In 1968, Jack Wrather, with the loving help and support of his wife Bonita Granville-Wrather & family, celebrated his 50th birthday. A portion of this celebration took place at the Disneyland Hotel. Here is the invitation sent to guests. Bonita was affectionately known as Bunny by friends.
And now some photos from the festivities. What I really like about candid (as opposed to staged) photographs is, they often show areas of the Disneyland Hotel not ordinarily seen in staged shots. Simple things like signs, elevators, hallways, restaurant interiors all help to get an idea of what the Disneyland Hotel really looked like in years past. Hope you enjoy these.
Here is the luggage tag used by Mr. Wrather: (just added another one too!!)
And now, some of the Wrather family. His son Chris in the middle with Jack having fun on the left.
Jack with his 50 tag on his shirt.
And I actually have the very tag he used!
The picture below is particularly amazing! The gentleman in the light suit/dark tie is architect William Pereira who, by the way, was the original architect for the Disneyland Hotel in late 1954. After downloading this picture and carefully studying it, I found the amazing part. If you look at the left of the picture, there is a gentleman sitting (next to the pole) in an orange shirt. If anyone can tell me who that is, I will be amazed. I know who it is but I want to see if there are any other's out there who can say. Hint: he too was active in the development of the original Disneyland Hotel.
And now for some fun. This cake was created for Jack to help celebrate the event.
And just what did Jack Wrather think about all of this?
Actually, from what I have been told, heard and read, Jack was thrilled with the festivities.
