EYE CANDY: Balloons!

We bring you photos of those good old iconic Mickey Mouse balloons.

I don't know the history of the Mickey-shaped balloons. I do know I loved picking one out as a little kid every time we went to Disneyland.

Spiffy old balloon vendor costumes...

This next photo is wonderful. It was sent to us by a fan of the blog, Jeffrey Lipack, as part of our Photo Hunt. Look at the grass hill!

These next two were sent in by Daniel Zuccarelli (@PerpetualGeek, PGMShow.net). I love Main Street morning shots like this. If you look closely you'll see a few kids have already gotten their balloon for the day.

Speaking of kids.... This kid is selling the balloons. Lucky guy. Look behind the balloons on the left. The artwork on the bag is fun. It features a very early Mickey and Minnie with that old Walt Disney World logo we all love. Click here for a clearer image.

On a date with a sailor. Great balloon and a fantastic pennant. Pennants were one of my favorite souvenirs after growing out of balloons. Where are all my pennants now?? Sadly I have no clue.

Lone balloons.

Characters with balloons.

Chip and Dale in Rescue Rangers garb.

Chip and Dale in the nude.

Roger Rabbit.

The "new school" version of the Mickey balloon. I actually love these balloons-in-balloons. It's a rare thing to take a classic product and improve on it without ruining any of its original qualities.

Related posts:

EYE CANDY: National Geographic Aug '63 [Part 1]
EYE CANDY: Not Having Fun at Disneyland
Vintage Disneyland Home Movies- Meeting Walt Disney Himself
Disneyland 1955 Model Close-ups
Magic Kingdom Map Found in a Main Street Wall
THEN AND NOW: Disneyland [Part 1]
THEN AND NOW: MK Fantasyland [Part 1]
EYE CANDY: Behind the Scenes Muppeteering

Photo Hunt Update

We bring you a few photos submitted to our ImagineeringDisney.com Photo Hunt. Additionally we answer a few questions.

Any of these spark curiosity? Is there something you'd like to know more about? Let us know.

UPDATE:

We've had a GREAT turnout so far. A big thanks to all who have submitted. Many of you have "hunted" for and found some fantastic old photos. We've yet to see a single bad or uninteresting photo submitted. Every one has been wonderful. Many of the photos at first glance appear quite “normal”. But looking twice brings forth details that rarely if ever show up online.

How many photos were submitted??

Hundreds. Many more than we expected.

Where were most the photos taken?

We’ve been somewhat surprised to see that the majority of the photos submitted (maybe 85%) were taken at Walt Disney World. This is a surprise because for some reason it seems that old Disneyland photos (perhaps because of it's older age) surface more often. Either way, we are thrilled with all the photos from Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT Center, Disney-MGM Studios, and various resorts. Any Animal Kingdom photos floating around out there? Specifically of things that no longer exist? Or even some California Adventure Superstar Limo pics? Or old shots of the overseas parks?

Would it be ok to send videos?

YES. We would LOVE old video footage of the parks. We prefer links to videos you’ve already uploaded online. You can upload to Vimeo or YouTube or any other video hosting site and send us the link. Most of these sites are free and offer privacy if you don’t want strangers finding your footage.

Will the “Hunt” continue?

Yes. Keep the photos and videos coming. There will be not end date to the Photo Hunt. We look forward to using these little gems in our post for a very long time.

For more info about the Photo Hunt, click here. 

Photo Hunt!

 

Dig through your basement, search through Grandma's attic, it's time for the ImagineeringDisney.com Photo Hunt.

We are looking for old Disneyland and Walt Disney World photos.

Remember your mother making you and your siblings stand still for those obnoxious pictures? Or that uncle with the new camera slowing you down when you wanted to run to Adventure Thru Inner Space? Today the old photos they took are little treasures. We just need to dig them up and share them with the world.

What kinds of park photos?

Anything old. Like 1980s and earlier. Or even more recent things that don't exist anymore. Horizons photos perhaps. Or people in the lobby of Disneyland's Country Bear Jamboree. Or photos without people in them. Maybe a photo of a cast member selling balloons or people eating in an old restaurant. Or hotel. Anything that is not seen today! Or photos of things seen today that might look a little different. Your photos are faded and scratched? Not a problem. We love those kinds. Feel like they are not interesting enough? "Uninteresting" photos sometimes tell the best stories or include some rare thing in the background.

What will we do with them?

So many great things. We always need old photos when writing new posts and doing research. We would love to post some of these photos just for the fun of showing them to the world. There are so many mysteries that need to be solved and your photos might be the key. Of course we won't sell them or use them for any kind of monetary gain.

Want to share a story that goes with your photos??

Absolutely. That would thrill us.

How to send them?

Email them to imagineering.disney@gmail.com. Large numbers of photos might require multiple emails. That's ok. Have only one photo? That's perfectly fine too. Include a little info about the photos. Include dates if you know them. If you know nothing about the photos, send 'em anyway. If you wish to receive credit for the photos, include the name, alias, and/or link you'd like us to include in the photo credits. Other special instructions are welcome as well. We are flexible.

What else?

Pay? We can't pay for the photos but we can help you share them with fans like yourself. We guarentee these photos will further this fun and wholesome Disney history research.

This week I dug through countless boxes and albums looking for early shots of the parks. I had that little fantasy running through my head that Grandpa might have taken a photo of the Frito Kid or the Progress City Model when it was above Carousel of Progress or the Orange Bird animatronic. No luck. But the photos I did find were super fun to discover.

Here's one from the early 80s (above). My father was taking the photo. I remember this trip and that Fantasyland was finally open again. During the previous trip it was closed because they were building "New Fantasyland". My brother and I are wearing matching striped socks and short shorts. At least the whole family wasn't matching. In a later Walt Disney World trip I remember we all wore matching shirts. When we left the hotel (some cheap place on 192) my dad slipped back in the room and came out with a different color shirt and made sure my mother didn't notice. On the Monorail she figured it out and we kids thought it was hilarious.

Begin the hunt today!