At Disneyland, this was the where guests got an idea of what lay ahead during their day.

Town Square. Sometime in the earliest days of the Park.

The view, likely from atop the Opera House. On one of those beautifully typical Southern California days. Just as if it was posed for a postcard.

Well, maybe not a postcard, but definitely for promotional purposes.

For if one was traveling west from Chicago, as a passenger aboard the Union Pacific’s Streamliner City of Los Angeles, this view would have greeted you as you would have taken a seat for dinner aboard the train’s dining car. Handed to you by the dining car steward, on the cover of the menu for your meal.

Never mind that the Union Pacific was a direct competitor to the Santa Fe (who sponsored the Park’s steam trains) or that the City of Los Angeles was the direct competition from Chicago to the faed Super Chief. If a view like this could entice families to visit the Magic Kingdom, that was what it was all about.

From the historical perspective, this view is a treasure. A quiet midday. Guests dressed for their day out. Lawns neat and uncluttered by fences, trees not yet providing real shade. The band circling the flagpole. Only the one horsecar. And the patio not yet added between the Firehouse (apartment) and City Hall.

Don’t know about you, but this sure would have tempted me to visit the Park!