Dan and Polly, this one’s for you. For those of you who are regular, long-time readers of my blog, you know I’ve got a sweet spot for Disneyland history. I’ve previously published two posts (this one and this one) on photos I found of my father, uncle, cousin, and grandparents visiting Disneyland on opening day on July 18, 1955. So you can imagine how happy I was when I stumbled upon some new photos of Disneyland in the 1950s.
This time, they’re photos taken (presumably by my mother) in July, 1959, just four years after Disneyland opened its doors to the world.
Unfortunately, my mother took photos as I did in my teens—careful to make sure none of those pesky family members got in frame lest the shot be ruined. Sigh. Teenagers. Amiright?
First, a few shots of the long-since-closed Indian Village (located where Critter Country is now):
The iconic Sleeping Beauty’s Castle with the Matterhorn in the distance:
Alligators—oh my! This isn’t on the Jungle Cruise, so perhaps this is a tributary of Rivers of America?
An unknown waterfall: 
The Petrified Tree:
The Mark Twain Steamboat (and is that the back of Bill Prettyman’s head?):
Rivers of America with a Tom Sawyer Island Raft in the foreground and the Mark Twain Steamboat in the distance:
Oops: the photo printer reversed the negative in that last print, printed it the correct way, and included both in the prints envelope:
A Tom Sawyer Island Raft returning from Tom Sawyer Island:
Rivers of America with Fort Wilderness peeking over the trees in the distance:
No, this isn’t the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (that didn’t open until November 18, 1962). This is Tom and Huck’s Treehouse on Tom Sawyer Island. My uncle Dan reports that that is him in the treehouse window wearing the Alpine hat:
Dan remembers boarding the pirate ship with that hat on, and being amazed when the parrot called him by name. Wha? How? Oh, yeah, the hat was monogrammed with his name.
The fort at the entrance to Frontierland:
The Columbia Sailing Ship:
Finally, the Golden Horseshoe Revue back when it was known as Slue-Foot Sue’s Golden Horseshoe Revue:
Dan and Polly, what do you remember about this trip to The Happiest Place on Earth?
Many things opened at Disneyland on June 14, 1959. the Matterhorn, the Monorail, (on a shorter track than is used today) and the Submarines opened, all with the blessing of Richard Nixon and family, who were in attendance that day.
If I am not mistaken these shots were taken by me with my new Brownie camera. Too bad I didn’t take any people shots. I believe Bob and Rich went with us too on this trip. We loved getting in line first cause we had Bob with us. Really amazing fun kid treat to see.
Thanks again for the sweet memories.