Bonuses in 3D!

 You should have read the "3D" part in a booming echoing voice. If you didn't, you can go back and do it now. Go ahead, I'll wait...

See how much better that is?

This week we have a View-Master set (2737) from Walt Disney World with bonus reels and we have another bonus as well, thanks to a request from Sue!

I think the View-Master set was produced in 1971, when the park was brand new and still had that "new park smell." There were originally seven reels included, but when I picked it up at an antique mall, there were...10!!! What was extra? Well let's take a look!

By the way, I took an example photo of each reel. The photos stink, but they'll give you an idea of the reels (I hope). I wish I could show you the sharp 3D glory of the original reels, but you'll have to use your imagination...

First....the plastic box!

The plastic box...OPENED!

To get a better look at the writing, I "enhanced" the pictures. You're welcome.

Here we have a typical Main Street view...albeit a little blurry...

I'm arranging these in the order that I typically attack the park. Next is Adventureland!

And, yes, this is uaually our first ride of the day!

The Frontierland reel is funny because three of the seven scenes are of The Country Bears.

I chose to skip them entirely.

Liberty Square is, of course, unique to The Magic Kingdom.

I don't think this happens there any more. They have it at The American Adventure at Epcot.

Now let's stroll over to Fantasyland...

...and check out the best version of this ride ever!

Now we'll go to Tomorrowland. ...uh....wait... For some reason GAF decided to not include a Tomorrowland reel with the set. Instead, we get "Walt Disney Characters."

Yes, Mickey used to greet people at the entrance. 

The very popular Haunted Mansion got it's own reel. I have heard that the pictures are actually of the Disneyland version.

So I'm going to share the only one that I'm sure is actually from Walt Disney World.

And now we get to the first bonuses! My box included not one, but TWO Disneyland reels! They are exactly the same reel, though.

I decided to show one of my favorite lost attractions...

And, lastly, we have this nifty preview reel!

Unfortunately, the film has gone very magenta, but the Travel Fun! slide features a Disney view not found on the other reels.

Next we have a throwback to a couple of weeks ago. If you remember, I shared a Little Golden Book treasury. Sue wanted to see the whole story of Donald Duck in Disneyland, so her wish is my command! Here it is in all of it's not very entertaining glory! Also featured is my not very entertaining left thumb.

As you can see, the story and pictures were produced before the park was open, so they are short on details and accuracy. Still, it's kind of cute, I guess. Thanks for the suggestion, Sue!

So until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Knott's Bits

 Well, last week's post didn't exactly make a huge stir, so I think I'll make this week's even more boring! In all honesty, it seems like the summer months run a little lighter in views anyway, so why not post about slightly less interesting stuff?

For this week, I have some items that I collected just because they have the name "Knott's Berry Farm" on them. They're not real vintage, but they're still kind of nice. I picked them up at a couple of garage sales. Whanna see 'em? Huh? Huh? Well here we go!

First we have this tiny tea cup and saucer. As I said, it's not horribly old because they're using the "new" logo. Of course that logo went into use around 1978, so there could be a little age there. This cup and saucer is a pretty standard souvenier item, and I've actually seen the exact same one decked out with New Orleans decals. In doing my usual in depth research job, I found out that I'm actually missing the most interesting part of the set (at least to me). Here's an eBay listing with all of it...

Yep, I gots no teapot. Do I want it enough to order it? Probably not, so I'll stick with the picture...

The next items are these:

Full sized coffee cups! Again, with the "new" logo. I get the feeling these are much newer than the tiny tea set. Still, they're nice and functional. For some reason I thought these might not have come directly from the park, but been in a berry jam gift set. I can almost remember seeing something like that... But when I tried to look that item up, it apparently only existed in my fevered brain. Indeed most post claim they DID come from the park, so what the heck do I know? By the way, I do like their jam a lot...

Of course there should be four, but I've only ever owned three. I suspect number four met it's doom on a kitchen floor at some point. Such is life...

Anyway, these aren't exactly standout pieces from my collection, but they're kind of fun anyway. They also prove that if you slap a logo on something, some goofball will end up buying it just because of the logo. Yes, I am that goofball.

So until next time, keep searching for treasure!

A Box of Golden Treasure!

 Ok, maybe "treasure" is pushing it a bit, but it is kind of neat. You see, years ago a teacher at my school put a bunch of books and stuff outside of her classroom with a "Free" sign. In the middle, I spotted this:

I didn't quite know what it was, but since nobody else had grabbed it it was heading for the trash. I went ahead and picked it up.

I looked at the books. They are nicely bound hardbacks. They obviously have a little age to them too. I stuck them on a bookshelf and pretty much ignored them...until this week. You see, I needed a blog subject...

Soooooo, I pulled them down to see exactly what I had been storing for all these years. What I found was kind of interesting! You see, this book set was published in 1965 and is a collection of the Little Golden Book Disney books! Let's take a look, shall we?

The introduction to the set from "Walt Disney" explains what these books are.

The first book we'll look at is Walt Disney's America, featuring a now rather controversial character on the front. In 1965 this wasn't an issue!

Here we see the various copyright dates, including the 1965 main book date.

Here we have the featured stories. Each one was originally its own Little Golden Book.

This is the first one I happened to turn to. It isn't great. It was obviously written and illustrated before the park was actually open. "Loosly based on Disneyland" would be a kind way to put it.

The next book uses books about Disney's Real Life Adventures.

The cover page...

...and contents.

An example of a story!

Next we have stories that just happen to be placed in places other than America.

...such as England...

The Table of Contents.

And a typical story from the book!

Finally, we have the book which is actually the first in the series (I figured that out after I loaded the pictures). Walt's intro is in this book.

The first page!

The table of contents!

And a representative story! Yay!

And that's about it. I think it's a pretty interesting item, and the price was certainly right. (Free)

Maybe someday when I have a lot of time on my hands, I'll give them all a read. Until then, they'll continue to sit on my shelf.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!