First Day on the Job
It so happened on my first day the gal playing Minnie Mouse was on a leave due to a broken toe. Since Minnie was a much more highlighted character than Pete they put me in Minnie duds and upon pushing me out the "door" told me to go find Mickey, he'd help me.
Costume construction in those days was not what it is today and looking out of the screened eyes eight inches in front of my face was not easy and I could not see clearly at all. It takes a conditioned eye, let me tell you from the experience. Consequently, Mickey found me.
In about 20 minutes, after our set, I would get to see who this Mickey was. Unbeknownst to me I was about to find out who would become my future husband. It was not love at first site as the newspapers would have you believe but it really didn't take long before fireworks would go off. This is Disneyland, what did you expect?
The poop on this page was last scooped on: 7/19/2010
Page design, photos, and written content by Gail Berk.
Background: Dawn's Scraps.
© Gail Berk 2009-2010.
All rights reserved.
My Disneyland Days
1973-74
Now Back To Reality
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If you've stumbled upon my treasure you are one of the lucky few for I only tell special people about this page. It is most definitely a work in progress so you may want to check back for new construction.
To be continued as time allows.
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This happens to be my favorite Disney tune: The Electrical Parade. Any of the Disney songs can drive you nuts so be grateful I didn't put up It's A Small World. Nevertheless, you have control over how loud it plays or if it plays at all. Help yourself. It doesn't hurt my feelings. Or did you not find this until after you crossed the insanity line?
How I Got Hired
In August, 1973 I responded to an ad for a keypunch operator at Disneyland. I didn't much like the variable hours offered so I declined the job at the interview. Those were the days one could actually do this and still expect to find another job tomorrow.
Upon my departure, someone stopped me to mentioned I had a Peter Pan look and asked if I might consider playing Peter Pan for the rest of the summer. At that time there were only three face-exposed characters (or headless characters as I like to call them): Snow White, Alice, and Peter Pan. I thought it would be a fun, a short-term job for the one month left in Disneyland's summer season, so minimum wage here I come.
Part-Time to Full-Time
Disneyland's winter schedule (back then anyway) changes around Labor Day to Wednesday through Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday. Minnie Mouse is one of the Big 5 (Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy) which are full-time characters (W - Su) whereas Peter Pan is one of the 52 part-time, weekend characters. Remember, originally I intended to find gainful employment elsewhere come the end of Disney's summer. At the very least, I'd intended to find a 9-5 weekday job and maybe continue to do the Peter Pan thing on the weekends. Now here comes an unexpected twist.
The regular person playing Minnie soon returned from her leave but she could only work weekends. So I was asked to be the weekday Minnie and weekend Pete. That makes me a full-time character employee. The unexpected twist is, this made me the first female full-timer. Did I mind continuing to work full-time for slightly more than minimum wage? C'mon, wouldn't you do it if you had the chance? This is a once in a lifetime fun kinda job. I can get a keypunch job anytime. Besides, I was in my early 20's and yet to have my college degree, so how much more could I be making elsewhere?
And if I was the first full-time female, and Minnie is a full-time character, who played Minnie before me, you ask? A guy. Yeah, and with a legend. So fellas, if you'd like to date Minnie, be careful what you wish for.
Pictures forthcoming are tainted. Did you read the part about this being my life back in the early 70's? As I've had to explain to some viewers already, as we get old we get age lines and out of focus. Disney and memories may last forever but photos and those in them don't.
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