SFD 356: Sent near Plaza Point

In this episode of Sent from Disneyland, we continue the Disneyland Mailbox Tour with a stop at one of the most overlooked locations on Main Street, U.S.A.—the mailbox outside Carefree Corner. A 1967 postcard showing guests gathered outside the Insurance Company of North America information center provides the perfect starting point to explore the history of this unique Main Street landmark. From complimentary souvenirs and travel assistance to its later lives as the Hospitality Center, Gibson Card Corner, Photo Supply, and today's Plaza Point holiday shop, we trace more than six decades of changes to this iconic corner of Disneyland. Our second vintage postcard takes us to Frontierland and the Golden Horseshoe Revue, where can-can dancers entertained guests in one of Walt Disney's favorite shows. That postcard leads to a look at another Disneyland mailbox location and the surprising history surrounding it. We explore the Frontierland Photo Supply shop, coin-operated stamp machines, staged gunfights between lawmen and outlaws, Oak Tavern, the Stage Door Café, and how Frontierland once extended far beyond its modern boundaries before the arrival of New Orleans Square. To close the show, an incoming postcard from the Pixar Animation Studios campus in Emeryville celebrates Disney mail, pen pals, and the challenge of mailing postcards from all 25 mail locations across Disneyland Resort. A postcard from Judit and Parker of the Dear Penpal Podcast sparks a discussion about Disney mail, postcard collecting, and the connections created through the hobby. If you're interested in pen pals, letter writing, junk journals, and fun snail mail, be sure to check out the Dear Penpal Podcast on Spotify. I especially recommend their May 31st Episode 17, which featured most of the mail I sent to them from Disneyland. 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 From Main Street information centers to Frontierland photo shops, this episode uncovers the stories hiding beside Disneyland's mailboxes and the guests who used them to share their adventures with friends and family back home.