Oh yeah, vintage Disneyland ephemera! I never grow tired of it. Today I am featuring two INFORMATION flyers, perhaps handed out at the ticket booths, or possibly even given to guests as they paid their 25 cents to park. While undated, I believe that the first example is probably from 1956.
There's the cover, in a fine Disneyland pink. Dumbo is soaring happily, knowing that he will be sharing all kinds of helpful info.
There's one entire side when unfolded; what are Disneyland's operating hours? How much will it cost? Does grandma have to hide a chicken in her purse? Where can we stay? All of these questions are addressed - AND MORE.
Oh yeah, color photographs. These are lovely, and chock full of 1950s charm. We can see the Skyway in one, so we know that this is from at least 1956.
For years, I had the first version, and led a carefree life, whistling a merry tune and greeting strangers with a smile. And then a friend informed me that there was another version! What the hey?? I finally managed to get one, and it was a big relief. Notice that the panel beneath the map is different than the first version (there are other differences as well, of course) - but the main tidbit is the mention of Monsanto's House of the Future, which opened on June 12, 1957.
The photos are all the same, though the font at the top has been changed.
I hope you enjoyed these! And guess what? There are more Dumbo "Information" flyers - six different examples, by my count (and who knows, maybe I will learn of others when I share them). Stay tuned!
Major-
ReplyDeleteGee - how come this is the first I'm hearing of this 'Disneyland' place-? It sounds kinda interesting.
Thanks Major, for this exciting info.
"Disneyland pink" bears a close resemblance to coral pink. They used this color often in the Guide books, line-drawing maps, and other Disneyland publications. Maybe they thought that bright, saturated pink would be too garish... my, how times have changed!
ReplyDeleteIn the Adventureland blurb, I notice there is no mention of rubber snakes or shrunken heads for sale in the Bazaar. Two of their biggest selling items, and they don't even mention it??? ;-)
In the color photos page, I notice that "Old Nellie", pulling the Streetcar, is wearing a flowery sun hat. Is that something they made the horses do often in the early days? When did that practice stop, or do they still do that nowadays? Maybe this was a one time thing, just for this photo.
Thanks, Major... and Dumbo, for the flyers.
So the Skyway only took people to Fantasyland back then, and did not run in the other direction? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI guess today, my great-grandmother would not have to hide her chicken....fried, roasted, boiled, or otherwise. Sue, thanks for that link, yesterday. That's amazing that the family carried all that stuff with them to the park. I wonder if the metal candelabra caused any concerns with security. I brought a wooden kitchen spoon into DL as part of a costume (for their 24-hour party about 10 years ago), and security was concerned about me potentially using it to hit people. They ultimately let me take it inside. I should have told them that being hit with a wooden spoon wouldn't be any worse than being hit by all of the light sabers being swung around wildly by unattended children. But I digress.....
Major...FYI, I had a problem with enlarging the second image. Clicking on it opens the third image instead.....at least it did for me.
Thanks for sharing more ephemera with us!
P.S. Clicking on the second image actually opens the last image.
ReplyDeleteThe picture of the E.P. Ripley pulling into Main Street Station shows the train without its signature combine car--the half-baggage/half passenger car that currently resides in Griffith Park, and which usually was the first car in the passenger train.
ReplyDeleteBack then the Skyway was only one way, the gondolas were returned to Tomorrowland by flatbed truck for reloading, the attraction was only an A ticket until two-way travel was established.
ReplyDeleteNotice how the helicopter gets co-opted into the Tomorrowland scene, very economical use of the surroundings.
That pink wasn’t exclusive to Disneyland, it was a “Frank Lloyd Wright” color too, “Tehachapi Dawn”. I have a long story about that, too long to share, but trust me.
These are fun, Major. Interesting to watch the development of the story.
JG
Flyers? Dumbo? I see what you did there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the look back, Major
Zach
Nanook, Disneyland is nice and everything, but have you been to Shakey’s Pizza Parlor??
ReplyDeleteJB, coral pink?? Outrageous! Why, I’ve never been so flabbergasted in my life! It feels great to be flabbergasted! I hope to be flabbergasted all day! They did not mention rubber snakes or shrunken heads due to contractual reasons, “Big Rubber Snake” ruled with an iron fist (and snakes don’t even have fists!). Yes, for a while the horses were reduced to wearing flowered hats, somebody thought it was a good idea. Not me, though.
TokyoMagic!, the round Skyway gondolas had spring-loaded bottoms that would open up so as to dump guests into a big pile, it made unloading much more efficient. Don’t worry, they put down a big towel so that the guest’s clothing didn’t get dirty. I love that security was worried about a wooden spoon. You know you can hit people with umbrellas and canes too? I was hit by a light saber and it chopped off my hand, just like most characters in Star Wars. I fixed the images!
TokyoMagic!, it makes no sense that a thumbnail would open a different image, but that’s how Blogger does it sometimes.
Steve DeGaetano, have you seen other photos of the E.P. Ripley without the combine attached?
JG, we all love stories of “early Disneyland”, before the wrinkles had been ironed out. If you slipped a truck driver two bits, he might let you stay in your gondola as it was trucked back to Tomorrowland. “Two bits? This is my lucky day!”. Back then it was like $5,000. I do love the way the helicopter shows up by coincidence. I’ve been watching a lot of videos about Frank Lloyd Wright buildings on YouTube, he seems to have been fond of many shades of red, from earth tones to pure saturated red. “Tehachapi Dawn” sounds like it would have been a sort of sandstone pink?
zach, I only wish I was that clever.
Major, the Frankster (I used to call him that, we were close back in the day…) was very fond of the warmer tones. His signature logo was a red square, after all. Not the one in Moscow though.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, that pink was kind of a “brick pink” if that makes any sense. A nice color.
JG
Odd how the photo captions have alternating right and left alignment in the second version. I guess it made more sense when folded.
ReplyDeleteMajor-
ReplyDelete"... but have you been to Shakey’s Pizza Parlor??"
Of course not... I'd rather go to Straw Hat Pizza Palace - if you remember one of their slogans... "wouldn't you rather dine at a palace than a parlor?"
JG, I sort of like “The Frankster”, and I’m sure he would have liked it too. “Frankie baby” might be a bridge too far. I’ve seen the red tile on some of his buildings, not sure when he started using those, but I like the idea.
ReplyDeleteDean Finder, wow, you are much more observant than I am, but you make a good point! I think you are right about the alignment being related to the folded brochure.
Nanook, Straw Hat Pizza Palace?! Once again, I am flabbergasted! (To be honest, I can’t tell which I liked to visit as a child. Maybe both?).
Viewing on my laptop, enlarging the castle photo, I see The Dent.
ReplyDeleteTM! "Wooden kitchen spoon." WHAT was your costume????
JG, please share your long Frank Lloyd Wright story with us. We will wait, and you are retired and do absolutely nothing, At least that's what Mrs. JG says.
Thanks, Major.
Lou and Sue, it is subtle (and pixelated) but I think I see the Dent too. TokyoMagic! was dressed as a bowl of oatmeal. As a fan of FLW, I'm always open to a good Wright story, he was a fascinating individual and a true genius. I really love looking at videos of tours of his various buildings on YouTube, sometimes it's hard to believe that a person actually came up with those beautiful structures out of thin air.
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic! was dressed as a bowl of oatmeal.
ReplyDeleteMajor, I should have done that! Then I could have "flicked" large spoonfuls of it onto people.
Sue, I was Julia Child. Remember when she made that cameo appearance in Swiss Family Robinson? ;-) I was actually "Linguini" from Ratatouille. I carried a wooden spoon in one hand and a 6-inch "Remy" in the other. My friend was Geppetto, and we both got pulled aside by the ABC news crew, so that Elex Michaelson could talk to us on camera!
TM! I love your costume. If you have any pictures, please share them with me. I promise I won't share them with anyone else except the Jr. Gorillas, here. ;o)
ReplyDeleteSue I just posted a pic at the very bottom of my current blog post. I came across that pic on the internet, the day after our visit to the park. I don't know the person who took it! You can see "Remy" holding a spoon, and peeking out of a side pocket on my backpack. And I am waving my wooden spoon around, and telling my friend that the very next kid that hits me with their light saber, or blows bubbles in my face, is going to be REALLY sorry!
ReplyDeleteTM! Thank you! It’s a fun photo. It took me a moment to find Remy - he loves to hide. BTW, you DO look horribly threatening with that violent object in your hand. ;op
ReplyDelete