There are several mailbox drops inside Disneyland Park. Here are the few I made time to photograph.

The original members of the band, along with Ward, were Danny Alguire, Harper Goff, Clarke Mallery, Monte Mountjoy, Ed Penner, and Frank Thomas.

Danny Alguire didn’t start out at Disney like the rest of his band mates, but was instead a professional trumpeter. He began his professional music career in 1933 during the Great Depression as a means of survival. Through the 1940s, he joined several jazz bands and recorded albums, and by the end of the 1940s, he was a part of the Firehouse Five Plus Two. After he joined the band as the cornetist, he began working for Disney in 1955 as an assistant director in the animation department.

Harper Goff started his time with Disney when he ran into Walt at a model train store, where the two were vying for the same locomotive. Walt bought the locomotive, but offered Goff the chance to come to the studio after finding out he was an artist. Harper Goff is credited for playing leading and pivotal roles in the production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the design of Main Street USA, The Jungle Cruise, and eventually some of the pavilions for EPCOT. Goff played the banjo for the band.

Clarke Mallery’s life began with the talents of his mother and father, who were singers and musically inclined. Clarke studied violin, clarinet, and sang all throughout high school. In 1937 he took a summer job at the Walt Disney studios, and by 1941, he was an animation artist. He worked on majority of the major films by the company from 1941 to 1953, when he left to go back to his musical roots. Clarke played the clarinet.

Monte Mountjoy was not an animator for Disney, but was a professional jazz musician like Danny. He specialized in playing the drums. He originally was a part of the legendary swing band Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, and played the drums for him in the 40s. His choice of instrument became controversial when the band went to play at the Grand Ole Opry in 1944, where they prohibited drums and horns as they weren’t “country” enough. They attempted to hide Monte behind a curtain to play, but when it was time to take the stage, the drums were placed center stage, forcing Monte to not play for the night. Monte joined the Firehouse Five and played drums for them.

Erdman (Ed) Penner made a trip to the states in the late 1930s, to catch the first wave of feature-length animated films being made. He worked in the story development department of Disney, having a large influence on Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Reluctant Dragon, Make Mine Music, Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr.Toad, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, and more. Ed worked at Disney right until his death in 1956, after working hard at Sleeping Beauty, to never be able to see it released. Ed played the saxophone and tuba.

Frank Thomas along with Ward, Frank is one of the other Nine Old Men. A common theme between these men was that they discovered their love for artistry at a young age, and their positions with Disney came to them very naturally. Frank heard about the job opening from a friend in 1934, and quickly began work on the Mickey Mouse shorts. Frank is responsible for a lot of the endearing scenes and characters in the classic movies that we all love: the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp, Bambi and Thumper ice skating, many of the dwarf scenes in Snow White, and other magical parts of Pinocchio, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, and 101 Dalmatians. Frank played the piano.

Ward Kimball was a part of Disney’s Nine Old Men. His journey leading him to Disney in the early 1930s was nothing short of fate. Ward enrolled in the Santa Barbara School of Art in California, after a childhood of interest in drawing and cartoons. As he made his way to California, he caught a showing of Walt Disney’s Three Little Pigs, and immediately knew that that was something he wanted to be a part of. He applied for a position, got it, and began animating right away. Through 1934 to 1937, Ward worked on 13 shorts, including the notable Goddess of Spring, Tortoise and the Hare, and The Wise Little Hen, Donald Duck’s debut.

Ward played a major role in Disney’s early feature films, including being the supervising animator for Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio, the animation supervisor for The Pastoral Symphony segment in Fantasia, an animation director for Dumbo, and being a lead animator through the Wartime Era in the 1940s. He started to do more focused character animation work in the Silver Era in the 1950s, being credited for Lucifer, Jaq, and Gus in Cinderella, and the Mad Hatter, March Hare, the Walrus, Cheshire Cat, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum in Alice in Wonderland.

Outside of his passion for drawing, Kimball also had a passion for music. He specifically loved jazz musicians like King Oliver, Baby Dodds, and Louis Armstrong. He would bring his jazz records to work with him at the Walt Disney studios and listen to them on his lunch break. This eventually garnered the attention from other workers in the building, and overtime they would create a tradition of meeting during their lunch breaks to listen to the jazz music. Some of them had some experience with instruments from their time in school as young boys, so they began to play along with the records as well.

They made their Disneyland debut on the same day Disneyland had it’s debut, on July 17th, 1955. As a part of the opening ceremony, they were stationed just outside the firehouse on Main Street USA, one of the most fitting spots in the park for them. They also played for 15 summers at the Golden Horseshoe in Frontierland.

A handful of Disneyland attractions are still in operation today!
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Opening date July 17, 1955

Jungle Cruise. Opening date July 17,1955

Alice in Wonderland. Opening date June 14, 1958

Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Opening date August 16, 1955

Santa Fe and Disneyland Railroad. Opening Date July, 17, 1955

Autopia. Opening date July 17, 1955

Swiss Family Treehouse. Opening date November 18, 1962

Peter Pan's Flight. Opening date July 17, 1955.

King Arthur Carrousel. Opening date July 15, 1955.

Storybook Land. Opening date July 15, 1955.

Mark Twain Riverboat. Opening date July 15, 1955.

Sleeping Beauty Castle. Opening date July 15, 1955.
There isn't a castle poster displayed anywhere in the park. In 1966, these small posters were sold on main Street.