Long before I started collecting Disneyland postcards, I was a comic book collector. I was 19 and in the dormitory at UC Berkeley when a floor mate asked if I wanted to go to the comic book story with him while he picked up his latest issue of the Marvel comic “Daredevil”. I went a long, and the rest, as they say, is history!
This weekend, due partly to being cooped up inside because of “shelter-in-place” and partly because it is something I might normally do on a rainy weekend, I was going through my collection and ran across a couple books that I thought I would share here.
First up is a fun book with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck exploring Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland! The book is from 1958, just a few short years after the park opened. It is packed with no less than 6 separate stories featuring Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Chip ‘n Dale, Granda Duck, Gyro Gearloose…etc. A boat load of entertainment and all for just 25¢! Disney produced many comic books through the Dell publishing house all the way from the 1930’s through the 1960’s…and via other publishers from the 1960’s to present. This was just one example where they used that medium to promote what the park had to offer.
Second up is a book published by Charlton Comics in 1960. The cover of this “Fighting’ Marines” comic promotes a contest to win an all expense paid trip to the park on TWA! (If you didn’t want to do that…you could chose to go to New York City…but why would you do that?!?! Actually I can think of a lot of reasons as NYC is a pretty fantastic place…but I digress!) Anyway…If you have been collecting Disney cards for a while, you’ll know that TWA was a sponsor of the park in the early days and that there is even a card, NT 1107 that speaks to that fact. (I have a post on that particular card here). As an aside, the NT 1107 card is one of a set of “Along the Way with TWA” postcards. It’s a really cool set that is worth collecting in its own right. If your interested, check out this custom search on ebay.
So there you have it…two time capsules from the mid-twentieth century that remind us of a different time when the Disneyland park was just in it’s infancy!
I hope you all are managing in this weird and challenging time for our country and the world. I put this post up as something to hopefully distract and provide a little lighthearted fun. Hang in there!
Until next time…
