THIS is the scene down East Center Street today - the sight of freshly grown flowers in pots filling colorfully covered carts! Though adding to the small-town turn-of-the-century ambiance, these carts are actually a nod to another Disneyland attraction from Disneyland’s first decades. Let’s take a brief stroll down Center Street, and stop to “smell the flowers”!

This was the average early morning scene on West Center Street during the first two years of Disneyland’s operation. West Center Street was located at the center of the length of Main Street, on the west side; leading to Guest rest rooms. Before long, Walt’s promise of an ever-expanding vision would commence, and this quiet turn-of-the-century street would bustle with new attractions and experiences in shopping - outdoor vendors!

During Disneyland’s first year or two, while the Popcorn Cretors occasionally set up outside Gibson Greeting Cards on east Center Street, artists could often be found on West Center Street. Occasionally, the sounds of the Keystone Kops Quartet could be heard there.

But, after the Artists were cleared out of “the Alley,” Disneyland, Inc. opened Job #032-50-37 - the construction of a Flower Market, on West Center Street. The attraction was an efficient, maximum utilization of space. It would include the construction of a flower stand and two flower wagon bodies, planter boxes and liners, wood lattice work by restrooms, and a storage area for the flower stand. The costs were as follows: design ($433.50), labor ($3,250.79), materials ($272.61), outside purchases ($459.92), two umbrella frames and covers ($32.06). Including Studio overhead, construction, and Cowelco subcontract costs, the job cost totaled $5,682.67 once closed.

Soon, new vendors appeared on West Center Street (between the 300 and 400 blocks of Main Street U.S.A.) - florists! West Center Street quickly “blossomed” into “one of the loveliest and most photographed spots in Disneyland...the beautiful Flower Mart on Main Street where guests may enjoy ‘the world’s finest natural flowers not grown by nature.’” Guests taking a stroll down Main Street U.S.A. were naturally drawn to the colorful nook between Upjohn Pharmacy and Carnation Cafe.

The Disneyland Flower Market was operated by Disneyland, Inc. Maps and Guidebooks published during the years of operation have identified this outdoor shop simply as the Flower Market, though the sign above one of the main carts clearly read “Disneyland Flower Market.” Year round, “imported plastic flowers of every description” were sold here, ranging from 50¢ to $2.75 (during the early sixties), and packaged in attractive florist boxes!

The Disneyland Flower Market was one of the preferred Disneyland merchandise locations to work. Anne Salisbury (known to guests as “Flower Market Annie”) was a Merchandise Hostess who had the longest tenure with Flower Market - lasting from 1955 until about 1977 (when she retired). When Annie was first employed by Disneyland, she had three family members who were also employed by Disneyland, and Annie’s own daughter even “blossomed” into one of Disneyland’s first Tour Guides!

While the Flower Market carried plastic flowers of every description, by 1958, Guests could purchase organic flowers at the Disneyland Hotel. Waynes for Flowers offered orchids to Disneyland Hotel Guests, which could be ordered by dialing KE3-1932. Both locations created tangible memories Guests through its merchandise and show.

According to The Disneyland Shopper (published 1955): “Half the fun of buying Christmas Gifts is the atmosphere you shop in. You couldn't ask for more in the way of the spirit of Christmas than to shop in Disneyland. Especially along Main Street will you catch the air of the good old-fashioned Christmas with wreaths of holly, Christmas bells, carolers, snow-frosted windows gaily decorated with fairytale rhymes, and the scent of pine boughs in the air. Ringing through this Magic Kingdom are the Christmas Songs we all love to hear.”

The 1957 TWA brochure “Let’s Talk About… My Visit to Disneyland, Anaheim, California: A Note from Mary Gordon TWA Travel Advisor” mentioned: “We learned that to fully explore Disneyland takes two days, so early next morning we were at the gates of the park again. The second day we spent more time shopping in the 50 inviting shops, and the youngsters bought inexpensive souvenirs to take home to friends.”

During this era, Wilmark helped maintain the Quality of customer service received at this and other Disneyland merchandise locations. As a sidelight, by October 1959, Jim Baker (of Merchandising) was overseeing the Disneyland Food Administration and Souvenir Sales.

The DISNEYLAND FLOWER MARKET had colorful displays of many flowers, all handmade for lifelike appearance and all available for purchase.

During the late 1960s, a Flower Stall was also opened in the Grand Courtyard of New Orleans Square, offering “artificial flowers made from a number of unusual materials not always found in this type of merchandise”.

This was the scene on June 17, 1960 - a bustling Center Street, Dapper Dans making acquaintances, Hallmark Communication Center construction scaffolding across the street, and a “fresh” stock of summer flowers at the Flower Market carts!

Did you ever order a gift bouquet of flowers for a loved one? The Gifts From Disneyland catalogue enabled both guests and those who hadn’t visited to purchase “imported flowers” from Disneyland’s famous Flower Market! By the Winter of 1961-1962, there were “80 different varieties,” thanks to Disneyland’s Merchandising Department, according to a contemporaneous Vacationland column. By 1963, there were 30 different varieties of scented flowers alone, that (despite not being the real McCoy), fool many a passerby.

Inventory of Main Street Flower Mart varied both perennially and annually, throughout the course of the year. April showers, brought a full stock of “May flowers” to Main Street Flower Mart!

Main Street Flower Mart was originally located on West Center Street, between Carnation Ice Cream Parlor and Upjohn Pharmacy.

You’ll find colorful spring bouquets year-round at the Disneyland Flower Market (or, Main Street Flower Mart)! If you did not have the pleasure to pass though this market “bursting with brilliance and fragrance the year around,” know that the artificial blooms were “so realistic that even the bees sometimes get confused,” according to Vacationland magazine (published Winter/Spring of 1965).

During non-peak periods of Disneyland Park attendance, a smaller inventory of stock was displayed on the street. It looks as if an entire cart has been dedicated to fruits and vegetables and another to flowers.

Floral arrangements were also for sale, on display under that awning in the center of the photograph!

The Disneyland Flower Market also carried hanging baskets (seen in the background), pottery, and glass vases for your arrangements. The flower market also carried a variety of embellishments and enhancements, (like the feathered, faux birds seen in the foreground).

During the following season, yet another “fresh” assortment of flowers was offered. During the Summer and Fall months, a selection of summer fruit and roses were offered. How many of you stopped to “smell the roses”?

Notice the corn and grapes in the foreground (on the left), used to embellish and enhance your banquet and dining room tables with a festive quality.

Ah, the bouquet garni - bundles of peppers, garlic, carrots and other vegetables suitable for hanging. These decorative embellishments would bring a colorful touch to your home kitchen!

“So life-like…so beautiful…so almost real”, according to a Disneyland gift catalogue from 1960.

During 1977, the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor added an outdoor dining Patio Area with Gazebo which filled all of West Center Street. It was at this time that the Carnation Truck exhibit was relocated near Central First Aid. As for the Main Street Flower Mart (with its “small unusual plants and man made flowers”), it was moved just across Main Street U.S.A., to a section of East Center Street, nestled between Hallmark Communication Center and Swift’s Market House / C & H Sugar Corner!

The Flower Mart of East Center Street was not as sprawling as its previous (and Carnation Cafe adjacent) West Center Street incarnation!

But there was still a healthy assortment of flowers at this East Center Street location. Just take a look!

The flowers never wilted, but they would eventually disappear. In 1979, the East Center Street Flower Mart (along with their vendors, and their stock) would vanish. By 1984, small plants, unusual artificial flowers, and even stamps could be purchased at the Flower Market on Main Street.

However, the tradition continued at the Magic Kingdom Flower Shop (part of the Emporium on Main Street), where an “alley brightened by multi-colored flowers” consisted of “artificial floral arrangements made from our large selection of dried and plastic flowers and fruits.” The Shop offered miniature “orange, lemon, lime, gardenia, orchid, and palm trees… along with terrariums, hanging pots, earth candles, plant books, and and chimes.”

During 2013, flower carts reappeared on East Center Street in a homage marking the second location of the Disneyland Flower Market. This time around the flowers weren’t for sale, and they weren’t synthetic either. The carts were now adorned with true - life naturally fragrant flowers (much like their Magic Kingdom incarnation)!

The former Walt Disney Imagineering Principal Creative Executive Marty Sklar would probably agree that the small details like these make the story appealing.

The next time you happen to stroll down Main Street, please step this way, and experience a Walt-era attraction that once graced East Center Street - the scent of some of the finest flowers “grown by nature!”