Guide to the Robert and Bertha Massoth Collection of Disneyland Publications and Ephemera MS.R.147
Finding aid prepared by Dawn Schmitz; updated by Sara Seltzer, 2013; updated by Charla DelaCuadra, 2023.
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
(cc) 2023
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Robert and Bertha Massoth collection of Disneyland publications and ephemera
Creator:
Massoth, Robert J.
Creator:
Massoth, Bertha E.
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.147
Physical Description:
4.7 Linear Feet
(4 letter-size document boxes, 1 half-width letter-size document box, 2 records cartons, 1 flat box, and 5 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1960-2008
Abstract: This collection includes Disneyland-related newsletters, magazines, and other publications collected by Robert J. Massoth
and by his wife, Bertha E. Massoth. Bertha worked as the executive secretary to the head of publicity and marketing at Disneyland,
a theme park in Anaheim, Orange County, California, owned by Walt Disney Co.
Language of Material:
English
.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Preferred Citation
Robert and Bertha Massoth collection of Disneyland publications. MS-R147. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine
Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Thomas and Michele Massoth, 2009, 2013, and 2022.
Processing History
Processed by Michelle Light and Dawn Schmitz, 2009.
Historical Background
Robert J. Massoth (1918-2008) and his wife, Bertha E. Massoth (1918-1987), lived in Fullerton, Orange County, California.
Bertha worked at the Disneyland theme park from approximately 1958 to 1984, serving as the executive secretary to the head
of publicity and marketing.
Disneyland, located 27 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles in Anaheim, Orange County, California, opened in 1955. Walt
Disney, the creator of animated motion pictures featuring the characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Pluto, had first conceived
of the park twenty years earlier. But it wasn't until the post-war boom in consumer culture, automobile travel, tourism, and
the growth of the television industry that he was able to realize the project.
Disney used his new weekly television program on the ABC television network to generate revenue and to report on the park's
development, introducing the new concept of a theme park as distinct from the amusement parks that had been in existence in
the U.S. since the late nineteenth century. Designed, like a Disney motion picture, to invite the visitor into an imaginary
world, Disneyland was organized into five thematically linked areas: Main Street, U.S.A.; Adventureland; Frontierland; Fantasyland;
and Tomorrowland.
In the years since Disneyland's inception, its "imagineers" (engineers, architects, artists, storytellers, and designers)
have added more "lands," entertainment, rides and attractions to the park. Disneyland's public service employees are called
"cast members" in company literature because they are considered an integral part of creating the park's special atmosphere.
Attendance at Disneyland in 2008 was 14,721,000. Disneyland is now just one part of a large tourist and entertainment complex
in Anaheim, where Walt Disney Co. owns 461 acres of land and has the rights under long-term lease for use of an additional
49 acres. In addition to its vast holdings in studio entertainment and media networks, the company also owns Walt Disney World
resort in Orlando, Florida, and licenses or owns interests in a number of other parks and resorts in the U.S. as well as in
Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris. Taken together, Walt Disney Attractions has the highest attendance of any theme park chain in
the world, with 118,000,000 visitors in 2008.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection includes Disneyland-related newsletters, magazines, and other publications collected by Robert J. Massoth
and by his wife, Bertha E. Massoth. Bertha worked as the executive secretary to the head of publicity and marketing at Disneyland,
a theme park in Anaheim, Orange County, California, owned by Walt Disney Co.
The collection includes newsletters and other publications for Disneyland park employees and former employees, including Backstage
Disneyland, Inside Disneyland; and The Disneylander. Also included is Walt Disney Co. literature such as annual reports, the
employee newsletter Disney Newsreel, and gift catalogs of Disney trademarked merchandise. There are also tourist guides, posters,
and other publications for visitors to Disneyland and Walt Disney World resort. A minimally processed accrual was added to
the collection in 2023.
Collection Arrangement
This collection is arranged in alphabetical order by title or type of publication.
Separation Note
The following publications were removed from this collection and cataloged separately in Special Collections and Archives.
(Catalog records can be accessed through UCI's online catalog Antpac http://antpac.lib.uci.edu/.)
These items were removed from the collection and cataloged separately in the library catalog
ANTPAC .
-
Disneyland Line
-
Disneyland Resort Line
-
Disney News: Official Magazine for Magic Kingdom Club Families
Related Collections
Related materials can be found in the following collection in the Department of Special Collections and Archives:
Related materials can be found in the following collection:
- Disneyland Employee and Promotional Materials Collection. MS.R.077
- Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Bibliography
Themed Entertainment Association/Economics Research Associates.
Attraction Attendance Report 2008. Burbank, Calif.: Themed Entertainment Association, 2009.
Telotte, J.P.
The Mouse Machine : Disney and Technology. Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2008.
Walt Disney Productions.
Disneyland : The First Quarter Century. Burbank, Calif.: Walt Disney Productions, 1979.
"Walt Disney Co." In Mint Global [database online]. Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing. [Cited 7 July 2009.]
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Amusement parks -- California -- Anaheim -- History -- 20th century -- Sources.
Walt Disney Productions
Walt Disney Company
Disneyland (Calif.) -- Archives
Disneyland (Calif.)
box 1, folder 3
Backstage Disneyland (scattered issues)
1965-1980
box 1, folder 10
Disney Newsreel (scattered issues)
1978-1984
box 1, folder 11
The Disney World magazine
1968 November
box 2, folder 7
Disneyland 1983 calendar
1983
box 1, folder 7
Disneyland Inside (scattered issues)
1967-1971
box 1, folder 9
Disneyland Resort: Draft Environmental Impact Report Summary, City of Anaheim; and WESTCOT 2000 Community Support Group promotional
materials
1992
box 1, box 8
The Disneylander (scattered issues)
1985-1987
box 2, folder 1
Guides for tourists: Disneyland and Walt Disney World
1981-1986
box 2, folder 2
Magic Key Newsletter (scattered issues)
1993-1995
box FB-071, folder 2, box 2, folder 3
Miscellaneous ephemera: pocket calendar, commemorative booklets, and other materials
1971-1997, undated
box 2, folder 4
Miscellaneous newsletters: University of Disneyland, Career Planning and Placement Update, Coming Attractions, Disney Team
'85, Disneyana Collector, and Enviroport '92
1966, 1979-1992
box FB-071, folder 3
Salute to the United States 1964 Olympic Team from the City of Los Angeles
1964 September 27
Scope and Content Note
Reception and dinner held at Disneyland.
box 2, folder 5
Vacationland (scattered issues)
1973-1983
box 2, folder 6
Walt Disney World booklet
1969
Minimally processed addition 2023 Accession 2023-019
approximately 1960-2008
Scope and Contents Note
This accession contains a variety of publications and ephemera from Bertha Massoth's employment with Disneyland, including
photos, correspondence, pamphlets, commemorative medallions, handbooks, invitations, awards, news clippings, cast training
documentation, posters, calendars, pins, and other ephemera and artifacts.
box accn2023-019 001
Box 1
approximately 1960-2008
box accn2023-019 002
Box 2
approximately 1960-2008
box accn2023-019 003
Box 3
approximately 1960-2008
box accn2023-019 004
Box 4
approximately 1960-2008
box accn2023-019 005
Box 5
approximately 1960-2008
box accn2023-019 006
Box 6
approximately 1960-2008
folder accn2023-019 XOS01
XOS Folder 1
approximately 1960-2008
folder accn2023-019 XOS02
XOS Folder 2
approximately 1960-2008
folder accn2023-019 XOS03
XOS Folder 3
approximately 1960-2008
