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Historic Articles

KeithS
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Historic Articles

Postby KeithS » Mon Nov 29, 2010 9:28 pm

For those of you that don't know, the National Library of Australia have been quietly digitising millions of pages of Australian newspapers over the last few years and have been releasing them onto the Internet.

Their website includes every copy of the Sydney Morning Herald, Courier Mail, The Age etc from the earliest issues in the 1800's up to 1954. It makes for some fascinating reading.

In the last few weeks, they've also been releasing scanned copies of the Australian Women's Weekly from the 1930s up to the end of 1982 (it became a monthly in 1983).

But here is the interesting thing from a Disney fan perspective - a lot of these newspapers, and especially the Women's Weekly, have covered the building of Disneyland etc.

The link below will take you to a search I did across the whole archive, just for the word "Disneyland" - go ahead and click it then start taking a look at the links - you'll find a treasure trove of Disneyland goodness from the opening of the park, the tenth anniversary, the airing of TV specials, park expansions etc. all in full colour!

And while you are at it, have a look around for other articles - the site is fascinating if you are into history (I've spent days looking through the Sydney Morning Herald reading the World War II pages!)

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/result?q=disneyland

I hope you have as much fun reading these as I have!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

Mel
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Re: Historic Articles

Postby Mel » Tue Nov 30, 2010 11:57 am

I had no idea that they were doing that with old newspapers Keith. I've had a quick look at some of your search results and it's very interesting. I'll try to head back when I have more time.
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

KeithS
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Re: Historic Articles

Postby KeithS » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:39 am

The other thing that I notice about these old newspapers and magazines is the amount of advertising Disney did in Australia back in the 1960s and 70s - including having the Disneyland ambassadors travel to Australia every year for promotions. It is quite fascinating how big a market we were back then. I guess we still are but it doesn't seem quite as overt as it used to be - maybe because there is more choice these days.

Although that said - I read recently that Disneyland is about to spend $3 million in advertising in Australia - compare to just $100,000 or so a year over the last few years. Most Disneyland advertising here recently has been paid for by the travel agents, but my understanding is that we are about to see a campaign run by Disney directly in print and on TV - so keep your eye open...
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

Mel
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Re: Historic Articles

Postby Mel » Wed Dec 01, 2010 11:41 am

Although that said - I read recently that Disneyland is about to spend $3 million in advertising in Australia - compare to just $100,000 or so a year over the last few years. Most Disneyland advertising here recently has been paid for by the travel agents, but my understanding is that we are about to see a campaign run by Disney directly in print and on TV - so keep your eye open...
That makes perfect sense. I was contacted by phone about a month ago to see if I wanted to take part in a focus group regarding Disneyland and advertising. I SO desperately wanted to go, but the timing was terrible with the boys and Craig's work so I couldn't go.... not to mention it was in North Sydney so it would have taken forever to get there. I was hoping they'd have another one and ask me, but so far I haven't heard anything.
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

churros
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Re: Historic Articles

Postby churros » Wed Dec 01, 2010 6:47 pm

Was it a random call or are you registered somewhere?

Mel
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Re: Historic Articles

Postby Mel » Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:32 am

I think it was after I filled in an online survey. Not entirely sure though.
The Big Trip: DL, WDW and Disney cruise 2016

KeithS
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Re: Historic Articles

Postby KeithS » Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:53 pm

One of my favourite geek sites is a blog called Modern Mechanics (http://blog.modernmechanix.com/) which continuously updates with scans of old technical magazines like Popular Mechanics etc from the 1930's onwards. Most of the magazines are futurist, and have funny articles like visions of what 1985 will look like - that sort of thing.

Anyway - they published a great 50-page article from the August 1963 edition of National Geographic Magazine titled "The Magic Worlds of Walt Disney". It is basically an extended look at the Walt Disney Company of 1963 - talking to Walt about movie production, Disneyland, and the technologies that lead to his successes.

The article is split into three parts because of its size - each part has about 15 pages, so just click the NEXT button to move forward through the pages. I've included the direct links to the three parts below:

Part One
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/01/ ... ey-part-1/

Part Two
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/01/ ... ey-part-2/

Part Three
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/01/ ... ey-part-3/

And while you are looking at Modern Mechanics blog - check out the tons of other geek goodness articles! I laugh out loud at some of the predicted inventions - and yet some predictions are spookily close to the mark.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015


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