Friday, December 10, 2010

"I Like 'SCOTCH' Brand Cellophane Tape Because . . . "



" . . . it will hopefully win me a free trip to Disneyland!"


That would have been my entry if I had been alive during the spring of 1956 when this contest from 3M was offered to consumers.  Br'er Rabbit was the focal point of the contest advertising which was featured prominently in comic books and also in the comics sections of newspapers on April 8, 1956.  The prize for twenty-five lucky winners:

YOU'LL FLY to Los Angeles with three members of your.family via luxurious TWA Constellation, stay at the exclusive Hampton-Sheraton Hotel. At Disneyland, you'll ride flying elephants, midget cars, pimte ships, "rocket to the moon" . . . see all the wonders of Adventureland, Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Fantasyland. On a Tanner-Gray Line Bus Tour, you'll visit a real movie studio, network TV shows, homes of Hollywood stars. You'll enjoy a whole week of thrills with all regular expenses paid—plus $250 in cash for meals and anything else you like! 

The Barstow family from Wethersfield, Connecticut were winners in this contest, and their home movies compilation, a 30-minute film entitled Disneyland Dream, was added to the National Film Registry in 2008.   I was only able to track down the names of three of the other twenty-four winners: seven-year old Mike Magruder of Beaumont, Texas; eight-year old Kenneth Haydis of Flagstaff, Arizona; and Mrs. George Ripley of Clarion, Iowa. It appears that the winners took their trips in mid-July of that year.  If any of you folks are out there, we'd love to hear a trip report!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Jeffrey; were you aware that the Barstow family from Wethersfield, Connecticut had famously documented their win of this contest as well as their trip to Disneyland?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AILXCS?tag=thisdayindisn-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B003AILXCS&adid=1T0G4SBKEBEF53PMCRE4&

Jeffrey Pepper said...

Wow, do I feel like a total idiot. The whole time I was working on this I failed to remember the Barstow family.

I'll amend the post accordingly. Thanks for keeping me on the historical straight and narrow!

Tony said...

Also ... Steve Martin spotted himself as a youngster selling Disneyland maps in the Barstow's footage (taken during their 1956 contest-winning trip) in 2008!

Anonymous said...

My mother won this contest when she was 5 years old, and went with my grandparents and uncle(left my aunt at home ... only 4 people could go).

I'm going to forward her this link and see if she'll submit anything to do.