Happy 50th Disney's Haunted Mansion

This 1970 promotional item published by Disney and Gulf Oil celebrates the opening on August 9th, 1969 of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.  I've been fascinated with Haunted Mansion since I was a kid, checking out books like this from my elementary school library.  I've never been to Disneyland, but I finally got to visit the Haunted Mansion when I was in the 5th grade.  I've been back with my own kids numerous times in the past 20 years and it's still my favorite attraction there.

Leftovers part 5 -- Mickey Orange Juice

I remember kids having these in the '70's and me desperately wanting one.  Not known for splurging on such frivolities, my parents rarely bought orange juice and when they did, it was the frozen, canned variety. I still remember how is would *plop* into the pitcher of water before stirring. The ice crystals never melted and were rough when you swallowed them.

This picture from Pinterest shows its original packaging.

The Last Straw

Actually, there were about 25 left of the original 100 Super Long Donald Duck Sunshine Straws.

Amazingly, no kid cut these out.

It's hard to guess the age on these, but given the price of 15 cents, probably the 1950's to 1960's.

American Seal-Kap Corporation was a producer of milk bottle caps.

Super 8 Disney

Before the days of live streaming video, DVDs or even VHS, your only option to view your favorite Hollywood movies in the comfort of your own home, short of waiting several years for them to appear on one of the 3 major networks, was to buy them on home movie film, in 8mm, Super 8 or 16mm formats.  Unless they were cartoon shorts, these films were usually extremely condensed versions of the movie or even just a few favorite clips compiled into 200 foot segments.  While we had a home movie projector growing up, it was limited to those films my father had shot documenting various vacations and holidays.  My parents never bought commercially released films and in fact I don't believe I even knew they were available.  Thanks to this 1980 Walt Disney Super 8 Home Movie catalog I found at the great film estate sale last year, I now have a glimpse into the world I missed.

Trimming Time Christmas Card Holders

There has been a distinct, if not drastic, drop in the number of Christmas cards sent over the past decade.  People are keeping in touch via social media, emails and texting.  I guess a Christmas card via snail mail seems a bit old fashioned and redundant, but I still enjoy receiving them; it harkens back to a slower lifestyle.

Anyway, back when you received so many cards you didn't know what to do with them, there were Christmas card holders like these produced by Trimmin Time for Walt Disney Productions.  I found these for $1 each at a garage sale this summer, still in their original packaging.  They're made in Japan and probably date from the 1960's.

Disney's The Haunted Mansion 45

Haunted house attractions were a favorite of mine from an early age, but I didn't have much opportunity to go to them aside from school carnivals.  I had heard of Disney's Haunted Mansion and longed to go through it, but that wouldn't happen until I was 10.

I used to the check out the book version of it from the school library over and over.  It didn't have the record, but I would read it repeatedly.  I found a copy with the record this past summer.

Click below to hear the record and read along.  Enjoy!

Reach for the sky...Or At Least My Back

I found back-scratching Mickey at a garage sale a few weekend's ago. It was marked a quarter.

The Robber Kitten

I found this book at an estate sale last Friday.  It was in the everything's $1 section.  It's a little worse for wear, having been colored in and having loose pages, but I liked the art and it's an early Walt Disney, dating from 1935. The story centers around Ambrose, a kitten who longs for adventure rather than the bath his mother has requested he take. Escaping with cookies as his loot, he takes to the woods only to bump into Bully Bill (or Dirty Bill if you believe the wanted sign).  Spinning a yarn of how he held up a stagecoach that very morning and had the loot in the bag, Bill takes the bag from Ambrose only to find cookies inside.  Laughing, he sends Ambrose (gratefully) back home to his mother and his waiting bath.