.jpg)
I watched the annual Disneyland Christmas parade last night (same as last year's for those keeping score), and it made me think of this little item.
From 1957, this is the route for that year's Christmas parade with Grand Marshall Walt Disney. What's interesting is that the route begins next to the firehouse and ends deep in Frontierland, a big difference from how the parades have been run for decades now. Where did they hide the floats and costumes? Maybe between Main Street and the Jungle Cruise on one side, I guess, but Frontierland seems like a dead end.
There's also no specific date for this parade. Was it performed daily between December 20 and December 30? Was Walt the Grand Marshall for every performance? It would appear so.
Does anyone have any photos or more info on this 1957 parade? And is this art specific to this map? Can't remember seeing it elsewhere.
3 comments:
Very nice piece. The larger images are excellent.
From the newspaper advertisements and short stories I just looked at from December 1957, it looked like there was only one (GIANT) parade held that year, with Walt Disney appearing in person as the Grand Marshall. It was scheduled for December 15, but rain caused its postponement to December 22. It was advertised as:
* Over 2000 participants!
* Mexican Posadas & Charros!
* Spanish Matador Drill Team!
* Japanese Kabuki Dancers!
* Italy's St. Befana!
* Scottish Bag Pipers!
* English Yule Log & Boar's Head!
* Philippine Islanders' March!
* Disneyland Christmas Carolers!
* 10 Big Brass Bands!
* Lithuanian "Candy Cup" March!
* German "Star Singers"!
* 37 International Singing & Dancing Groups!
* ...and Jolly Old Santa Claus
And then there were other groups on the "Four Big Festival Nights" (Dec. 20-Dec. 23), as the back of your flier indicates.
Matterhorn1959's blog has photos of the Christmas parade in January 1960 going through Frontierland, so this wouldn't have been the only time the route was used, anyway.
Wow! Great info. Thanks very much for that.
Post a Comment