800th Post: It All Began With A Clown

Today is my 800th post. It is only fitting that in honor of my first post (June 4, 2006), which featured this Clown, that I zoom in for a closeup.



I have had two readers (the first being Patrick from "Stuff From The Park" blog) comment that the Clown is Chucko the Clown, a staple of Los Angeles TV during the 50's and 60's. As you can see from the Viewmaster Reel image below, the same clown can be seen as part of the Mickey Mouse Club Circus. Richard from The Viewliner Limited Blog has chimed in that it’s actually just an MMCC performer, and not Chucko. In addition, I have had a rather nasty comment left on the blog by a rude man claiming to be Chucko's son (Randy), threatening legal action if I don't remove Chucko's name from the image. He obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed or else just enjoys pissing in people's Cheerios (as the saying goes). I have no idea if it is Chucko or just a performer with the MMCC Circus. Quite frankly, I don't give a crap who it is, and most people don't even know who the hell Chucko is anymore anyway. So, I'll just leave it up to you the reader to decide.



Back on my first post, I didn't really have much sense of the history and other things that were a part of the vintage Disneyland-mania that has spawned a hundred or more blogs since Patrick at Stuff from the Park published his first entry back in December 2005. Since I have begun blogging about Disneyland and creating the page on my website that has exploded into its own beast, I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting a number of other Disney fans, admirers, cast members, and guests who were at the park during its formative years. Although there are many times that I think “Why the heck do I spend so much time and money on this stuff?!?”, there are just as many (if not more) times that I smile from the experiences that my blog and website have provided. For instance...meet Ted & Tuija. I had corresponded with Ted for many months and finally got to meet the two of them at the park. I love the fact that they use "Wall-E" as a sort of benchmark to guage how they will get along with people. Unconsciously, I do the same thing with Disneyland. If people don’t “get it,” then I either try to take them there personally or just file them into a different category of friendship (the one marked: Needs to lighten up and enjoy life!). Here they are in front of Walt’s apartment above the Fire Department.



Meet Mike & Juli, a fun couple united through their love of all things Disney. I met them because of my blog, and they have been way cool about sharing their collection and stories with me to post on my site.



Surely all you Disney fanatics have heard of Don DeFore‘s Silver Banjo Barbecue. Thanks to my site, I had the opportunity to meet Don‘s two sons, Dave & Ron, who were more than kind in sharing their stories, photos, and time with me. Here I am with the DeFore brothers outside of the original location of the Banjo, with two other Disneyland fanatics that I've had the pleasure to meet, John & Lannie.



The DeFore brothers had the good fortune of being at Disneyland on Opening Day, and riding in the Autopia Cars down Main Street. Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!



One of the treasures that Ron has recently unearthed is this personally signed thank you letter from Walt himself:



And I couldn’t forget Carlene. What a treasure! I don’t know where she gets her energy from, but her enthusiam for Disneyland is incredible. Thanks to her, many of the original cast members of the Golden Horseshoe were reunited last March in a rousing tribute at the Anaheim Sheraton. Carlene’s grandfather took many historic photos of the park being built.



There are many that I have left out that began as email correspondents and then became friends. The blogging community is fantastic; extremely supportive and also very informative. The amount of knowledge out there astounds me on the subject of Disneyland. Walt sure knew what he was doing over 50 years ago, and it still strikes a chord with people today. Most of all though, I want to give thanks to Patrick at Stuff From the Park for starting it all.

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos at my regular website.