When Disneyland opened in July of 1955, parents noticed something right away: as LIFE magazine reported, the price of admission wasn’t quite the whole cost of attendance. Children brought to the theme park clamored for souvenirs, and the park’s operators were only too happy to provide them with many options. Now, more than 60 years later, that’s still true—but it’s not just kids who want to stock up.
That feeling of wanting to bring a piece of the park home is one remembered by Mike Van Eaton in an essay introducing the catalog for an upcoming Nov. 19 auction at Van Eaton Galleries in Los Angeles: “Souvenirs of Disneyland.” The auction, a preview exhibition for which is now ongoing until the auction date, features more than 1,000 rare pieces of Disney memorabilia, including the posters seen here.
Since the beginning of Disneyland, posters were used within the park to draw visitors to specific attractions—some of them are known as “near-attraction posters”—as well as manufactured for sale to guests. Some of the artists’ visions of the attractions provide a peek at an their inside knowledge. For example, the Dumbo poster, as the Van Eaton catalog explains, shows a pink elephant, matching the original conception of the ride; however, on Walt Disney’s personal request, the actual elephants in the ride were painted gray rather than pink, to match Dumbo rather than his hallucinations. Other posters reference the American themes that Disney strove to evoke; he loved American trains and the park fittingly gestures at some of American history’s most famous travel posters in the designs for the Disneyland railroad.
See Photos of Disneyland When It Opened in 1955
Caption from LIFE. Sleeping Beauty's castle in Fantasyland is overrun by children crossing drawbridge over moat. Inside, Disney plans a model torture chamber.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesOne of Disneyland's boat rides, Anaheim, California, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesRides at Disneyland in 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPeople riding the teacup ride at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPeople riding a riverboat at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDisneyland Parade done as a preview for national television, 1955.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPlanted flowers forming design of Mickey Mouse's face, with Disneyland train in background, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesMickey Mouse riding the Disneyland Railroad, 1955.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDisneyland rides in 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesChildren scared during Snow White ride at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesCaption from LIFE. Cups and saucers filled with squealing children as paying guests whirl through park's Fantasyland at Disney's "Mad Hatter's Tea Party."Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesShowgirl performers taking a break and having a drink at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPeople resting by TWA rocket at Disneyland Amusement Park, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDisneyland rides, 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesA family at Disneyland in 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDisneyland rides in 1955.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Other items in the auction range from more typical theme park fare to surprising finds like a 1965 animatronic hand that was used in a “Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln” attraction and a tin of Disneyland-branded tobacco from the 1960s.
Original Disneyland "Fantasyland" Attraction Poster, Disneyland, 1950s.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal Disneyland "Skyway" Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1956.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal Disneyland "Jungle River" Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1956.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal "Sante Fe & Disneyland R.R. Via Grand Canyon Diorama. Disneyland, 1958.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal Disneyland "Sailing Ship Columbia" Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1958.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal Disneyland "Matterhorn Bobsleds" Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1959.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal Disneyland Displayed Sheet Metal "PeopleMover" Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1960s.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal Disneyland "Golden Horseshoe Revue" Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1961.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesDIsneyland "New Orleans Square" Near-Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1966.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesDisneyland Main Street "Near-Attraction" Poster. Disneyland, 1966.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesOriginal "Adventure Thru Inner Space" Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1967.Courtesy Van Eaton GalleriesCountry Bear Jamboree "Bear Country" Disneyland Attraction Poster. Disneyland, 1972.Courtesy Van Eaton Galleries
