Monday, February 25, 2013

1950's Disneyland: The McLeod Photos



I have no idea who the photographer named McLeod is, but I do know that he captured some cool shots of the Park. Starting off with my favorite, here's one of the A-Frame in front of the Main Street Cinema, advertising a Will Rogers movie from 1924 called "Two Wagons Both Covered." This particular photo is from 1958, which one can tell because of the banners along the Main Street gaslamps proclaiming the debut of The Columbia.



This view of the Coke Corner was hand-dated August 29-30, 1959 (that's one heck of a long exposure!). You can see the banners at this time are announcing the 1959 attractions.



Not too much to say about this 1958 Sleeping Beauty Castle shot:



Last one for today is from August 29-30, 1959 and shows the Tiki's Tropical Imports stand in Adventureland.





Here's a color shot of the same stand from the 1960's; you can see that "Tiki's" was dropped from the name and the stand itself has been remodeled.



See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland web pages.

5 comments:

K. Martinez said...

Coke Corner without the “gate” is nice. I loved Tropical Imports as a kid with all those rubber spiders and snakes to pick from.

Dave – Can you figure out what is written on the back of that guy’s shirt walking on the right in the “Tiki’s Tropical Imports” image?

DBenson said...

I actually remember seeing most of that Will Rogers film. It was a parody of a recent epic (The Covered Wagon) with Rogers playing a grizzled scout and an Eastern dandy (the latter is several months late with his wagons, explaining it takes time to shave each morning). When the pioneers finally reach California, they're ambushed by modern-day real estate agents who quickly take possession of all the wagons.

In those days when you rarely got a chance to see silent films anywhere, it was a big deal.

Daveland said...

K. - I wondered the same thing; attempted to zoom in but it was too blurry to decipher.

K. Martinez said...

Dave - Thanks for the effort. All I can pick out is some sort of "scales of justice" logo.

Scarlett | Disney Wonderland said...

These images are great - I absolutely love seeing old park photos, they have such a magical essence to them! xx