Arts & Entertainment

Theme park history is fascinating enough on its own, but Disneyland history is especially fascinating. Why? Because, as these incredible—and, in some cases, almost unbelievable—former Disneyland attractions underline, the early years in the park were wild. Live mules! Real fishing! Actual mermaids! Can you imagine the careful, safety-oriented Disneyland of today launching these kinds of attractions? Nope. But when the park had just flung open its gates to visitors, all these and more could be found within its borders.

The Disney parks have been marketed and designed to be family-friendly since the very beginning—but in the early days of the first of these parks—Anaheim’s Disneyland Park in California—ideas as to what constituted a family-friendly environment differed in many ways. Tobacco? A-OK. But alcohol? Heck no. Fancy underthings, though? Perfectly fine! Accordingly, the shops that peppered the Main Street, U.S.A. section of the park reflected these ideas—which is how there ended up being an intimate apparel shop in Disneyland. Sure, it was only there briefly; but despite its short tenure, this store has become one of the most fabled parts of early Disneyland history. After all, it’s difficult to forget a shop whose robotic mascot was actually called the “Wonderful Wizard of Bras.”