I am definitely a hard-core fan of Disneyland paper ephemera... the older, the better! Many people have better collections than I do, but I'm still happy with what I've got. I've shared some of these gate handouts before - I refer to them as the IMPORTANT! brochures. I have 19 different versions, from 1957 to 1960, and I know I am missing a couple (curse it!).
Let's start with this green example from late November 1958, one of the harder-to-find brochures, theoretically because it is a winter item when the park's attendance was considerably lower than at other times of the year. It has the familiar "Dumbo in a kilt and tam o'shanter" artwork on the front, and information about holiday festivities on the back. Interesting that they had "special Christmas shows" featuring specific countries, held at the old "Christmas Bowl" bandstand.
This blue brochure is also quite scarce, and yet it is from the Summer season of 1959. With the debut of attractions such as the Matterhorn, the Monorail, and the Submarine Voyage, I don't understand why this wouldn't be one of the more common brochures. But I don't see many of them!
I didn't bother to scan the inside of the other brochures, but figured I should at least do so for one of them. Here you go! If you were an adult, you could get a "Jumbo 15" ticket book for $4.50. Adjusting for inflation, that's about $43.00 today... a bargain to us, but I'll bet that $4.50 seemed expensive in '59.
The next two brochures are from 1960, and they have the same cover, as you can see. This first example is (I believe) from May or June, with "Fantasy In the Sky" fireworks, and "Date Nite" as features.
I think we discussed in a previous post, why Dumbo is wearing a Scottish outfit. But I'm not sure we came to a convincing conclusion. I'm pretty sure we decided that the Scotts are a thrifty folk, and that Dumbo is subtly telling us that if we want to be thrifty, then we need to buy ticket books. Lots and lots of ticket books. The bigger, the better.
ReplyDeleteI notice in the edge vignettes that the Skyway gondolas are swinging precariously again. But I guess that's OK since half of them aren't even connected to the cable anyway.
To me, the striped-top Jungle Cruise boats, even in simple illustrative form , like they are here, are near the top of the list of iconic Disneyland images. Instant recognition.
Thanks for showing us some more of your collection, Major.
On a side note: About the fishing nets from Monday's post, it got me t' thinking [everyone run for cover!]. Maybe those nets were used to corral the trout inside the designated fishing area back in the day. And they just repurposed them as quaint (and free) theming. Plausible?
ReplyDeleteFirst brochure - DEC 20 - Slovakian nations. I think they made a typo. They ment Slavs (nations of middle and eastern Europe) and only Slovakians, people of Slovakia, then part of Socialist Republic od Czechoslovakia. Other days have similar schedule, multiple nations at once (Latin America, Scandinavia and nations speaking german language (Austria, Germany, big part of Switzerland).
ReplyDeleteOn these old printed materials it is clearly visible that authors enjoyed their work. These days it is only rutine, perfect technically, but all look the same.
They are making a specific point to say "Aerial" fireworks..I'm wondering if you simply said "fireworks" back then people would be assuming they would be the little things your dad would light in the middle of the street on 4th of July? Or those black messy things that turned into long charcoal worms? A dad across the street from me still does this, and it's been a tradition to watch all of the "festivities", even if the kids are adults now. I would COVET little brochures like these. They did get a little more elaborate in the artistic sense "3 Ways to Enjoy Disneyland"...but basically all the same info. Here dad: IMPORTANT! READ THIS WHILE DRIVING THROUGH THE PARKING LOT!!! Some people read, and most people don't... I find. For some people if you say "important", it communicates to the non readers "don't read this...not worth your time". This is a regular argument in my household...for another time. I have to say I am the typical guy: figuring things out, and THEN reading the instructions. In my DNA. The Disneyland brochure was always read however...it was also stared at for months and years afterwards, and put in a special album. Dixieland at Disneyland. Call it Fantasmic of its day. Only one night though...and unlimited rides from 8pm to 1am. That's the first time I've seen that in print. It doesn't even say "except shooting galleries"...maybe this is when that became an issue (?) "Going to the dance but gonna spend all my time at the shooting' gallery". Dumbo is cute, and I understand the kilt and little hat...but this Scot is not thrifty. I'm not sure if this would fly today. My grandmother was thrifty, and proudly so...but I think that had more to do with WWI and WWII, not so much her Scottish heritage. I wish I was more thrifty, then I would have more money. Money is meant to be spent...there, I've said it. I do miss Thrifty Ice Cream...well...I miss the SHAPE of the cone...it was very specific with a specific ice cream scoop. You can buy this scoop on the Rite Aid website- so I guess I don't have to miss it much. A fellow Disneyland employee's dad was the head of Thrifty, and we would tease when the "THRIFTY...PEE-POL.." commercials came out (it was a much maligned commercial). I think it's a so-cal thing only, so excuse the regional references. RITE AID swallowed up Thrifty, but you can still buy the ice cream. Thrifty Ice cream was a thing...and it was .05 for a cone in the mid 70's.....which is .27 today. I think $43 for Disneyland is still expensive in todays world...but I think this is sure sign of age...just like $5 was expensive to my parents in the mid 70's. I don't really agree with Eisner's philosophy that Disneyland should be aligned with the price of a theatre ticket on Broadway. I get it, but : apples and oranges. I want Main Gate admission + tickets. Grandma and Grandpa don't want to ride on the Matterhorn- they want to look at flowers and trees, and have a lovely meal outside, and do some shopping...and perhaps watch people on the Matterhorn. I drone on...
ReplyDeletePaper ephemera is so cool, probably because it’s so…ephemeric. Most of it gets thrown away. Still, show quality was important at Disneyland, and it was part of the show, which I think has a lot to do with why any of it has survived at all, kept as precious keepsakes of a special day.
ReplyDeleteBu, we had Thriftys up north of San Francisco in the early-to-mid ‘70s. I have a very specific, pre-Kindergarten memory of a neighborhood kid expedition led by a girl up the street who babysat for us to the local K-Mart and Thrifty, which were in the same shopping center. She rounded up about five or six of us (all the kids in the neighborhood played in their front yard half the time anyway), got our parents’ permission, and then led us down the street, through the brand-new neighborhood park where we watched a landscaping pond under construction, into the adjacent schoolyard, across a prominent crosswalk, and then into the building through K-Mart’s auto care entrance. We looked at the toy section, then headed past the registers and through the indoor entrance to Thrifty, where she bought us all cones. First time I had ever had sherbet, and yes, the scoops had a distinctive shape I have never seen anywhere else. Thanks for dredging up that memory. It was a big step in expanding my horizons and made me feel pretty grown up at the age of four or five.
And yes, I am constantly amazed at how many people just don’t read or listen to the directions. It’s not just guys who are constitutionally wired to figure things out on their own or parents who are seriously frazzled and distracted with small kids - some people seem to be just too self-absorbed or inattentive to bother, and then they do things like trip and fall on the moving sidewalk inside the Haunted Mansion that they didn’t notice despite the signs and cast members pointing it out to them.
Love the Dixieland brochure, Major.
ReplyDeleteBu and Chuck, another vote for Thrifty’s ice cream.
Mom got her prescriptions there, and sometimes I got a cone. The ice cream scooper made little cylinder shaped plugs that fit in the cone.
The RiteAid nearby has a Thrifty sign too, maybe I’ll check on the ice cream.
JG
Major thanks for your response to my anonymous comment last night, I don’t have a smoking jacket to drink sherry in, but maybe I should get one.
ReplyDeleteJG
Ah, thrifty Scot here! I actually did the DNA and it turned out that I'm 44% scottish (only 3% Irish...so much for St. Patty's Day). My wife said that explains a lot. Anyway, I do think those stereotypes were much more understood then. Now, people tend to get upset. Not Scottish people, we don't care what you think ;-) . It's probably for the best, I guess. Anyway, I like McDumbo!
ReplyDeleteAlways a pleasure to see more of your treasures. Probably the only time some of us get to see these brochures. That green really works for me.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Dumbo is related to the Scotsman that used to appear on the trading stamps we used to get in the 60s.
I was sad when we lost our Thrifty store her in Tucson many years ago. Great ice cream. Like the square hot dog buns from Howard Johnson's. Miss them too.
JG, you are not required to smoke while wearing a smoking jacket. a bonus is no little burn holes in it.
Thanks Major
JB, yes, Dumbo was the “thrifty Scot” for these flyers, kind of funny. Why Dumbo?? I guess using Dopey would send the wrong message. “Top Value” supermarkets used to have a plaid elephant (“Toppie”) as their mascot, kind of the same idea as Dumbo I think. I agree with you about the original Jungle Cruise boats with their striped cloth tops… that’s how they should look!
ReplyDeleteJB, hmmm, that’s an interesting thought; I’m not sure when they actually offered fishing as a thing to do, but they clearly must have used nets to corral them (or underwater barbed wire). It is very plausible.
petr22, good observation, I didn’t even think about what they meant by “Slovakain Nations”. I just thought it was interesting that they had different Christmas shows with different areas of Europe and the Americas - yet another example of Walt’s fascination with people from around the world, their costumes and customs. And I agree with you about today’s brochures, there is rarely anything of interest to me, design-wise.
Bu, I’ve been to some regionmal fireworks shows that had pyrotechnics that did not fly up into the air… giant pinwheels on the baseball field’s walls, those light up signs that say “God Bless America” in colored flares, and so on. Of course they eventually break out the aerial stuff too. As for those “3 Ways to Enjoy Disneyland”, I collect those! I think I am up to about 27 different designs. There are also the “2 Ways to Enjoy Disneyland”, I have over 60 of those. What can I say, I like Disneyland brochures. My guess is that it was “business as usual” for the shooting galleries, even if they omitted any reference to them. Even as a kid, I understood that in cartoons, Scotsmen were depicted as being unwilling to part with a penny. Not sure where that came from originally. Even Scrooge McDuck, as rich as he is, is pretty stingy. When my niece and nephew were little, I loved to take them to Rite Aid to get Thrifty ice cream. “Birthday cake” was the popular flavor for them. I agree that equating a day at Disneyland to a premium-priced ticket for a Broadway musical is apples and oranges. I’ve seen other people defend Disneyland’s price increases by comparing it to the cost of attending the Super Bowl. Really??
Chuck, as a “condition nut”, I always want my paper items to be as minty as possible, but some items are so scarce that I just have to deal with creases and edge tears, or yellowing from contact with acidic paper items (see that first brochure). I love the story of the babysitter who arranged an expedition to Thrifty with a group of kids! What a good thing to do, though maybe some parents would have been surprised to know about it. Sometimes I can understand guests not paying attention to cast members, there can be some real sensory overload, and I think that the instructions just didn’t break through. Other guests are just jerks.
JG, as far as I know, the Rite Aid still uses those scoopers that leave conical scoops. Man, now I wish I was at the Rite Aid in Los Osos! Gotta get some of that birthday cake ice cream, though I love rainbow sherbet too.
JG, I didn’t know that was your comment!
stu29573, hey, my dad was thrifty, and he wasn’t Scottish at all! He grew up in a humble home, and was a child of the Great Depression, so it took some doing to get him to buy anything that wasn’t strictly a necessity. Once in a blue moon he would have fun though, like when he bought his first big flat-screen TV. Even then my brother griped about all the features that my dad wasn’t willing to pay for. “Ach, McDumbo, yer a wee scunner!”. Whatever that means. I hope it’s not dirty.
DrGoat, I was very happy to get that green one, after a previous failed attempt to buy one. I’ve only ever seen two of them on eBay, though I’m sure I’ve missed some along the way. I think I might have a pinback button with the same Scotsman you had on those trading stamps, I’ll see if I can find it for a future post. Howard Johnson’s had square hot dog buns?? I went to a place that used King’s Hawaiian rolls for hot dog buns, a fun idea, but they turned to mush.
Howard Johnson's did have a square, or rectangle would be more appropriate, hot dog bun. It was a tradition on all those car trips to California to stop and get a hot dog. Somehow, my parents would make that some wonderful, cool thing. It worked on me and my sister. The other tradition was if we took highway 8 over to San Diego, we would have to stop at the Wisteria Candy Cottage, which was about half way from El Centro and San Diego. Mom always bought a bunch of candy for the rest of the trip.
ReplyDeleteBu, they were SNAKES! Not worms. SNAKES! There's a big difference. Well, not that big of a difference. After all, they're made of chemical ash, which is probably highly carcinogenic. I liked watching them fume and grow.
ReplyDeleteChuck, we had a Thrifty's Drug store up here in Eugene, OR when I was growing up. I think it disappeared sometime in the late '60s.
That's quite an expedition you kids went on. Did you whistle the River Kwai theme as you went?
I ALWAYS read instructions thoroughly if it's something I've never had or done before. I want to know how to use all the detailed features.
Wisteria Candy Cottage...still alive and kicking...I want fudge. Stand corrected on the black carcinogenic worms...they are carcinogenic snakes! Breathe in the fumes while the snake smolters. I think we ate cap gun caps too...were they tasty? I'm not sure you can buy those things. Even UK Christmas Crackers are banned on planes. TRE is rampant.
ReplyDeleteDrGoat, I’m sure that HoJo’s had those rectangular buns to prevent accidental rolling. Think of how many lives were saved every year! I always got the fried clams at Howard Johnson’s, or at least I did once I learned how delicious they were. Hey, I could make my own hotdogs! Wisteria Candy Cottage, I’m going to have to look that place up. Sounds like one of those beloved roadside places - it’s probably long-gone.
ReplyDeleteJB, as is often the case, we figured out that those snakes were pretty fun if you took five packs of them, piled them up, and lit them at once! You got a real gorgon’s head of black twisting snakes. We’d also take all of the stuff off of sparklers and make a big pile of it. In other words, we were sick little monkeys.
Bu, well, there you go! I am happy to learn that Wisteria Candy Cottage is still around. I want to know some of the history, since today is the first I am learning of it. The smell of fireworks was like perfume to me (even when it was kind of stinky) because it was all a part of summer and FUN.
Bu and JB, I remember the black snakes. But there was something called glow worms. There were also "Rainbow Snakes." As a kid, we only ever had the black snakes, but I always wondered about the other two versions. I tried to look for the vintage packaging, to no avail. But apparently, they still make them today:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.firework-mania.com/fireworks/novelties/assorted-snakes/
I've mentioned it before, but Safeway grocery stores used to have Ray Bolger advertising their own label, "Scotch Buy," which was a discounted generic line of products:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIsDvq2Joo
I did a street view of the Wisteria Candy Cottage and there it was in all it's glory. I think the last time we stopped there was in 60 or 61. The image I get when I try to remember it are it being bigger (of course), much more elaborate and farther from the road. It looks a little sad but being 100 years old will do that. Got to make it there once more, for old times sake.
ReplyDeleteI do remember those acrid black snake things, and never to light a bunch of them on one of Mom's favorite plates.
Speaking (albeit fleetingly) of Howard Johnson’s, earlier today I drove past a former HoJo’s that’s now a funeral home. Still has the spire on top. Odd re-use, but better than a wrecking ball.
ReplyDeleteJB, while that would have been cool, no, we didn’t whistle the “Colonel Bogey March.” I didn’t see Bridge on the River Kwai until I was in Kindergarten (true story).
Oh, and on the “thrifty Scot” theme…there was a Scot Lad grocery chain that had a store close to my dad’s parents near Toledo. They had a great selection of Brach’s candy, and my grandparents always kept a decorative tin full of mint candies at little-kid-level on a shelf in their kitchen. Another great memory…and a large part of why I keep coming here day after day and boring you all with long, meandering stories that…um…what was I talking about?
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, I don’t remember “Rainbow Snakes”, did they actually come out different colors? Or was the flame different colors? One thing I do remember is buying some snakes not that long ago, and they were SO TINY. They used to be about 1/2” in diameter, and maybe that high. These new ones were half that size. It felt like a real ripoff. Wow, look at how nimble and graceful Ray Bolger was, probably in his 70s.
ReplyDeleteDrGoat, looking up Wisteria Candy Cottage, no wonder I have never seen it! It is WAY down there. But I’m glad it is still around, I wonder if it has been in the same family for all that time? Over 100 years, wow!
Chuck, I don’t even know, are all Howard Johnson’s restaurants kaput? I used to love the turquoise and orange color scheme, it seemed like such a happy combination. I’ve only seen “Bridge on the River Kwai 2: Bogey’s Revenge”. It’s brilliant.
Chuck, “Scot Lad”, love it. Why aren’t there any viking-themed grocery stores? (I say that as a joke, and yet there probably WAS a viking-themed grocery store). Did you grandparents get butter mints? Man I loved those when I was a kid!
Oh, I remember Scotch Buy brand and black fireworks snakes, those latter survived down for my kids to enjoy only 20 years or so back, but all gone now.
ReplyDeleteScotch references used to be a kind of point of pride, not a pejorative. Careful, not extravagant, allows you to spend where it counts, Remember Imperial 400 motels with a tartan or plaid in their logo?
Major, I used to grind the coating off wood matches and make my own fireworks off season. Monkeys indeed, this is what happens growing up alone all the long summer till school starts in the fall.
JG
Major, these were actually a turquoise-colored hard candy. I haven`t seen them for years, but my older cousins have confirmed my memories. We used to love going with the grandparents to Scot Lad because that meant the candy bowl was being refilled. Plus the Grape Nuts were getting restocked as well.
ReplyDeletelove buttermints| They used to have a big bowl of them at the cash register at the Scott AFB Officers’ Club when I was a kid. We would to brunch there almost every Sunday after church, and that was the final step in a gastronomic feasting process that included all-you-could eat bacon, eggs, ham, roast beef, sausage, sausage gravy, grits, melon balls, and probably some vegetables of some sort that I would have almost certainly bypassed. Well, actually, the mints were the second-to-last step. The final step was fighting to keep it all down, which was accomplished by sitting very still for about 30 minutes after getting home.
The one thing I remember about firework snakes was that they left a circular black stain on concrete that would last for years.
ReplyDelete