1957 was an interesting time for Disneyland; the park was poised for a great deal of change, which was already going on behind the scenes.
Some of that change never came to be, as can be witnessed by this photo of the Opera House.
Zooming in, you can see the Disneyland Construction lettering painted above this faux construction wall, heralding the Liberty Street project which was to have a Grand Opening in 1958. Liberty Street got derailed and never really surfaced again until Walt Disney World was built in Orlando.
Panning across to the right, you can see that there’s not much going on at the Opera House. It would be at least 8 more years before Mr. Lincoln moved in.
The black sheep of this set is a nice exterior view of the Golden Horseshoe.
Today the 1871 date is still visible, but Slue Foot Sue has been banished to nothing but a smokey-glassed window.
See more Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.
8 comments:
Another super post Dave. Do you know if the Slue-Foot Sue character from 1948's Melody Time actually played a role in the '57 Golden Horseshoe Revue?
Yes, another great post. I'm so glad you zoomed in on the Liberty Street section. Awesome!
Talk about a 'Golden Age' ; Disneyland was two years old and two years from the defining upgrade year of 1959. What a wonderful time to have visited the park.
There is a beautiful 'cleanliness' to these pictures of town square. Nice set, thanks Dave.
The role of Slue Foot Sue began with Judy Marsh, and then Betty Taylor in 1956. I am "assuming" Sue was still around in 1957.
Dave: The Liberty Street (Liberty Square) plans were revisted two more times before "being put to rest". The second time was in 1972-1973-studies were done for a LIBERTY SQUARE (again between Tomorrowland & Main Street) with the intent of adding the Hall of Presedents. I once had a great WED study packet for this project I traded for something else years ago---it even included air shots with outlines of the show and shop buildings etc. Again this was for a LIBERTY SQUARE at DISNEYLAND. In 1984 there was a series of plans to bring EPCOT atractions to Disneyland, and again a LIBERTY SQUARE project was proposed to bring a AMERICAN ADVENTURE to Disneyland. For years a cardstock model was in the facilities and engineering offices at Disneyland showing this 1980's version of Liberty Square. How many of you know that even after the Carousel of Progress was developed, WED still proposed to build "EDISON SQUARE" but to be called "GAY NINETIES SQUARE" --doesn't sound like a Disney park name----but it was being tossed around! and without the Electrical based exhibits.
Thanks for the great info, Mike!
Dave,
If you do not remove your picture at Disneyland stating Chucko the clown... you will face legal action.
Randy Runyon aka Chucko the Clown
Randy - I don't respond well to threats. How about emailing me and letting me know what your beef is about the photo that may or may not be Chucko.
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