Here's a fun piece of Disneyland paper ephemera, from 1955. It's an Official Road Map to Disneyland (courtesy of your helpful RICHFIELD dealer)! As you can see, the cover of this item is especially appealing, with its colorful mid-century illustration.
I've never been clear on how these were distributed. Did guests receive them as they paid for parking? Were they given out at your local Richfield station? Maybe they were handed out as guests walked through the turnstiles (along with other gate handouts), or over by the Autopia, sponsored by Richfield. Whatever the case may be, this particular brochure is crisp and minty, which is juuust how I like 'em. Nobody folded it in half and stuck it in their back pocket.
"Say, where is this Disneyland place, anyhow?". Glad you asked! Why, you can get there via SoCal's efficient and smooth-running freeway system no matter where you live. I'm noticing that the Santa Ana Freeway is labeled U.S. 101 B.P. rather than "U.S. Interstate 5" or whatever. Not sure what "B.P." means ("bypass"?).
I hope you've enjoyed this 1955 Official Richfield Map. Stay tuned for the 1956 version, which is even nicer!
For me, the cover art is the best thing about this map. I love the art style and colors of the illustrations. It exudes fun and excitement! (Better keep it away from your keyboard.)
ReplyDeleteI wanna go to this... what's it called?... Disneyland place... NOW!
Think how wonderful Disneyland would seem to a kid, and most adults, in 1955. Before the Park became so well known. I was only two in 1955, but 2 years later I would be in Disneyland! Four year old me would have stared at the colorful cover of this brochure for hours thinking about the amazing things represented by the fanciful illustrations.
Thanks for bringing out the kid in me, Major.
Major-
ReplyDeleteI kinda figured by 1955, using the term "ethyl" in reference to premium gasoline was old hat. Apparently I am mistaken. And you are correct, "U.S. 101 B.P." was indeed the 'bypass'. I believe the Santa Ana Freeway moniker was assigned in 1956. I-5 occurred in 1964.
As usual - Happy Motoring-!
Thanks, Major.
Is that the artist's name in the water, below the Jungle Cruise elephant? Ung? Ling?
ReplyDeleteI wonder why the Carnation gets to "piggyback" on this Richfield flyer, with a mention of their Ice Cream Parlor on Main St? Did Carnation use Richfield's "New Ethyl" in their recipes?
DON'T LOOK, ETHYL!!!
I love the graphics on this map, particularly on the “front.” It shows all the key elements that have made Disneyland stick in people’s minds over the years - the castle, the fort, the train, the Jungle Cruise, the riverboat, the Moon rocket, the, um, Tudor village, the, uh, beach changing tents, and L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
ReplyDeleteNanook is correct - that segment of the Santa Ana Freeway wasn’t renumbered from US-101 to I-5 until 1964. While the Santa Ana Freeway wasn’t complete until 1956, the name was in use before that (as this 1955 map would indicate).
That’s an interesting question, TM! - why, of all the lessees at the Park, is Carnation specifically called out? I wonder if there was a reciprocal “courtesy mention” on placemats or some other such handout at the Carnation Cafe? Or maybe it was based on Richfield’s desire that America emulate the evaporated milk brand and become a “car nation.”
I’ll see myself out.
What an awesome leaflet in great 4 color printing! It seems odd that they would pass this out once you GOT to Disneyland as you were already there. I suppose it gave options for the ride home, and since this was saved...options for the next trip. I do like the "skinny style" Disneyland logo, before it went through a few metamorphosis's. I DO NOT like "Disneyland Resort." It sounds weird. There is only one Disneyland. Since the cover says Courtesy of your helpful Richfield Dealer, perhaps it was handed out at local (or LA area) gas stations. At one point dealers were helpful, yes. I think that changed when they started making us pump our own gas. Say what you want to say about New Jersey, they are civilized and pump your gas for you- even on highway stations. The 101 bypass...never knew it...why do you want to bypass it? I like seeing all the Blvd's that became major freeways. Not sure how anyone got along without the 10 and the 405. The Pasadena Fwy: known as the Arroyo Seco Parkway doesn't even have a mention and it was built long before this map. I have memories of ALL of these towns on the maps. Bevy's of stories. Even Pomona (which has a great fair.) This was not only Disneyland in a simpler time, it was So.Cal. in a simpler time. Guests used to call us and ask "HOW DO YOU GET THERE?"...well...where are YOU? So we would have to know all of these routes like the back of our hand. I always thought: "Don't you have a Thomas Guide" (this was Google Maps before Google maps, and EVERYONE had one in their car....everyone except the people calling Disneyland asking "how do you get there?".) I thought "Over it" was a modern statement..."Over it children and adults too.."...yah..I'm over it too! Thanks major- this was a great start to the day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Bu, this must have been handed out at the stations. I had no idea New Jersey still had gas station attendants. Wow! They're living the high life! My grandmother hated pumping her own gas and would have my grandfather (or, later, one of us grandkids) do it for her. She may have been stubborn about that, but my grandfather was stubborn about Daylight Saving Time. He refused to adjust his watch. REFUSED. I come from a long line of stubborn people, I guess.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah- the map... I like the mid century vibe. It would go nicely with my Disneyland Monorail Game blue box edition that I featured on my blog a couple of weeks ago! Of course, they're about five years apart, but the vibe is there, baby! I think maps are wonderful because they let you imagine all the possible adventures you can have!
Maps? WE don't need no stinking maps... Especially since our house was located directly under "Anaheim" in the blue box in pic three. :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a great map for non-locals. Even greater for ephemera fans. Thanks for the crisp minty one Major!
Very nice! As everyone noticed, the graphics are just the tops. Love the pointy arms and legs.
ReplyDeleteI remember premium gas being called ethyl till the 60s I think. Dad would fill up and occasionally use ethyl, for unknown reasons to us kids.
We always had a glove box full of roadmaps, especially from Texaco, his favorite gas station. We were always coming via the Santa Ana Freeway so I think we were a #1 on the alternate routes. Sounds familiar.
Thanks Major, a great find.
JB, yes, the cover art is absolutely the best thing about this particular brochure - makes sense if you want to grab somebody’s attention. The style reminds me of a TWA brochure that I shared many years ago! It’s hard to imagine what a trip to Disneyland would have been like for people who had not had a lifetime of photos, videos, and just general knowledge about the place. I almost envy anybody who walked in knowing practically nothing!
ReplyDeleteNanook, I feel like I remember gas stations still touting “ethyl” gasoline in the early ‘70s, but I might be wrong. I didn’t know that the I-5 didn’t get its name until 1964!
TokyoMagic!, yes, it is the famous artist Ung Ling, so influential to people like Thomas Kinkade and Leroy Neiman. I wondered about the Carnation mention as well, maybe Richfield figured that a dairy was not a competitor, so they were OK with that little spot ad on their flyer? New Ethyl is so much lighter and creamier than the old chunky stuff.
Chuck, ha ha, I was going to point out that weird “coliseum” thing, I guess that was supposed to be part of the castle? No idea. I always love those graphics from before the illustrators had a firm grasp on what each element of Disneyland would really look like. The Mark Twain is “a steamboat”, the Indian Village is a cluster of teepees, Frontierland is a stockade, etc. Nothing very specific. “Car nation”, I’m going back to bed!
Bu, I agree, it does seem unlikely that they would give these to you when you are at the park, and maybe that’s why a lot of these have survived in relatively good condition. Most brochure given out at the park were almost immediately folded to fit in a pocket, much to the chagrin of collectors. I don’t care for “Disneyland Resort” either, it feels to “corporate” for lack of a better term. When I went to Oregon to visit relatives, I was amazed to find that you are not allowed to pump your own gas. It had been so long since somebody did it for me! I love old gas station (or AAA) maps for the reasons you stated, it’s fun to see the way the city has changed - and maybe a bit sad too. I still have my last Thomas Guide, I can’t bear to throw it out, even though my phone has made it obsolete.
Stu29573, as I said to Bu, I believe that Oregon still has people to pump your gas. No idea if they also check your car’s fluids and air pressure. I always liked that scene in “Back to the Future” when Marty first arrives in Hill Valley, a car pulls up to a service station, and three or four white-uniformed attendants swarm the car. Refusing to adjust one’s watch for Daylight Savings - I get it, but that must have made things interesting on occasion. I love old maps too, I should scan some neat pages from an 1870s geography textbook that I bought at a farm yard sale when we lived in Pennsylvania!
Grant, it must have been annoying to always be in the shade of those floating “Anaheim” letters. You need your vitamin D! Back in 1955, I’ll bet there were a lot of folks that lived 20, 30, 40 miles away (or more) who had NO idea how to navigate those freeways all the way down to Anaheim.
DrGoat, it is a known fact that people had pointy arms and legs back then because of velociraptors. I just remember wondering why some gas was called “ethyl”, confusing it with the name “Ethel” of course. TokyoMagic’s favorite name? I had a small duffel full of AAA maps for all of California, and only recently got rid of most of them, though I saved a couple that I’d inherited from my grandparents that were from the early ‘60s.
Forgot to add: I’m a Lucy not an Ethyl, I’m a Rhoda not a Mary, I’m a Squiggy not a Lenny, I’m a Darryl not a Darryl, or Darryl. The Coloseum I think is Tomorrowland…I think old photos had those flags distracting you from the unfinished walls before Mary Blair came up with a better distraction and before TRE.
ReplyDeleteTokyo!, I think it sounds like a good idea to mix Richfield Ethyl into Carnation ice cream. You'd see colorful oily rainbows on the surface of your cones and sundaes... festive!
ReplyDeleteBu, they won't let folks pump their own gas here in Oregon, either (Edit: As Major notes, later). Although that's starting to change, little by little. Soon, it'll probably be U-pump everywhere here as well.
Chuck, as you see yourself out, take Tokyo!'s Ethyl with you. She can't handle the truth.
Major (and Chuck), I thought that the 'coliseum' thing was part of Tomorrowland; the Circarama building, maybe? (Edit: as Bu also noted... I should probably read through all the comments before starting to write my reply, huh.)
Major-
ReplyDeleteI realize 'ethyl' was often still used in conversation (my dad would often ask 'gas jockeys' to "Fill it up with ethyl", but he was really referring to a premium grade of gasoline. Obviously - at least in 1955 - I was mistaken. By the late 1950's, Richfield dropped the ethyl name to replace it with a corporate name for their "Over 100 Octane" fuel - Richfield Boron. "It's the West's only Boron motor fuel - and is guaranteed OVER 100 OCTANE!" Evidently, they were very proud of that fact. Other oil companies had their own names designed for 'upselling': Texaco 'Sky Chief'; 'Super Shell'; 'Mobilgas Special'; Sinclair's 'Power-X'; Standard Oil 'Custom Supreme'; Union 'Royal' 76; etc.
After all... in 1923 "Ethyl Corp was formed by General Motors and Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso). General Motors had the "use patent" for tetraethyllead (TEL) as an antiknock, based on the work of Thomas Midgley Jr., Charles Kettering, and later Charles Allen Thomas, and Esso had the patent for the manufacture of TEL. Since the patents affected the marketing of TEL, General Motors and ESSO formed Ethyl Corp; each parent company had a 50% stake in the new corporation. Since neither company had chemical plant experience, they hired Dupont to operate the manufacturing facilities. After patents ran out, Dupont started manufacture of TEL on their own, and Ethyl started running its own operations."
Bu, if you’re a Lucy but not an Ethyl, shouldn’t you be a Mary and not a Rhoda??
ReplyDeleteJB, instead of chocolate syrup, I like to put very used motor oil on my vanilla ice cream. There’s nothing like it! The little pennants on the “coliseum” make me think more of Fantasyland, but Tomorrowland certainly had plenty of pennants in the early days.
Nanook, now I know so much about ethyl gasoline! I’m going to go on “Jeopardy!” and hope that all the questions are gas-related. “I choose Potent Potables for $500!”. I swear that I saw the term “ethyl” used on signs at the gas stations, but I would not bet money on it. Richfield might have dropped it, but what about Esso? Tigers are known to like to use outdated terminology. (I do not expect you to do research about Esso gasoline and their usage of the word “ethyl”!).
Bu, we never used the term, "Disneyland Resort." It was, and is, "Disneyland." That says it all. Within "Disneyland," you had The Park (Magic Kingdom) and the Hotel. And the parking lot.
ReplyDeleteLOL - I noticed the "Over it children," too. Someone didn't know how to properly punctuate. Though, I shouldn't talk.
I remember hearing "Ethyl" in the 60s. Fill 'er up with Ethyl. But it makes sense what Nanook commented...people were referring to a premium grade of gasoline.
At least two times in the past two months, I've heard people mention that their GPS took them to the wrong location. And, at one point, if you had put my house address into your GPS, you'd end up about 3 blocks away. Paper maps didn't usually do that.
Thanks, Major.
I live in NJ, but most of the time I pump my own gas (laws be damned) because I don't like waiting for overworked attendants at the pumps.
ReplyDeleteJB, I think mixing gas with dairy is how they're creating those "ear"idescent desserts for WDW's 50th anniversary.
Are there any photos of the Richfield station at the Disneyland Hotel? I don't think I've seen any. I've been impressed by the one at the 1964 World's Fair, though.
Dean, wow, you’re right - photos of the Richfield station at the DL Hotel are scarce as hen’s teeth! If you know what to look for you can see it in aerial photos, but up close and personal, not so much.
ReplyDeleteI did find a promotional drawing at the Original Disneyland Hotel Blog. (http://magicalhotel.blogspot.com/2011/06/richfield-service-station-at-disneyland.html)
You can also see the sign and part of the building in the background in this Gorillas Don’t Blog photo. (https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-URFi4H5VJ8Q/X6xV605wI8I/AAAAAAAAVvw/E5oGtZ4P_Xo3IcqqvuUBkxQTjFsH3wjLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1224/1960s-_Curbside.jpg)
@ Chuck & Dean-
ReplyDeleteHERE's a great aerial view of the DL Hotel area clearly showing the Richfield Gas Station and its relationship to West Street and the hotel.
Nanook, that’s a terrific aerial view. Richfield had the perfect spot.
ReplyDeleteLook at all of those orange trees.
—Sue
I'm sorry I missed this post on the day, but am grateful for the follow-up posts and research.
ReplyDeleteI remember Dad asking for ethyl when filling our '67 T-Bird.
Thanks everyone.
JG