The 55ers: The Pioneers Who Settled Disneyland

by David Koenig

Walking through Disneyland, you will spot cast members dressed up as cowboys in Frontierland, jungle explorers in Adventureland, and small-town shopkeepers on Main Street. But, back when the park first opened in 1955, the employees were not pretending. They were true-to-life characters, hand-picked for their amazing backgrounds. Now for the first time you can get to know these fascinating personalities in a new coffee-table book from MOUSE TALES author David Koenig. THE 55 THE PIONEERS WHO SETTLED DISNEYLAND; will introduce you to over 700 Year-One cast members from every department, Disneyland s notorious first general manager, C.V. Wood, and his Texas mafia; Vesey Walker, the bristly conductor of the Disneyland Band, and the 16 often-crazy musicians who followed him; The overly serious Marshal Lucky and his never-serious-enough nemesis, the villainous Black Bart; Adorable sweeper Trinidad; K7 the Kaiser Aluminum Spaceman; Original Jungle Cruise skippers; Merlin s Magic Shop magicians; Puffin s bakers; Hobbyland model airplane flyers;Golden Horseshoe can-can dancers; Plus the very first nurses, security officers, firemen, mule wranglers, ticket sellers, newsboys, switchboard operators, TWA Rocket to the Moon hostesses, and many, many more. THE 55er; features more than 300 never-before-published images, most of them furnished by the original Disneylanders themselves. The candid photos provide peeks inside a number of long-vanished areas of the park, including the Sunny-View Jams & Jellies shop, the Plantation House chicken restaurant, and the Adventureland Bazaar. This is the most unique cast of Disney characters you will ever encounter.

288 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2019

About the author

David Koenig is the senior editor of the 80-year-old business journal, The Merchant Magazine.

After receiving his degree in journalism from California State University, Fullerton (aka Cal State Disneyland), he began years of research for his first book, Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland (1994), which he followed with Mouse Under Glass: Secrets of Disney Animation & Theme Parks (1997, revised 2001) and More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland (1999) (All titles published by Bonaventure Press).

He lives in Aliso Viejo, California, with his lovely wife, Laura, their wonderful son, Zachary, and their adorable daughter, Rebecca.

Reviews

[Emily Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as the June 2025 selection for my podcast, Book of the Mouse Club (a book club podcast dedicated to Disney themed books). You can find the show wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to episode #115

[Courtney Kern]

Book of the Mouse Club Podcast - June 2025 Selection (Celebratory Summer Series). Subscribe or follow to hear our discussion of this book in an upcoming episode.