Children's Fairyland, U.S.A. was the first Ferris wheel Amusement park is the more generic term for a collection of amusement rides and other entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a fairly large group of people. An amusement park is more elaborate than a simple city park or playground, as an amusement park is meant... theme park created to cater to families with young children. Located in Aerial view looking west over downtown Oakland, Lake Merritt and the Port of Oakland in the upper left portion of the image. Oakland, founded in 1852, is a city on the east side (aka East Bay) of San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. To its north... Oakland, California on the shore of A view looking East towards man made islands of the Lake Merritt Bird Sanctuary. The Bellevue-Staten apartment building is in view and the Oakland/Piedmont Hills are in the background. Lake Merritt is a large body of salt water that lies just south of downtown Oakland, California. Originally, the... Lake Merritt, Fairyland includes 10 acres (40,000 m²) of play sets, small rides, and animals. The park is also home to the Open Storybook Puppet Theater, the oldest continuously operating puppet theater in the United States.

Fairyland was built in Years: 1947 1948 1949 - 1950 - 1951 1952 1953 Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1950 in topic: Arts Architecture - Art - Film - Literature - Music Science and technology Aviation - Rail transport - Science - Television Other topics Canada - Sport Lists of leaders: State leaders - Religious... 1950 by the Oakland Lake Merritt Breakfast Club. The sets were designed by artist and architect William Russell Everritt. The park was nationally recognized for its unique value, and during the City Beautiful movement of the 1950s it inspired numerous towns to create their own parks. For the same named company; see The Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901–December 15, 1966) was an American animated film producer and animator. He was also the creator of an American-based theme park called Disneyland, and the founder of the highly profitable... Walt Disney even came to Fairyland often to get ideas for This article is about Disneyland in California. For other Disney parks and attractions see here. Disneyland is a Ferris wheel Amusement park is the more generic term for a collection of amusement rides and other entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a fairly large group of people. An... Disneyland.

Numerous artists have contributed exhibits, murals, puppetry, and sculptures to the park. Some of the more well known artists are Ruth Asawa and Richard Frank Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), better known as Frank Oz, is a film director, actor and puppeteer. He was born in Hereford, United Kingdom, but moved to California, United States when he was five years old with his parents. Oz is best known for his work as a... Frank Oz.

Origins of the park

On a trip to the This article refers to the largest city of Michigan. For other places with this name, see Detroit (disambiguation). Detroit, Michigan City flag City seal City nickname: The Motor City and Motown Location in the state of Michigan Founded July 24, 1701 County Wayne County Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (Dem) Area  ... Detroit children's zoo in Belle Isle Park, Oakland nurseryman Arthur Navlet saw a collection of small nursery rhyme themed buildings, and wanted to create something similar in Oakland's A view looking East towards man made islands of the Lake Merritt Bird Sanctuary. The Bellevue-Staten apartment building is in view and the Oakland/Piedmont Hills are in the background. Lake Merritt is a large body of salt water that lies just south of downtown Oakland, California. Originally, the... Lake Merritt Park. His hope, though, was to create much larger sets that children could climb in and interact with. After getting the backing of the Lake Merritt Breakfast Club, a civic organization devoted to improving the park, he took his ideas to William Penn Mott Jr., then director of Oakland's parks department. Mott and the Breakfast Club were able to raise $50,000 from Oaklanders to create the park.

Navlet hired fantasy architect William Russell Everritt to design the original 17 sets. Everritt originally presented models which followed a standard fantasy architecture: straight-sided, "precious" buildings in gingerbread and candy. When told his models were too staid, he delightedly destroyed them and came back with buildings with no straight sides and outre colors and textures. It was exactly what Navlet was looking for.

The original park

The park opened on September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years). There are 120 days remaining. September Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23... September 2, Years: 1947 1948 1949 - 1950 - 1951 1952 1953 Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1950 in topic: Arts Architecture - Art - Film - Literature - Music Science and technology Aviation - Rail transport - Science - Television Other topics Canada - Sport Lists of leaders: State leaders - Religious... 1950. Admission was 9 to 14 cents, depending on age. The original guides to the park were a married couple who were midgets, dressed in glamorous Munchkin-style costumes. The park was reported on nationally, with numerous newsreels shot in the park. The original sets included Pinocchio's Castle, Thumbelina, Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Merry Miller, The Three Little Pigs, Willie the Whale, and several others. The entrance to the park was the shoe from The Old Woman in the Shoe. The entrance through the shoe was sized for children, so that adults had to bend over to go through.

The park continued to grow through the early years, adding the Open Storybook Puppet Theater, also designed by Everritt, in 1956, as well as other sets. Another important addition were the Fairyland Talking Storybooks and Magic Keys. Oakland television personality Bruce Sedley would often make appearances at the park to tell the stories of the sets. The constant strain of speaking threatened his voice, and he invented a system of talking books with recorded stories on tape. The boxes were activated by a plastic key. Sedley took the system he developed at Fairyland to zoos and children's parks across the country, where they are still used extensively.

External links

• Children's Fairyland (http://www.fairyland.org/) (official website)
• A visit to Fairyland (http://www.elvision.com/tunneloflaffs/fairyland/) (Tunnel of Laffs article on Walt Disney's visit in 1950, and the park today)