Eeyore & Pooh, August 1981

We all like to dress up like giant fuzzy cartoon characters (for "reasons"), but other people - the smart people - get paid to do it! I don't know if Disneyland was the first amusement park to have walk-around characters to meet and hug - probably not. But the Disney characters are iconic and beloved.

Who doesn't love Eeyore? Autocorrect wants to call him "eyesore", but he's not that bad. The tack holding his tail in has always been a source of unease for me, but maybe it helps me understand Eyesore's mournful demeanor. I think that kids have a natural desire to let Eyesore know that they love him. 

And then there's Pooh! He doesn't have any emotional issues, in fact he's generally pretty cheerful, especially when wearing a jar of hunny on his head (wouldn't you be?). I believe that the 1980s were the beginning of "peak Pooh", when the bear's popularity grew and grew, until some people worried that he had eclipsed Mickey Mouse himself. 

Or was this photo supposed to feature the lady with the mint-green pants?

 

Frontierland at Dusk, June 1962

After a day of stomping around Disneyland beneath the bright sun, one can feel a real change in atmosphere when evening approaches. There's no more squinting, no more feeling the urge to sit on a hot rock (this is for the lizards who read GDB), and generally feeling more relaxed. Both of today's photos were taken during the last hour (or so) of daylight.

A mother and daughter hold hands as they head toward the queue structure for the Columbia sailing ship (or the Mark Twain). "I want to see the shiny boy on the canoe!", the girl laughs. "I like the burning settler's cabin!", says the mother (who might be a budding arsonist). There is truly something for everyone. Editor's note: I just happen to be wearing pink pants today. HARD FACTS.

After a brief wait in line, guests would find themselves standing at the edge of the load dock, and this is the view you might expect to see. It's very pretty! We can see the distinctive oval sign of the French Market across the water, as well as the tops of some of the buildings in New Orleans Square. I like the fact that some of the lamps are lit. Some of the magnolia trees appear to be full of large white blossoms (magnolias were my grandmother's favorite tree). I also like the way shirts that are yellow or red seem to "pop" especially. 

 

Stuff From the Box

As I mentioned in my last "Stuff From the Box" blog post, the only items left in the current box are rings. But today's ring is a beaut! 

First of all, let's take a look at this great cover to The Shadow Magazine, from 1936. The Shadow debuted on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator of the radio program Detective Story Hour, which was developed to boost sales of Street & Smith's monthly pulp Detective Story Magazine, while the first issue of the pulp series The Shadow Magazine went on sale April 1, 1931. 

On September 26, 1937, The Shadow, a new radio drama based on the character as created by Gibson for the pulp magazine, premiered with the story "The Death House Rescue", in which The Shadow was characterized as having "the hypnotic power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him". In the magazine stories, The Shadow did not become literally invisible. The introductory line from the radio adaptation of The Shadow – "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"

In 1941, Blue Coal Dealers of America offered a neat premium ring, this plastic beauty with a piece of simulated blue coal where one might expect a cursed emerald or ruby.

You need to see it from every angle, right? Notice that The Shadow himself appears in high-relief on the sides of the ring - due to the cream-colored plastic, the details are hard to discern, but the brim of his hat is obvious.

In the print adventures, The Shadow is Kent Allard. The Shadow's best known alter ego is Lamont Cranston, a "wealthy young man-about-town" - there are definite parallels to Batman. 

The Shadow is more than happy to use a pistol, as you saw in that magazine cover. Get those bad guys! 

And oh yeah, the ring glows in the dark. My favorite thing! These rings are not common, but you can probably find one if you are willing to put in a little time. They can run up to (and over) $200, believe it or not.

Here's a neat blotter advertisement for The Shadow's radio adventures, brought to you by Blue Coal Dealers of America.

The next ring is much less fancy, but still fun - a plastic Tastykake ring, featuring the likeness (highlighted in gold!) of the Tastykake Baker. Tastykake was founded in 1914 in Philadelphia - I remember having their snack cakes when I lived in Pennsylvania - though in my memory is that some of them tasted weird to me. I was probably just used to Hostess and Dolly Madison products.

Knott's Berry Farm Burritos, September 1962

Here's a pair of September 1962 slides from Knott's Berry Farm, featuring some burritos - aka "little burros". A little salsa and guacamole and you have a feast! For the eyes I mean, I'm not a monster.

It must have been quite a thrill for children to ride on the back of an actual burro - as I've said before, it seems likely that some of them had never seen a live equine of any sort before. And these burros are so gentle and patient - I assume that they were very well-cared for, just like the Disneyland critters were. 

It's fun the way the burro "convoy" passed right through Calico Square, with the magnificent natural-rock formations of the Calico Mine Train looming over all. Considering how often I visited Knott's when I was a kid, I regret never experiencing a ride on a burro through the park!
 

Snoozles™, September 1964

I often can't tell is a slide is a bona-fide Snoozle™ until I've scanned the thing, and that was definitely the case with this first example. Holding the slide up to my light table, I was happy to see a photo of the blue Mark II Monorail about to pull into the station at the Disneyland Hotel. Cool! Only it wasn't cool, because it's blurry. I was disappointed, but we must persevere. I guess. You know what else isn't cool? Playing hooky and sassing your teachers.

You'd think I would be sick of pictures of the Burning Settler's Cabin, but for some reason I always enjoy seeing it. Maybe because it has been gone for so long? This one is in focus (though it could be sharper), and I do like the fact that the cabin itself is engulfed in flames, but the image was dark and murky, even after some Photoshoppin'. 

New York World's Fair, October 1964

We haven't visited the New York World's Fair since the middle of June. It's time to go back! All of today's examples are from October of 1964; the 1964 season ran from April 22nd to October 18th, so it wouldn't be long until the Fair closed for six months, to reopen in April of '65. It looks like it was a beautiful Autumn day, with blue skies and bright sunshine, but everyone's bundled up to some degree.

First up is this look across the Pool of Industry toward the red "umbrella" of the Traveler's Insurance pavilion. The boxy building nearer to us is the Hall of Education. Education?? You mean like school? No thank you. I don't recall talking about the Traveler's Insurance pavilion in detail before (though perhaps I have): In this pavilion, which seems to float on jets of water, the two-and-a-half-billion-year story of life on earth is portrayed, beginning with the earliest cell and culminating in modern man's leap into space. Under the red dome that symbolizes the Travelers umbrella of protection, 13 dioramas use life-sized models, stage sets and sound and lighting effects to re-create the most crucial eras and events of the exhibit's theme, "The Triumph of Man."

A group of children (on a class field trip?) sit on a bench next to the Du Pont pavilion, perhaps they'd just watched the "Wonderful World of Chemistry" musical revue inside (which was performed in two theaters with two casts). After the show, to demonstrate the extraordinary properties of man-made materials, a performer holds a piece of red-hot metal wrapped in a thin chemical film, dips a piece of plain cloth into dye and pulls it out striped, and throws paint on a synthetic fabric without staining it. The giant egg-shaped IBM pavilion is in the background.

Guests are suitably impressed by the ornate Thailand pavilion: The main building, patterned after an ancient Buddhist shrine, has a gilded, tiered and spired roof rising nearly 80 feet. The building was inspired by a shrine north of Bangkok where a sacred footprint of the Buddha is preserved. The ornate roof was built in Thailand, shipped to the U.S. piece by piece and assembled on the fairgrounds. In this building and an adjoining wing, exhibits reflect the arts, crafts and traditions of ancient Siam and modern-day Thailand. The blue banner in the upper left is from the Oklahoma pavilion. OK!

And finally, here's a familiar building, the New York State pavilion, though it's nice to see it as the sun sets and some of the lights have come on. It must have looked pretty stunning at night! Let us revisit some information: Looming over the New York State pavilion are three observation towers, one of which is the tallest structure at the Fair (226 feet). Beneath the towers is the Tent of Tomorrow, the world's biggest suspension roof (it is larger than a football field), supported by sixteen 100-foot concrete columns. Translucent colored panels in the roof flood the interior of the tent with colors. On the main floor, Texaco Oil Company has made a mammoth map of the state in terrazzo.

I have a bunch of additional slides from this Fair, including construction and destruction views, but I need to get scanning!

Tomorrowland Entrance, January 1966

Vintage Tomorrowland, it's the bee's knees, it's the cat's pajamas, it's the weasel's hat! In other words, I like it. I guess I could have just said that in the first place. 

It's January, 1966 (or so the date-stamp says), and the Land of Tomorrow looks pretty swell as seen from the Plaza. What a beautiful Winter day it was, with brilliant sunshine and a blue sky, with only a few scattered clouds. Almost everyone is wearing a coat, or at least a sweater, so there must have been a bite in the air. With the New Tomorrowland coming in less than seven months, you'd think that we'd already see construction walls, or some evidence of the enormous project that will be underway so soon. 

Here's a second shot, clouds have moved in (or maybe they moved out in the first picture), it's probably going to rain and ruin my new curly perm. Pay no attention to that boy in the foreground. Or that other boy with the black coat. Let's make a deal, don't pay attention to any boys. We can see somebody standing in front of the Clock of the World, trying to figure out what time it is. Melvin Douglas's rocket looks swell, the Hall of Chemistry beckons (chemistry = explosions), and we could hang a left and check out America the Beautiful.

Disneyland Hotel, November 1980

Not long ago, I shared some photos (scanned by Sue B.) taken by Lou Perry (Sue's father) back in 1980 as he explored the grounds of the Disneyland Hotel. Well, this is PART DEUX! As before, my familiarity with the hotel is minimal, so anything you can add would be greatly appreciated.

First up, an artificial beach area. White-sugar sand (shipped in from some tropical atoll?), and a fearsome tiki carving, along with some thatched umbrellas to complete the beachy aura. I've seen other hotels with fake beaches that border on a pool, and assume that's what is going on here as well. 

The sun is mostly down at this point, so we won't be needing one of those classic pool loungers. But if you do use one, put down a towel first, or you'll have striped indentations. Unless you enjoy that?

A monsoon has washed a sailboat way up beyond the tide line, along with a surfboard. Lettering on the sailboat says "Beach Boutique" for some reason. Was it an advertisement for a nearby shop? Hopefully you could buy plush Disney characters there, you can't have too many.

Here's one last look at the beach. Being November, it must have been too cold for a swimming pool, even if you just wanted to sit nearby and enjoy a drink with a little paper umbrella in it. Some teenagers must have knocked over that umbrella, and they probably said a bad word when they did it, too.

THANK YOU, Lou and Sue!

A Pair From February, 1977

Here are two scans from a batch dated "February 1977". The first one is fairly standard, a pretty mom (I wonder if she was an actress?) with her two denim-clad kids in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Too bad it was such a gray day, it gives the scene a bit of an oppressive feeling.

This next one is a mystery to me! It looks like the two kids are entering a backstage area of some kind. How they managed to do that, I'll never know. "I'm Walt Disney's grandson, and you better let me in or you're going to get fired!". That's how I would have attempted it, anyway. Mickey's smiling face is painted on the door; "Head (something)". Is this where characters put on their giant heads and costumes?

"Information" Brochures, 1955 & 1956

It's vintage ephemera time! As you know, I am an avid collector of vintage Disneyland paper items. I don't claim to have a great collection, but it's at least good.  Going through some boxes, I picked out two early "Information" brochures that are scarce but not super rare. With a little patience you can find them on eBay eventually!

Here's the front panel of this 1955 example - fairly minimal really. No Tinker Bell, no Dumbo, just a line drawing of Sleeping Beauty Castle and a bit of text. It's interesting that I almost always see these in excellent condition, which makes me assume that they were handed to guests as they entered the parking lot. The brochure stayed in the car and did not get folded to fit in dad's pocket or mom's purse, or get mangled in somebody's sweaty hands.

Unfolding it, we can see all 4 panels of one side, including answers to basic questions that prospective visitors might have. How much will it cost? How about cameras? And so on. The right two panels have an interesting graphic layout, with black and white photos of highlights from Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland, and Adventureland. Sorry, Main Street!

The other side features a map with the major freeways delineated in red, information about public transportation, and fairly-accurate descriptions of the things you can find in each land.

Next is the 1956 version of this brochure, which is actually considerably harder to find than the 1955 version. It's largely the same as the previous example, although the blue-gray is lighter.

You'll find only a few minor changes on this side....

... and even these panels show few (if any) changes.