Welcome to Town Square!

If you were visiting Disneyland on October 27, 1956, this is what you would have seen once you crossed under the Disneyland Railroad underpass on the right side of the entrance. Need information? This festive little booth can help. Anxious for a souvenir? How about a fun Disneyland construction-type hat? There they all, stacked ready for guests to purchase.



If your eye zooms into the back area of the photo you'd see lots of guests lined up along this wooden construction wall, peeking at the future of Disneyland.



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More 1956 Town Square & John Lennon

Today's circa 1956 view of Town Square shows The Wurlitzer Shop and (again) the Maxwell House Coffee Restaurant. Those two little girls REALLY want to go into the Wurlitzer Shop to hear those instruments in person. I hope dad relented, but the body language is saying "negatory."



A view taken from the west side of the square shows a gloomy and overcast day.



The detailed view shows two security officers wearing very un-Main Street attire.



In other pop culture news, today marks what would have been the 74th birthday of musician John Lennon. Back in May 1975, the former Beatle stopped by radio station WFIL in Philadelphia to make an appearance for the Helping Hand Marathon (you can see the blue version of the flyer on the wall behind them). According to my dad who was the General Manager of the station, Lennon was attempting to get some time away from Yoko.



Serving up all kinds of nerdy-liciousness, my dad and two brothers pose with Lennon. I was not allowed to go downtown that night; most likely mom thought I was too young to meet Lennon (she was NOT a Beatles fan!).



The red version of the flyer:



And an alternate version:



Although I wasn't allowed to go to the station that night, I was given a signed 45 as a consolation prize. I guess that will do!

See more Daveland vintage & current Disneyland Town Square 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.

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.

Scholarly Saturdays: Encyclopaedia Britannica & Main Street Pt. 2

Today’s Main Street frames focus on Town Square; our camera pans across The Wurlitzer Shop and Maxwell House (the Starbucks of its day!).

Vesey Walker can be seen leading the band in image #2:



The flag ceremonies still continue today.



And finally, we meet the two stars of the series; I’ll just call them Susie and Bobby. Hope you like them, cause you’re going to be seeing quite a bit of them every Saturday! A box of popcorn sure sounds good right about now—and that 20¢ price makes it sound even better! If you look in the background on the right-hand side, you'll see that the doors to the fire department are uncharacteristically shut.



See more Encyclopaedia Britannica photos at my website.

Wednesday WOW: Law Enforcement at Disneyland

The fantasy world of Disneyland and the cold reality of Law Enforcement are not two ideas that one thinks of at the same time very often. However, in this day and age (and even in the oft-romanticized world of the 1950’s), security is a necessary evil. Shot #1 is from September 1955 and shows local Orange County Officers standing in front of the temporary Personnel Annex on West Street (which was a pre-existing and converted building already on the property before the park was built). I have included a closeup of one of the officers for a better look at the uniform. Almost looks like these fellers got lost from the set of “The Andy Griffith Show.”



This October 1955 shot shows Disneyland security standing in front of the Maxwell House Coffee Shop in Town Square, which lasted from 1955–1957. Again, a closeup of the badge & patch are included at no extra charge.





See more Disneyland photos at my website.

March 1956, Town Square 1

There is something really exciting about walking under the two bridges of the Main Street Train Station; entering Town Square is truly transformational. Although I think that in the last few decades the illusion is not quite as good, you do still feel like you have stepped into yesteryear. Today’s post is the first few images from our March 1956 photographer’s Town Square set; the Horse-Drawn Streetcar is ready for business as are a few of the Carriages/Surreys. In the background of shot 2, you can see that International Street is still a possibility, and Maxwell House is ready to brew you a fresh cup of coffee. Seeing these early photos with the park not overtaken by throngs, it is easier to get caught up in the fantasy of being on a turn-of-the-century Main Street.



This sheriff looks like he’s just itchin’ to arrest somebody!



Here’s a detail of the same photo showing the “Be A Fireman” sign in front of the Fire Department.



See more vintage Town Square photos on my regular website.

Undated Town Square

This undated little beauty came with the same batch as yesterday’s shot, so is most likely 1955/56. I am assuming this is a guest band not affiliated with the park, as Disneyland often has guest musical groups perform/march (which I know from personal experience back in 1979/80). Note the Maxwell House Restaurant on the left and the evil Baby Stroller Shop, which has been mercifully replaced with the Mad Hatter Shop.

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