Today seems like a good day to relax in Disneyland’s Town Square, especially with some photos from the Park’s early years. In this 1956 image, chicken wire is still the standard for protecting the plants, and the Bekins Storage area features the unique architectural details that would later be removed.
Ugh. Who approved this change?
Back to happier times…a detailed view of a cast member cleaning up one of the A-Frame signs in the Square.
A few from March 8, 1956:
Who wants to be a Fireman? This could be your opportunity.
Note that City Hall at this time is for First Aid and Press Information:
Both these boys are doing their part to show support for Mickey Mouse!
Mabel Normand is at the Main Street Cinema and two Keystone Kops are getting ready to wow guests with some music as they cross the street.
Glad I wasn’t there that day; the Disneyland Railroad was temporarily closed!
Music stands are piled up in the Opera House alcove, awaiting the Disneyland Band to pull them out for a concert.
See…I don’t make this stuff up!
This was back when there was a Print Shop in Town Square; the Disneyland News is for sale in front of the window:
These two DANGEROUS gents are getting ready to attempt some mischief in Town Square, roughly 1955-56:
Be glad there was no ammo in the 19th century cannon. Walt was smart enough to have these sealed up before these screwballs arrived. Also note the chicken wire around the landscaping:
One of the goofballs thought it would be funny to have his buddy take a photo of him pretending to blow his head off with the rifle the Tobacco Wooden Indian was holding. I wonder if these kids survived into adulthood?
Moving ahead a few years to August 3, 1959:
Bekins is still there!
Thus ends our day in 1950s Town Square.
See more Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.
“Leave it to Beaver” was a popular TV show of the 1950s, running from 1957 to 1963. During its original run, it never broke into the top 30 Nielsen ratings, but thanks to reruns, it became an even bigger hit. All I remember hearing about “Leave it to Beaver” was that my parents did not allow my older brothers to watch it, due to the character of Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond), a wise-ass who has little respect for adults. They were afraid he might rub off on them. Jerry Mathers played the title character, and is shown here with his sister Susie at Disneyland’s Fort Wilderness. From the publicity caption:
MAPREADING BEAVER
ANAHEIM, CALIF.: As his sister Susie, 8, points helpfully, Jerry Mathers, 10, who stars as Beaver on ABC-TV’s program “Leave it to Beaver,” consults a map of Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland, in Anaheim, California. Busy little star that he is, Jerry couldn’t resist taking time out for a tour of the famous Park. 1/21/59.
If you want a look at the brochure Jerry is reading, here you go:
…and the reverse side:
A color view of Fort Wilderness, from March 1959, right about the time Mathers made his visit:
A wide view of the area where Mathers was shot, October 1958:
Good thing Eddie Haskell wasn’t there; he probably would have told The Beav to jump! From July 1959, you can see kids loved to be up on “the balcony”:
In later years, Mathers and Tony Dow (who played his older brother, Wally) filmed a PSA at Disneyland City Hall encouraging people to register to vote:
See more Disneyland Fort Wilderness photos at my main website.
Recently, a friend sent me a link to a YouTube video titled, “Disneyland’s Abandoned Police Station — And the Mystery Hiding Inside” from Hey Brickey! The video breathlessly begins with the ginger-bearded Brickey dramatically discussing the topic:
Friends, you have walked past it, in fact every single one of us has ignored this building. Just through Disneyland’s left entrance tunnel, there is a building that almost nobody notices. This building was the Disneyland Police Department, and when Disneyland opened 70 years ago, it opened with a real Police Force. As we learned, there were real crimes happening! But how could one of the very first buildings that you see when you walk into the Park end up being one of the least documented buildings in Disneyland’s 70 years?
Wait a minute…a Police Department building at Disneyland? How did I not notice this before? Brickey goes on to give my site a nice little credit:
When you have an idea for a video, and you go over to davelandweb.com, probably the largest public collection of vintage Disneyland photos and you realize good old Dave doesn’t have any photos of the Disneyland Police Department, you know you’ve struck obscure gold!
One of the photos Brickey uses from my collection in his video is this previously posted shot of a Security Officer at the Park in Town Square.
I ended up going down a rabbit hole one evening that lasted until midnight, as I combed through every shot I could find of the Disneyland Police Department office which was on the left-hand side of City Hall in Town Square. It’s really not all that shocking that this small portion of City Hall was rarely photographed. In 1955, who would enter Disneyland and say, “Hey, I can’t wait to photograph the Police Department!” The answer would be: nobody. As Walt intended, guests were focused on the Castle as soon as it came into view in Town Square. A tree planted in front of the Disneyland Police Department made it nearly impossible to capture, and if you only have a roll of 20-24 exposures on your 35mm film camera, you’re not going to waste it on that! Here’s what I found in my collection, beginning with this image from July 1955:
Yup, Brickey is right! There it is, with a Mickey Flag waving proudly over top of it and guests walking securely by it without any fear!
Also from Summer 1955. Notice the sparse landscaping.
Just behind the souvenir booth, we see the Police Department, also obscured by a tree.
Summer 1955:
This detailed view shows a Security Officer in front:
A little further right, just in front of City Hall is a Keystone Kop. While I appreciate being alerted to this building by Brickey, his video does have a few fallacies to it.
He attempts to say that the Keystone Kops were basically undercover cops. Not really; they were professional musicians. No overlap there, folks.
This 1955 3D image cuts off the Police Department:
Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, by stitching the left and right into one image, the Police Department is now visible:
The detailed view:
From October 27, 1956:
1957:
You can see that the light posts in front had “Police” written on the globes:
Still there in September 1958:
September 1958:
From December By December 1959, the sign had been blocked out:
In this April 1965 shot, you can see the Guided Tour Office was now roosting in the building:
A contemporary shot of the building, looking very much the same:
Here’s the video from Hey, Brickey! It’s a very fun and informative video; just make sure you do a little fact-checking before taking every word as the Gospel.
On another note, Stack’s Liberty Ranch, keeper of multiple theme park treasures, has put out an APB for former employees or guests who have interesting stories about days gone by in local theme park history. Check out the Stack’s Liberty Ranch Facebook Page and contact them through Direct Messages if you have a story (or know somebody else who does).
See more Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.
