California's Colorful Varied Scenery

When most guests venture into the Writer’s Stop in Disney’s Hollywood Studios it is to grab a Carrot Cake Cookie or to spend some time perusing the books about Disney or that tie into the park in some way. Occasionally the eatery is noted for once upon a time being a nod to the main hub of activity in Ellen DeGeneres sitcom, Ellen, known as Buy the Book. But have you ever really stopped to look at the decor? The back of film facades, maps, and lighting fixtures all populate the shop alongside a rather plain pair of postcards.

The postcards show a golden age of California, which makes sense considering the overall feel of Hollywood Boulevard, Echo Lake, and Sunset Boulevard, even if the Writer’s Stop is just around the corner from New York Street. The first of the two postcards just offers up A Glimpse of California’s Colorful Varied Scenery.

The varied scenery of palm trees, wild flowers and orange groves against the background of snow-capped mountains is one of the sights for which California has long been famous.

The second features a much more iconic corner of California. Listed as Premiere Night, Carthay Circle Theater, Beverly Hills, Calif., the postcard presents a grand showcase of the theater in full gala mode. The Carthay Circle Theatre was demolished in 1969, but that hasn’t stopped the soul of the theater. In Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a miniature theater houses the fashion hotspot, Once Upon A Time. Meanwhile, in Disney California Adventure it has been turned into the top-tier dining experience known as Carthay Circle Restaurant.

The postcard itself doesn’t relate what premiere Carthay Circle Theatre is hosting, but that list includes some incredible heavy hitters such as 1939’s Gone with the Wind and 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Whatever the feature may be it certainly is well attended event!

Carthay Circle Theatre, scene of many a gala Premiere, where throngs of movie fans collect to see the celebrities attending.

The postcards in Writer’s Stop are oversized, but come from the linen postcard collection of Longshaw Card Company. The linen postcards are noted for their orange borders and hand-drawn quality. One of the most popular cards to come out of Harry Lowe Longshaw’s company, which produced cards for over two decades in the 1930s and 1940s before closing up shop in 1957, just happens to be the Premiere Night postcard. Longshaw cards highlighted scenic California vistas, theaters, glamorous movie star homes, and pin-ups (scenic California, indeed!).

The postcards may not be the flashiest or tastiest thing to be found inside Writer’s Stop, but they do have a place in helping set the scene of Hollywood. In the case of the Carthay Circle Theatre, the postcard also reminds guests of the tie between the old Hollywood theater and the long legacy of Disney feature animation history.