Daveland reader Xavier Loza shared a story about his mother's frequent visits to Tinker Bell's:
My mom used to purchase dolls at Disneyland's Tinker Bell Toy Shop starting in the 1950s when she was a young girl because she simply loved the dolls that they had. Back then, Disneyland was considered so top shelf that anything one had from there was a conversation starter, as everyone wanted to go. There was a steady mix of public dolls, and exclusive Disneyland dolls. One of my mom's favorite sets was made in the late 1950s, around 1957-58 I think, and it was of a Ginger doll with outfits from all the various lands.
In later years, Mom said that Disneyland represented her youth as she got older, and continuing to buy dolls kept that feeling alive. She also had a particular fondness for Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty.
I couldn't believe it when I saw your September 1966 photo.
Upon a close inspection of one of the shelves, I saw a whole set of Madame Alexander "Sound of Music" dolls that my mom purchased from this shop back in the 1960s.
She said she couldn't just pick one, so she bought the lot. Can't help but wonder if they are the exact ones pictured.
She continued to shop there until the shops changed in the late 1980s from high end items to more kid centered.
I think any kid that can remember that time would agree, there were no better stores in Disneyland than those found in Fantasyland. It does harken back to a time when Disneyland was perhaps, dare I say, a little more innocent; little bit sweeter.
How fantastic to have an inside look at one of the most beloved vintage Shops at the Park. Thanks Xavier! As a bonus, here's a genuine Daveland FauxD© image from Tinker Bell's, circa 1960's:
See more vintage Disneyland Tinker Bell Toy Shop photos on my main website.
4 comments:
WOW!!! I'm blown away!
Xavier,
Your mother's doll collection from Disneyland is amazing. It looks very high quality and in prime condition. Absolutely beautiful! Lots of nice details in these images. I enjoyed reading about your mother's visits to Disneyland and the Tinker Bell Toy Shop. It's personal stories like this that I love to read about Disneyland. Thanks for sharing, Xavier.
Vogue Dolls made Ginny, Muffie & Ginger dolls - I think Ginger was the last one in that grouping to come out toward the later end of the 50s - I was done with dolls by then so I didn't have a Ginger but I sure saw them in the stores and lots of the little girls I babysat had her. They started to be popular in the late 40s and were sold at better Dept stores like Broadway. Her clothes were quite detailed - remember this was all pre-Barbie. Disneyland had a couple exclusive outfits for this doll you only could get there. The non exclusive outfits were a tad more pricy then many of some of the same outfits you could buy elsewhere and of course, never on sale. The most popular Ginny(Muffie, Ginger) outfit sold at Disneyland was the Mouseketter outfit and it was exclusively sold only at Disneyland. You could get your OWN name on the little Mouseketter Ginny/Ginger sweater if you were lucky and didn't have less than common name. The later dolls I don't recognize. I did run across some photos from inside the Tinkerbell Toy Shope in the past that showed the little near diorama style displays they had with Vogue Ginny dolls. You could special order some of the Ginny/Ginger/Muffie furniture in those displays there at Disneyland and it was one of the few places in the Southland that did have 'real' on display examples for you to see. Broadway could order some of the same things but you only could see them in a catalog.
The doll in the photo with the lighter hair in the cowgirl outfit is Ginger -- she's in the Mickey Mouse Club Talent Round-Up Cowgirl outfit like the ones the real Mousketeers wore on TVs Mickey Mouse Club that one day of the week (think it was Wednesdays) they did the whole Western thing and had the talent round-up show featuring the special talents various Mousekteers had - Cubby playing drums, Annette singing or dancing and all the other things the rest of them did. That was the name of that outfit I am almost 99.9% positive.
beachgal - I'm not even into dolls and find your merchandise details about the dolls interesting. One thing you don't hear about much, is the history of Disneyland's stores and merchandise sold through the years.
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