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.

A Cutout A Day: Davy Crockett

Last one of this series shows the Davy Crockett cutout. Looks like the Frontierland hero has his name in lights; painted lights at least. I love the little boy's expression as he stares into the bear's gnashing teeth!

More vintage Disneyland cutout fun at my main website.

A Cutout A Day: Captain Nemo

Just outside of the Red Wagon Inn (now the Plaza Inn), guests could pose behind painted cutout boards of their favorite cartoon characters...or in this case, a live-action character. This board represents Captain Nemo from the Disney live-action classic, "20K Leagues Under The Sea." Nemo was played by James Mason. I wonder what Disney artist painted this?

More vintage Disneyland cutout fun at my main website.

A Cutout A Day: Pluto

Part two of this series shows Pluto licking the heck out of the little tot behind the cutout. He seems to be ok with the cartoon canine's slobber. I would be too.

More vintage Disneyland cutout fun at my main website.

A Cutout A Day: Dopey

From a fantastic batch of 1956 images comes this shot of a young tot at Disneyland posing behind one of the many cutouts located near Central Plaza. Guests could stick their heads in and pretend they were one of many famous Disney characters. This one is Dopey. Literally? I can't say.

More vintage Disneyland cutout fun at my main website.

Kids Not Included

We've all see vintage photos of the cut-outs that were once located in Central Plaza at Disneyland. Today's shot features a classic image of a guest posing with Donald Duck. What I've never seen before is the sign in the lower right frame of the photo that states: "FREE Use your own camera and kids. Compliments of the Art Corner at Disneyland."



The other shot from this batch shows the Captain Nemo cutout:



More Disneyland vintage cutout fun at my main website.

Gone Fishing

I have added a "new" vintage cutout to my collection. Located near the Plaza Inn during the 1950s, guests of Disneyland could poke their heads through the holes and create their own photographic souvenirs. Here are some of the other previously posted ones that guests could choose from:











More Central Plaza images at my main website.

Disneyland Pre-Selfie

Back in the day before you saw people connected to their phones, selfless and selfie-sticks were not even a blip on the radar. "Fun" had to be low-tech. These painted cutouts in Central Plaza were about as low-tech as you could get…but the guests loved 'em! First up from this batch of 1950's black and white images are one of a little boy who wants to be Captain Nemo from 20k Leagues Under the Sea.

Davy Crockett (this one spells the Davy with an "e"; somebody forgot to proof this one!) was another popular Disney "character" at the time:



My very favorite Disney character: Dopey!



Last shot for today is a stray one from this batch of an unidentified beach.



See more Disneyland cutout fun at my main website.

Tomorrowland Art Corner Submarine Cutout

Thanks to Daveland reader Rick Schneblin, I have now expanded my Disneyland vintage cutout collection to include the Submarine Voyage. It seems that these cutouts were at various locations. Rick seems to remember that this one from a 1965 trip to the park was located in the Tomorrowland Art Corner. As he recalls...

"The photo was restored from a badly damaged original (that is what took the most time), and I believe the year was 1965 when I was ten. We were on our way to the Flying Saucer attraction, and I remember the photo place was just around the corner. I am in the diving suit, my brother is on the left, and my dad is watching on the right.

"My parents got divorced when I was nine. Walt was kind of my surrogate father. For visitation days, my dad asked me where I wanted to go, and it was always Disneyland. What kills me is my dad was a shutterbug and never brought his camera to the park!!! I guess he did not want to risk losing his Leica.

"My earliest memory was how hot it was to ride in Nature's Wonderland, and how relieved I was for the coolness of Rainbow Caverns. I never cared for the little house on the teetering rock…it looked fake. It seemed like YEARS that I had to wait for the Pirates of Caribbean and Haunted Mansion to open, but the wait was so worth it. I remember the thrill to this day of those two attractions, and I had the privilege of expressing that joy to X Atencio as well as Alice Davis.

"I also remember the summer heat relief I got at the Fantasyland theater. I do miss the quaintness of Main Street...it is pretty much a shopping mall now. Sad. The Magic Shop has only a fraction of the appeal…sigh."

Thanks a million Rick for sharing this great family photo!

See more vintage Disneyland Tomorrowland Art Corner photos on my main website.

Old School Jungle Cruise Photo Fun

Back before our nation was taken over by "high-tech," these handpainted cutout images provided a heap-o-fun for guests who posed behind the face holes. I believe the Kodak Shop on Main Street, U.S.A. was the headquarters for these. For this particular cutout, there was one space for a guest's head inside the hippo, and probably 2-3 guests could get "inside" the Jungle Cruise boat.

I am always on the lookout for these souvenir backgrounds, as I have begun restoring/colorizing them. Most of the original shots have not survived too well over the years. Fading, chemical spots...you name it. I am guessing the film stock used for these was not exactly top-notch.



A Matterhorn cutout from 1962 (note that there were spaces for 4 guests; a cartoon head was inserted to fill the fourth slot):



In living color:



A Monorail cutout:



And my color version:



Although the color images are...well, more colorful, there is still something uniquely wonderful about the original black and white versions. Any of my readers have their photo taken at Disneyland in one of these? I've always wondered exactly where this occurred. I've also wondered who painted these. Was it one of the nine old men? Or just an artistic cast member?

See more vintage & current Disneyland photos on my main website.

"Art" at Disneyland

"Art" lovers needed to look no further than Main Street, U.S.A. to find unique pieces to decorate their abodes. In the early years, original Disney cels could be purchased near the Plaza Inn, as you can see in this unfortunate beginning of the roll wacky exposure. The gent in the Stetson seems to be admiring little Alice.



Those not wanting to go quite as "high brow" as a Disney animated cel could create their own art, thanks to these colorful cutouts that were in the same area:



By the time this September 1960 color-shifted photo was taken, the art had moved to East Center Street.



Granted, the detail when zooming in is not that great, but these interpretations on canvas of the Castle and the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship appear somewhat amateurish.



If you're wondering how I could tell the previous shot was from East Center Street, just compare the buildings at the top of the photo with this shot of the Art Festival:



It would truly make my day to discover that this wacky pirate painting still exists:



"Live" artists were also on hand to do portraits for guests, as seen in this September 1964 photo:



If "art" wasn't your thing, you could always walk across the way to West Center Street and pick up some plastic flowers.



Nothing but "class" on Main Street!

See more vintage & current Disneyland East Center Street photos on my main website.

Matterhorn Cutout Fun

Initially, when I saw this first image come up for sale, I was going to pass on it. I already had two other cutout images for the Matterhorn in my collection. However, I noticed that this particular one had a bit of a "backstage" feature to it, as the cameraman accidentally caught the edge of the backdrop and the framing holding it up. Note the left-hand side. What a great idea to have the date as part of this souvenir photo opportunity!

The other ones in my collection are from December 30, 1962 (note how this group only had 3 people, so the 4th "face" was filled in with a cartoon character):



And from June 18, 1963:



As a follow-up to my previous post on Space Mountain construction, Bill H. sent me two shots from opening day, May 14, 1977:





See more vintage and current Disneyland Matterhorn photos on my Matterhorn web page.

TPE: Strollers, Edison Square, and Cutout Fun

Oh what a day...I knew there was a reason to love my time machine. Only 6 designated spots for strollers. THIS is the time to visit Disneyland!



In this 1980's sign, they forgot the part about "for the comfort of other guests."



As the fire engine zips down Main Street, it is possible to see a glimpse of a red striped tent on East Plaza Street.



When the park opened, this area was the original Art Corner.



Naturally, on my dream day at Disneyland, I'd snatch up a bunch of these cels to take home with me to the present and be RICH I tell you...RICH!



Later when the Art Corner moved, this area became the display for Edison Square, the never constructed section of Disneyland that was to be located behind Main Street.



Here's the map you could have seen. So many interesting things that didn't get built or were changed along the way:



Let's all thank the photographer who snapped these photos, shall we? See his reflection on the left?



I'll close out the post with a plethora of cutout fun. Pick your fave to pose with!























See more vintage & current Disneyland Central Plaza photos on my Central Plaza web page.



Meanwhile, on the red carpet at the Oscars...Miss Piggy is wearing a dress by Zac Posen, jewelry from Fred Leighton, shoes by Christian Louboutin, handbag from and hair styled by Kim Kimble. Kermit is wearing a tux from Brooks Brothers



For more on Miss Piggy's jewels:

1940s amethyst and diamond ring in gold (70.0 carats) --lavender is her signature color after all
1950s diamond and platinum swirl necklace (55 carats) with matching swirl bracelet (40 carats)



Celebrity hairstylist Kim Kimble (Beyonce, Shakira, Kerry Washington) put the finishing touches on Miss Piggy by adding a diamond and platinum headband (approx. 10 carats) and 1040s clip in the back.