SFD 355: Sent with Tru-Vue

This week on Sent from Disneyland, we set sail through Frontierland with two vintage postcards and a fascinating look at a forgotten piece of Disney history. Our first postcard, mailed in 1971, features the Mark Twain Riverboat steaming along the Rivers of America with the Matterhorn rising in the distance. A simple note to a friend captures a memorable day spent at Disneyland with family, while the postcard itself serves as a gateway into the history of the Tru-Vue Company. Long before View-Master became a household name, Tru-Vue was producing stereoscopic film viewers that brought destinations and stories to life in three dimensions. In this episode, we explore the evolution of stereoscopes, Disney's licensing agreement with Tru-Vue, and the Frontierland film cards produced during Disneyland's earliest years. A second postcard takes us back to 1959 and the Disneyland Railroad, featuring the C.K. Holliday pausing at the original Frontierland station and water tower. That image connects directly to the Frontierland Tru-Vue card in the collection, allowing us to examine all seven scenes preserved on the film strip—from the Frontierland entrance and stagecoaches to pack mules, the Mark Twain, and rare views of attractions that no longer exist in their original form. The episode concludes with an incoming postcard from Oregon's beloved Enchanted Forest theme park, sparking a discussion about regional storybook parks, childhood memories, and the unique charm of attractions inspired by classic fairy tales rather than major intellectual properties. Below are some of the regulars on Art Throw Down, Follow all of them on Instagram anyway for great art and postcards in your Instagram feed: Hipstadufus, luluvision, jlynch9923, greenmosspaper, georgemailsart, state_of_the_funyun, RussRomano2021