Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Town Square, 1950s

It's time for some classic Main Street - or Town Square, to be exact. There are a LOT of photos of Town Square, and it's easy to assume that guests had just walked through the tunnels and were ready to be dazzled. Perhaps they'd seen some black and white footage on their TVs, or a few grainy photos in their local paper. But here it was, the real thing, more splendid than they could have imagined! That's the thing about Main Street, it isn't as flashy as the other "lands", but it makes an amazing first impression.

Even in this modest photo, you've got the old-fashioned popcorn wagon, a cannon like you might see in many small-town parks, a Surrey (to the right), and the big Emporium, full of wondrous merch. 



Here comes a Horse-drawn Streetcar, just like Grandpa might have seen. Walt might have been up in his Fire Station apartment, absently flicking chili beans at the grilled cheese maker that is still there on the kitchen counter (!). 


17 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-
"... you've got the old-fashioned popcorn wagon, a cannon like you might see in many small-town parks..."
Hey - let's not forget the first iteration of the drinking fountain - with its fully-exposed plumbing.

Thanks, Major.

JB said...

Well, we've got half of an "old-fashioned popcorn wagon", and half of "a Surrey". But we do indeed have a whole cannon! ;-)
We've also got a lady resting in the shade while sitting on the grass. Oh, and a red fire hydrant, a mailbox on the lamppost, and (thank you, Nanook) a drinking fountain. (I don't see any sugar though.) And 3, maybe 4 trashcans. The colors are a bit washed out, but it's still a nice "only in Disneyland" photo.

Walt's window is shut, so we won't be seeing him flicking chili beans at the guests down below. But he can flick them at his grilled cheese maker, if it makes him happy. This is a great 'Disney' photo. Colorful, quaint, and full of life.

Nice, vintage photos of a nice, vintage Main Street. Thanks, Major.

MIKE COZART said...

Main Street USA was suppose to emulate every American’s home town….. and in a way it actually kinda became a real hometown for millions of people who have grown up going to Disneyland…. I have memories of it from all periods of my life …. And friends … my grandparents knew it well … and my parents … Disneyland’s Main Street USA is like our collective ancestral “home” …. It’s pretty much been there all our lives …and throughout our lives …it’s American’s home town.

TokyoMagic! said...

As nice as Town Square is, it could really use a looping roller coaster, or a projection-based simulator attraction. Or both.

I love the thought of Walt just hanging out in his apartment, absently flicking chili beans at the grilled cheese maker......all day long. And then going home and having Lillian ask him, "What did you do at the park today, Walty?" That was her pet name for him. Marty Sklar told me so.

Thanks for the 50s T.S. pics, Major!

Stu29573 said...

Ah the cannon! Lillian insisted it be installed to repel grimy tatooed amusement park folk with beards and bad intentions! It is, after all, difficult to serve sub-standard corn dogs and cheap merch with a belly o' grape shot!
I shant talk about changing times...
After having been in Walt's apartment, I can attest to the fact that the kitchen counter IS the kitchen. And that the grill cheese machine is covered in dried beans.

JG said...

Old Main Street did look and feel like a real town. If we didn’t know better, we might think these photos were from a real place and not the Magic Kingdom (and Disneyland used to be called that before some Rocket Surgeon decided that would be applied to the Florida park). Imagine the conversation between some Iowa visitors; “Shucks Ma, this hifaluting “Disney” land isn’t much. It looks just like home. Why did we bother to travel all the way to California and risk earthquakes for this? “ “Now, Pa, is there any town in Iowa with a Castle at the end of Main Street? Let’s walk down there and look at it…”

These are very early photos too, the several trash cans visible are all the factory-original plain green color. Pre-1957 for almost sure.

Thank you Major!

JG

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, “exposed plumbing”?? This is a family blog!

JB, I only need half of a popcorn wagon, I’m not that hungry. I’m not even sure it is possible to sit on grass at Disneyland anymore, I think it is all surrounded by fences. We don’t want any wanton strumpets strewn on the lawns! The grilled cheese maker was Walt’s favorite appliance, as they will tell you on the tour of his apartment. Sometimes he would walk by and just pat it affectionately.

Mike Cozart, driving through the midwest, you often go through small towns that have seen better days, but their main streets often have a faint resemblance to Disneyland’s Main Street. Only with more brick, and much sadder. I’m sure 100 years ago they were full of life and activity, though!

TokyoMagic!, ha ha, “Walty”. Marty Sklar sure knew all the best stuff, including cutesy little aphorisms that give you cavities! I’d love a projection-based simulator version of the Wizard of Bras.

Stu29573, let’s face it, Lillian was pretty nervous all the time. If you walked up to her and said, “Hi, Lilly!” from behind, she’d jump three feet into the air. Marty Sklar told me so! Disneyland used grape shot, only they used real grapes. Since Walt only liked chili and hotdogs, there was no need for a fancy kitchen.

JG, I have no doubt that somebody has gone through a box of old slides, seen a few photos of Town Square, and just assumed that it was a real small town. As we’ve all seen, there are photos from the Jungle Cruise that have fooled people (“Here’s an elephant playing under a waterfall!”). I feel like the WDW Main Street, while obviously impressive, feels like too big and too fancy. Maybe it was based on some real, affluent place, though?

Bu said...

As I travel for work so much and am not often home, there are times that I have some sundry chores to do: and this morning was one. We have a Main St, and although it is very quaint and has many OLD houses and businesses on it...like "George Washington Slept Here" types...it does not look like this Main Street. We DO have a Town Hall...with a cannon and some other statue type things in front of it. It's also known as "where I pay my taxes" building. We have the obligatory grist mill stones and other artifacts...and if you want a Disneyland Main St. A few nearby towns have very similar feels: although in some cases "the corporates" have taken over. When I'm tired I sleep in the shade of the tree on the grass....(I can see why the ropes went up, and then the chains, and then the fences.) It looks rather sloppy. Doesn't look like Walty is home as the shade is drawn, but perhaps he's taking a nap? Lots of horses. I bet Main Street smelled differently back then, and more authentic. The Bekins truck certainly is dominant...and seems like maybe "the corporates" took over this Main Street too. I won't mention the unbuttoned vest, as this phenom would occur for decades after. Thanks Major for the Morning on Main Street, Disneyland, USA.

zach said...

I for one think OG Main Street was under-appreciated. Even as a kid I enjoyed the 'old time' stores with pickle barrels, leeches and party lines to listen to. There was a guy who made stuff out of glass and who isn't mesmerized by someone using an open flame?

My wife and I were sitting on a MS bench a couple of years ago just enjoying the ambiance of a DL afternoon when an overzealous cast member urged us to get up and enjoy the park cause 'that's what Walt would want'. It was all I could do not to tell the young whipper-snapper that I grew up with Walt and he created Main Street with benches to sit on!

So thanks Major for a look at the OG Main Street this morning. I think I'll unbutton my vest and sit awhile.

Wow, 'exposed' plumbing, strumpets and bra simulators, where am I?

Zach

JB said...

Tokyo!, "it could really use a looping roller coaster, or a projection-based simulator attraction. Or both." They could be combined into a single attraction!-- Two!... Two!... Two TREs in one!

Zach, welcome to the Evil Universe version of GDB! (Enjoy your stay.)

MIKE COZART said...

MAJOR: the majority of Walt Disney World’s Main Street USA’s look was inspired by many real structures in Saratoga Springs New York . Other facades and structure looks are borrowed from buildings still standing or long demolished from New York’s 14th Street , Philadelphia ( city hall for example). WED imagineers admit that the Florida street was intentionally designed to be grander and affluent looking and represents a “Eastern Seaboard” Main Street . However some of the structures are based on architectural examples from San Francisco ( like the crystal palace ) and of course 1890’s Los Angeles .

Major Pepperidge said...

Bu, it sounds like you’re in more of the Colonial-era architectural style, which is pretty cool. The Walt-style main street seems to draw more on the midwest model, although Harper Goff’s Colorado hometown (I’m drawing a blank on the name right now) was the inspiration for at least some of the buildings (City Hall, for instance). Somehow all of that brick feels more “Rust Belt-y”, but I realize that my own experience with the midwest is coloring that view. I don’t think I could ever doze off at Disneyland, I’m too self-conscious. Unless I was at one of those 48-hour events, in which case I’d collapse in a heap in the middle of Main Street. I always wonder if Walty is home in earlier photos like these - there are a few in which the actual window is open (not just the shade), but otherwise, it’s impossible to know.

zach, you were ahead of your time, I didn’t appreciate Main Street and its many charms until I was an adult. As a kid, all I cared about was the rides! That CM urging you to get up and “enjoy the park” is weird - you WERE enjoying the park! I’m sure he was just trying to be friendly, but his advice was misguided.

JB, how’s this: a looping roller coaster that goes UNDER Main Street? The first underground looping coaster in the world! Your coaster could pass through each store too, for a quick preview. Genius!

Mike Cozart, oh yeah, you have mentioned Saratoga Springs before; that place must have been very affluent in its heyday. I guess all the wealthy northerners came down in the winter for some sunshine? Weirdly, I was looking at old postcards of downtown Fresno, of all places, and I was pretty surprised at how grand some of the buildings were - much busier than the Magic Kingdom, of course, but still, it was more impressive than I would have ever expected. You can see one of those old postcards HERE.

MIKE COZART said...

Harper Goff didn’t really design Main St. USA as built as much as Sam McKim, Bill Martin and Marvin Davis did. Harper Goff designed the “new town Main Street” and “old town” for the park that was intended to be built across from the studio. It was these early plans he based much of from Fort Collins Colorado . Over time this connection got concussed with Disney fans and even Disney employees regarding the design origins of Disneyland’s 1955 Main Street USA. Those early Fort Collins inspired renderings actually were used in designing some Frontierland buildings including several of the rainbow ridge mine town structures.

So to recap :
A audio animatronic Bear show was NEVER planned or considered for the Ski Resort MINERAL KING ( but was later considered for the LAKE INDEPENDENCE project.

And Disneyland’s 1955 Main Street USA has nothing to do with Fort Collins Colorado .

MIKE COZART said...

And as Columbo would say ..” oh and one more thing” ….

Walt’s boyhood hometown of Marceline Missouri also did not inspire any structures on Disneyland’s Main Street USA … but the idea for it was sparked by the feel of Marceline in general.

Dean Finder said...

I’d love a projection-based simulator version of the Wizard of Bras. "Projection-based" bra show... I see what you did there.

Lou and Sue said...

Am siting here reading all the comments and chuckling….hahaha! :o)

Mike’s 12:26 a.m. comment above is ‘spot on.’ Heartwarming and true!

Thanks, Major, for starting the fun and laughs today.

And, yes, when Lillian was in the apartment, she’d shut the window when Salty Walty was flicking….

TokyoMagic! said...

I’d love a projection-based simulator version of the Wizard of Bras.

Major, and in 3-D???

They could be combined into a single attraction!-- Two!... Two!... Two TREs in one!

JB, yes....and with Retsyn®!