Lookout Disney We Have Boxed Pin Sets Four

An Ancient Ritual, Disney Catalog Sales


There use to be a time back in the day when you would go out to the mailbox and check if the postal carrier brought the newest Disney Catalog.  My mother, the sponsor,  ordered so much from the catalog  that she had a personal shopper.  The shopper would call her and take her order or suggest items that she knew my mom would be interested in.  Mom ordered so much that she was designated a Best Guest. It may sound frivolous but it saved time and mailing off a catalog form.  It also gave my mom access to special items that were not published in that month's catalog.  The biggest perk of all was the items that were given to you because you were a Best Guest. 

Mom enjoyed the title Best Guest.

 Even cast members at the resort hotels and the parks recognized the Best Guest logo. Because of the twins and my mom being their Nonna, many of the orders included clothes and toys for the kids.  Also, the Disney character cookie jars that I blogged about on May14 and May 31 came from Disney Catalog.  


Disney Catalog offered boxed pin sets.  As a family we had become huge pin collectors.  The idea of boxed pin sets were a logical extension.  We started with the early Disney and I. B. Werks production of early Mickey Mouse films that launched our little mouse heroes film career.  Steamboat Willie made in 1928 was the same year my mother was born.  That was the reason she loved that mouse so much. The March 26th blog displayed those early pin sets.  Disney followed that release with the of Silly Symphony cartoons.  These were shown at theaters in color.  That caused a sensation.  Most films were in black and white.  The April 3rd blog was about these film releases.  All these Disney Catalog exclusives were produced as limited editions. Most of them were released as part of a 3000 limit.  Others were released in some significant number.  On May 2nd, I blogged about some the boxed pin sets that were related to sports. 
The Disney Catalog released a pin set that represented pin trading. Pin trading was taking off at the various Disney parks.  Guest had lanyards and could trade pins with any Disney cast member.   If you had a full lanyard it was substantially heavy around your neck especially a child's neck.  As the number of pins increased the people began to adopt other options, such as pin vests or pin cases.  These pin vest were generally khaki or black.  Some people had pins on the front and others covered the vest front and back.  It must have been incredibly uncomfortable and heavy.  Some traders opted for the pin cases.  Disneyland set up sites where pin traders could congregate to unzip their cases and display the pins they wished to trade.  The Disney Catalog boxed pin set depicts these differing activities.  Mickey Mouse and the whole gang are shown in trading pins.

Pin trading took the parks by storm.

Kiosks and pin cases

You've seen this before.

As time went on many of the collectors edition boxed pin sets were more specific.  Take the pin set Donald Duck: My Family Album.  Donald Duck has a large family and a significant other.  We all know Daisy Duck, that glamorous and sassy Peking Duck has been Donald's girl friend since she was created in 1940.  Of course, everyone knows Donald's nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  They in a cartoon episode decided to raise a sunken boat with ping pong balls.  It worked for them but many real life people were skeptical.  Then the television show Myth Buster decided to either confirm or bust this myth.  They devised a delivery system for the ping pong balls and the method was confirmed.  They even had to use less balls than they calculated.  The nephews were in many of Donald's adventures.  One of my favorite ducks was the smartest of the Duck family.  He had many shows on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color that informed us on topics ranging from Child Psychology to introducing Tall Tales.  Professor Ludwig von Duck was Donald's uncle.  Another uncle everyone wishes they had was rich Scrooge McDuck.  A poor thrifty Scottish duck that hit it rich in the Klondike finding a a goose egg sized gold nugget.  This launched his fortune that has been rising steadily ever since.  In 2011 Forbes Fictional Fifteen revealed that Uncle Scrooge hit number one being worth 44.1 billion dollars.  

Star of cartoons, comics, and movies

Only a small number of the Duck family

Huebert Duck, Deuteronomy Duck, and Louis Duck  are better known as Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  These nephews appeared in some of the earliest Disney films meant for theaters to the Disney's Afternoon Avenue show Duck Tales.  Poor Donald was often the receiver of misfortune.  In Good Scouts Donald is taking his nephews on a camping trip.  Where he is befuddled by a petrified tree, chased by a grumpy bear and foiled by "Old Reliable" geyser.  When Donald is injured, the boys spring into action using their scouting skills and the result is Donald looks like a mummy.

This was volume # 5 Of the Disney Animated Shorts series

The nephews are in their uniforms.

Why would you have a limited edition of 1932?  "Gawrsh" the answer is your celebrating the 70th anniversary of everybody's favorite anthropomorphic dog, Goofy.  Goofy's first role was in 1932 Mickey's Revue.  Goofy played Dippy Dawg and a star was born.  Goofy made many "How To" and "The Art of" cartoon shows.  However, we all know these turned out to be "how not to".  Take the 1941 Art of Skiing.  Goofy's misadventures caused him to go over a cliff gave rise to what is now known as the "Goofy Holler". This sound effect written in scripts as "yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!!" This sound effect is used in many movie and not just by Goofy.  Goofy can be heard in the video game Kingdom Hearts using this yodel as he comes charging with his shield, the only weapon he uses.

The old dog looks good for 80 now.

My brother has Goofy golf stuff thanks to the sponsor

In 1936 the animated short called Mickey's Circus.  You would think it was all about our favorite mouse, Mickey.  Mickey, however, starts and ends the feature.  The main part belonged to the most easily frustrated, Donald Duck.  Donald has a trained seal act.  The adult seals are supposed balance a ball and play the horns.  It is the little seal pup that steals the show.  First by stealing the fish intended to reward the seals.  Next, by playing the horns better and a one-man-band drum and symbol.  Salty the Seal later tormented Pluto in a future film.  This boxed set was a limited to 1500.

Come to Mickey's Circus! Orphans get in free.

How come there is no Salty the Seal?

Going through these boxed pin sets gives me a good feeling, I get to remember my mom.  She loved shopping and Disney.  The Disney Catalog gave her an excellent opportunity for both.  She also love the fact that she had a personal shopper.  She was a salesperson and buyer in retail sales her entire life.  She prided herself on the attention and service she gave her customers.  And they were her customers.  The majority of them would rather leave the store than have anyone else wait on them.  Department stores don't give service like that anymore.  Has anyone at Walmart ever asked you, "That is a beautiful shirt! Let me show you a sweater and a tie that would look great with that."  The idea of just one someone to take care of her seemed perfect.  Being designated as a Best Guest made her feel special.  Next time we'll explore more of these Disney Catalog exclusives.