So this year, around the holiday season, we have had a number of different threads moving

through our podcast. We just finished a few episodes focused on news, mostly related to the

American parks and various expansions that are coming there. And before that, we started in on a

series about Disney legend Mary Blair.

For this coming Sunday, I have a new episode set to go in our story about Mary Blair,

but today, here in the middle of the week, I'm bumping up an episode that tells the story

of Disneyland's First Christmas. And also to go along with

this episode, I have some footage of Disneyland's First Christmas as well. For years, I've collected

home movies of the park during its early years. Promotional photos taken by professional photographers

present Disneyland under ideal conditions.

But home movies present the park

as average guests really experienced it.

So in this set of home movies,

you'll see many things we'll talk about in today's episode.

The short-lived Mickey Mouse Club Circus, a circus parade moving down Main Street,

you'll also see the sparse first-year decorations.

But this, for better or worse, is how the holidays first came to Walt's original park.

It's nothing like what you would experience at Disneyland today.

In the show notes, I have a link to that video, but first, here's the whole story.

Music here's the whole story. In its first year, the Christmas festivities at Disneyland featured carolers on Main Street.

School and church choirs sang at the bandstand located just off the hub, renamed for the season as the

Christmas Bowl. Local school bands marched down Main Street playing holiday tunes. The park added

...