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| (January 1956–Present) BACKSTORY: The East Side of Main Street is where you will find this favorite shop. In 1955, Disneyland hired two specialists in silhouette cutting, Alex Degonslar (8/30/1899 - 8/7/1966) and Joseph Markay (5/21/1905 - 10/19/1968). Markay was better known as "Nemo" and he often signed his early silhouettes in this way. The two were interviewed in early editions of the "Disneyland News" newspaper and were featured in an episode of the Disneyland television series called "An Adventure in Art," which was broadcst in April 1958. Today, you can still get your silhouette hand-cut by this shop's talented artists. From the OC Register, August 14, 2012: From a Disneyland office, two artists capture the profiles of babies, grandparents, dogs, cats, parrots, horses, goats, a hedgehog and even a vintage car. Sometimes they work from photos, but usually from the people themselves. Halos are sometimes placed above those who have died. Over the decades, the two have worked at the Disneyland Silhouette studio to create more than 4 million images, using surgical scissors to cut outlines of faces with black paper in a half-minute that are placed on white backing. The studio opened on Main Street, U.S.A. in January 1956, six months after the park opened. Bonnie Elliott has been here 38 years; Sylvia Fellows, 33 years. Two other artists have worked for shorter periods. "I'm drawing with my scissors. It's very fun. It's like a game," said Elliott, 61, of Redondo Beach. The studio is one of the few deliberately messy places in Disneyland: Employees are told to keep the paper scraps on the floor. Fellows has created up to 434 images in a shift. Elliott has done 472 pictures in eight hours; she can do some in as little as 15 seconds. Artists cut two mirror-image copies at a time. Each head costs $9 each. A Northern California pastor asked church members to get their portraits done if they went to Disneyland so his wife could put them in their house. So artists kept hearing from customers who wanted portraits for "the pastor's wife." One day, a woman came in and said, "You know me. I'm the pastor's wife." She went on to collect portraits of 147 individuals and a dog. Fellows once cut the profile of a terminally ill child because her parents wanted to use the art for her grave. Others are replicated for tattoos or jewelry. Elliott had one couple get silhouettes when they were dating and later come back with their own children and then their grandchildren. Mike Healy of Alamo in Northern California brought his two daughters. He recognized Fellows as having completed 13-year-old Gabrielle's portrait when she was 5. "I wanted to keep the tradition going on," Healy said. "Hopefully, their kids will get a chance." |
>DISNEYLAND LINE NEWSLETTER, APRIL 27, 1978 |
>EAST MAIN STREET |
) Vintage silhouette cut by Alex DeGonslar |
) August 1956 |
) 1956 |
) May 1958 |
) 1959 |
) March 1968 |
) Jan. 2007 |
) June 2008 |
) Sept. 2010 |
) Sept. 2010 |
) Sept. 2010 |
) May 2011 |
) June 2012 |
) Dec. 2012 |
) Dec. 2012 |
) Jan. 2013 |
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) Recently, I was contacted by a reader of my blog who graciously sent me a scan of her Main Street Silhouette Studio portrait. Here is the story as Cherie remembers:I went to Disneyland in 1960 on Thanksgiving Saturday when they had a special Date Nite. I was a freshman at UCLA and my new boyfriend invited me. It was a cold, gray, sprinkly day but I had so much fun. We danced a lot in the Carnation Plaza to great big band music. I had never been there after dark before. I lived in the Valley and my mother took me and three girlfriends to Disneyland shortly after it opened. But this Date Nite was very special. And I cherish the silhouette. |
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| Silhouettes by Alex, Lance and Valerie De Gonslar The Silhouette Studio at Disneyland Alex has appeared at many World's Fairs, International Expositions, and has cut Silhouette Portraits of Royalty, motion picture personalities, and political figures throughout the world. Alex speaks French, German, Hungarian and Esperanto. Sometime ago Alex appeared in a Walt Disney Television show to cut some silhouettes as part of a "History of Art" program, and recently on the "Mickey Mouse Club" television show.. Millions of viewers watched as the artists deftly maneuvered their specially made scissors around the jet black Silhouette Paper and in minutes create profiles of enchanting beauty. Thousands of visitors to Disneyland have stopped at the Silhouette Studio on Main Street, U.S.A. to watch them work and have their own portraits cut. Silhouettes are an everlasting precious memento, and look most elegant in an oval frame. The Silhouette Studio in Disneyland has a beautiful selection of oval frames designed specially for the Silhouettes' interior diameter 5 3/4 by 7. If you would like to order one or more frames, you are invited to fill in the back page of this brochure. You can also order additional copies of your Silhouette or have a Silhouette made from a photo. Send us one of the original Silhouettes, or a clear side view photo, which will be returned with the order. Price of copies - 2 for $1.50 (same person). Thank you for visiting the Silhouette Studio in Disneyland. |
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| Of Shadows and Smiles…The Main Street Silhouette Studio When Walt Disney first conceived his Main Street entryway to the Magic Kingdom, he desired that each details, each characteristic trait of that turn-of-the-century period be recreated in the most authentic manner. One of the most prominent examples of this duplication of 19th century life lies within the door of the Main Street Silhouette Studio. Today an almost obsolete art form, the craft of cutting profile likenesses found its roots in the mid-18th century. Étienne Silhouette, a French finance minister, originated the commercial production of the craft. During that time, the privilege of personal portraiture was reserved for the very elite, and Étienne began his campaign to generate the production of the "poor man's" portrait…the Silhouette. Eventually this innovative art form caught on even in the wealthy circles and became one of the most popular portrait devices in Europe. The invention of the camera cast a lasting shadow over the art of silhouette creation, and today only about 25 full-time silhouette artists exist in this country. Harry Brice is Disneyland's artist in residence, and tells an interesting tale of how he came to be an artist of such rare talents. "I was being interviewd by Disneyland's former artist lessee, and he asked me if I'd had any experience with silhouette portraits. I didn't even know what a silhouette portrait WAS, but told my interviewer that I was experienced int he field. Within a week, I had taught myself the craft, and was working in the Sihouette Shop." Since that time over 10 years ago, Harry has become an accomplished duplicator of Disneyland guest profiles. 60,000 silhouettes were created by Harry last year alone, and it's been estimated that he's the "fastest snip in the West"…and the world at 30 seconds per portrait. Harry has scissored some unusual profiles, as horses, cats and dogs are now a part of his repertoire. One of his most memorable portraits is a silhouette of a departed husband, described th Harry by the man's widow. Although Harry is the shop's full-time artist, Laurie Myers and Bonnie Elliot share the responsibility on party nights and during the summer and peak seasons. A Silhouette Cart in New Orleans Square relieves some of the pressure during the busier periods. More than artistic talent, however, is required to be a creative silhouette cutter. Showmanship, patience and an infinite sense of humor are prerequisites to the success of the craft. And in every aspect of this art, Harry and his staff of artists are a difficult group to over-shadow. |
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