Town Square goes Global

There was a time when the Disneyland landscape was a lot more diverse; instead of being all about the Disney brand, there were many other corporations who had a presence in the Park. This was especially apparent on Main Street, U.S.A.



Howard Van Lines was a transport company founded in 1933 by George T. Howard in Dallas, Texas. It became Global Van Lines in 1957 when it was acquired by Trans-Ocean Van Service of Long Beach, California. One of its claims to fame came in the 1960s when it moved equipment for NASA. For many years, its slogan was "Modern moving with old fashioned care."



These little kids from April 1977 probably don't care what Global was moving; they were busy having a blast pretending they were driving this moving truck:



Over the years Global changed hands quite often; it was acquired in 1981 by WKG Corporation of Houston, Texas then sold to Contrans Corporation in 1985, followed by Global agents who acquired the company in 1990, making it similar in form to a cooperative. It was acquired by Interstate Van Lines in 1998 then sold to Allied Worldwide in 2000, which became Sirva. That's a lot of change!

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

What Happened To My Vehicle, Pt. 1

Photo #1 for today shows a vintage stat of a Disneyland vehicle on the backlot of the Disney Studios in Burbank. For the life of me, I can't figure out what this ended up being. My guess is that it might have been repurposed by Bob Gurr for the Carnation Gurr-mobile that sat on West Center Street for years, as the bodies are somewhat similar. But like I said, this is only a guess.



From the Mickey Mouse Club Magazine of August 1957 comes this information:

BRAND-NEW OLD AUTOMOBILES: UNIQUE ANTIQUES

Those delightful, brightly-painted antique autos, trucks and buses one sees at Disneyland have a special charm for everyone. It is fun to see them, but even more fun to climb aboard and putt-putt down Main Street toward Sleeping Beauty Caslte. Building them was fun, too.

First, two autos of the period around 1904, with two-cylinder low speed engines, were constructed. All parts were similar to those used in the cars of those early years, but they actualy were brand-new stock parts*. The resulting vehicles were antiques but they were of no particular make of car, and being completely new they were unique. A Carnation delivery truck, in the style of 1910, was also built. Then came a double-decked omnibus patterned after Frnehc and ENglish buses of 1908. It was such a hit all who rode in it that a second one was built. All of these colorful vehicles, designed and constructed by Robert Gurr and a group of experts, are referred to as Gurrmobiles.

*Bob Gurr himself told me that he felt it was much more logical to use standard parts already available than to create something newfangled; his theory (which makes a lotta' sense) was that whenever something was broken or needed to be replaced, it would be much easier to repair.

Next up are two vintage shots of (once again, guessing) a vehicle that could have been what was refurbished into the Bekins Storage Truck.





Here is the Bekins Truck in Town Square:





When Global Van Lines replaced Bekins, a completely different (and motorized) vehicle was used:





I am sure there are a few readers out there who know if there are correlations or not between the vintage shots taken on the Burbank lot and the vehicles in the park...

See more vintage & current Disneyland Behind-The-Scenes/Construction photos on my Disneyland Construction web page.

Main Street, U.S.A., January 1964

Your journey down Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A., circa 1964, might begin aboard the Horse-Drawn Streetcar. Here's how that same journey would look about 49 years later:



Nearby, the Global Van Lines truck does a great job of advertising the company that sponsored the locker rental program in Town Square:



If you're having difficulty recognizing this section of Town Square, it's because it went through a major architectural overhaul many years ago. Here's how it looks today. I am assuming that the name "Carriage Place" is a nod to the former tenants and the vehicle that was once parked in front.



Up the street in the Plaza Gardens band conductor Vesey Walker is at the baton, entertaining the guests sitting in the shade of the bandstand.



Zooming in, you can see Vesey's credit to the right of the stage:



and of course, I had to zoom in for a better look at the band:



What became of the Plaza Gardens? You'll have to wait until my next trip to Anaheim to see a comparison photo of this area.

See more vintage & current Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. photos on my Main Street, U.S.A. web pages.

Party Gras Madness!

My collection has a huge void when it comes to the 1990's; I can't say I've spent a lot of energy collecting images from that period, and I only visited the park twice during that decade. Thanks to a member of MiceChat who saw some of my photos, I have been permitted these photos taken by Kathy Schneider of Party Gras.



Running from January through November of 1990, The Party Gras parade graced Main Street U.S.A. with an elaborate mix of over 150 singers, dancers, and stiltwalkers. Souvenir beads and coins were tossed to guests on the sidelines in honor of the Park's 35th Anniversary.



Most interesting to me is the construction going on in the background at Town Square; most likely this is when the reconfiguration of the façades occurred at the former location of Bekins/Global Van Lines Storage.





























For a before and after shot of the Bekins/Global façades, here are two "befores":





And one "after":



See more vintage & current Disneyland Tomorrowland photos on my Tomorrowland web pages.

More April 1977 Disneyland photos, Pt. 2

Today's April 1977 images are a tribute to good ol' fashioned Americana. The Golden Horseshoe has been a guest favorite at Disneyland since opening day. When this photo of the marquee was taken, Pepsi-Cola was the sponsor. The look of the interior has changed very little (if any) over the years.



This rare shot of the actual show features Fulton Burley and two of the dancing girls that stepped out of the Police Gazette magazine.



In Town Square, three of the cutest little tots are playing around in the Global Van Lines Truck, which was previously The Bekins Truck before a sponsorship switch caused that change.



This is one of my very favorite photos. How adorable is this? You know this little boy would rather be doing ANYTHING but sitting in this chair posing for some stupid ol' drawing, but hey...he's still doing it. Can you imagine what his parents had to bribe him with? I wonder if the artist captured the sour look on his face? I also wonder how much hairspray the artist used a day? So many questions...and not enough answers.



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

Disneyland Construction: Old School

This first somewhat blurry (and previously published) photo from September 1965 shows the Town Square Fire Department. I'm just setting the stage with this shot, which is followed by one taken one month later showing a bit of construction going on. It appears that the pavement is being repaired or replaced. Interesting to see how back in the day, ropes and a few barricades were sufficient. No need to worry about guests getting hurt or any kind of liability.



Zooming in for some fun details; oh that open gate is so tempting! If only I'd been there that day...



Today, any kind of construction at Disneyland means that temporary walls that are at least 7 feet tall must be erected to block out what's going on behind them. Is it secrecy, or is it liability? Here's a recent shot of the same area with a bit of refurb going on.



See more Disneyland Town Square Fire Department photos on my Fire Department web page.

Disneyland October 1972, Pt. 1

How about starting Labor Day off with a tribute to the decade of Leisure Suits; that's right readers, the 1970's! A variety of polyester fashion awaits you at the Main Street Train Station, and best of all...the C.K. Holliday is right there to whisk you off to your destination of choice. I always get an extra ping of excitement when I see a train at the station as I enter the gates.



The Disneyland Band is entertaining guests in Town Square:



In the background, you can see that Global Van Lines still has a presence in Town Square, before the Emporium pushed them out:



The Omnibus is passing by the Penny Arcade, packed with sight-seeing guests:




I thought I'd zoom in so that you can get up close and personal with these guests:



Time to wrap this one up; I think I'll stop by the Plaza Inn for a piece of their Caramel Apple Pie. I can taste that lip-smacking gooey-goodness now.



See more vintage and contemporary Disneyland Railroad photos at my Disneyland Railroad web page.