Voyeurism, the Disney Way!

“Take a peek!”

With those words, 1957 Disneyland guests were invited to get a tantalizing glimpse of International Street. This amazing project would have been a precursor to EPCOT. For a better view, all you had to do was “Turn knob to fit eye.” Sounds like a torture advice to me! But hey, how about that vintage Mickey Mouse balloon?!?



As a frame of reference, here’s a previously posted shot of Disneyland Town Square from 1956...before the deadline got pushed!





Sadly, this street was not to be, as construction never began on the project.

See more Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.

Summer of 56

These images were shot during the Summer of 1956. The Park had already welcomed over 5 million guests in just one year.



Over in Town Square, you can see the Horse-Drawn Streetcar...



as well as guests gawking through the peepholes to see what was going on at International Street. Sorry folks...it never came.



Over by the Castle it appears that there was some kind of Robin Hood show going on.



A closeup of the two performers:



Previously I posted two other shots in the same vicinity and the same time period:





And back to the “new” batch that I was featuring, I end this post with a shot of the character cutouts that were located near the Red Wagon Inn. How about that Disneyland pennant?



Make sure you order your copy of “Walt Disney's Disneyland” which features photos from the collection of yours truly.

See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland photos at my main website.

1950s Town Square Blowout

Let's spend a day in Town Square, circa 1950s! This first image was marked 1957. Whether that's correct or not, you can tell by the sparse landscaping on the hill behind the Fire Department that it's definitely early Disneyland! In this detailed view, you can see the Disneyland News available in front of City Hall.



A closeup of the Fire Department and Bekins Storage, which is now part of the Main Street Emporium.



The rest of today's images are from the Harry Pollak collection, circa 1957. This is the same gent who brought you images of New Orleans, which was most likely from the same trip out West that he journeyed on from Wilmington, Delaware.



Were the three gals in front of the Fire Department waiting for Walt?



Harry shows us the newfangled Horseless Carriage in this image:



...as well as the never-to-be-finished International Street:



Two more gorgeous shots of early Town Square from Harry:



He was a photographer after my own heart!



See more photos at my main website.

Disneyland Town Square, Summer 1956

Welcome to Disneyland's Town Square, circa 1956. Need some dinero? How about stopping by the Bank of America Town Square branch?

This detailed view shows that Town Square Realty is still around (selling swamp parcels in Orlando to unsuspecting guests, perhaps?). At the information/souvenir kiosk, you can buy a paper parasol, a guidebook, or one of those cool plastic white hard hats. The two gents in the booth seem to be enjoying the shade while the older gent is sucking on his cig for all its worth.



Pulling back a bit we get a better view of the east side of the square.



Maxwell House is still in operation, although on this very day in 1957 it would close down (that does call for an un-happy anniversary?) and International Street is being heralded by a construction wall behind which absolutely nothing is being constructed.



Last detail: how about these fancy trash cans? Nothing but state-of-the-art here!



See more Daveland vintage & current Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.

1957 Disneyland Town Square and Alice Tribute

This colorful image from 1957 shows a bustling Disneyland Town Square with plenty of details to gawk at, like this first one showing a gent filming a home movie next to a placard advertising the Horse-Drawn Streetcar.



In this detailed view, you can see the tip of the construction wall for the never-constructed International Street with a few flags atop of it. The Baby Stroller shop is also visible here, with a stroller hanging down over the door just in case you couldn't read the sign.



In other news, the beloved Ann B. Davis, best known as Alice from "The Brady Bunch" has now joined Sam The Butcher (Allan Melvin) in eternity. I'll bet they're bowling together.



Zooming in, you see her looking lovingly at Jan (Eve Plumb), who also suffered the fate of being the middle child.



Here's the Brady gang at King's Island. Note the famous architectural plans that got lost (temporarily of course), causing all kinds of drama.



A shot of me from years past, posing in front of the home whose façade was used for the exterior shots of the TV show.



And in case you wondered, the "B" stands for Bradford. Who knew?

See more Daveland Disneyland photos at my main website.

2000th Post Extravaganza: Town Square & Main Street

I think that before I continue on my ideal visit of Disneyland (courtesy The Time Tunnel), I would need to buy a genuine pair of Mouse Ears. What better place than the Mad Hatter in Town Square?

Let's follow the festive marching band around the corner to International Street.



What? International Street? That's right...if you had visited at the right time, you'd have seen this marquee hailing the debut of International Street in 1957.



And then it became 1958.



There were even "peepholes" that allowed guests to see what was going to be appearing behind the walls.



Behind this quaint older couple...



You can see that the same wall had been painted, and the date was changed to 1959.



Since we're barely out of Town Square, it is fairly easy to tell that this is going to be a long day. Maybe we should join this young couple for a cup of java at the Hills Brothers Coffee House.





The Coffee Garden looks very inviting, and is a great place to people watch. With a Time Tunnel at my disposal, there is no rush to hit the attractions.





Goofy & Pluto! Could the day get any better?





Before wrapping up today's post, I think I'll take a moment to enjoy a musical interlude at the Wurlitzer Shop on Main Street.



Lasting until September 1968, The Wurlitzer Shop was the place to go to hear demonstrations of pianos (player and standard) and organs. You could buy one, too (I wonder if it would fit in a locker?), but chances are you stopped in to be entertained.



Guests would leave their contact information if interested in learning more about what they saw and heard here (which would be helpful if your locker wasn't big enough).





Turning the corner to Main Street, you'll find the Wonderland Music Shop. Lasting barely a year, this store became the Magic Shop and was owned by Merv Taylor until 1965.



So much to see ahead!



Please come back for the rest of my Time Tunnel Tour.

See more vintage & current Town Square photos on my Disneyland Town Square web page.