Jayne signs an autograph

Back to Jayne Mansfield at Disneyland, circa May 1957. As luck would have it, I have been able to acquire a few more images from her family visit to the Park. In the previously posted shot above, Jayne is attempting to sign an autograph on the back of a cast member. The recently purchased image below shows her writing it on the side of the passenger car. I am going to “assume” that she had difficulty writing on the cast member’s back and decided to use the train siding instead.



A closeup of the sign on the back of the passenger car:



This shot has Jayne’s husband, bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay at left, Jayne and daughter, and radio/TV star Art Linkletter, near the Casey Junior attraction:



I wouldn’t bet the house, but the guy at left looks an awful lot like silent screen star Harold Lloyd:



MELTDOWN! It would appear the Jayne’s daughter is on the verge of a meltdown on the King Arthur Carrousel; it had been a very long day!



See more Jayne Mansfield photos at my main website.

65 Years Ago: Disneyland, August 1960, Pt. 2

Our August 1960 photographer captured the Disneyland Main Street Station along with the Kalamazoo Handcar sitting on the tracks in front. Also note the Kodak Picture Spot sign in the right foreground. Since the population reads as 18 million, these date stamped slides were most likely shot in July, since my records show that in August the population jumped to 22 million.



Regardless, I let out a yell when I saw this passenger car interior shot in the collection!



Interior shots of the passenger cars are fairly rare; here’s one from the 1950s:



And a super cool one from the early years when there used to be TWO tracks that operated at the same time!



After taking the Grand Circle Tour, our 1960 photographer ventured down Main Street, U.S.A.



Zooming in you can see the signs on the lightposts that are promoting the barely one-year old Matterhorn attraction. Behind the Omnibus is a banner proclaiming the “new” (actually upgraded!) Nature’s Wonderland attraction.



A better shot of the banner which also promotes the America the Beautiful and Art of Animation attractions in Tomorrowland:



A color shot of the banner:



The same banner hung over the entrance tunnels, too:



Back to 1960, our photographer entered Tomorrowland:



I have always loved these mod light posts which look like martini olives on toothpicks! Where can I get one?



A closeup of the Hat Bar which is visible in the previous shot:



…and the attraction poster for the Columbia ship which sailed on the Rivers of America:



Still more to come!

See more Disneyland photos at my main website.

#3 At The Roundhouse

These two images from 1980 show the Fred Gurley locomotive parked at the Disneyland Roundhouse. It has been in service at the park since March 28, 1958 but was built back in 1894. It’s the oldest locomotive in operation at the Park.



In September 2011, I was able to capture the Gurley at the Roundhouse again. By this time, it had been converted to burn biodiesel fuel.



A closer view:



Just for the heck of it, here’s a shot of the Roundhouse from June 1969.



Something appears to be parked in there, but I can’t tell what. On the far left you can see one of the signs from the freeway.



See more Disneyland Railroad Roundhouse photos at my main website.

Friday at the Frontierland Depot, July 1959

I’m a sucker when it comes to vintage Disneyland Frontierland Depot shots, and this July 1959 has so much going on! How about the gals wearing the matching style dresses? Did they use the same pattern? Were they best friends? Sisters? Who knows. And check out those positively primitive strollers at right. Note the Disneyland mailbox, for all those who want to send a postcard home to the loved ones.



This other shot, also from July 1959, was taken a few feet back, and shows the Ride the Fast Freight signs out front.



Highball in open air?



Not sure about the correlation between “Highball” and standing up in these open air freight cars.



Anyone? See more Disneyland Frontierland Depot photos at my main website.

Mansfield Monday: Jayne on the Disneyland Railroad!

No April Fools’ jokes today. Just the real thing. I recently acquired another shot from Jayne Mansfield’s May 1957 trip to Disneyland. In this shot, she is making the day of one of the Disneyland Railroad conductors. I have a feeling he had to go him early from his shift after having had Jayne sign an autograph, using his back as a desk. How many guys can claim that?



Zooming in, you can see the detail of the Santa Fe buttons on his vest as well as one of the tickets he collected for train fare. I wonder if it was a ticket Jayne had touched?

See more Jayne Mansfield at Disneyland photos at my main website.

Disneyland Population, Part 1

Dating vintage Disneyland slides/photos can be a bit of a process. Not all slides and photos have notations telling when they were shot. These rare images often come from estate sales then resold and split up on ebay, leaving any kind of historical context up to the buyer to figure out. Even if a slide has a month and year stamped on the back of the vintage cardboard mount, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the image was shot at that time. The film could have sat in the camera for months, sometimes even a year before the photographer took it to the store to be developed. In addition, sometimes duplicate slides were made, rendering the date stamp even more useless. In the end, the collector often has to rely on visual clues to discover exactly when these photos were shot. At the Main Street Train Station, the population number that hangs above the tracks can narrow things down a bit. The first number that shows up from a July 1955 slide in my collection is 5,000,000. I’m not sure how Walt came up with that number (especially since approximately 30,000 guests attended opening day), but it appears to have lasted until at least the summer of 1957. I have read that the 5,000000 mark wasn’t hit until October 1956.



From August 1956, still at 5,000,000:





Holding firm as of July 1957:





By July 28, 1958, the number had doubled to 10,000,000:





August 3, 1959, still at 10,000,000:





It would appear that at some point during August 1959, the number was increased to 15,000,000:





In this October 1959, the number remains at 15,000,000 while workers perform some maintenance on the station:





This slide, stamped October 1959, shows an increase to 18,000,000:





From November 1959, population still holding at 18,000,000 and would stay that way into the New Year:





…as seen in this photo stamped December 1959:





What would happen in the 1960s? Come back to find out in part two!

See more Disneyland population numbers at my main website.