At Home with the Presidents

In honor of Presidents’ Day, my Monday post will show the trio of homes that I have visited. I have yet to scan the 1971 negatives from my childhood trip to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, so this vintage shot will have to do. Located in Alexandra, Virginia, the Palladian style home began construction in 1734 and went through a number of expansions and remodels over the next 45 years, yielding the present structure that guests can tour today.  

The closest you can get to seeing Washington himself is in Orlando, where his animatronic performs daily in the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World:



I’ve been to Monicello twice; once in 1971 and then returned again (with my own camera!) in 2017.



Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. President, began work on his neoclassic home in 1768, with a number of expansions and revisions that continued on until his death in 1826. 



He is also represented in the Hall of Presidents:



Want to see a panorama of the Hall of Presidents? Here you go:



I’ve never been to the home of our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln, but I have visited him at Disneyland’s Opera House:



…and seen his inferior counterpart in Orlando:



I also happened to catch him at the now defunct Tresor Gallery on Royal Street in New Orleans in 2015:



Jumping forward to our thirty-seventh president, Richard Nixon, I visited his birthplace in 2005.



Located on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, it is a very modest dwelling, built in 1912 from a mail order construction kit by his father, Frank Nixon.



What better place for the then vice president to celebrate the christening of the Disneyland Monorail in 1959 than at the Carnation Ice Cream Parlour? He is surrounded by his wife Pat, Louise the waitress, and daughter Tricia Nixon. General Manager Mr. Knowles seem to be giving an unspecified direction to the photographer from the background.



Now I’m craving an ice cream sundae.

See more Daveland photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley at Mount Vernon

Here’s a 1938 shot of Shirley on the lawn of George Washington’s home Mount Vernon, located in Alexandria, Virginia. Holding the camera at left is her publicity agent, Wendell “Doc” Bishop. As Shirley expert supreme, Rita Dubas, relayed in her book Shirley Temple: A Pictorial History of the World's Greatest Child Star:

[He] acted as press protector, buddy, and often personal assistant. His job was not only to garner media exposure for his star, but to make sure she was content on the set and off—which often meant that he would find himself involved in a game of “Squares,” or acting as Deputy to Shirley’s Texas Ranger.

What was Shirley doing at Mount Vernon? She was enjoying a trek across America during her summer vacation. To round out the post, here are a few vintage shots of Mount Vernon from the 1950s:







This photo of Shirley on the set of “Just Around the Corner” shows her wearing the same dress/jumper combo:



Shirley’s trip was big news; in fact it even made the cover of LIFE magazine!



Here’s the original shot used on the cover, taken at a wheat field in Junction City, Kansas:



See more Mount Vernon photos at my main website.

July 4th Fireworks Spectacular!

In honor of the 237th Birthday of our country, I am going to feature a few shots of the Fireworks Spectacular at Disneyland, with the first one from August 1958, followed by a July 1969 shot:



A few of the earlier ones that I shot myself from July 2006:





In this July 2008 photo, you can see Tinker Bell flying around the Castle turrets:



Former Tomorrowland Flight Circle cast member Cox Pilot shared his memories of the original woman who "played" Tinker Bell:

Tinker Bell began her flights over the Disneyland castle from the top of the Matterhorn in 1961. It's almost always been a real person up there (although they tried a dummy for a short while). The first Tink was a former circus performer in her 70’s named Tiny Kline, who originally wanted to hang from her teeth as she did in the circus (Disney would have none of that). The only way to stop her at the end was for her to crash into a mattress behind the berm! Kline retired in 1964 due to health problems and was replaced by Judy Kaye who was Tinker Bell for another decade. There was even a Mary Poppins for a while.

And lest we forget the REAL meaning behind July 4th, here are a few photos that celebrate two of the men that were crucial to the importance of that day. George Washington's home, Mount Vernon, circa 1952:



Thomas Jefferson's masterpiece, Monticello, from 1964:



And the building where the Declaration of Independence was signed, Independence Hall in Philadelphia:





Let freedom ring:



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