Holiday in Fantasyland, 1963

It’s December 1963, and my favorite feather hat gal’s daughter is meeting Pluto! In the background, you can see the Mad Hatter Shop. The detail shot below features the back of a Disneyland Tour Guide and two guests eating a DELICIOUS frozen treat from the Welch’s Grape Juice stand.



THIS feathered hat is even more spectacular. I think she wins the prize. Pluto thinks so, too.



Soaring high over Fantasyland on Dumbo, NOBODY’S feathered hat is safe. Hold on tight!



Moving a little further into the depths of Fantasyland we have STORY BOOK LAND! And of course Casey Jr., my favorite little circus train.



A rare shot of one of the Windmills:



The last two for the day show the Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship Restaurant:



…and what I probably miss the most about Disneyland of yore: Skull Rock Cove.



See more vintage Disneyland photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Shirley & Dorothy

No, not Dorothy Gale. Dorothy Dell, the curvaceous young blonde who costarred with Shirley Temple in “Little Miss Marker.” Dell was nineteen at the time “Marker” was released on June 1, 1934. She and Shirley got along on AND off screen: “I felt treated as an equal,” recalled Shirley. “Time and again during the film she turned out to be a splendid foil for my energy and exuberance. My special affection for her was based on this positive attitude, one which made me feel inches taller than I was.”



The scene shown below in which Temple’s character is refusing her breakfast of hot mush and using rude language (“I don’t want no mush” and “I used to be a sissy”) had to be redone as Dell could not contain her laughter.



Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and raised in New Orleans, Dell was a descendant of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. In 1930 at age seventeen, she won the title of “Miss New Orleans” and soon after entered the vaudeville circuit, where she was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld himself. Paramount signed her to a film contract in 1933 and she was poised for stardom. After her success in “Marker,” Dell played opposite Jack Oakie in Paramount’s “Shoot the Works,” which began filming on April 4, 1934 and wrapped up two months later.



At about the same time, Shirley was filming “Baby Take a Bow” over at Fox from April 9 - May 1934. Shirley and Dell were set to re-team in “Now and Forever” next, as Paramount had one more film left with Shirley on their two-picture loan agreement with Fox for Temple’s services.



A few hours after Dell saw the preview of “Shoot the Works,” she died in a car wreck on the way home from a party at the Marcell Country Club in Pasadena on June 8, 1934. The Marcell was known for delicious French food…and bootleg liquor during Prohibition!



The man driving the car was Dr. Carl Wagner, who had attended to Dell’s mother just a few weeks before when she was ill. According to the website Bizarre Los Angeles, the doctor’s speeding car struck the curbing on a curve around 2 am, careened against several trees and, turning over, and came to rest 106' from the first impact after shearing off a Pacific Electric trolley pole.

In an eerie twist of premonition, actress Lilyan Tashman had died on March 21 actor Lew Cody had died on May 31; supposedly, Dell had said, “I wonder who’ll be the next — they say those things go in cycles of threes.”

In Shirley’s 1988 autobiography Child Star she recounts the story that she inadvertently received the news of Dell’s death just before filming a tearful scene for “Now and Forever.” According to Shirley’s version of this tale, it was the sadness of losing her friend and costar that caused the real tears to flow. Since Dell was supposed to be in “Now and Forever” but was replaced by Carole Lombard, it is highly doubtful that Shirley’s memory was correct on this one. “Now and Forever” was released on August 31, 1934.



See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Christmas at Disneyland, 1963

Too early for Christmas photos? Too bad, as today celebrates the upcoming holiday as it looked back in December 1963. The tree in town square is HUUUUUUGE! But not big enough to distract me from that fantabulous feathered hat worn by the festive Mom wearing a Christmas corsage to boot!



The Horse-Drawn Streetcar is the perfect way to get to the Castle and get a nice leisurely glimpse of the sights along Main Street, U.S.A.



This shot was probably earlier in the day, before the hats were purchased.



Over at the Matterhorn, the Christmas Star is in position.



I wonder if it receives UHF signals? Anyone remember UHF? The Matterhorn Christmas Star probably helped boost the TV signal inside the House of the Future at its base.



Final one for today shows the original round Skyway buckets floating through the Matterhorn:



See more Disneyland Matterhorn photos at my main website.

The Strawhatters on The River

December 1963 - oh what a night afternoon! The Strawhatters are getting ready for a jam session at Disneyland. You can catch them at 2pm, 3pm, 3:30pm, and 4:30pm. Which time works best for you?



The temporary bandstand was most likely the same one seen below near the Chicken Plantation Restaurant along the Rivers of America:



Here are some other shots of the Strawhatters from my collection:



March 1956:





Note the construction of a yet-to-be-completed Tom Sawyer Island:





September 1958:





No musical group would be complete without groupies. Here you go, from 1957!



 See more Disneyland Rivers of America photos at my main website.

Wallace on Wednesday

It’s December 1963, and Mr. Hyde has a pretty young girl by the clutches in front of the Main Street Cinema. LOVE the feathered hat!



The movie on the A-Frame behind the festive young lass is “Her Awakening,” a 1914 silent movie starring Wallace Reid (below) and Blanche Sweet.



Reid was a handsome matinee idol whose career was cut short by an addiction to morphine, caused by an injury he sustained from a train wreck in 1919. In order to keep him working, the morphine was prescribed by the studio to numb his pain. He died in a sanitarium at age 31 in 1923, attempting to beat his addiction.

See more Disneyland Main Street, U.S.A. Cinema photos at my main website.

Temple Tuesday: Where's Shirley?

This recent acquisition to my Shirley Temple collection had me baffled; I was fairly confident that it was from 1945, but had no idea where it was taken. The door behind Shirley was distinctive, but it didn’t match her Brentwood residence. The program in her hand made me think it could be a premiere or an event…but who knows without any writing showing. I turned to Shirley expert supreme, Rita Dubas, who had the mystery solved in less than 24 hours. See the Fox Carthay Circle Theatre below, in a 1953 image from my collection?



Rita pointed out the doors that were a perfect match to the ones in the Shirley photo.



She was also able to correctly identify the event as the Look Magazine Awards that were held there on February 20, 1945. Below is a photo from that event with Director Leon Shamroy, Shirley, Bing Crosby, Margaret O’Brien, Bob Hope, and Director Leo McCarey.



The award that Shirley was given:



Auctioned off years later by Theriault’s, here is the description from the catalog:

THE LOOK ACHIEVEMENT MEDALLION AWARD PRESENTED TO SHIRLEY TEMPLE IN 1945 Lot Number:  49 1 1/2" A gilded bronze medal with raised profile of a woman symbolizing the Look Magazine award has raised lettering on the back “Shirley Temple Look 1945 Film Achievement Award.” Included is a presentation booklet for February 20, 1945 events at the Carthay Circle Theatre in which Shirley Temple is cited for her performance in the 1944 film “Since You Went Away.” Realized Price:  $650 • Presale Estimate:  500+



The auction included the presentation booklet that we saw in the first photo from this post:



This photo from my collection is most likely from the same evening, taken at Ciro’s nightclub on Sunset Boulevard. Shirley is dancing with agent Henry Willson; Bob Hope is on the far right.



While I was stumbling down this rabbit hole, I came across this shot of actress Lois Maxwell from the 1948 Golden Globes. She is holding onto the most promising newcomer award for “That Hagen Girl,” which starred Shirley and Ronald Reagan.



Here’s a shot from my collection of Reagan and Maxwell:



Mary Astor won the Oscar for “The Great Lie” (1941). This publicity still for that movie shows her wearing the very same cape that Maxwell was wearing at the Golden Globes seven years later. Who do you think wore it better?



You just never know what goodies you’ll come up with once you start digging.

See more Shirley Temple photos at my main website.

Yesterday Once More

Karen Carpenter is one of my favorite singers of all time. Her three-octave contralto voice was completely unique, filled with both warmth and deep longing. She moved to Downey, California in 1963 and attended high school there. Less than 30 minutes from Disneyland, it was apparently a place she enjoyed visiting. This image shows her performing on the Tomorrowland Stage at Disneyland in 1974. Her brother Richard’s back is to the camera. The outfit she is wearing could be the same one she wore in the music video she made at the Park for “Please Mr. Postman.” Originally recorded by the Marvelettes in 1961, the Carpenters put their spin on it in late 1974, taking it to the top of the charts in early 1975.



Sadly, Karen died at the age of 32 after battling an eating disorder (while her brother worked on breaking his dependence on Quaaludes). Fortunately, the magic of her voice lives on.

See more celebrities at Disneyland photos at my main website.

Back from the Dead, Part 2

This one from 1957 looks as hopeless as yesterday’s companion image, but with some blood, sweat, and Photoshop, miracles can happen! Where’s Carol Merrill when you need her? Bonus points to those who know who she is!



When the Snow White attraction first opened in 1955, it was called “Snow White and her Adventures.”



I love being able to see the original queue mural, even if it’s a bit grainy.



When the attraction reopened in 1983 after Fantasyland received its Tudor remodel, the name changed to “Snow White’s Scary Adventures.” 



The recent refurbishment greatly toned down the scary elements and is now titled, “Snow White’s Enchanted Wish.” I have a wish; how about letting kids get the bejesus scared out of them? It’s actually healthy!

See more Disneyland Snow White’s Adventures attraction photos at my main website.