Sexy Sunday on Main Street

One of the most infamous shops at Disneyland was the Intimate Apparel Shop on Main Street, U.S.A., which (not surprisingly) didn’t even last a year.



See the stuffed granny in the rocking chair on the porch? She would welcome you into the splendor of a “museum” that taught you everything you wanted to know about women’s undergarments dating back to the late 19th century. Naturally, you could buy current merchandise, too. I wonder if the tree was put there to intentionally cover the signage from the little kiddies?



This angle from October 1955 gives an unobstructed view:



For those eagle-eyed viewers, you might have noticed the HM Company circle on both sides of the Intimate Apparel shop sign. Here’s an ad from the Hollywood-Maxwell Company, aka “The Wonderful Wizard of Bras.” The little wizard on the left can also be seen on the Disneyland sign between the H and the M.



Edited from the underpinningsmuseum website:

Hollywood-Maxwell was the first in a line of Californian brassiere manufacturers which entered the American market in 1929. Hollywood was a place of glamour and aspiration in the 1930s and it wasn’t long before the American woman’s desire for a movie star look had boosted the sale of the latest bra innovations from these companies, simply via their association with this famous Los Angeles neighborhood. Although most brassiere adverts did not feature movie stars, Hollywood-Maxwell claimed that its products were used exclusively in motion pictures made by Paramount. Hollywood-Maxwell founder Joseph R. Bowen patented a cup stabilization technique he called ‘Whirlpool stitching’ in 1935. This much imitated innovation used concentric rings of stitches to produce a rounded shape in the 1930s and a more pointed cup in the 40s and 50s.

Want to see a Hollywood-Maxwell  label? Of course you do.



The location of the former Hollywood-Maxwell company on Hollywood Boulevard is now the Stella Adler Academy of Acting and Theatre, located next to the Snow White Cafe. I wonder if Snow wore HM brassieres?

This color slide from the opposite angle was stamped August 1956; either the photographer took a long time to develop their slides or the sign (and stuffed lady in the rocking chair) stayed around after the store closed.



By the time of this May 1958 image, all signs of the Intimate Apparel shop had been erased.



From July 1959, a young guest sits on the porch where “granny” used to rock:





The China Closet took over the space; this rare interior shot from October 1960 shows the former location of the Intimate Apparel shop. Note how the trim on the porch matches!



I shot this 2007 image from the Omnibus; the rocking chairs are gone and have been replaced with somewhat uncomfortable wooden chairs.



Today, the door is permanently sealed and there’s a Rolly Crump tribute sign (for Fargo’s Palm Parlor) that hangs over the porch.



Does the Disney Corporation trust its guests? Hell no. NOBODY is walking away with these chairs. They are permanently affixed to the floor.



See more Disneyland Main Street photos at my main website.