Nails and Nixon

Richard Nixon visited Disneyland in August 1955 with his family. This image shows the then Vice President getting ready to put daughter Tricia on one of the Dumbo Flying elephants. Wife Pat is looking very fashionable in her hat, gloves, and purse at left. Zooming in, you can see a few boxes of nails just sitting inside the perimeter of the attraction. Maybe kids could throw them at the peasants below as they circled over Fantasyland!



Proof that the Dumbo ears were designed to flap up and down; in this detailed view you can see that the ear was not originally molded to the vehicle.



In consecutive shot #2, Tricia is now in the vehicle, as sister Julie anxiously awaits her turn on Dumbo.



Lots of cameras that day, including one daring gent who has one foot on Dumbo’s seat and another on the arm that attaches the vehicle to the center mechanism.



In this image from the USC Digital archive, you can see that Fess Parker was nearby. Apparently the photographer of the first two images did not want to include him!



See more Nixon family photos at Disneyland on my main website.

More Ice Cream for Nixon

Some of the mysteries were solved when I acquired this second batch of negatives of Vice President Richard Nixon and family at Disneyland from June 14, 1959 sharing an ice cream sundae at the Carnation Ice Cream Parlour on Main Street, U.S.A. This envelope gave the name of the waitress (Louise) and the two gentlemen in the back. At left is restaurant General Manager Mr. Knowles and standing next to him is Charles Cowling. I do not know any other information about these two (or charming Louise for that matter).



A closeup of the carnation on the menu cover:



I wonder what's in that toast from Mr. Knowles?



On the negative for this shot, the kids had an "X" through them; I guess the intention was to crop them out when the photo was published. I rectified the situation with a simple swipe of the cloth. Nixon's mother, Hannah, didn't make the frame. You can barely see the edge of her face at left.



See more Nixon at Disneyland photos at my main website.

A Sundae for Nixon

On June 14, 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon and family were invited to christen the Monorail. At some point in the day, they also enjoyed some ice cream at the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street U.S.A. His mother, Hannah Milhous Nixon, is at left, wearing the Special Guest tag in addition to the Guest Pass ribbon for the day.



Nobody seems to be paying attention to whatever it is that Vice President Nixon is talking about.



Nixon is shaking the hand of...no idea on this one. I'll give a thrill to one of my readers and let them chime in.



Whoever he is, he doesn't have the "Special Guest" designation that Mrs. Nixon has.



Tricia is not happy that her dad is the only one getting ice cream. No idea what Julie thinks, but it would appear that it is bringing some laughter to Mom and Dad.



Oh that sundae looks good.



Tricia reaches her spoon in for this one, but the rest of her is cropped out. I think I'll go see what's in the freezer. I'm hungry now.



More Nixon family at Disneyland photos at my main website.

60 Years Ago Today: Nixon at Disneyland Pt. 2

Finishing out the 60th anniversary of Vice President Richard Nixon's first trip to Disneyland are these shots from a journey on the Mark Twain riverboat. I love this first shot of the entire family on the dock, perfectly dressed for this momentous occasion.



Daughter Julie gets to ring the bell; a treat for any child!



Nixon seems to be enjoying the view from the top of the Twain. Who wouldn't?



In this image, the Twain is passing by the Chicken Plantation restaurant, which was located approximately where the Haunted Mansion is today, give or take a little real estate.



Nixon waves to onlookers from atop the Twain. Note the fire buckets…



which can still be found on the riverboat. Highly doubtful they are the same ones though.



More Nixon family at Disneyland on my main website.

60 Years Ago Today: Nixon at Disneyland

60 years ago today, the Richard Nixon family visited Disneyland for the very first time.



Six years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Nixon's daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, who graciously shared her memories of that day. She had nothing but nice things to say about Walt Disney. “He was so kind; and very approachable. He was also a very nice looking man.” Her father was given the “Key to City Hall” by none other than Davy Crockett (Fess Parker). “I was in heaven, meeting Fess Parker! It was a big deal to be there at Disneyland, especially because of the weekly broadcast that introduced the world to Disneyland with each episode. The characters, the castle...seeing it all in person was fantastic. It was such a joyful place!"



A closeup of the Key to City Hall shows that Walt didn't miss an opportunity to plug one of the Main Street Vendors, Yale Lock Manufacturing.



Here's an August 1955 image of the Yale & Towne Lock shop:



This particular trip was a family reunion for the Ryans (Pat's family) and the Nixons, and Julie enjoyed the company of her 7 male cousins. The family rode the Autopia cars (with 2 secret service men in tow for Vice President Nixon) as well as The Mark Twain, and Mr. Toad’s Wild Adventure.



The rest of today's images show the Nixon family enjoying the attractions in Fantasyland, beginning with Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.









Fess Parker watches as the Nixon girls get loaded into the Dumbo attraction:



Two of the Mad Tea Party:







Julie shared this other tidbit: "My favorite ride was (and still is) the Peter Pan ride.” I can't disagree with her on that one!



More Nixon family at Disneyland on my main website.

Richard Nixon, Space People, and Yorba Linda

Besides doing his ribbon cutting duties at Disneyland for the Monorail on June 14, 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon also made his way over to his hometown of Yorba Linda. Here, you can see the family (Tricia, Julie, and Pat) seated on the lawn near his birthplace. I believe that is Nixon's mother seated on the right.

Back at Disneyland over in Tomorrowland, Nixon is shown doing a futuristic meet and greet. Here's the caption that goes with this shot from the UCLA Digital Archive:

SPACE GREETINGS-A spaceman and spacegirl get a smile and handshake from Vice-President Nixon as he tours the ultra-modern attractions on display



Ever wanted a closeup of the Spaceman's belt?



This woman looks positively star struck; do you think it's Nixon or the Spaceman that has her looking so dazed?



See more Nixon family photos on my main website.

Building a Mountain from Scratch

Because of a recent addition to my collection, I am revisiting the construction of the mighty Matterhorn. When looking at the finished attraction, it's hard to believe that instead of rocks and boulders, the interior is actually a maze of steel girders. It all had to start somewhere, as you can see from this shot of the miniature scale model of the attraction. Walt almost looks a little puzzled as his hand gently glides towards the top of the model. In the background of the photo you'll see reference art as well as concept art for what the finished version will look like. Interesting to note that although the Skyway is shown, the Monorail and Submarine Voyage (being built at the same time) are nowhere to be seen.



A closeup of Walt again, posing with his models; the Castle is thrown in to show the imposing scale of the Matterhorn in comparison.



With the Moonliner looming in the background, workers toil to create the framework for the "rock work" that will cover the iron girders.





The Matterhorn's "skeleton":



I have attempted to put these construction photos in chronological order by comparing the progress of the mountain from top to bottom; many of these photos are undated. It is hard to believe that four major attractions were being worked on simultaneously: The Skyway, The Matterhorn, The Monorail, and The Submarine Voyage.





A color view:





Interesting to see how things looked from Frontierland:





Almost there, as you can see by these images that were shot consecutively:







May 1959; deadlines looming!



Still, with a little creative cropping, this May 11, 1959 publicity shot was able to whet the appetite of the public.



Finally, opening day with the Nixon family:



The Matterhorn still sparkles today, whether it's peeking out from the I5 Freeway, beckoning guests to come to Disneyland:



or inside the park itself:





Oh majestic Matterhorn...may you always be part of the Disneyland experience!

See more vintage & current Matterhorn photos on my Matterhorn web pages.