Disneyland in early 1957 was just a whisper of its future self.
I found a small stack of black & white snapshots among my parents’ possessions. The prints, when processed, were stamped “March 1957.”
I’m not sure whose trip this was to Southern California. My dad grew up in Long Beach, and his mother, a brother, and sister were still living in the area, leading to his periodic visits. None of us appear in the photos, so I’m presuming that my sister and I were not along on this trip. The only people I recognize are one of my dad’s high school friends, Myron Brejcha, and his wife. So I am guessing the photos were likely taken by my dad during one of his visits home. It appears Myron and Grace drove him to visit Disneyland, which had been open a little less than two years, and Knott’s Berry Farm, already an old standby in the area.
Disneyland was certainly a simpler affair back then, as these photos show. It looks as if the park wasn’t open on the day they arrived, and that perhaps they just went to the restaurant for lunch.
In any case, enjoy this step back into history.
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My ‘Iolani classmate, Tom Heath, whose father was a Navy pilot flying twin-tailed Constellations, left Hawaii in 1954-55 or thereabouts when the family transferred to San Diego. I could hardly wait to visit him on the mainland, because everyone knew that California was where Disneyland was (it opened in 1955). He and I met up at the park in 1957 – in the days when an E Ticket was a treasured prize. It took us a full day to scour the park – it seemed HUGE. Nowadays a three-day park hopper is barely enough to do “everything.” Thanks for the memories and a reminder about how perspectives change with age.