Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat from 1972 and this Hallmark Pop-up Book, 'A Fun-Filled Visit to Walt Disney World with Mickey Mouse.'  There aren't exactly 999, but you can see all of my previous Haunted Mansion posts HERE.  Happy Halloween!

So Much Dust

The Haunted Mansion coloring pages
Walt Disney World: A Coloring Book, 1983

Leading up to Halloween, it is only appropriate that I share some early Haunted Mansion items.  Although, I must say that in reviewing my earliest Walt Disney World guides, the Haunted Mansion does not get much coverage.  It appears in all of the early guides but typically is overshadowed by other Liberty Square attractions.  The pages above are from a 1983 coloring book.  The Haunted Mansion gets 2 of 8 pages in the Liberty Square section of "20 Magical Years."  

While doing my research, I learned an interesting fact about the dust used to create the old effect in the mansion. "Local legend has it that enough has been used since the park's 1971 opening to bury the mansion."  That began appearing in WDW guides around 1990.  Imagine how big the pile of dust would be now.
And those cobwebs....well that's a secret process.

Japanese Cup of Coffee

Embossed Coffee Cup

A recent addition to my collection is this early coffee cup from Walt Disney World.  A unique castle icon and Big D/Globe Head logo are embossed on the front with a crisp cobalt blue.  It is unusual to see this particular castle icon being used as the primary image on a piece.  It is the design used by much of the pieces 'made in Japan' but is typically seen on the back or bottom of the pieces, like on the 'Plane Crazy' plate I shared recently.  I've added a picture of that back, here.  You can also see the difference in castle icons by comparing the main design on this mug to one I shared several years ago.  You will see the flat bottomed 'Japanese' castle on the bottom of the mug but the main design is the more commonly used 'jack-o-lantern' castle.  I call it that because the bottom geometric shapes remind me of a carved pumpkin.

Highway in the Sky

Monorail to the Magic Kingdom postcard
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I had already planned to share this postcard today because of the sequence of cards and because I spent the earlier part of the week riding the Las Vegas monorail.  I was so disappointed each time the doors closed and I did not hear that familiar voice say...."Please stand clear of the closing doors...."  Ironically, today this same color monorail (I can't assume it is the same one from 1971) stalled on the "highway in the sky" leaving passengers stranded for 2 hours.

As you can see from the images, this Dexter Press card was printed with and without the Florida Flag logo.

  

Happy 4th Birthday!

4th birthday button
October 1, 1975

Happy 4th Birthday, Walt Disney World!  Okay, so I am 40 years late to the party.  But here is how they celebrated in 1975.  This cast member pin-back button was part of the Park's birthday tradition.  This button broke from the early basic circle design and continued the trend of highlighting an upcoming new attraction.  America On Parade, which began in the summer of 1975, was the parade celebrating the US Bicentennial.