Tuesday, July 17, 2012

"Disneyland...Friend or Foe?"

Disneyland has now reached the ripe old age of 57.  Frankly, in the great scheme of things, 57 isn't really that old, and yet as the years go by, it gets increasingly harder to imagine what the rural town of Anaheim was like before Disney.  When news first broke of a permanent "amusement park" coming to town - even one devised by the "Master Showman of the World"-- not everybody living here was enthusiastic.  Before Disneyland, amusement parks were widely regarded as dirty, rowdy places and some residents feared that the park could have a negative impact on day-to-day life.

Even as the finishing touches were being put in place and opening day drew near,
the Anaheim Bulletin published the following editorial in one final effort to smooth out any
lingering concerns by extolling the economic benefits of having Disneyland for a neighbor.


3 comments:

  1. very cool. Both my father's parents and my mother's parents lived in Anaheim prior to Disneyland being built. Lots of stories about mixed feelings from the citizens. I know my family was happy about Disneyland once they saw it. My grandfather was a reporter for the OC Register so my mom and family went
    on the opening day while he covered the story for the press.

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  2. Fascinating to see an article that was published in 1933 about Disneyland; the writing style is a bit different from today's but the message is still very clear. Despite apprehensions, DisneyLand has been great not just for Anaheim but OC as a whole in terms of revenue and tourists.

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  3. This blog post was absolutely fantastic. When I used to work in electroplating they sometimes encouraged us to write, but I could never come up with something as well written as that

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