Daytime fun and nighttime magic!
Reminiscing on classic Disneyland ads and sketches on its 69th birthday
Happy sixty-nine years to the happiest place on earth. After a year of around-the-clock construction (yes, a single year), Disneyland was dedicated and debuted to a select list of invited guests and media on Sunday, July 17th, 1955.
Approximately 28,154 people stepped onto the grounds of the freshly-paved park that day, but only half were considered to be invited guests. The other half? Well, they snuck in using counterfeit tickets.
If that wasn’t enough to stress the park operations, the rest of the day’s events just about did them in. It was one of the hottest July days on record in Anaheim, most of the rides broke down, and refreshment stands were rapidly running out of food and beverages. Traffic was backed up for seven miles on the Santa Ana Freeway, and there was even a gas leak - with blue flames and all - somewhere underneath the castle. Media outlets reported the opening day with headlines like, “Disneyland Keeps Local Police Busy” and “Walt’s Dream a Nightmare,” and it was often referred to as “Black Sunday” throughout the halls of Disney.
Some of my favorite stories from that sunny, July day were the ways in which guests were deeply inconvenienced by the asphalt that was literally poured that morning.
Animator Frank Thomas recalled, “We were out there [as part of the Dixieland band Firehouse Five Plus Two], sinking into that fresh asphalt, hour by hour…I was on a chair by the door to the Main Street Firehouse, sitting around with some of the other guys in the band. I was leaning back in the chair, reading a copy of the Police Gazette. After I’d been there a while, I tried to straighten up, and the chair wouldn’t straighten up. It had sunken into the street.”
With very little time to recover from the previous day’s events, the gates of Disneyland were unlocked for the public on Monday, July 18th. This date was recognized as the official opening for many years but since all of the broadcasted material was recorded the day prior, the company later recognized July 17th as Disneyland’s birthday.
The first few years were filled with equal amounts of growing pains and successes. After being the subject of some brutally honest headlines early on, Walt knew that they had to work out some of the operational kinks and convince those same reporters that Disneyland wasn’t really the Thunderdome of Chaos™ that they witnessed firsthand on opening day. So, he personally reached out and invited them and their families for a private tour of the park. What an experience that would be!
Despite a tumultuous start, public opinion of Disneyland began to level out and trend upward relatively quickly. The park welcomed its 1 millionth guest only 52 days later on September 8th, 1955, and the first-year revenues amounted to $10 million (one third of the total gross of the studio). It was a smashing success, and Disneyland only grew in popularity with the addition of new attractions and special events (i.e. Date Nite, themed music and dancing, etc.) for guests to experience throughout the week.
I’ve mentioned before that I love elements of mid-century design, and the Disneyland advertisements from this era are some of the best. I’ve lassoed some of my favorites but before we dive in, I highly recommend hitting “play” on the album below to really transport yourself to the bygone years of the park. It’s truly magical.
Listen, I am so close to drafting a petition to bring back mid-century ad designs. They’re so fun and whimsical! You want to convince me to do something or go somewhere? Here’s the recipe: lively, hand-drawn designs, geometric elements, and fonts that ooze with personality. Bada bing, bada boom - I’ll be there. It’s like catnip!
Anyway, I hope y’all enjoyed today’s post. If you’ve visited Disneyland, leave a comment with one or two of your favorite memories. I have yet to make my way over there (sigh), but my fingers are crossed for a trip sometime soon!
See ya real soon,
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