In my collection, I have a vintage silhouette cut at the Disneyland Main Street Silhouette Studio. You can see where it is located in this August 1956 shot, just a few months after it had opened in January (originally it was the short-lived Grandma’s Baby Shop):
…and how it looked when I shot it in 2015:
Zooming into the printed signature on the silhouette, we see the name Alex, with a pair of scissors cleverly standing in for the letter “A”:
Who was Alex? In the June 1956 edition of the Disneyland News, we can see a shot of him inside the newsprint pages.
Below, Main Street Silhouette Studio artist Alex DeGonslar presents singer/actress Jane Powell with a portrait he had just cut of her:
As fate would have it, I was contacted by his granddaughter who happened to stumble upon my blog. How cool is that? She was kind enough to share these family photos of Alexander at work, beginning with this image from 1956:
The next two photos show Alexander in the window of the shop:
The below shot is from September 1960. And in case you’re new to this blog or vintage Disneyland photos, let me inform you just how rare interior shots of shops/stores/attractions are.
From August 1961:
So fun to look at the detailed pictures on the wall. I wonder who the people in the photos are? I am guessing they were celebrities or dignitaries of some kind.
This 1962 image is labeled as being shot at Disney; since the background doesn’t seem like Disneyland, I am going to guess that it might have been shot at the Studio in Burbank. I believe the man that Alexander is cutting is actor/comedian Cliff Arquette, better known as Charlie Weaver.
What an unexpected treasure trove! Thanks so much to Alexander’s granddaughter for furnishing these. If you were a reader of Highlights Magazine as a tot, you might remember Goofus and Gallant. She is a true Gallant!
Just today, I was contacted by Goofus:
I kinda upset that you didn't do enough reach search on every silhouette artist that worked there.. on main. Street.. because my grandfather [name removed to protect the rude], was silhouette artist. For over 37 years.
Instead of supplying info or photos, they dumped their bad attitude on me. A true Goofus. This makes me all the more appreciative of the DeGonslar family!
See more Disneyland Silhouette Shop photos at my main website.
