The grand opening festivities for Disneyland ’59 continue today with more images from the grandstand.
Vice President Nixon leans over the aisle to talk to Walt, while wife Pat smiles attentively. Daughter Julie is enjoying the entertainment in front of her. I believe the girl above Walt sucking her thumb is one of his granddaughters; possibly Tammy or Joanna Miller.
Note the hand-printed name tag on Nixon’s chair in this color shot:
A few shots from Life Magazine; in this first one, it would appear that Nixon didn’t catch whatever was being hurled into the audience. Pat, Tricia, and Julie are at right:
Art Linkletter is giving Hedda Hopper a run for the money in the hat department:
Last one for today shows some unique entertainment for the opening festivities; it appears to be some kind of African Dance.
Next up: the unveiling of the Monorail.
See more Nixon family photos at my website.
11 comments:
in that last picture, check out walt's face. if ever a man was at peace with his place in the world! what a statement of honest hard work and the resulting view down upon one's own kingdom. to have been walt at this moment in time had to have been just amazingly rewarding.
Thufer, I noticed the same thing, it reminds me of Walt's dialog with Art Linkletter I think at the end of the '59 program, you can just see they joy in his face.
Great color photo and post Dave, thanks so much for sharing.
Yet another in a great long line of postings. Thank you so much for sharing. Do you know who the dignitary, with the large name badge, that appears in a number of shots is? Just curious.
Hey Rhinodad - can you tell me a specific photo and location? If possible, I will zoom in on the badge and see if it is decipherable.
Catching up with all the Nixon posts. Great stuff. Looking forward to perhaps seeing the Obama family take a day off and spending it it Disneyland. Of course they'd probably have to shut down the park for that.
Well, if they can do it for Miley, why not the first family?
Is that Roy Disney in the sunglasses sitting behind the Nixons (in all but the Art Linkletter pic) ? And the woman to his left (possibly Mrs Roy?) looks like today's version of Queen Elizabeth II.
Anonymous - It does appear to be Roy! Good eye!
Dave, in the color photo, he is standing next to Walt, wearing a brown suit.
Thanks
Rhinodad - I have zoomed into all of the photos that show him and unfortunately, his nametag is still unreadable. Sorry!
FYI - I found out yesterday that Michelle Obama & the girls spent a day in the park in the fall.
Thanks so much for trying to assuage my curiosity Dave. Keep up the great work for all of us Disneyland lovers.
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