This 1955 “Your Guide to Disneyland” brochure map, sponsored by Bank of America, was distributed to guests in the very first months of the park’s operation.

The relationship between Disney and Bank of America dates back to the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, a film they helped to finance. They would provide backing for many of the studio’s early animated films, as well as play a large role in funding the construction of Disneyland, even maintaining a fully-functional branch on Main Street, U.S.A., for several decades. This complimentary brochure map was made available to guests who utilized the branch’s services or just stopped in for a look. In fact, two of the sixteen panels are dedicated to the facility that was built to coincide with the turn-of-the-century style of Main Street. Coupled with a rendering of the branch is the following introductory text:

Disneyland branch of Bank of America…

 

In the unique, old-fashioned atmosphere of this branch, you may find it hard to believe that it is a fully-equipped, completely modern banking office! Yet that’s why we’re here—to be your bank away from home! It is our desire to provide you with the same friendly service that you receive at your hometown branch. Out-of-state visitors—as well as our regular California customers and friends—are cordially invited to make full use of these facilities.

Another four panels of the brochure describe the custom money orders, made specially for the Disneyland branch, and available in one, five, or ten dollar-amounts, that guests could purchase as souvenirs. All three money orders are pictured, accompanied by a brief explanation:

A souvenir from Disneyland…

 

SPECIAL BANK OF AMERICA MONEY ORDERS!

 

Here’s the perfect gift to send to the family or friends at home! Specially-printed one, five, and ten dollar money orders are available, without charge, right here at the Disneyland branch. Accepted by stores, shops, and banks anywhere in the nation, these souvenir money orders are as good as cash whenever you want to convert them. Be sure to get some while you’re here.

The brochure unfolds into an eight-panel map of the park, divided into its five lands: Main Street, U.S.A., Frontierland, Fantasyland, Adventureland, and Tomorrowland. Below can be found the park’s 1955 offerings, grouped for the most part by general location, rather than in the form of an itemized list as would be standard in later maps (note the map legend’s very first entry).

MAIN STREET AND CIVIC CENTER

 

1. Bank of America
2. Santa Fe & Disneyland RR Freight Train Ride; Santa Fe & Disneyland RR Passenger Railroad
3. Disneyland City Hall; Disneyland Fire Department; Disneyland Police Department
4. Opera House; Orange County’s Newsstand; American Souvenir’s Shop
5. Maxwell House Coffee House; Main Street Cinema; Wurlitzer’s Victorian and Modern Displays; Random Parts’ Jewelry; Yale & Towne’s Lock Shop; Swift’s Market House; Wonderland Music Store; Wurlitzer’s Organs & Pianos; Random Parts’ Tobacconist
6. Main Street Arcade; Bekins Van and Storage “Delivery Wagon”; Upjohn Modern Display; Dell, Simon & Schuster and Western Printing & Litho’s Children’s Books; Candle Shop; Emporium of Orange County’s Disneyland Emporium; Emporium of Orange County’s Glass Blower; Upjohn’s Pharmacy; Emporium of Orange County’s Toy Shop
7. Carnation’s Ice Cream Parlor; Coca Cola Soft Drinks Parlor; Shooting Gallery; Puffin’s Bakery; Brooks’ Candyland; Sunny-View’s Jams, Jellies, Fresh Candied Fruit; Cole of California’s Swim Shop
8. Eastman Kodak’s Camera Store; Ceramics; Don Frank’s “Grandma’s Babies” Infants’ Wear; Hollywood-Maxwell’s Corset Shop; Wynegar’s Ellen’s Gifts; Gibson’s Greeting Cards; Men’s Store; Pen Industry’s Pen Shop; Shoe Corp.’s Shoe Store; U.S. Time Corp.’s Watches & Clocks
9. Street Railway (Horse Car)
10. Town Square
11. Red Wagon Inn

 

FRONTIERLAND

 

1. Block Houses; Log Fort
2. Frontier Shooting Gallery; Jemrocks’ Assay Office; Bone Carvers; Pendleton Woolen Mills’ Sportswear & Saddlery; Trading Post
3. Buggy Rides; Buckboard Rides; Conestoga Wagon Rides; Davy Crockett Museum; Mule Pack Ride; Stage Coach Ride; Surry Rides; Yellowstone Coach Rides
4. Pepsi-Cola’s Golden Horseshoe; Mark Twain River Boat Ride
5. UPT Concessions’ Food & Beverage Stands; Frito’s Mexican Food; Quaker Oats’ Aunt Jemima Pancake House
6. Swift’s Chicken Plantation Restaurant
7. Painted Desert

 

FANTASYLAND

 

1. Sleeping Beauty Castle
2. Welch’s Beverage Stand; UPT Concessions’ Food & Beverage Stands; Mickey Mouse Theater; Snow White Ride-Thru; Don Frank’s “Fantasy of Disneyland” Children’s Clothes
3. UPT Concessions’ Food & Beverage Stands; Mr. Toad’s Motorcar Ride; Peter Pan Fly-Thru; James A. Hume’s Merlin’s Magic Shop; Emporium of Orange County’s Toy Shop
4. Van Camp’s “Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship”’ King Arthur Carousel; Mad Tea Party Ride
5. Case Jr. Ride; Dumbo, the Flying Elephant Ride
6. Canal Boats of the World

 

ADVENTURELAND

 

1. Explorer’s Boat Ride through the rivers of Mexico, Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and Australia
2. Lawson Engr.’s Bazaar
3. Grand Central Cencessionaire’s Plaza Pavilion
4. Arboretum

 

TOMORROWLAND

 

1. Clock of the World
2. Space Station X-1; American Motors’ “Cir-Car-Ama” Exhibit; Monsanto Chemical’s “Where Chemistry Works Wonders for You” Exhibit’ Richfield’s “Years Ahead” Exhibit; National Lead’s “The Dutch Boy Color Clock” Paint Exhibit
3. “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” Exhibit; Kaiser Aluminum’s “Brightest Star in the World of Metals” Exhibit; Crane’s “Bathroom of Tomorrow” Exhibit; American Dairy’s “Today’s Food Builds Tomorrow’s Man” Exhibit
4. Speedboat Rides
5. Richfield’s Autopia Freeway
6. TWA’s Rocket to the Moon; TWA’s Rocket Pylon
7. UPT Concessions’ Stratosnak

 

The Disneyland Hotel opposite the main EXIT of Disneyland offers food and refreshments, as well as hotel and motel accommodations.

The back panel of the brochure includes an advertisement for the sponsor, with a quick blurb about the five hundred fifty Bank of America branch locations nationwide, while the front features the “Your Guide to Disneyland” heading, sponsorship (“Compliments of Bank of America”) and copyright (“1955, by Disneyland, Incorporated”) information, as well as simple drawings representing each of the park’s five lands.

This first-year brochure map has become a highly-sought-after collectible that provides a glimpse of Disneyland in its earliest stages and offers a nod to one of the park’s biggest sponsors that helped make its creation possible in the first place.