1967 New Tomorrowland Opening Day Invitation

Sorry for the delay between posts, but you know...life and all.

Here's a cool item that goes with the previously posted 1967 press ticket and program.  This is the invitation for the opening day of the 1967 Tomorrowland that brought us such favorites as the PeopleMover and Adventures Thru Inner Space. 

The whole thing was too big for my scanner, so here it is in pieces.  The first shot is the cover, and the second is the whole interior as one piece.  The third and fourth shots are close-ups of the interior, including that BEAUTIFUL conceptual painting that we all know and love.  I wonder if the RETLAW archives has that one...I'll have to ask.  I didn't shoot the text on the far right, but it says something about returning the enclosed RSVP card (which I don't have, alas) to confirm attendance.

****UPDATE***

It turns out that I DO have the RSVP card AND the envelope.  You know you're in trouble/old when you don't remember what you own anymore.  Anyway, here's a photo:



Papotin's Revue

A long time ago, I posted this flyer used to advertise a French puppet show that played for a short time at Disneyland:

The same show is advertised in the verso of a popular Tiki Room flyer:



At the time of my first post on this topic, I wondered if the first flyer was created by Disneyland or by Andre Tahon.  Well, Monsieur Tahon maintained a website before his death in 2009, and on it, he posted another flyer for one of his shows.  This pretty much proves that the flyer was created by Tahon rather than Disney.  Here's the other flyer for a French production:

He also published a photo that he claims is from the Disneyland show, and since I have no reason not to believe him, here it is:

Not much, I realize, but something is better than nothing.

I, along with many Disneyland fans would love to know more about Tahon and his involvement with the early days of Disneyland.  Was he hired by Walt Disney personally?

If you have any light to shed on this most elusive of Disneyland shows, please chime in.

Main Street Scripts - Omnibus

Here's the live narration from the Omnibus trip up Main Street circa 1959.  I love how the driver extends the vintage theming into his descriptions of the Main Street attractions.  Also, notice the alternative narration in anticipation of the Hallmark store.

Universal Studios - 1974 LA Times Advert

I found this in some junk at my parents' house.  It must have come from my grandfather one way or another.

This ad from 7/28/74 features the "new" collapsing bridge at Universal.  I remember when that thing was the biggest deal on the tour.  When I was older and working on the lot, I used to "borrow" the company golf cart to go do some "work" and give myself a little self-guided tour.  It's amazing where Universal security would let one wander pre-9/11.  It was a great day when I discovered the long-lost road to Prop Plaza.  Never had the nerve to drive through the Six Million Dollar Man revolving avalanche thingee or across this bridge, but a visit to the Psycho house was always a must.

Love the old trams.  The image of them crossing the bridge makes me think of Albert Brooks' trip to hell if he'd been just a couple of minutes late for the tram to heaven.

Main Gate Scripts

As you disembarked from the Disneyland parking lot (those were the days) tram ten feet from the front gate (those were REALLY the days) or arrived on foot, here's what you might hear as you approached the ticket booths.  It featured a spiel about the ticket books, terrific value, etc.

If you were unlucky (read: stupid and unorganized) enough to arrive on a day when the park was closed, they had a special recording for you, too.

How badly would it suck to arrive on a wintery Monday or Tuesday only to be informed (via tape) that the park was closed?  And how sadistic to LET SOMEONE INTO THE PARKING LOT AND PARK THEIR CAR only to arrive at the empty ticket booths.  I'd probably punch a rubber moose and kidnap a security guard, too.

Would it be better for the Monorail to be open for a ride or closed for the day?  At least if the Monorail was closed there wouldn't be the torture of seeing all of those spectacular attractions just sitting there and waiting for guests that would arrive tomorrow or the day after.  Makes me edgy just thinking about it.

There's even a recording for rainy days.

Coming soon(ish), the narration for the Main Street vehicles.

Casa de Fritos Gift Box - 1955

There's been a lot of blog action about Casa de Fritos lately for some reason.  Why, you ask?  Actually, "Why not?" is a better question since CdF is officially the coolest Disneyland restaurant ever.  Sorry, Aunt Jemima, but it's the truth.

At any rate CdF stuff is uncommon since there's so few items to really collect. The postcard, the ads in the 1967 National Geographic magazine, the matchbooks, the cool mug that I posted awhile back, and.....oh, yeah....the stellar attraction poster that for some reason I never received from any of you for my birthday.

So...what better excuse than to recycle an old post and present to you...the Casa de Fritos holiday gift box. I guess you could ship friends a box o' Fritos (or Cheetos) for Christmas from Disneyland. Pretty cool Frito Kid and pretty cool classic Disneyland logo. Somehow, I've had three of these in my collection over the years. I can't believe three people actually saved (or even received) this box, but there you go. I sold my first two in the great purge of 1999, but when this one emerged from the legendary collection of Leon Janzen, I knew that it was fate for me to own one. And the Janzen connection just makes me happy. I have another box from the LJ collection which I'll post at some point.

And, yes, those script posts will continue soon. Not that anyone has asked...

Tram Scripts (Get It? HA!)

Here are two versions of the tram spiel: one for the parking lot and one for folks shuttling over from the Disneyland Hotel.  The parking lot one isn't terribly different from the current version that departs from the Mickey and Friends lot.  The one from the hotel is full of lovely out-of-date details.  Read for yourself....

The Sound of Disneyland - January, 1963

What we have here is a big binder full of scripts that represent every piece of taped, live, and filmed narration used in Disneyland as of January 14, 1963 (the front page [unscanned] has that date hand-written in pencil.)

I'm going to try (!) to scan the whole binder, but at my rate of posting, that may take until 2019. Oh, well. Every little bit helps.

Here's the first few pages: a table of contents that lists the binder's archive. One portion not listed but that can be found in the binder is the live narration one would hear in the shuttle that schlepped guests from their cars to the main gate.

I bought this at an NFFC show at least 12 years ago for about....$30. Hard to believe.

Culling the Herd...Disneyland Style

It's that time of year again when I take a long look at my pile of stuff and decide what needs to go. This year, I'm selling the following:


Yes, it's one of the U letters from the old Adventures thru Inner Space sign.



The listing is here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220630993663

I have no idea which U it is, but it's definitely one of them. Anyway, it weighs a ton, takes up room I don't have, and isn't really something for the walls. And, about a month ago, it almost toppled over and crushed my atomobile. Can't have that happen. Ever. So, out to a new owner it goes, provided someone comes up with the green. Well see...

A FANTASTIC WDI FIELD TRIP!!!!!

A couple of months ago, Chris Merritt cc'd me on an email that he wrote to a woman at WDI about a book that's being prepared to document and celebrate the much beloved attraction posters of Disneyland, WDW, and beyond. In the email, he told her about a piece in my collection that I wrote about here:

http://vintagedisneylandgoodies.blogspot.com/2008/06/tiki-room-attraction-poster-art.html

It's a piece of original attraction poster art, and Chris thought WDI should include it in their book or at least be aware that it exists.



The incredibly nice archivist, Vanessa Hunt, invited me down to the WDI archives/library so that they could view and possibly scan my Tiki Room piece for the book.

Yes, please!

I also co-own, with a fellow blogger, a WDI binder from 1962 that was used to catalog all of the styles, orders, and quantities of posters that WDI had produced up to that time. I brought that along just in case. Vanessa and her colleagues were incredibly complimentary about both pieces and scanned them.

Then, the fun began. Vanessa allowed me to view some genuine treasures in the WDI archive. I saw the original Marc Davis sketches and final paintings of these:



HUGE AND AWESOME...AWESOME...AWESOME!

Then, I saw Herb Ryman's original of this:


And she took requests!!! I asked to see this Peter Ellenshaw masterpiece, and was allowed to do so:


Then, certain to be turned down, I ventured a request to see this incredible painting a very special and rare way: under black light. As the words left my lips, I turned around to see Vanessa actually WARMING UP THE BLACK LIGHTS! To my knowledge, and Vanessa confirmed this, the painting had not been seen in public and under black light...EVER! You can see it under black light in an early Disneyland program, but only in black and white. In color, it is stunning...totally incredible...beyond words. The bright red boilers burning in the Jungle Cruise boats...the tiny lights illuminating the interiors of the passenger trains..the blue moonlight reflected in the Rivers of America. It's a completely different painting in the dark.

Thanks to Daveland, here is a shot of Ellenshaw preparing this masterpiece.


I also saw a trove of Marc Davis originals, Mary Blair concepts for Small World, and more Sam McKim than I can name. And the poster composites! Attraction posters that never came to be were paraded under my nose thanks to the amazing cataloging system Vanessa and her department have available on their servers. One in particular was SO amazing (3 Ways to Dine in Frontierland! WITH THE FRITO KID!) that I offered a straight trade for my Tiki cel. No deal. No surprise.

If WDI uses only 10% of what I saw, the book is going to be INCREDIBLE! So many images and comps that have never seen the light of day. A lot of love and care is going into the book, so it's really something to look forward to in the next 18 months or so.

THANKS, VANESSA!!!!!