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Vintage Disney Song of the South Shirt, looking for info |
Humuhumu
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Aug 22, 2002
Posts: 3536
From: San Francisco
|  Posted: 2006-02-16 2:35 pm Permalink
This past summer when we were visiting Seattle, I found this great vintage child's shirt at a flea market. (Being child-sized sometimes has its payoffs.) Being a massive Disney nut, I was thrilled to find it. I've been hoping to get some more info about the shirt, specifically when it was produced. I wore it to the Disney offices when I was visiting Kevin Kidney last week. Kevin is both very into vintage Disney and vintage clothing, and while he hadn't seen it before, his guess was that it was from the 40s, the 50s at the latest. There's no date on the selvage. The characters are from the movie "Song of the South" which was first released in 1946, then again in 1956, 1972, 1980 and 1986. I've also contacted the fellow who runs songofthesouth.net but I haven't heard back from him yet. I've been looking for a TC-type equivalent for vintage Disney collectibles but haven't found one yet; there is a section in the eBay forums, but it doesn't look like it's very active, lots of "what is this" posts with no responses.
I'd love to hear your ideas!
The label is very faded and hard to read, so I've enhanced it using Photoshop. It has an image of Brer Rabbit in the upper left corner, and says "BRER RABBIT" at the top. "ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH" is swooping across the label in large print. Near the bottom, in small print are "MADE IN CALIFORNIA" and "COPYRIGHT WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS."
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Tangaroa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 25, 2002
Posts: 1550 | Posted: 2006-02-16 10:12 pm Permalink
I'm guessing 40s - but maybe Christian Willis knows!
http://www.songofthesouth.net/
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GatorRob
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2004
Posts: 1767
From: 3 hrs 33 mins to paradise
| Posted: 2006-02-17 05:23 am Permalink
What makes that shirt an even more interesting find is that most people haven't even seen Song of the South, due to its controversial nature. I always found it odd that Disney won't release the film in the U.S., yet based an entire attraction on it (Splash Mountain), which happens to be one of my favorite attractions.
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King Bushwich the 33rd
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 10, 2005
Posts: 955
From: Ling Cod Beach, CA 90803
| Posted: 2006-02-17 09:38 am Permalink
Yes, Song of the South hasn't been exactly pushed by Disney the last couple of decades. But they still have cast members in Brer Bear and Brer fox costumes at the character greeting restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel. The kids probably have no idea who they are.
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Matterhorn1959
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2006
Posts: 177
From: Mile High City
| Posted: 2006-02-18 2:39 pm Permalink
Hey- by the style of material, the cut of the shirt and the tag it appears to be 1946 from the original release of the movie. There were lots of children's clothes out there with cartoon themes, I have seen Superman, Lone Ranger, and Steve Canyon shirts that are basically the same. Great piece, I am extremely jealous. One of these days I will be posting all of my Tiki room shirts and dresses, as well as the other Disneyland vintage clothing I own.
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Matterhorn1959
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2006
Posts: 177
From: Mile High City
| Posted: 2006-02-18 2:40 pm Permalink
Double post- so sorry!
[ This Message was edited by: Matterhorn1959 2006-02-18 15:02 ]
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Tangaroa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 25, 2002
Posts: 1550 | Posted: 2006-02-18 6:12 pm Permalink
Thanks PJ - you were going to be the first person I asked about it (Humu is dying to know about it)!
Any chance there is info in any of the Tomart guides? I don't have them, but I'm guessing you might.
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Matterhorn1959
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2006
Posts: 177
From: Mile High City
| Posted: 2006-02-19 06:56 am Permalink
There may be a listing of the manufacturer, but Tomart is pretty light when it comes to the clothing. And if Disney Archives did not have the manufacturer in their lists, Tomart does not have it. It could be in the movie campaign book for Song of the South as they sometimes show the merchandise. Unfortunately I do not own a campaign book and my Tomart are currently packed away deep.
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purple jade
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 19, 2003
Posts: 1450
From: New Orleans
| Posted: 2006-02-19 11:26 am Permalink
This has nothing to do with the shirt, but thought maybe some folks might not know where the stories upon which Song of the South is based originated.
http://www.lauraplantation.com/welcome_frame.htm
Laura Plantation is a real survivor, still hanging on after a recent fire and two hurricanes!
[ This Message was edited by: purple jade 2006-02-19 11:34 ]
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Unga Bunga
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 06, 2003
Posts: 5738
From: CaliTikifornia
| Posted: 2006-02-19 1:33 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2006-02-19 11:26, purple jade wrote:
This has nothing to do with the shirt.
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Same thing here, (showing my age) I saw the movie in the theater.
Where does the term "Brer" come from
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Humuhumu
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Aug 22, 2002
Posts: 3536
From: San Francisco
| Posted: 2006-02-19 1:39 pm Permalink
Br'er is a contraction, a shortening of "Brother".
Kevin hasn't checked the Disney Archives yet, he just didn't recognize it. He & Jody have been working on some Song of the South collectibles recently, so they have been delving into vintage reference lately, but they hadn't done an exhaustive look through the archives. Thanks so much for your input on the shirt! TikiVixen noted on Friday that the color palette looks very '40s, and I agree with her... it's looking more and more to me like this is from 1946ish.
Still haven't heard anything back from Christian Willis at songofthesouth.net yet!
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Tangaroa
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 25, 2002
Posts: 1550 | Posted: 2006-02-20 09:38 am Permalink
It "looks" 40s or early 50s to me..... Can't wait to see what you find out!
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lucas vigor
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 12, 2004
Posts: 3453
From: "I've chopped my way through real jungle
| Posted: 2006-02-21 2:18 pm Permalink
There was a great article in the paper recently, about the "gullah" language. This is the language used in the Brer Rabbit stories, and I believe also used by Mark Twain in Huck finn (the dialect spoken by Hucks companion, Jim). Apparently, the language is still being used in certain islands off the east coast! The article was about the Bible being translated into Gullah, and the people who initiated really had to talk to the 80+ crowd who still remember there own parents speaking it!
So, you can't buy "song of the south" in the USA? I remember seeing it in a theater, along with the sleepy hollow cartoon!
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Matterhorn1959
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2006
Posts: 177
From: Mile High City
| Posted: 2006-03-01 8:05 pm Permalink
Hey Humu- any word from Song of the South net about the shirt?
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Matterhorn1959
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2006
Posts: 177
From: Mile High City
| Posted: 2006-03-01 8:06 pm Permalink
Hey Humu- any word from Song of the South net about the shirt?
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