Vintage Disney Collectibles

Uncle Robert's house for sale

2009-12-10T00:13:00.000-08:00

Walt Disney's Uncle Robert's house at 4406 Kingswell in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles is up for sale. The asking price? A cool $769,000.

Walt Disney lived in this house for a short time when he moved to L.A. in the summer of 1923. Disney bought a used camera, constructed a camera stand from scratch, and began producing Alice Comedies in his Uncle's garage, which at that time was located behind the house. The garage has since been relocated to the Stanley Ranch Museum in Garden Grove.

The above image shows what Uncle Robert's house looks like today.

Thanks to Cartoon Brew for the heads-up.

Happy 108th Birthday Walter Elias Disney

2009-12-05T15:31:00.001-08:00

On the occasion of Walt Disney's birthday, I thought I would reproduce a newspaper article, which appeared in the December 15, 1935 edition of the San Antonio Express, two weeks after Walt turned 34:

DISNEY HOPEFUL FILMS WILL LIVE
Creator of Mickey Mouse Grateful to the Kiddies And World at Large

Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse and author of the Silly Symphonies, who now is thirty-four, sets his birthday aside to answer some questions which have accumulated in the past seven years during which he has risen from complete obscurity to a position where he yields worldwide influence.

For seven years Disney has let his characters do all the talking. He now comes from behind to express his own views.

Asked what he would do if the popularity of Mickey Mouse began to wane, Disney replies that he would continue to produce motion pictures: "The future of our industry," he says, "seems so unlimited to us that it is difficult to predict how we would replace Mickey Mouse; possibly we would confine ourselves to feature-length productions and Silly Symphonies, or, again, we might attempt to popularize a new character to take Mickey's place; or build up one of our present personalities such as Donald Duck."

Disney hopes that his first feature-length picture "Snow White" will be completed and ready for presentation in 1937. He frankly admits he does not know how much it will cost. "The final cost," he states, "will depend to a considerable extent on footage and the amount of trouble we run into, two factors which are unpredictable at this stage of the game."

To the question as to which country takes a greater interest in Mickey Mouse Disney replied: "I don't know if there is any particular country which takes a greater interest in Mickey than any other country. The little fellow seems to make friends regardless of race, color, or national boundaries."

Asked for a birthday "message" the youthful prodcer states no reason to make one.

"I have always been short on words that 'echo around the world,' so let's consider this an opportunity again to thank our friends the world over, especially the children, for standing by us like good friends through good pictures and bad, and for all that priceless encouragement, which helps so much in a business where there are so many discouragements."

There has been one question asked of Disney more frequently than any other single question: How does it feel to be a celebrity? To this he answers:

"It feels fine when being a celebrity helps get choice reservations for a football game. It doesn't feel so good when an autograph enthusiast picks you out in a crowd. Most of the time, I imagine, people just don't go around feeling that they are celebrities. It is safe to say that ninety-nine per cent of the time I go around feeling exactly as I would if nobody knew I was alive. As far as I can remember, being a celebrity has never helped me make a good picture, or a good shot at polo, or command the obedience of my daughter, or impress my wife. It doesn't even seem to help me keep fleas off our dogs, and if being a celebrity won't even give one the advantage over a couple of fleas, then I guess there can't be much in being a celebrity at all."

Here are images of celebrities Walt Disney either met or associated with in the 1930s:

...in 1933, at a Writer's Club dinner, with actor and social commentator Will Rogers.

...in 1935, in France, with famed French filmmaker Louis Lumiere.

...in 1935, with the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.

...in 1938, at the polo field, with actor Spencer Tracy.

...in 1939, at the Santa Anita racetrack, with friend and fellow producer Charles Chaplin.

Walt Disney and the Benton Grammar School

2009-11-30T23:19:00.000-08:00

On September 12, 1904, the residents of Kansas City, Missouri, celebrated the opening of the Benton Grammar School. Named in honor of Senator Thomas Benton, the school as originally built had just 12 rooms and a kindergarten.

Benton Grammar School.

Walt Disney attended Benton between September 1911 and June 1917. While at Benton, a young Walt Disney impersonated President Abraham Lincoln, going so far as to don a cape and stovepipe hat. Disney so impressed the principal with his recitation of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, he was taken into each of the school’s classrooms, where he repeated his performance for the enjoyment of other students.

Front cover of The Bentonian, a soft-cover yearbook-type booklet published by the school's administrators.

About six months ago I acquired a soft-cover yearbook publication titled, "The Bentonian." The booklet contains a letter written by Walt Disney, in response to request from his former principal for a post graduation update. In the letter, dated February 18, 1931, Walt Disney wrote:

"Dear Mr. Cottingham: I was very pleased to receive your kind letter of February 6. I have often thought of you and my former teachers at Benton and have always had a feeling that I should enjoy a little visit with you on one of my trips to New York. Quite a few of my classmates have dropped in to see me, from time to time, and I have enjoyed discussing with them our school days together.

When I was in school, Benton had a record of winning the K.C.A.C. meet six years in succession. I have often wondered what sort of record the school has held since that time. I was graduated from Benton in June of 1917 and spent my last year under Miss Beck. I have often wondered about Miss Beck, and if she is still teaching in Kansas City. I would like you to extend to her my kindest regards.

My high school career was very short. After I was graduated I worked during the summer as a News Butch on the railroad, and the following fall moved to Chicago. I spent my Freshman year there. Following that I joined the Red Cross as an ambulance driver and went to France. I was in France one year. I met an old classmate from Benton while in France. I can’t seem to remember his name, but he was one of two brothers, who were on the track team in school. He told me that Walter Clayton was in a hospital in Toul, France, but by the time I arrived in Toul, Walter had been transferred. I returned from France in the fall of 1919.

I went to Kansas City, and started to work for the Grey Advertising Company as an Apprentice Artist. I left that company to work for the Film Service Company of Kansas City, and it was there that I learned the work in which I am still engaged.

While I was working with the Film Service Company I made a short weekly film for Frank Newman, and this led to the establishing of a Studio of my own. I made cartoon versions of fairy tales, but this venture was not successful. I moved to California in 1923 and started in business with my brother Roy. Since that time we have built our business up to what it is today, and at the present time we have a Studio employing about seventy-five persons, both artists and technicians.

Our products are shown all over the world and are meeting with great success. We have our own sound apparatus and produce the entire picture in our own Studio. In addition to the Mickey Mouse cartoons, we produce a series known as Silly Symphony cartoons. Several years ago I produced a series of educational films on "Child Care of the Teeth," for Doctor McCrum, who conducts a dental clinic at the Linwood School. I thank you for your interest, and extend to you my best personal regards. It was good to know that I have not been forgotten by my Alma Mater. Kindly extend my kindest regards to all my friends and former teachers at Benton, and be assured that I am looking forward to the time when I can visit Benton again.

My best personal regards to you,

Walt Disney."

The back cover of The Bentonian features a great Mickey Mouse illustration.

Almost 11 years to the day he wrote that letter, Walt Disney and his wife Lillian made a stopover in Kansas City. The Disney’s were on their way back to California, after attending the Washington, D.C. premiere of The New Spirit, an income tax film produced at the Studio for the Treasury Department. Disney had been invited back to Kansas City by his former teacher, Miss Daisy Beck. While there Disney renewed old friendships and visited childhood haunts.

A special mural unveiling ceremony was held in Disney’s honor in the Benton gymnasium. An article in the Port Arthur News, published the year prior to Disney’s visit reported: "Miss Corrine Mitchell, working on a Works Progress Administration art project and using drawings from Disney’s studio, is making the murals in two 4 by 10 panels. In them, Pluto, Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Donald Duck and others will be depicted."

Disney treated the estimated 800 students, teachers and parents in attendance to a showing of two cartoons, including The New Spirit. Disney voice talent Clarence Nash, and a Works Progress Administration orchestra provided additional entertainment. The February 20, 1942 Emporia Daily Gazette reported, "...present at the reunion was 'the voice of Donald Duck,' Clarence Nash. He had a dummy of 'Donald' and the dummy was presented with a birthday cake in honor of 'Donald's' eighth year of success."

Following Nash’s skit, Disney was awarded the school’s silver Loving Cup, which Benton’s relay team had won in 1917. Disney had participated on the team at the behest of teacher Daisy Beck.

South Central Business Association luncheon that followed the Benton Grammar School ceremony. From left to right: Homer Blackwell (National Screen Service); Clarance Nash (voice of Donald Duck); Mrs. Lillian Disney; John Gage (Kansas City Mayor); Walt Disney; Edwin Barnes Sr. (SCBA President); Frank Land (founder of the Grand Council of DeMolay, of which Walt Disney was a member); Mrs. Joseph Wirthman; Keith Martin (Director of the Kansas City Art Institute - Disney attended the school); and three of Disney's Benton classmates.
Photo courtesy Kansas City Library Archives.

At the conclusion of the school ceremony, Disney and his entourage attended a luncheon in his honor, sponsored by the South Central Business Association. The luncheon was held at the Blue Bird Cafeteria, not far from Disney’s old Laugh-O-Gram studio on Troost Street, and Bert Hudson’s barbershop, where Disney’s early childhood drawings had been purchased and put on display.

1931 Christmas card, sent to Disney's grade two teacher, Ethel Fischer.
Courtesy Hake's Americana.

Despite a whack on the wrist for bringing a live mouse to school, Disney had an affinity for his Benton Grammar School teachers, including Miss Daisy Beck, whom he frequently corresponded with. The Disney’s visit to Kansas City ended with a dinner hosted by Beck at a private residence.

The Benton School was recently sold and was undergoing conversion into condominiums. It’s not known what happened to the murals.

Rare footage of Walt Disney skiing

2009-11-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

Click here.

Gobble, gobble...

2009-11-26T21:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends from your neighbor north of the 49th.

Today's post features the original "rough" art for the November 1947 issue of Western Family magazine. The art was created by legendary Disney Publicity and Merchandise Department artist Hank Porter. Porter created well over a dozen different covers for Western Family.

An October 1947 note from Western Family Editor, Audree Lyons regarding this particular cover read in part: “Dear Hank. Just a note to express thanks from all of us over here for the fine job you did on our Thanksgiving cover. We...are very pleased with the looks of the cover...thank you – again – for an excellent job.”

A letter from the editor published in the Thanksgiving issue read, “We’re always being asked to use more Walt Disney characters on our covers. Seems that many of our readers save the covers, frame them for the walls of their children’s rooms. It’s an idea, if your child sighs for Mickey Mouse. Our friend, Hank Porter, of the Disney Studios, drew this Thanksgiving cover for us.”

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mr. Mouse!

2009-11-18T00:17:00.000-08:00

The image on the cover of this Mickey Mouse Magazine was originally offered for sale in a United Artists press / promotions manual.

Notice the date on the magazine's cover...October...I can hear some of you wondering out loud, "What's going on here? I thought Mickey's birthday is November 18th?"

Well, it is...sort of. I'll try and post an explanation this weekend, time permitting.

In the meantime, raise a glass of your favorite beverage and toast Mr. Walt Disney and his famous creation, Mr. Mickey Mouse!

Mickey Mouse and the North Pole

2009-11-15T00:31:00.000-08:00

George Hubert Wilkins was an Australian-born pilot, soldier, polar explorer, geographer, and bird lover. Perhaps his most notable feat was his submarine expedition to the North Pole. With financial and scientific support from several prominent organizations and wealthy businessmen, Wilkins hatched a plan to become the first person to sail a submarine under the Polar Ice Cap.

In July 1930 Wilkins signed an agreement for the use of the 0-12 submarine for scientific research. Simon Lake, the father of the modern submarine, chose the name Nautilus for the 0-12, hoping in part to capitalize on the association with Jules Verne’s novel.

Nautilus measured 175 feet in length, weighed 560 tons and was powered by electric batteries. The submarine’s air capacity could supply 20 men for five days and the hull could withstand pressure up to 200 feet below sea level.

Presentation art given to Wilkins by Walt Disney. Image courtesy the Ohio State University Library Archives.

Before embarking on his mission, Wilkins received numerous messages from well-wishers, including a piece of art sent by Walt Disney. Wilkins later said, "One of the greetings I appreciated most came from Walt Disney in Hollywood."

Wilkins’ polar mission was fraught with bad luck from the outset – prior to christening the sub’s quartermaster was swept overboard and drowned, and while transiting the Atlantic, the sub’s engines failed and Nautilus had to be towed to Ireland for repairs.

Perhaps the most depressing news, however, came when Nautilus arrived in Arctic waters and was just 600 miles from the North Pole – at this critical moment in the mission’s history, commander Captain Danenhower, discovered the sub’s diving planes were missing. Wilkins thought privately one of the crew had purposely forgotten to load the pieces of equipment due to the prevailing thought the mission was suicidal in nature.

Wilkins and his submarine Nautilus in the Arctic. Image courtesy the Ohio State University Library Archives.

On August 31, 1931, Danenhower devised a technique to take the sub under the ice by trimming the sub two degrees down at the bow, and after meeting Wilkins to discuss his idea, Danenhower proceeded to take Nautilus under a three-foot ice flow. In spite of the missing diving planes, Wilkins considered the mission a success – he became the first to sail a sub under the Arctic ice; determined the salinity of water at various depths; took samples of plankton and mapped northern geography.

Walt Disney actually had the pleasure of meeting Wilkins at a gathering of the Breakfast Club, on September 28, 1932. The club, whose members included Louis B. Mayer, Darryl Zanuck, Tom Mix, Cecile B. DeMille, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Jack and Harry Warner, met every Wednesday morning for a breakfast social centered on the consumption of ham and eggs. The club's first meetings were held on the grounds of a riding stable on the outskirts of Griffith Park. Participants were entertained during their meeting with music and guest speakers, and the event was usually broadcast on live radio.

From left: Captain Bernt Balchen, Walt Disney astride a wooden pony nicknamed "Ham," and Sir Hubert Wilkins. The photo was taken at a Breakfast Club meeting, September 28, 1932. (Balchen was a polar and aviation pioneer who also served in the U.S. Army Air Force in WW II. Postwar Balchen commanded the 10th Rescue Squadron. Under his leadership the unit developed cutting edge cold weather search and rescue techniques still in use today). Image courtesy the Ohio State University Library Archives.

Besides paying a $500 entrance fee, the club’s bizarre initiation ritual had new members mount the club’s mascot “Ham,” a wooden horse, where they were then instructed to hold his tail with their right hand, place their left hand on a plate of ham and eggs and recite the club’s pledge of allegiance.

I am not sure why Walt Disney created the publicity art for Wilkins – did Disney harbor an interest in polar exploration; was there a personal connection to Wilkins; or was it just a friendly gesture made by a cartoon producer caught-up in the publicity surrounding the romance of the mission? Unfortunately Ohio State University, where many of Wilkins' private papers and photographs are housed, was unable to provide any further information.

Mickey, Donald, Pluto and the Boy Scouts

2009-11-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

Another piece of publicity art created at the Disney Studio for the Boy Scouts of America. This illustration was created in 1935 and appeared in an issue of Boy's Life magazine, which I acquired last month.

The caption under Walt Disney's signature line reads, "This cartoon was prepared especially for the Jamboree Journal. The cancellation of that Event permits us to print it here."

It appears Mickey is referring to Donald as a "Tenderfoot," which was the first rank earned as a Boy Scout. Judging by the amount of gear he carries, I think Donald has taken the Scout motto "be prepared" to heart.

Walt Disney was also a Tenderfoot. He went on to be awarded the Silver Buffalo, which is currently on display at The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

To read more about Walt Disney and the Scout movement and to see additional pieces of art created at the Studio for the organization, please visit an earlier post on my blog by clicking here.

Brave Little Tailor

2009-10-31T09:22:00.000-07:00

This Mickey Mouse one reel cartoon is one of my all-time favorites. The story was based on the Grimm Brothers fairytale, The Valiant Tailor. Animators included: Fred Moore, Bill Tytla, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. The cartoon was released by RKO Radio Pictures on September 29, 1938.

The piece of art in this post features a production cel overlay of the king and the original matching watercolor background, which was created by artist Samuel Armstrong.

When I see these pieces of vintage animation art, I am always amazed at the skill level which would have been required to both ink and paint the cel. The background is also gorgeous, considering it may have only been used for just a few scenes.

The art comes to us courtesy the collection of my good friend and fellow researcher Dennis Books.

Anniversary of the genesis of a creative empire

2009-10-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

On October 15, 1923, Walt Disney received a telegram from Margaret Winkler, distributor of the Felix the Cat and Out of the Inkwell cartoon series, in which the New York distributor offered to pay $1,500 each for the first six of Disney's so-called Alice Comedies, with options on an additional six. Walt and Roy, as the Disney Bros. Studio, agreed to Winkler's terms.

Eighty-six years ago, on October 16, 1923, Walt wrote to the mother of his four year old Alice star, Virginia Davis, asking if the Davis' would move to Hollywood so their daughter could continue to star in the cartoon series. This date is considered by many to be the founding date of what would become the Walt Disney Studio.

The original letter is now on display at The Walt Disney Family Museum, courtesy Phil Sears, a world renowned Disney autograph expert who acquired the letter directly from Virginia Davis in the 1990s. Click on the images to enlarge them.

Letter and envelope courtesy phil-sears.com

The Walt Disney Family Museum

2009-09-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

This image was taken two years ago on one of my first visits to San Francisco. Walt Disney's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, stands amidst the renovations in barracks building 104 on the grounds of the Presidio, which now houses the new Walt Disney Family Museum.

I have been very fortunate to have been involved, in a very small way, with the new Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Last week I had the opportunity to attend two preview events that included entrance to the Museum as well as a reception.

The back courtyard of building 104, taken two years ago. A basement and new ground level glass infill building would soon occupy this space.

The back courtyard of building 104, with the newly installed glass infill building, as of September 24, 2009.

The view from the glass infill building, looking out towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

I was going to write a gallery-by-gallery review, but have instead opted to just list some of my favorite artifacts, followed by a description of some of my favorite technical / audio-visual displays. There are so many neat items to see it's hard to choose, but here goes, in no particular order:

The reception area. The awards display cases are visible in the background along the walls.

1) past the reception area you'll find nine huge display cases filled with just a sampling (just under 250 by my quick count), of the many awards, plaques, certificates, medals and sculptures given to Walt Disney over the course of his lifetime.

One of nine display cases.

2) one display case features his Academy Awards including 15 Oscar statuettes, six Award(s) for Outstanding Merit, and four Distinctive Achievement Certificate(s). Included in this case are his first two Academy Awards, given in 1932: the Honorary Special Award for the creation of Mickey Mouse, and the Certificate of Honorable Mention for the first color Silly Symphony Flowers and Trees. Also on display is the specially made Academy Award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which features one large and seven smaller statuettes and his Irving Thalberg award.

This photo, taken on one of my earlier visits to the original museum, shows the Academy Awards on display in the new museum.

3) the three page letter written to the mother of Virginia Davis in October 1923. Virginia was the little girl who starred in the so-called "Alice" comedies. In the letter, Walt asks Mrs. Davis to bring young Virginia to Hollywood so work could resume on the Alice Comedies.

4) there are several dozen three-dimensional maquettes on display in various galleries: Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Dopey, Pinocchio, Gepetto, Stromboli, Vulcan, Ben Ali Gator, Hyacinth Hippo, Bacchus and Jacchus and even Casey Jr.

A Pinocchio maquette. Animators would refer to these models during production. This pose of Pinocchio, made in the Studio's Model Department, is believed to be the first three-dimensional maquette design to have been created.

5) a display case filled with Snow White related memorabilia including a Snow White book autographed by Walt Disney to his young daughter Diane...part of the inscription read, "from your daddy, Walt Disney."

6) animation art: spectacular production drawings of the Hag from Snow White and Chernabog from Fantasia were some of my favorites. There are also dozens of pieces of conceptual art: great watercolors of Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, two Old Mill watercolors by Tenggren, Kay Nielsen pastels from Ave Maria; pastels from the Nutcracker Suite; and watercolor backgrounds from Pinocchio and Snow White. What are believed to be one of the earliest Mickey Mouse drawings are also on display.

Old Mill watercolor conceptual art by Swedish artist Gustaf Tenggren.

7) the Herman Schultheis Camera Department Process Lab notebook. This notebook is filled with photographs and notes and documents many of the special effects and film processes used in the creation of several of the golden-age classics. This notebook is a treasure trove of information, much of which was previously unknown.

The Schultheis notebook.

8) a huge display case filled with 1930s memorabilia - items related to the 1930s Mickey Mouse Club including a rare child's vest and fez, Campaign Book and pinback buttons, a merchandising rep Herman "Kay" Kamen catalog, dolls, storybooks, advertising items, bisques and more - this case is a visual treat for the eyes.

9) rare posters from the Alice comedies and the Oswald series.

10) selection of items from the strike including several issues of the trade magazine Variety.

11) three display cases filled with rare war-related items including original insignia art and home front related pieces.

12) Walt Disney's train, the Lilly Belle, and rare paper items related to his backyard railroad the Carolwood Pacific.

The Lilly Belle, as seen in the first museum.

13) a huge animated model of Disneyland, not as it was completed, but the one envisioned in Walt Disney's mind. This model is amazing and has many, many moving parts.

The detail in this model is exact and amazing!

14) Eyvind Earle conceptual art for Sleeping Beauty.

15) a display case filled with Zorro memorabilia.

16) the sculpted model bust of President Abraham Lincoln, which was used in the audio-animatronic, as well as the audio-animatronic tube frame of the President's upper torso.

17) A small gallery with display cases featuring personal objects - Walt Disney's watch, money clip, Lillian's perfume bottles, jewelry, a case of miniatures from Walt's own collection and a handwritten note from Walt detailing the types of food he enjoyed eating, complete with the remark: "Only one vegetable" with each meal. What was Walt's favorite meal you ask? Two cans of Hormel and Gebhardt's chili mixed together. Lemon Jell-O was one of his favorite desserts. Elias Disney's fiddle is also on display and there is a small vignette in the awards gallery that features pieces of furniture from Walt and Lillian's Disneyland apartment.

18) hundreds of photos and 16 mm film of Walt Disney - family pictures as well as professional images catch Walt Disney at work and play. Perhaps the most touching image was one taken by his son-in-law Ron Miller on the last family vacation - the photo shows Walt Disney sitting on a log on a beach on the coast of British Columbia, Canada. Walt has a movie camera on his lap and is tipping his hat. A very moving and poignant photo before one of the last galleries, which documents the world's reaction to news of Walt's death.

This image is found in gallery one and shows Walt with his sister Ruth.

Some really neat audio-visual related notes:

1) a decision was made early on in the project to use Walt Disney's own voice to tell his story. This was one of the best decisions made. Who better than Walt Disney to tell his own story? Clips are used from many of Disney's television appearances, as well as various radio interviews, including the over 12 hours of tape captured by Pete Martin and Walt's daughter Diane for the series of articles that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post.

2) There are many additional audio clips to listen to: you can hear Disney employees speak on a wide range of topics.

3) There are three neat shows to see in Gallery 1 - the three separate vignettes have Walt telling the story of a) his childhood on the farm; b) growing up in Chicago; and c) volunteering for duty as an ambulance driver with the Red Cross in France. Each uses paper cut-outs in an amusing and entertainingly whimsical fashion!

4) The elevator ride to the second floor has a neat angle - it's made out to be a Santa Fe railroad car and has Walt speaking about his journey west to Hollywood.

5) The Schultheis notebook has been digitized. The original notebook is on display in a cabinet with the digitized version avalable for viewing - this was a very cool display!

6) A couple of reactrix displays (at least I think that is what they are called)...a flat horizontal screen in front of the guest displays various small images. You point and press the circle you want more info on and a detailed image appears in front of you on a vertical screen.

7) A fanciful recreation of a Moviola, where you can control the speed and forward or reverse direction of a sequence from Snow White. Very, very cool!

8) A two-storey multi-plane camera. Just an amazing piece of equipment. The camera punches up through the second floor of the Museum and gives guests an idea just how large this mechanical wonder really was.

These are just some of the wonderful things that await you on your visit. I had the opportunity to spend two very brief evenings at the Museum. I believe 4 1/2 hours is what Museum staff have calculated to be the minimum amount of time needed to see most of the exhibits. One could easily spend the whole day there.

Photography is not allowed in the Museum. The images in this post have come from photos I was allowed to take on previous visits at the old museum and other sources on the internet, including Roger Colton and his great website: http://www.theblueparrot.info

Diane Disney Miller and me on the evening of September 24, 2009. Ron Miller was also in the photo, but he had his eyes closed...sorry for editing you out Ron!

Around the world...

2009-09-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

Found this neat image on the net recently. The caption said the photo was of a piece of luggage Walt Disney used while traveling in the 1930s. I thought it was neat to see...nothing spectacular and a bit esoteric, but think of all the places that trunk has gone.

Photo courtesy Monica Almeida / The New York Times

Virginia Davis - 1918-2009

2009-08-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

Virginia Davis, star of Walt Disney's early "Alice Comedies," passed away Saturday morning, August 15, 2009, at the age of 90.

Disney approached the parents of the four year old Davis in 1923, after seeing her in an advertisement in a local Kansas City theater. After inking a deal, Davis went on to star in the first 13 "Alice" cartoons, which combined live-action and cartoon animation.

Alice was to have appeared with Margaret Kerry , the live-action model for Tinkerbell, at the upcoming D23 convention in Los Angeles.

Mickey Mouse & Ginger Rogers

2009-07-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

This piece of art was created by Hank Porter. The fan card was sent to famed Hollywood actress Ginger Rogers on the occasion of her 28th birthday.

Disney postal covers

2009-06-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

The cachets in this post were part of the collection of noted philatelist Ken Lawrence, who assembled a rather neat collection of interesting Disney related postal items. Note the cancellation marks on the envelope: Mickey Texas; Mousie Kentucky; Donald Wisconsin; and Duck North Carolina.

Some of the more novel items in the Lawrence colleciton included an envelope bearing a cancel from the French town that was the origination of Disney's surname, Isigny, France:

as well as a cancel from the town of Disney, Nebraska:

Other interesting cachets featured 1930s ink stamped images of Disney characters, hand drawn illustrations of Mickey and Donald and even an item with a postal cancel showing the date and city of Walt Disney's birth, December 5, 1901, Chicago.

Southern Dairies

2009-05-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

With summer fast approaching, I thought it appropriate to post some ice-cream related images.

Southern Dairies became a Disney licensee in 1936. The publicity image of Walt Disney and some of his staff was taken on the grounds of the Hyperion Studio. Walt Disney sits on a box of ice cream cup novelties, while other staff hold paper banners advertising the cool summer treat. Disney and some of the others seem to be indulging in the tasty delight.

Besides the posters and actual ice cream cups, a pin-back button and play money were also issued. The novelty items were usually used by participating merchants who sponsored their local theater's Mickey Mouse Club. The pin and money would have been used in Club promotions as a means of getting children into the retailer's outlet.

The publicity image is courtesy my friend Mark Sonntag. The ice cream cup was auctioned on eBay several months ago, while the pin and money images are courtesy Hake's Americana and Heritage Auctions.

Wayne Allwine - 1947-2009

2009-05-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

This sad news just in: Wayne Allwine, the official voice of Mickey Mouse, passed away May 16, 2009, due to complications from diabetes.

Allwine was just the third person to provide Mickey with his voice, the others being Walt Disney and Disney sound effects man Jimmy Macdonald. Allwine was married to Russi Taylor, the current voice of Minnie Mouse.

Walt Disney portrait

2009-05-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

Back in the fall of 2008 Google started posting images online from the Life magazine collection - some great Disney related photographs are now available for viewing.

I'm not quite sure why, but this is one of my favorites - a very pensive looking Walt Disney, obviously tired, with an expression that indicates he carries the weight of the world upon his shoulders, taken in his Hyperion Avenue office in November 1938. That looks to be a budget, or some type of financial document on his desk.

When my seven year old daughter saw this photo she remarked, "Why does he look so sad?" Good question. She then quickly added, "Maybe he's trying to figure out a new story." I'd say she's a pretty smart kid.

Maybe he's trying to figure out how to ask brother Roy for more money to help fund one of the many projects the Studio had in production at the time. I suppose we'll never know for sure, but like I said, for some reason this image really appeals to me.

Enjoy!

Walt Disney and the Red Cross - part 4

2009-04-27T23:32:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth post in my series exploring Walt Disney's time in France as an ambulance driver with the Red Cross. The other installments can be found by clicking here. Unless otherwise indicated, the quotes attributed to Disney come from his series of interviews conducted with journalist Pete Martin in 1955.

H. Alice Howell was the matriarch of the Red Cross canteen in Neufchateau, France. Walt Disney and Howell struck-up an endearing friendship, which lasted until Howell's death in 1944.

H. Alice Howell, seated center, first row, (red underline). This image originally appeared in a 1915 University of Nebraska "Cornhuskers" yearbook.

Howell had a deep sense of public duty. The head of the dramatic arts department at the University of Nebraska had tried several times to get to France, offering her assistance to a multitude of service organizations, including the YMCA, before she was finally accepted by the Red Cross. Despite her successful application however, Howell still had to pay her own way to Europe - she sailed to France aboard the transport Niagara, along with a group of Red Cross nurses and several companies of fighting men.

H. Alice Howell. Official portrait. Courtesy The Johnny Carson School of Theater and Film, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Walt Disney had fond recollections of Howell:

"Mrs. Howell ran this canteen. [She was] a wonderful woman from Omaha, Nebraska. [She was] a very close friend of [General] Pershing. She was respected by everybody and she was decorated. She was given the Croix de Guerre for her work in Nancy during the bombardment. She had a wonderful canteen...when the boys got off the train, they could go in there...and take a bath and throw their old underwear away...she gave them new underwear and things.

A May 13, 1934 newspaper article detailed Howell’s wartime association with Disney. The article read in part:

Alice Howell Recalls War Days in France With Walt Disney As Her Chauffeur

"People the world over will always have a warm spot in their heart for Mr. Disney. But no one will have a greater interest in his work than will Miss H. Alice Howell…who for many months after the last war, was closely associated with the cartoonist far up in the front line trenches.

Even today Mr. Disney still refers to Miss Howell as his ‘boss’ at Neufchateau. Pals on the battlefield – they remain closest of friends here at home, although hundreds of miles separate them. Frequent letters, interspersed with drawings and elaborate Mickey Mouse dolls, serve to keep war experiences alive in the minds of both people.

It was at Neufchateau, France, immediately following the Armistice that Disney was appointed as Miss Howell’s chauffeur. It was his duty to drive her across the battlefields to the hospitals where she, as the head of one of the Red Cross canteens, had charge of delivering doughnuts and other refreshments to the sick and injured.

This cartoon of Howell and Disney appeared in the May 13, 1934 edition of the Lincoln Sunday Journal. The illustration was created by a staff artist at the newspaper.

The university woman laughs now and says that although she never realized then that her chauffeur would become so popular, she realized that he had a talent for drawing even at that early age. His cartoons then were mainly ways of passing spare time and were drawn on his truck and other accommodating places."

In the article Howell mentioned her association with General John “Blackjack” Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in France. The article indicated Howell “knew General Pershing intimately in Lincoln…the university instructor says she saw him innumerable times in France, sometimes reviewing American troops and again at various public meetings.” Pershing graduated from the University of Nebraska with a law degree in 1893. He also taught courses on military tactics at the university between 1891-1895.

On August 27, 1915, Pershing's private quarters at The Presidio was destroyed by fire. The inferno claimed the lives of his wife and three young daughters. Only his son Warren, pulled from a top floor window, survived.

In 1915 Pershing’s wife and three daughters died in a horrible fire, which consumed most of the top floor of their residence, located on the grounds of The Presidio in San Francisco. Warren was pulled from a top floor window with serious injuries, while Pershing himself was away at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The newspaper article recounted Warren Pershing’s visit with Howell at Neufchateau:

"One day, she recalls, the general sent his young son Warren, then a mere youngster, to stay with her all day. Mr. Disney…drove Warren and Miss Howell to a quiet spot for an afternoon’s picnic."

General John "Blackjack" Pershing and his son Warren. Pershing earned his nickname while in charge of a troop of so-called "Buffalo Soldiers" with the 10th Cavalry Regiment. The Regiment was composed of African American soldiers commanded by white officers.

Disney remembered the day Warren Pershing stopped by for a visit:

"One day…a big excitement. General Pershing was sending his son Warren down to visit Mrs. Howell. They cleaned-up the canteen. The whole place was spruced-up.

I had this old canteen car…wide seat for four…a siren…roll-up curtains. It was a junky looking old thing. Up comes this big locomobile with this Sergeant driving and in the back is sitting this little 10-year old boy in uniform…a duplicate of his father’s uniform. [We] were going on a picnic. There was a little town outside of Neufchateau called Domremy, the birthplace of Joan of Arc. They had a shrine…they had picnic places.

A lot of the canteen girls and some of these soldiers that were stationed there…went along. [Warren] wouldn’t ride in anything but that damned canteen car. It ended-up these buck Privates that were going along rode in the locomobile. They all ploughed in with Warren sitting there and I let him drive the car. I had my feet over the pedals, but Warren got to drive this little old Ford as we went on up to Domremy. [We] had this picnic and drove on back. He was 10 years old…it was a big day, you know?"

Two stories, which to my knowledge have never been reproduced elsewhere, also appeared in the May 1934 newspaper article:

"One day while Disney and his University of Nebraska ‘boss’ were driving over the battlefields taking cake and ice cream to the wounded in hospitals, they came upon a French messenger who had been struck by a truck while riding his motorcycle. Severely injured, Disney and Miss Howell jumped from their truck and approached the man. With his last strength, Miss Howell says he pulled the message from his pocket and asked her to deliver it. The man died shortly after."

The second previously undocumented story dealt with a doughnut delivery:

"At another time, one of the few when the cartoonist became furious, Miss Howell and Disney had left their truck to deliver doughnuts at a hospital. When they came back to the automobile they discovered all of the rest of their cookies, about 500 of them, had been taken by American officers. ‘Walt and I were furious,’ she stated, ‘for we wanted them for the other soldiers.' "

Howell spoke fondly of Walt Disney as well and her quote in the article showed her attachment to the fellow mid-westerner:

"[Disney] was so very nice. Everybody liked him because he was always willing to do things. He was lovable and all the girls around him were fond of him.

Miss Howell visited Europe not long ago and stayed for a time with the French family with whom she had roomed part of the time during the war. A small son of one of the daughters began telling her of his Mickey Mouse storybook.

Do you know Mickey Mouse? I asked. Sure, he replied and drew me a picture of Mickey immediately. I sent the picture to Disney when I returned home and at Christmas time, so I learned later by a letter from my French friends, Walt had sent the boy a Mickey Mouse – the twin to the one I have. I think this shows his generous nature.

The cartoonist always writes Miss Howell on Christmas. He sent her a picture of himself in uniform standing by the truck the two used in delivering doughnuts after the war, another recent picture of himself, which he autographed and a large Mickey Mouse doll dressed in the brightest of colors. On the back of one of the pictures is written – ‘To my boss at Neufchateau, from her chauffeur, Walt Disney.’

Miss Howell remained in France until the following August, fifteen months after the signing of the armistice. Then she came back to Lincoln and took up her work at the university. Looking back on her experience she says:

'That was the highest pointing my life. I don’t suppose I can ever hope to attain such heights again. If there ever is another war I certainly will enlist,' but she added quickly – 'I hope there won’t be another.' "

As a testament to their friendship, Disney sent Howell a Christmas gift in 1939. The following story ran in the Sunday Journal and Star:

"Another person interested in the welfare of Lincoln, Neb., is Walt Disney of Hollywood – for Mr. Disney sent two large boxes of toys, gift, books, etc. to Alice Howell, and she in turn gave them to Social Welfare society."

Nine days after the start of the Second World War, Alice Howell traveled to California. The Sunday Star Journal, detailed Howell’s trip to Hollywood, which included time with Walt Disney at both his studio and socially with his wife Lillian and children Diane and Sharon:

The HOLLYWOOD of which Tourists Dream and which

they Seldom See was Opened to LINCOLN VISITOR

Friends, Who Are Also Studio Officials,

Gave Miss Alice Howell Opportunity

To See Stars, Sets and Scenes

"During the month in Hollywood from which she has just returned, Miss Alice Howell was particularly interested in meeting a young man who was only 17 the last time she saw him. In that year, he was passing himself off as a much hoarier age, but back home in Kansas City he was 17 officially.

When Miss Howell knew him first he was camouflaging helmets, driving her little campion with its load of doughnuts here and there along the battle lines of France, cartooning its canvas sides.

He is, and was, Walt Disney.

As he greeted her, Disney cried: 'Where is your long white veil? I can still see it floating behind you.'

After Mr. Disney had learned his former World War laborer-in-the-cause was in Hollywood, he sent his motor of magnificent proportions and his own chauffeur for Miss Howell. She spent that entire day in the studio, guided by the versatile screen creator of those amusing mites, Dopey, Mickey Mouse, and the ever-violent Donald D.

This image appeared in the September 10, 1939 edition of the Sunday Journal and Star. In the photo Disney shows Howell a Model Department maquette of Pinocchio. While at the Studio, Howell was treated to a private screening of Disney's second full-length animated feature.

During that day, Miss Howell had a world premiere in her honor. In the 'sweat box,' the little studio theater for 'rushes,' she viewed 'Pinocchio,' the enchanting tale of the puppet who longed to be a real little boy. She was especially intrigued by Pinocchio’s conscience, 'Jiminy Crickets' [sic] a lively young cricket all dressed up and probably just as troublesome as any conscience. It is done in lovely color, and probably will be released about the first of the year.

Another film Mr. Disney had previewed for her is a light and delicate fantasy, the dances of the flowers through the seasons. It may never lead the box office lists, but Miss Howell finds it a lovely answer to those who deny the screen can be art. For those with an appreciation of natural beauty, the film carries its great appeal.

Fame, adulation, awards, including the French legion of Honor, recognition from foreign governments, degrees from leading universities have come to Mr. Disney since Miss Howell knew him as a boy with a knack at drawing. But essentially he is unchanged, remaining a very modest, rather shy, gently humorous person, with is studio and his home his two major interest.

When Miss Howell was there, all minds were working out a story, which had a tiny baby and a dog for a beginning. Drawings of unrelated scenes line the walls.

Miss Howell was the guest of Mr. And Mrs. Disney several times at their home in the hills overlooking the studio. It’s much like a pleasant home anywhere, friendly, gracious, simple, with two young daughters, Diane Marie and Sharon Mae, a swimming pool and a barbecue.

On one side of the nursery is a long glass case of dolls, locked most of the time. Miss Howell says the influence of the elder Disney show in his daughters. Rather than asking for a doll, they hunt far and wide through the house for a fairy to come with a key to open the cabinet.

Miss Howell attended the 'Merry Wives of Windsor' in the Hollywood Bowl and The Pilgrimage Play, similar to the Passion Play of Oberammergau, with the Disney’s."

In an email, Diane Disney Miller recalled Howell’s visit with her father and mother at their home on Woking Way, in the Los Feliz / Silverlake district of Los Angeles. On this trip Howell brought the American flag that had flown over the Red Cross canteen at Neufchateau:

"She came to our home with the flag…she presented the flag to dad. Dad was very excited about her visit, and I think he came home from the studio early. I was standing by his side when he opened the door. She brought me a little silver cross on a chain, with "Diana" inscribed on the back. Of course it was a treasure. I still have it. In further correspondence he asks her help in getting General Pershing to sign his book that dad has purchased…and she does."

During World War II, H. Alice Howell again answered the call of service when she became the local secretary of The British War Relief, a group of volunteers that gathered donated goods, which were sent to the war weary residents of England.

Howell passed away on July 8, 1944. Her funeral was held in Lincoln, Nebraska, on July 11, 1944. She was buried in Laramie, Wyoming.

There will be one more post on Disney's time in France. The final post will detail his journey home.

Good-Will Ambassador No. 1

2009-04-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

The images in this post were originally published in the January 1942 edition of Movie-Radio Guide. The magazine featured a one-page article on Walt Disney's trip to South America and was illustrated with the following images. I have reproduced the captions verbatum with no alterations.

The caption on the first photo read: "Walt Disney (center) joins a group of musicians in Santiago, Chile, on his South American tour. This doesn't look like work, but Walt went to South America to gather material for 'good neighbor' cartoons. Mixing with Chileans, other Latins, he learned to know their music, their countries, them."

The funny thing about this photo is that Walt Disney didn't know how to play the guitar. While he may have played the fiddle in his youth, he had no formal training on how to play the guitar, nor did he ever play the instrument in his free time.

The next photo showed Disney on a beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The accompanying caption read: "Feted wherever he went as creator of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Disney learned how popular his cartoons are. On Rio beach he attracts much attention."

The third photo showed Disney with Argentine cartoonist Ramon Columba. The caption read: "Disney (second from left) and famed Argentine cartoonist Ramon Columba (bow tie) join other Argentine film notables in round-table broadcast."

During a meeting with Columba, the American and Argentine cartoonists took the time to draw the following caricatures of the other.

Image courtesy CartoonBrew.com

The caption in the final photo contained in the article stated: "High-spots of Disney's trip were meetings with tiny movie-goers, who are his best customers, his most devoted admirers. Here are delighted Chilean schoolschildren at special matinee given in the cartoonist's honor."

I have dozens of newspaper articles in my clipping file related to Disney's South American adventures and chose the following to share. The first was published in the June 1, 1942 issue of The Times and Daily News Leader:

Chile Students Astound Disney

"Two Chilean university students who started out three years ago without any money but with a big idea gave become the budding Walt Disneys of the Latin-American screen.

The two students, Carlos Trupp, 23, and Jainoe Escudero, 27, are not merely imitators of the famous Disney. Their originality already has won praise from Disney himself who visited Chile late in 1941. The young men started from scratch, knowing nothing of the technique or problems of film making.

First they formed a company with half a dozen other cartoonists and then they persuaded the government's Production and Development corporation to lend them 5,000 pesos (about $160). Necessary supplies were obtained and credits established and the group worked without pay. Their progress was remarkable.

When Disney visited Chile last year in search of the material for his own studios, Trupp and Escudero were his hosts when he called at their studios. Fascinated, Disney remained two hours, inspecting their antiquated hand-made equipment and giving them much valuable advice. The American producer was astonished to find that Trupp and Escudero were producing first class films with the same type [of] camera with which he began his own career."

The second article I picked out of my files, if it can be believed, is quite funny. This story appeared in the October 23, 1941 issue of Las Cruzes Sun News:

"Hollywood - Poised in the Argentine town of Mendoza, just before an air hop over the Andes in to Chile, Walt Disney set other Hollywoodities [sic] an example in showmanship.

In his personal appearance before audiences of children in South America, Disney usually gave a 'chalk talk,' with Walt and a few of the boys drawing upon the stage.

But in Mendoza, they found themselves without paper, easels, chalk or anything, and out on the stage of a big theater with a couple of thousand kids in the audience.

Disney couldn't speak their language. Through an interpreter he told the children of his predicament. Under the circumstances, he said, the only thing he could do for them was to stand on his head.

Which he did, and it brought the house down."

The final gem I located in a much larger article detailing Disney's trip to South America. This quote was published on December 7, 1941, the same day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, heralding America's entry into World War II, and the same day an anti-aircraft unit moved in and took over several buildings at the Disney Studio:

"The South American way has hit Disney hard. 'You keep grinding out ducks and mice,' he said, 'and you get in a rut. You begin to get tired. But this thing - it's like a new lease on life.' "

For more info on Disney's South American adventure, please click here.

A note from the "ornery" son

2009-04-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

This neat image can be found in the November 1932 edition of Silver Screen. This issue of the magazine contains a nice three page article on Walt Disney, along with six great images.

The note reads,

"To Mother + Dad from your ornery son and mischievous grand son. Walt + Mickey."

Notice Walt Disney's animated left eyebrow. Many artists commented on how expressive his eyebrows could be, especially when he was questioning something one of his staff had done.

Mickey Mouse model sheet

2009-03-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

This original india ink model sheet sold at the last Hake's Americana auction. According to the auction description, this model sheet was created circa December 1929 and was used until the fall of 1931. The images on the sheet were used as guidelines for the creation of graphics on a multitude of items ranging from press releases, to domestic and foreign merchandise.

The art was attributed to Les Clark, who would have drawn the images, and Win Smith, who would have inked the drawings. Clark was hired by Disney in 1927 fresh out of high school. He later become one of the famed "nine old men." Smith worked on the early Mickey Mouse newspaper strips.

All images courtesy Hake's Americana.

UPDATE: April 6, 2009

This just in from my good friend Gunnar Andreassen, who lives in Norway. Gunnar sent me some great scans of items in his collection, which feature Mickey illustrations copied from the model sheet in this post.

First up are a series of illustrations found in the British Mickey Mouse Annual 1931:

The second set of scans Gunnar emailed to me were used to illustrate an article titled, "The Only Unpaid Movie Star," which was published in the March 1931 issue of The American Magazine:

You can see that most of the illustrations used in the annual and the magazine article were direct copies off the model sheet, while at least one image of Mickey, in the "Introducing Mickey & Minnie" illustration was slight altered - Mickey sports a not so pronounced toothy grin and his tail is slight different.

I want to publicly thank Gunnar for sharing these images with me. Gunnar has also been helping me locate images and information for a big post we are co-writing on the history of Disney's early Hyperion studio. We have amassed some great images and background, which I'm sure readers of this blog will enjoy. Look for this exciting post in the near future!

Adventures in Chicago - 1918

2009-02-22T21:58:00.001-08:00

In the summer of 1955 Walt Disney was interviewed by journalist Pete Martin for a series of installments, which would eventually appear in the Saturday Evening Post. The Walt Disney quotes appearing in this post have come from an audio copy of that interview.

In the summer of 1918, some 37 years prior to the Martin interviews, 16-year old Walt Disney applied for a job as a letter carrier with the Post Office in Chicago. Disney recalled:

"I went down to get this job...another fellow and I went down together...he was no older than I was. When the fellow started interviewing us...this kid lied and said he was older. I couldn't lie. I said, 'Sixteen.' [The interviewer] said, 'I'm sorry, you're too young.' Well, I was really down. I went home...put on my dad's clothes...put on a different hat. I came back and got in line with the same guy and came up to him and he said, 'How old are you?' I said, 'Seventeen.' He sent me over to fill out an application. I felt I was in a disguise. I don't know whether he didn't care, or didn't recognize me, or what? So, I got the job."

1909 postcard showing the Chicago Federal Building. The Edison building, located on West Adams Street, is visible in the background on the right.

Disney began his new job as a mailman in the post office at the Federal Building on West Jackson Boulevard, in the so-called "Loop" district of downtown Chicago:

"I used to go to work...very early in the morning, about seven o'clock. I would work as a substitute. There were always two mailmen on a route. When one was sick, they'd put a substitute on. We'd sort the mail...then each man would start out with a load. The route was divided into sections. You made about three or four deliveries a day in the Loop area."

Sorting mail at the Federal Building post office, circa 1910. DN-0008875. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

"I'd be through...about 3:30 to four in the afternoon. There were several places I'd go to earn more money...40 cents an hour I got. This was a gold rush for me. I'd run over to the special delivery and see if they needed any extra help. Another place I'd put in my request [was] at the pick-up, the horse and buggy. We'd go out and pick-up the mail. I could drive a car, so if they had anything I'd go out to the garage and get a car and they'd send me on...a pick-up route. Or, I'd go out to the barn and get a horse and pick-up."

Chicago post office trucks, November 1915. DN-0065426. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

On September 4, 1918, a bomb ripped through the West Adams Street lobby of the Federal Building. The Lincoln, Nebraska Journal reported, "The bomb was hurled from across the street." The Mansfield News reported the bomb "was to have been exploded during the great Labor Day parade with the expectation that it would wipe out hundreds of lives." The article further stated, "The man who placed the bomb...is today reported under arrest. In the minds of the officials who have kept close watch over activities antagonistic to the government, there is no doubt that the crime lies at the door of the organization headed by Big Bill Haywood."

September 4, 1918. Aftermath of the bomb explosion, West Adams Street entrance to the Federal Building. DN-0070484. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

Haywood was the general secretary treasurer of the Industrial Workers of the World, an organization opposed to America's entry into World War I. Haywood was in the Federal Building at the time of the explosion, having recently been sentenced to 20 years in prison for "obstructing the government's war program." Haywood fled to Russia after being released on bail, where he remained until his death. No members of the I.W.W. were ever charged with the bombing.

September 4, 1918. Firemen and other workers sift through the debris in a corridor inside the Federal Building, sometime after the explosion. DN-0070486. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

Walt Disney was in the Federal Building when the bomb exploded:

"I was in the post office. I just got though sorting my mail, or finishing my route. I was walking out...going out a certain entrance...when it was bombed. I was right in the lobby when, FOOOOOM, this thing went off. Here comes the dust shooting out and everything. That was the way I went out every night. I missed that darn thing by about three minutes. There were several people killed. In fact, a mailman who worked just two desks away from me, he was on his way out and he got killed. We were locked up there until they made a thorough investigation. [They] wouldn't let anybody out."

Four persons were killed including letter carrier William Wheeler (the employee Disney referred to in the interview); clerk Edward Kolkow; 22-year old Navy recruit J. Ladd; and 19-year old Ella Mieblke, who was walking by the building when the explosion occured. The force of the blast also injured more than 75 others, killed a horse on the street, damaged a streetcar and shattered windows on nearby buildings.

September 4, 1918. Damage to the Edison building, located across from the West Adams Street entrance to the Federal Building. DN-00700485. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

An article in the December 24, 1918 New York Times reported Dominick Costerella, the alleged leader of a so-called Black Hand extortion group, which operated between Milwaukee and Chicago, was accused by his wife with having been responsible for the Chicago Federal Building blast.

Post office employee emptying the contents of his mail wagon into a streetside mail chute at the Federal Building post office, circa 1908. DN-0053296. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

Besides his regular duties, Disney's supervisors sometimes asked the youngster to work on Sundays:

"I took this big mailbag home with me. On Sundays...at 3:30 in the afternoon...I was to go out to the end of Grand Avenue pier. I'd ride out there in the streetcar. I'd collect all the postcards people were mailing. Then I'd ride back on the streetcar. There was the horse barn with all these mail wagons. I came in with this satchel full of mail. I hung it up on a peg in the stall. Then I got my horse out. I hitched him up to the wagon. I went out and collected boxes...at the different hotels, with this horse."

Located at the end of East Grand Avenue, the Chicago Municipal pier, later known as the Navy Pier, was built in 1916 at a cost of $4.5 million. The 3,300 foot long pier, which was serviced by its own streetcar line, was used by passenger steamers plying the waters of Lake Michigan. DN-0065714. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

One day while at work, Disney was removed from his sorting station and was taken away by two postal inspectors for questioning:

"I was sitting in there sorting mail...when suddenly all the mailmen began to look at me. I looked behind me and here were two postal inspectors. They said, 'Disney, come on with us!' I had to walk down this long corridor, with all these postmen on either side sorting mail and all their heads watching me. I walked down between these two postal inspectors, downstairs to where their office was.

They sat me down in a chair. [They] said, 'On a certain Sunday...you collected a bag of mail at the Grand Avenue pier.' I said, 'Yes.' [They said,] 'What did you do with it?' I said, 'I put it in the mail chute.' They said, 'No you didn't. What did you do with it?' And they gave me the third degree. They said, 'Come clean now kid!' I was sweating. I was panicking. I saw visions of bars in front of me.

Finally, they began to smile and they said, 'We'll tell you what you did with it. You hung it on a peg in the stable and it's been hanging there for two weeks.' They said, 'Now be more careful with it, and get out of here!' They played it right up the hilt, by God I was just, I thought, 'Gee, I'm a criminal. I'm going to jail.' "

South Dearborn Street side of the Federal Building, circa 1911. This image shows early automobiles and a horse-drawn carriage. The large curbside boxes are mail chutes used by postal employees to empty their wagons after completing their "pick-up" routes. The Edison building is visible in the background. DN-009273. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

While reflecting with Pete Martin on his time spent at the post office, Disney also recalled horse he had the pleasure of working with. Disney and this particular steed worked a pick-up route:

"The guy in the horse barn wouldn't let me touch the reins. He said, 'Now kid, leave that horse alone! He knows more than you do. He knows every box and he knows his way back to the barn. You keep your hands off those reins!'

So, we started out. I started down this ramp to the street. A streetcar came through. I started to grab the reins. This fella yelled, 'Keep your hands off those reins!' I did and the horse came right on down, he just stopped, let the streetcar go on by and he followed the streetcar. The horse knew every...street."

Horse traffic on the Rush Street Bridge, circa 1908. DN-0006503. Chicago Daily News negatives collection. Chicago Historical Society.

"[The] Rush Street Bridge used to open for boats. He'd come up to that [bridge]...they put a chain across [when] the bridge was opened. This old horse, he'd get right up, he'd just get right up and he'd be the first one at that chain. As soon as the bridge came back and they dropped the chain, that old horse would be the first one to cross that bridge. He took me all through the Loop.

He was tricky. I'd get the mail out of the box and I'd put it in the back of the wagon and I'd slam the gate. The horse woudl hear that and he'd start going. I had to run to get up in the darn wagon...you had to step on the hub. I had to outwit that horse. I had to quiety close the gate and get up there...then say, 'Go on.' But that horse knew everything. [He'd] take me right back to the post office. I'd put all the mail in...the chute...then I'd drive the horse all the way to the back of the barn and go on home."

In the fall of 1918, Walt Disney quit his job at the Post Office. On September 16, Disney and his friend Russell Maas successfully enlisted in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. Disney was about to embark on his next adventure, this time in France, where he would practise his art, see the lights of Paris and begin a lifelong friendship with the matriarch of a Red Cross canteen.

Walt Disney and the Writer's Club, 1933

2009-02-16T22:26:00.000-08:00

By 1933 Walt Disney had gained prominence in Hollywood as the premiere producer of cartoon films. Mickey Mouse was phenomenally popular, (the 1930s Mickey Mouse theater clubs boasted more members than the boy and girl scouts combined), the Silly Symphonies were successful in their own right, (Three Little Pigs, released in the spring of 1933 won the 1934 Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoon), and Disney himself was the owner of two Motion Picture Arts and Sciences statuettes.

As his stature amongst fellow Hollywood artists increased, so too did the number of invites to special events. On September 28, 1933, Walt Disney was invited to be the guest at a special dinner organized by the Writer's Club.

The Writer's Club was a social organization, which I think was formed in 1920 by members of the Author's League. I haven't been able to locate much about the Writer's Club. If anyone can provide some more info on how often or where the members met, what the Club's purpose was, etc., I'd be happy to add the details to this post.

Will Rogers and Walt Disney share a laugh at the Writer's Club dinner honoring the cartoon producer. The evening's toastmaster, Rupert Hughes, is seated on Disney's left, (right side of the photo).

Regardless, Disney attended the dinner held in his honor, as did many other Hollywood notables. The image in this post shows Disney sharing a humorous moment with his friend, the immensely popular actor, comedian, and social commentator Will Rogers. Disney and Rogers had become friends through their mutual interest in polo - Disney often practiced his game at Rogers' Santa Monica ranch, and Disney was set to include a caricature of the famed horseman in the Mickey Mouse short cartoon, Mickey's Polo Team, but pulled the sequence following Rogers' death in 1935.

Charles Chaplin and actress Paulette Goddard were also seated at the head table.

Also in attendance at the dinner was Disney's boyhood idol, Charlie Chaplin. While he was living in Kansas City, Disney had often parodied Chaplin, even going so far as to enter Chaplin impersonation contests. The famed actor attended the dinner with actress Paulette Goddard, who lived with Chaplin in his Beverly Hills home. During their time together Chaplin and Goddard refused to comment on their marital status, which in turn provided subject matter for Hollywood's gossip columnists.

Other notables attending the dinner included Joseph Schenck, (the head of United Artists - in June 1932 Roy Disney signed a contract giving UA the distribution rights to the Studio's cartoons), film pioneer Rupert Hughes, (uncle to Howard Hughes), actress Mae Robson, vaudeville, Broadway and film writer Edgar Allan Woolf, and University of Southern California president Dr. Rufus von KleinSmid.

The October 7, 1933 San Mateo Times carried a short story about the dinner:

Behind the Scenes in Hollywood

"The season's most embarrassed guest of honor was Walt Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, at the dinner given him by the Writer's Club. All the big-wigs were there...

Speaker Joe Schenck twitted Disney: 'Walt used to make twenty-six pictures a year, then he joined United Artists, and the influence got him. He's taken up polo and now he's only going to make eighten pictures. Next year he'll probably do only eight.' "

The October 15, 1933 edition of the Lincoln Star also carried a report about the dinner, but this one had a more personal touch as the story was written by none other than Will Rogers:

"We were all down to a mighty fine dinner they gave to Walter Disney. He is the sire and dam of that gift to the world, 'Mickey Mouse.' Now if there wasn't two geniuses at one table, Disney and Charley.

One took a derby hat and a pair of big shoes, and captured the laughs of the world, the other one took a lead pencil and a mouse and he has the whole world crawling in a rat hole, if necessary, just to see the antics of these rodents. But there was more than just shoes and pencils and derby hats and drawing boards there. Both had a God given gift of human nature, These professors base it all on psychology of some kind and breed, but it's something human inside these two ducks that even psychology hasn't a name for. Why that Three Little Pigs, why I would have given my life just to have played one of them. That's the best picture ever made.

That night at the dinner the Writer's Club gave...outside of a non stop speech of mine it was a wonderful dinner. Chaplin wouldn't talk, but he did two fo the cleverest pantomime sketches I ever saw. Then Disney wouldn't talk much. Everybody that does things I have noiced they don't talk at public gatherings but boy us other old windbags, we just gas up and go till the lights are turned off. Rupert Hughes, that clever writer, is a wonderful toastmaster."

Dennis Books' collection

2009-02-14T22:09:00.000-08:00

"No further shall weaklings' virtue triumph over evil's mighty spell.
Now you deal with ME, oh Prince and all the powers of HELL!"

I have added a link to my friend Dennis Books' collection of art. I have known Dennis for close to 25 years now. I'd rate him easily in the top 10 collectors of vintage Disneyana - he has literally thousands of 1930s and 1940s pieces of Disney memorabilia: books, celluloids, dolls, bisques, and paper items.

Dennis owns letters written by Walt Disney, Roy Disney, Hal Horne and Kay Kamen. He owns Roy Williams' business card and Floyd Gottfredson's Studio pass, both from the '30s, as well as prototype dolls and even a set of character model department figurines from Fantasia, which were cast in bronze in the 1940s and later given to him by his friend Bob Jones, who headed-up the Model Department with Joe Grant.

Dennis' Disney children's book collection is, in my estimation, second to none. Dennis claims to own copies of almost all of the American edition Disney books published from 1930 to about 1945. His European collection of 1930s Disney books is absolutely astounding - just the books printed in the United Kingdom number close to 200.

What is most amazing is the size and scope of his art collection. Dennis has managed to collect around 850 pieces of original Disney art. Almost all of the pieces are from Disney's so-called "golden age."

Dennis has an affinity for original model sheets (not photostats), as well as storyboards, conceptual art, production drawings, cels and backgrounds. Artists represented in his collection include Kay Nielson, Gustaf Tenggren, Earl Hurd, Bill Tytla, Floyd Gottfredson, Carl Barks, Hank Porter, William Wallet, Ferdinand Horvath, Sylvia Holland, Grim Natwick, Freddie Moore, Les Clark, James Bodrero and dozens more.

Pictured at the beginning of this post is an extremely rare Kay Nielson pastel concept created for Sleeping Beauty. This piece depicts the film's climactic battle between Maleficent and Prince Phillip and is amazing to see in person. I hope you enjoy this piece and to view more gorgeous pieces of art, please click on the link and head over to his gallery where hundreds more pieces of vintage Disney art await.