Thursday, December 20, 2007

Opening Tomorrow: Disneyland '59!

This is one of the rarest items in my collection. Handed out for one day only to whomever happened to enter the park on 6/14/59, it alerts Disneyland visitors that today is the Press Preview and Dedication Ceremonies for all of the new Tomorrowland attractions that opened that Summer of 1959. These were the ceremonies and parade broadcast on the Disneyland '59 special the next night. You know...the one where Nixon can't cut the ribbon. This special was thought lost for decades until it was recently discovered and released on DVD last year. I also have a couple of press items (badge and program) from this day that I will post eventually. I don't know how many of these survived that day, but I've never seen or heard of another one. There is, however, another equally rare paper piece that is a companion to this. It's a similar flyer that was handed out the day of the dedication of Nature's Wonderland. I feel certain that the owner of that piece is reading this blog today, and maybe he will be kind enough to post it soon (or give it to me for free....whatever).

5 comments:

Jason Schultz said...

Wonderful item. Maybe this only bothers me, but if we commonly say that the Matterhorn, Subs, and Monorail opened on June 14, 1959, then shouldn't all the 1998 new Tomorrowland attractions have an official opening of May 21, when the press preview was? Same thing for July 17, 1955 being only for invited guests. What are we to do with this mess??

Matterhorn1959 said...

Jed- as soon as I get to my collection in California, I will pull the piece and post it for everyone.

jedblau said...

Thanks! I was hoping you would grant my not-so-subtle request (the posting part, not the free part). Looking forward to seeing that cool flyer again.

Major Pepperidge said...

Oh man, this is super neat! I can only dream of finding something like this in a bin at a junky antiques store.

The Viewliner Limited said...

Truly a great piece of Disneyland history. Realy appreciate your blog