
JG
JG, as we have seen in early photos, dads really did go to the park in a coat and tie (and sometimes a hat). I remember looking at pages that showed the items you could get with your stamps, and always wanted the boy’s bicycle or the model airplane that really flew. Even though it seems like a fairly gentle bit of stereotyping, I wonder if there would be objections to the “thrifty Scot” thing today? My mom was such a big collector my whole life, I’m sure that’s where I got the bug, and now she doesn’t want ANYTHING. She doesn’t even look at her rooms full of stuff. I guess someday my siblings and I will have to figure out what to do with it all.
Nanook, I’m sure your list is much more accurate. As soon as I left the comment saying that it was closed from 1958 to 1985, I thought “That seems like BS”. As you pointed out, these very brochures contradicted that sketchy information!
Lou and Sue, I have so much paper stuff, I don’t know why I don’t scan more of it. I guess because it’s kind of a pain to scan things in pieces and “merge” them in Photoshop. Maybe my mom DID redeem the stamps for Christmas presents, I’ll have to ask her next weekend. I know you are overwhelmed with all of Lou’s stuff and have been giving things away like crazy. A lot of people throw their family slides in the trash thinking that nobody would be interested in them. Think of all the wonderful images that have been lost!
Lou and Sue, I’m glad JG is one of your favorite things!
DrGoat, it sounds like your mom had it down to an art. Get the kids to stick them down! It’s a chore for her, fun for them. I actually have given away some of my stuff, but I admit that I am still in full collecting mode. I spoke to a major Disneyland collector once, and he described himself as a “caretaker” of the items. He eventually sold most of his best stuff off for big bucks.
JG, if you get a few thumb drives, you can store duplicates of all of the scans on each one, and give one to each of your children. They’re not that expensive, and if you get a 16 or 32 gigabyte thumb drive, those will hold a LOT of photos! I agree about the books; those seem to be a real burden these days. if I had endless room, it would be different, but they are so heavy and take up so much space. I’ve gotten rid of books that I never dreamed I would!
Both Funland and Knoebels are free admission, Major.
”Stu29573, I’ve always thought about the problem of wanting to go back in time, but only having modern currency! Your idea of converting it to gold (or silver I guess) is a good one. Now I’m all ready to go!”
I bet if you put enough work into it, you could find currency from before your target date. If it wasn’t TOO far back. That’s what Christopher Reeve did in Somewhere in Time.
I remember filling book after book with green stamps but never doing anything with them.
Love today’s brochures!
We did collect Blue Chip stamps and I remember sticking them in the books. Pretty sure there were 50 on a page. Eventually they gave out 1 stamp that was worth 10 (they were a little bigger) so you only had to stick 5 per page. I remember going to the redemption store. First a woman would quickly flip through the stamp book to verify you filled it in, and at some point a conveyer belt would bring out your item. I once got a transistor radio. I also remember looking through the catalog. They always had at least one thing that no one could ever save enough books for - like a Color TV! I think the stamp craze (a lot of hassle) was replaced by the coupon craze (less hassle).
And as far as thrifty goes….."Everyday's a savings day at Thriftymart!"
Thanks for looking that up, Nanook. Amd Nanook and Major, I'm guessing those brochures were accurate at the time they were printed based on the plans in place at the time.
JG, well-spoken. And you and Sue and DrGoat are helping me reframe my perspective on my stuff. Going to be a long process, but it has to happen.
And JG, the idea of giving your kids digital copies of your pictures is great. One thought - make sure they understand that they will need to transfer them from one storage medium to another over the years to maintain access to them. Remember floppy disks? Zip srives? I remember a historian telling me 25 years ago that there was data stored from the 1950 Census that was unreadable because it was recorded on punch cards that nobody had readers for anymore.
Melissa, I filled book after book with green stamps when I was a kid, too. My mom eventually had to throw out those encyclopedias.
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