Back from Disneyland

Back today from our trip to Southern California and Disneyland. A great time was had by all. Weather was perfect, until the wildfires started. I finally got to meet Brianna - a lovely person, and I encourage you all to take a look at her artwork, I particularly like her Alice stuff (what a shock).

I took a few photos, some of which came out quite unexpectedly well, like this detail of the caterpillar ride car


the Small World dolls

and the Mad Tea Party by night.

I did not see Alice or Hatter in the park, maybe next time.

Disneyland Large Format Photograph - Alice, Mad Hatter and White Rabbit

This is a large format photograph of the Alice walkaround characters from August 1961 (how appropriate!). These were apparently available for sale at Disneyland, although I don't know that for sure.

Has this great little rubber stamp logo on the back

I used to know where in the park these photos were taken, but I have forgotten. I'm sure someone out there knows.

The color on this was a little faded, I did what I could with my limited Photoshop skills to bring it back.

Disneyland Promotional Postcard - Alice in Wonderland Days

I guess this isn't really a postcard, more of a handbill since there is no space for addresses. It may have come in an envelope.

It is essentially an advertisement for something called Alice in Wonderland Days - a promotion I know nothing about. Doubly odd since Alice wouldn't be re-released theatrically for another three years, and there was certainly nothing new at the park related to Alice. It appears that the promotion consisted of parades and photo ops, but beyond that I have no idea. If anyone has details on what this promotion was all about, I'd love to hear from you!

Disneyland Postcard PDL-11 - Hallmark Mad Tea Party

One of a series of novelty oversize postcards is this one from Hallmark with rounded corners. It is the only Alice themed postcard in the entirety of vintage novelty Disneyland postcards.

What I wouldn't give for an Art Corner postcard with an Alice theme.

Disneyland Postcard D-5 - Alice in Wonderland Exterior

Picture if you will a numbering system where every item is uniquely identified. That ain't what we got here.

Here we have Disneyland postcard D-5...again. And guess what, there are still other D-5s out there that have nothing to do with Alice!


This is a surprisingly difficult postcard to find, almost as difficult as the upsidedown room card.

My Disneyland Mecca

Live and in person!

Disneyland Postcard D-5 - Alice in Wonderland Interior

The most common of the vintage Disneyland postcards to feature the Alice in wonderland attraction is this D-5 of the interior. This card was also printed again later with a different number.

One thing you get used to when looking for Disneyland postcards, is that the numbering system is extremely frustrating, as you'll see shortly.

Disneyland Postcard P12362 - Mad Tea Party

The Mad Tea Party - or Tea Cups as they are more commonly referred to - were an opening day attraction at Disneyland. That's primarily because they were really an off the shelf carnival ride, gussied up a bit so that the ride cars looked like teacups rather than just an ordinary round car.

This postcard is from a very early series of Disneyland postcards. In fact, according to Disneyland the Nickel Tour by Bruce Gordon and David Mumford, it is from the second series of postcards to be sold! The first series featured mostly concept art of the yet-to-be-built park, and this is from the first series to sport actual photographs of Disneyland it all its glory.

By the way, if you don't have a copy of Disneyland the Nickel Tour, and you are in any way interested in Disneyland or Disneyland postcards, it is a must. It can be a little hard to find, and these days it is also a little pricey, but an invaluable book.

Disneyland B Ticket - The Last Ticket Book I Ever Purchased

This is the B ticket - the Alice ticket - from the very last ticket book I ever purchased (or purchased by my parents for me). A junior ticket book from 1977, so I was 12 going on 13 at the time.

Seemed a fitting post on the eve of my Disneyland vacation. Stay tuned this coming week for lots of Disneyland related Alice posts! Maybe even one live and in person!

Young Keyboard Jr. - May 1951

I'm not exactly sure what this is, but my guess is that it is a magazine for music students. It is small, only eight pages, with several very light and fluffy articles, geared towards very young readers.

The article on Oliver Wallace has a single illustration from the film, and an interesting little anecdote about the music for the rabbit hole scene.

Jaymar Jigsaw Puzzle Game

Back in March, Carevaggio asked if I knew of a game that involved jigsaw puzzles. This is that game.

The Jaymar Jigsaw Puzzle Game is something that has eluded me for nearly my entire 20 years of collecting. This photo comes courtesy of a collector friend of mine.

I do however have the complete set of the jigsaw puzzles from the game.

The puzzles are an odd size, 7" x 11".

I assume the border color corresponds to the color of your game piece.

1974 National Screen Service Standee

Since I was in that section of the Tulgey Wood anyway when I pulled out the theatre from yesterday's post, I thought I might as well photograph the subject of today's: the 1974 standee.

A more frightening piece of movie memorabilia has never been produced. A giant, six foot tall, day-glo Cheshire Cat. The colors on this thing can actually make your eyes water.

I commented on this piece once long ago in a fanzine, whoever the marketing guy was during the 1974 promotion must have been either insane or stoned. "For All You Fat Cats" - what the hell does that mean? Who is the audience for this campaign? Just one more reason why I pretty much despise the 1974 approach to the film.

But still, a cool piece ;-)

Peter Puppet Marionette Show Theatre Variant

About a year ago in this post, I mentioned that there was a variant of the theatre for the Peter Puppet Marionette Show. This week I had occasion to pull that variant out and take a picture of it.

It is really quite different from the standard one pictured in all the brochures. For one thing, some assembly required: it is actually two pieces that must be folded, you know tab A into slot B and so on. And there is an actual stage floor in this version. And of course the design of the proscenium is completely different. All in all, a very intriguing item. Who would have thought that the toy would have been around long enough to have a variant.

The only thing I can think of is that the marionette show theatre in general was undergoing design changes right around the time Alice was coming out, and only a few of one or the other design got manufactured and sold prior to the redesign. My guess would be that this version is the older one, since it is two pieces and required assembly, something altogether more expensive to manufacture.

Headed to Disneyland!

Got my tickets all set, me and the missus will be at Disneyland on Wed Aug 26th, and maybe the 27th too! See you there! If you can't find me, look near the Alice attractions ;-)

Little Golden Book - Elisa Di Negeri Ajaib - Indonesia

A much more recent edition, but my only Alice item from Indonesia in the entire collection!

Little Golden Book - Alice in Wonderland Meets the White Rabbit - Australia

Australian Little Golden Books are almost indistinguishable from their American brethren (we speak the same language you know, barring a few misplaced vowels).

As with the US editions, there are several printings of the Australian edition. The quickest way to identify a first is by the spine. Unlike the American editions of the period, and later editions in Australia, the spine is not gold foil.

Also the last book listed on the back cover is D10 - the Flowers book.

Little Golden Book - Alice et le Lapin Blanc - France

From Hachette (the one we all know and love), comes the French version. This is part of a series known as Les Albums Roses - their equivalent of Golden Books - but being French they are PINK!

There are several editions of this book that look virtually identical, and unfortunately they all have the same 1952 copyright date. The only way to tell a true first edition is by the endpapers

and the back cover.

These books, like their American counterparts, have red tinted page edges - or I guess that should be PINK!

Little Golden Book - Alice und das Weisse Kaninchen - Germany

Ze Germans (thank you Turkish) also published the White Rabbit book - along with the Flowers book - but oddly enough did not publish the Mad Hatter book.

There is even the equivalent of a Goldencraft edition for the German edition.

There is a second printing too, it is a softcover rather than a hardcover.

The publisher of this and all the German Disney books of the period is Blüchert-Verlag. The cover art on all ze German editions is the same, but quite different from the American version.

Little Golden Book - Alicia en el País de las Maravillas Encuentra al Conejo Blanco - Argentina

This is the only Little Golden Book (Librito de Oro) I've ever seen from Argentina. The cover is the same as on the US edition, but the quality of the image is a little odd, sorta like there is a film covering it - but there isn't. The publisher is Hachette, a company normally associated with French books, guess they had a South American subsidiary too.


It sure takes a lot more letters to spell this title in Spanish!

Little Golden Book - Alice in Wonderland Meets the White Rabbit - Goldencraft Edition

Just as with the Live Flowers LGB, the US White Rabbit book has a Goldencraft edition too.

As previously noted, this is a third series Goldencraft binding. These editions were typically used for schools and libraries (given their more durable covers), and are generally difficult to find.

Little Golden Book - Alice in Wonderland Meets the White Rabbit

Thought I'd do another series, the Alice in Wonderland Meets the White Rabbit Little Golden Book series. This book has many, many editions worldwide.

This book is by far the most common of all the Alice books, primarily because it was in print for so many years. I have one copy that is a 22nd printing. The other two Alice titles received only a single printing.

As some of you may know, first editions of Little Golden Books are sometimes called 'A' editions. That is because the way to tell which printing you have on the early LGBs is to look for the single letter printed on the last page in the bottom right hand corner near or sometimes under the spine. But a quicker way to tell at a glance if your Alice is a first printing is to look at the book on edge: the pages are tinted red!

Other things to look for when looking for a first:

• first editions have block lettering on the cover for A Little Golden Book, later editions have script lettering
  
• first editions never have a UPC code, those didn't come into use until the 1970s
• the last title listed on the back cover of the first edition is D23 Alice and the Mad Hatter
• the stock number of the first edition is D19, later editions the stock number changed several times, including 103-1, 103-41, and 105-50
  
• first editions have no price on the cover
• first editions have no stock number on the cover

By far the most fascinating thing about the White Rabbit Little Golden Book, is the inclusion of the Jabberwock.

The Jabberwock is a character that was originally scheduled to appear in the film, and seemingly removed fairly late in the game. There is this page, and there was to be a Little Golden Record as well. Stan Freberg was originally slated to provide the voice of the Jabberwock.

Zaccagnini March Hare

Wow, this has been a banner year for Zaccagnini figures from Alice. In one year alone, I've now seen three figures I never knew existed before! Who knows what the future may hold.

I can't tell you how excited I was to acquire this figure. It completely captures the zany quality of the March Hare from the film, I especially love the crossed eyes.


Oh, and thanks to Matterhorn1959 for your prophetic words on my Cheshire Cat post, another did indeed come my way and now happily resides in my display case, in what I like to call Little Italy.

If I find any more, I'm gonna need a new case!