Description
by: Mike Westby
As a Disney Historian and author of four Disney-related books, I enjoy delving into the research required to unlock never-before-revealed aspects of the Disney story, conducting hours and hours of research, poring through books and papers of all kinds, working with remote libraries and other sources, traveling to such places as Marceline, Kansas City, or San Francisco, visiting the Disney theme parks, and interviewing Disney Legends, Disney Imagineers, and other Disney notables.
With Disney History – Rare & Unknown, I’m pleased to share with my fellow Disney enthusiasts what I’ve uncovered through all of this research. Within these pages, you’ll read stories about rare and heretofore unknown facets of Disney history, as well as see more than 175 rare Disney-related color photos, many of which are being published here for the very first time.
– A Foreword by Disney Legend Bob Gurr
– How a 1914 postcard led to my discovery of Ub Iwerks’ lost childhood home in Kansas City
– The first-ever-told story about whatever happened to 8 year-old Raymond Sleeper (Now over 70 years old) and the specially built boxcar filled with 10,000 pennies, which Walt Disney awarded him for bing the 10 Millionth guest aboard the Disneyland Railroad in August of 1960
– The never-before-seen ad that Ub Iwerks placed for his “Iwwerks Art Service” business that, for the first time, changes the narrative of Walt and Ub’s time after their Iwerks-Disney business closed up shop in Kansas City
– The first-ever-published story about Ub Iwerks’ father, Eert Ubbe Iwwerks, and his business as an “Out Door Photographer”, complete with one-of-a-kind and never-before-seen examples of his photography.
– An extremely rare and never-before-seen business card belonging to Walt Disney, from his Walt Disney Studio at 2719 Hyperion.
– The complete story behind the creation of the very first Hidden Mickey, as told to me by the Disney Imagineer who painted it
– The fascinating story behind the very first Disney retail product and the early history of Disney merchandise
– The story behind The Disneyland News, the now rare 24-page newspaper sold in Disneyland on opening day, July 17, 1955, as told to me by the newspaper’s first editor, Disney Legend Marty Sklar
– The first-ever-told story about the restoration of Walt’s beloved Lilly Belle steam engine
– The never-before-published story of the man who hand carved “The Capitol of Disneyland”…20 years before the park opened
– An extremely rare 1908 photo of the cannon in Marceline’s E.P. Ripley Park that inspired Walt to put cannons in Disneyland’s Town Square
– Why Disney Legend Emile Kuri chose to buy Main Street, U.S.A.’s gas street lamps 3,000 miles away in Baltimore, MD instead of a location closer to Disneyland
– Rare and never-before-seen photos and information which explain the kind of work and animation Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks were doing while working at the Kansas City Slide Company.
– Never-before-seen photos of Walt’s neighborhood in Kansas City, his newspaper route, Benton Grammar School at the time Walt attended, Eert Iwwerks’ barber shop, and much more.
Format: Softcover – Used
Publisher: Deschutes River Press
Pages: 247
SKU: 102658
