This year I’ve been incredibly busy working on the manuscript for The End of Architecture: Our World as a Set, from Theme Parks and Video Games to Virtual Reality with my colleague Dr. Gregory Turner-Rahman. So I haven’t found much time to post.

As seen prior, during the summer of 2021 and 2022 I was able to visit the Disneyland Resort and continue my site documentation photography. Following my last post on the Typography of Galaxy’s Edge (the park’s “Star Wars Land”), I’d like to take a small break from my manuscript work to share some nice examples of the lettering to be found in my favorite area of Disneyland Park—New Orleans Square.

New Orleans Square (NOS) was the last expansion of Disneyland that Walt Disney was personally a part of. The first new full “land” to be added to the park, it opened on July 24, 1966—well in advance of its signature attraction Pirates of the Caribbean and accompanying table service restaurant, The Blue Bayou—with a dedication ceremony featuring then Mayor of New Orleans, Victor H. Schiro. Costing some $18 million, a million more than all of Disneyland in 1955, Walt Disney reportedly quipped to the press that his new land, a tribute to The Big Easy of the Antebellum South, was pricier than the Louisiana Purchase itself.

I hadn’t noticed the above wordmark in NOS until recently, which is carved into a stone surface on a pillar outside The Haunted Mansion. The lettering and application certainly does not date from 1966. If I recall correctly, I first remember seeing this mark in the 1990s, and it has been used on merchandise ever since. The style is appropriate for the land, with elaborate swashes and some characters like the “A” which resemble a modified ITC Benguiat. Overall, however, it does feel a bit too “logo-ish” as if it was designed to be printed on a sweatshirt for a sports team.

The signage which dates to the opening of the land in 1966 is really something special, like this above example from table service restaurant Cafe Orleans. From the late 1960s into the mid-1970s, design was going through many period revivals, one of which was Art Nouveau. So although NOS was meant to represent the city of New Orleans before the Civil War, the graphics and lettering to be found throughout the land aren’t accurate to that period at all, but rather reflect popular art and design trends during its development and construction.

Since France was a center of the turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau movement, the Imagineers must have thought, okay, French, New Orleans, makes sense. Hand-painted floral illustrations and stylized serif lettering demonstrate this sensibility throughout, like on the wall outside the Mint Julep Bar.

The late 1960s was the height of the phototypesetting era, and this poster-size sign which has sat at the entrance to Pirates of the Caribbean since it opened on March 18, 1967, provides a solid bouquet of the kinds of offerings that were popular in phototype catalogs.

Along with Art Nouveau, typefaces from the Victorian era were being revived at this time. “Sail With The Tide” is set here in Art Gothic, originally designed in the 1880s but brought back for phototype and later for digital. You might recognize it as the title face for the television series Murder She Wrote or from the album cover for Siamese Dream by The Smashing Pumpkins.

Some of the finest signage at Disneyland is routed in wood, and this “Exit Through the Gift Shop” notice at Pirates is no exception.

The serif treatment of the attraction name here matches other nearby applications, but I suspect the sign dates from the 1970s or even the 1980s with the line treatment of the skull and crossbones.

Some signage is more playful than historical, as at that same gift shop just off the exit to Pirates, Pieces of Eight. Throughout NOS there is serif and swash work that to my eye anticipates some of the major trends in typography which would emerge in the 1970s, like the elegant forms of Ed Benguiat’s ITC Bookman and its swash variants, which are still popular today.

Look closely and you’ll notice that the illustration in this hanging oval sign above the other entrance to the shop is replicated small on the first one.

Much of the safety information in the park dates to the 1990s, but the designers have usually done a good job of making substrate and printing choices that align with the overall theme. This is a contemporary, digital italic serif, yet it fits with period samples like The Fell Types which are used to evoke the swashbuckling era.

The graphic designers at Walt Disney Imagineering don’t always get it right, however. This sign probably dates to the late 1980s or early 1990s. And while the main Roman characters and corner ornaments feel right for NOS, the “Please” in Brush Script definitely does not!

Hand painted Roman type abounds in NOS. This choice reminds me of the lettering used in The New Yorker, especially the leg of the “R.” It’s a style that was common in the 1910s and 1920s, so it makes sense that this was probably referenced from a phototype revival font.

Sadly, this lettering is cut vinyl, and the sharp serifs don’t really fit with other signs throughout the land. Yet the silhouette of the man with the top hat? There’s The New Yorker again. Odd.

Poking around, I found a few examples I’d never noticed before, even after visiting Disneyland for decades and pouring over the park in detail in search of hidden gems. And here is such a sign. The script employed here is serviceable—very much in the vein of Matthew Carter’s Shelley family, which would not arrive until 1972—and appears hand painted based on a character set.

I’m not going to lie; the tail on the “y” bothers me. Too extreme.

For years the French Market quick service restaurant had featured elegant swash type on its signage and menu boards, but it has recently been rebranded as Tiana’s Palace and themed to The Princess and the Frog (2009).

I’ve always admired the lead entry sign to the Blue Bayou Restaurant, which is hand painted on glass and also appears to be from a phototype sample.

Like so many signs at Disneyland, it looks wonderful at night and takes on a different personality after dark.

Since 1967, The Blue Bayou has featured a very elegant and stately double-B monogram of the Shelley variety on their menus, but this particular application is relatively recent, within the last ten or fifteen years.

In the same location near the host stand, you can find this newer script, and I think it’s a poor choice. It looks more at home on a Prince album cover from the 1980s than at the classiest table service general admission eatery in the park.

Purple Rain Bayou?

Behold the original entrance plaque to the mysterious Club 33. I have always absolutely adored this double-3 mark. The numeral forms are quite unique, they harmonize with the double-B monogram directly next door at The Blue Bayou, and they inject a bit of mid-20th century modernism into an otherwise 19th century setting.

Very 1960s executive class, very Mad Men.

I’m far less enamored with the revised 2014 mark, in which the designers decided to lean in on the Art Nouveau sensibilities that have been present in NOS from the very beginning. Solid reasoning, to be sure, but there is something about that 1960s advertising suite ‘33’ that can’t be topped. Also, if you tip it sideways, the original mark can read as MM for “Mickey Mouse.” Not so with the new one.

Still, the remodeled club, which I visited in July of 2021, is exquisite and tasteful. The revised mark looks absolutely stunning in mosaic tile at its entrance.

One of the most famous attraction marks in all of Disneyland’s history is probably the lettering for The Haunted Mansion. This plaque sits at its entrance, and has roots in a Victorian woodcut typeface called Rubens which was a popular phototype revival during the 1960s. Designed by John F. Cumming in the 1880s, every major foundry of the era featured a cut of it in several weights.

You might recall it being used in the opening titles for the 1980s series Knight Rider. Digital versions informed by its Disney application are available from many sources, the best of which is David Occhino’s Mansion.

More recent entry and safety signage from the late 1990s and early 2000s employs Runic, a Monotype face that dates back to 1935. The Imagineers made a good call here; to my eye Runic vibes well with Rubens.

Victorian serifs of a similar character as Rubens can be found scattered throughout NOS. This painted lettering appears to be based on a phototype revival of a face from the 1880s called Jefferson. Similar serifs from the same era include Washington, Webster, and Lafayette. Lettering like this has been used by Sierra Nevada Brewing and the band Alkaline Trio.

Here’s another choice that appears to harmonize well with Rubens. Look at the “M” in particular. As far as I can tell, this shop dates back to 1966. The Haunted Mansion didn’t open until 1969, but had been in development since the early 1960s. This makes me think that the graphic designers at Imagineering might have been working on typography for the land for quite a while, and made many of the same phototype selections within the same time frame. Wonderful custom swashes; this might be my favorite sign in the entire land.

The lettering is also repeated in a painted graphic on a nearby wall. According to Yesterland, the lower text “Sacs & Modes” refers to a flower shop that existed in NOS from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.

Some of the newer pieces in NOS are as detailed and lovely as the original 1966 material. This plaque was added above the small fountain in the entrance courtyard of Pirates for the attraction’s 30th anniversary in 1997. Disneyland’s medieval wordmark is faithfully reproduced, and the stylized swash treatment of the attraction name is just out of this world.

Again, the graphic designers at Imagineering don’t always nail it, though. This entrance sign dates to the late 1990s or early 2000s, and just strikes me as cheap looking. Like something you’d see at a Six Flags park. The Roman lettering is straight out of Adobe Illustrator, with amateurish dotted strokes set outside the rounded characters. “Of the” looks to be set in Apple Chancery, or something equally low rent. And the ornamented cross at the bottom is almost falling off the sign. It’s gross.

Some of tackiest stuff in NOS dates to the early 2000s and is tied to the branding for the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, which features some terrible typography in its posters and marketing materials.

But Imagineering appears to have recovered from that sad era. Some of the latest additions, like this sign for the 21 Royal dining experience, appear as if they’ve been here since Walt Disney first opened the land back in 1966.

The monikers for Club 33 and 21 Royal aren’t unique. In fact, nearly every retail and dining space in NOS has a numbered street address. You can find them painted in a variety of lettering styles throughout.

The carved piece near the entrance to 21 Royal might pre-date the dining experience, but I can’t be sure. It certainly feels 1966.

I was fortunate enough to dine at 21 Royal in June of 2022. Though I took plenty of pictures, the space was devoid of typography for the most part. I did spot the iconic Disneyland “D” on the tile work in one of the bathrooms.

The famous “D” is derived from the original Disneyland wordmark, a piece of lettering that has been constantly evolving since 1955. I’m wondering if the tile application in 21 Royal is a nod to its prior use in the signage for the VIP Dream Suite. Originally, this space above Pirates was intended to be a private apartment for Walt and Roy Disney, then it was used as the Disney Gallery before being converted into a VIP overnight experience and finally a exclusive dining one.

You see one version or another of this D all over the park. They vary somewhat based on the year. This one is on a popcorn vending cart just outside The Haunted Mansion.

Speaking of popcorn carts, there is some nifty recent lettering on the NOS ones. Like I’ve discussed prior, the graphic designers at Imagineering have been very big on using the antique stylings of the Letterhead Fonts foundry for the past fifteen years or so. That appears to be what we have here. This looks very close to Prince. Of course any designer worth their paycheck is going to try and customize a typeface when they can, and this may have happened here.

Here on the side of the cart we have more Letterhead loveliness. The “AND” appears to be Boston Truckstyle, which the Imagineers have used extensively over at California Adventure as well.

I’ll finish here with perhaps my favorite typographic classification, the slab serif. New Orleans Square has always shared a Disneyland Railroad station with the adjacent Frontierland since its opening, so in deference to that elder, opening day land, the lettering on its queue structure is appropriately Old West.

On the side of the roof is a different woodtype slab, a look called “French Clarendon” or sometimes “Playbill” due to its use on posters and playbills of the late 1800s and early 1900s. It also recalls the “WANTED” posters common to Wild West movies and TV shows.

One of the pleasures of walking around Disneyland as a graphic designer is taking in all the signage, much of which is—still, to this day—hand painted or hand applied. These typographic delights, usually quite well-attuned to a given time and place by the Imagineers, are but one small part of the gestalt of visual details which make themed spaces so immersive and engaging.