Trojans in the Park!

January 1963, and the USC band is playing in Town Square. Victorious from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, it would appear that they were given the honor of a concert at the entrance to the Park, still decorated for the 1962 Christmas season.



Over near City Hall, the former Disney Police Department has been stripped of its name with a blank sign above the door.



The Tour Guides were not allowed to take over this building yet; instead, they had to make do with the little gingerbread booth on the right of the detailed image below. Note that the light posts in front have been painted all black. How gloomy!



That was the easiest way to cover up the original white lettering that alerted guests that “the fuzz” could be found inside:



At some point between January 1963 and April 1965 (the photo below), the Guided Tour letters finally gave a designation to this Town Square building.



See more Disneyland Town Square photos at my main website.

51 Years Ago Today: 1962 Rose Bowl Game

Apparently, voting stops tonight, not last night as I previously thought. So...I am pleading to help get me into the top ten of the South Magazine photo contest; please feel free to FB or Tweet the link to all your friends, too. Many many thanks!

Back to today's regularly scheduled post.



Fifty-one years ago today, the 48th Annual Rose Bowl Game was a match between Minnesota and UCLA.

From the accompanying publicity blurb:

ON HORNS of dilemma?—It might be true come Jan. 1 when Minnesota meets UCLA in the Rose Bowl, but all Gopher quarterback Sandy Stephens is doing is indulging in football fantasy on a visit to Disneyland. DEC. 24 1961

I love how the Silly Reindeer are part of the photo. Sadly for the Bruins, it was a crushing defeat with the Gophers trouncing them 21—3. Stephens was named the Rose Bowl Player of the Game. This also marked the first national television broadcast of a college football game in color.

A summary of the 1962 big game:

Minnesota (7-2) makes good in its comeback try by downing UCLA (7-3), coached by Bill Barnes, 21-3. Murray Warmath's inside-the-tackle steady grinding pays off against UCLA'S defense designed to stop the outside rollouts of Sandy Stephens. Minnesota puts it away with two long drives after a fumble recovery sets up the first touchdown, Stephens scoring twice and Bill Munsey once. The archaic UCLA single wing produces only an early 28-yard field goal by Bobby Smith.

Since 1959, Disneyland has welcomed the Rose Bowl teams each year for a special ceremony in the park. Here are a few previously posted shots from my collection showing the Rose Queens, their court, and the football players from the corresponding year.

Rose Queen Margarethe Bertelson, December 1959:



Bertelson's court:



And with the football players; the final game score was Washington Huskies 44, Wisconsin Badgers 8.



Carole Washburn and her court, December 19, 1960:





With the athletes; final game score Washington 17, Minnesota 7.



Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler, Captain James Mandich, Rose Queen Pamala Tedesco, USC Captain Bob Jensen, Jim Gunn, co-captain and assistant coach Marv Goux, Dec. 22, 1969. Final game score: USC 10, Michigan 3.



I hope you are well from the celebration of last night and enjoying the first day of 2013! See more vintage and current Disneyland photos on my Disneyland photo web pages.