The Mickey Mouse Club was one of Disney’s flagship television programs in the 1950s. But did you know that there were local Mickey Mouse Clubs during the 1930s? Tacoma’s club grew to nearly 5,000 members, and its band was heard from coast to coast!
Tacoma’s Mickey Mouse Club Opens
Times were tough in Tacoma during the Great Depression. The movies proved a popular form of escapism. But while tickets were cheap, they added up. To bring in more customers, the Disney Company sponsored children’s Mickey Mouse Clubs across the country. The first club began in January 1930. The concept took off like wildfire.
Here in Tacoma, the Rialto Theater decided to start a Mickey Mouse Club for local kids. Children aged twelve and under could pick up application blanks at Tacoma’s many official “Mickey Mouse” stores. Membership was free.
Mothers could drop their kids off and run errands, organizers promised, confident that the youngsters would be enjoying good, wholesome entertainment in a positive atmosphere. The club’s creed, recited at every meeting, encouraged good citizenship: “I will be a square shooter in my home,” the creed went, “in school, on the playground, and where-ever I may be. I will be truthful and honorable, and strive, always, to make myself a better and more useful little citizen. I will respect my elders and help the aged, the helpless and children smaller than myself. In short, I will be a good American!”
In keeping with this spirit, the club collected used clothing, toys, and canned food as stocking fillers for the Elks’ annual holiday fundraiser for children in need.
An Afternoon at the Movies
Tacoma’s Mickey Mouse Club held its first meeting on May 17, 1930. The first member was the mayor. Young Earl Giseburt was the second. Batboy for the Cammarano Brothers’ baseball team, he had been recently released from the hospital after an injury.
Club officers included song leader, master of ceremonies, courier, color bearer, sergeant-at-arms, cheerleader, Chief Mickey Mouse and Chief Minnie Mouse.
The club did not stay long at the Rialto. It moved to the Temple Theater, then the Riveria Theater, before finally settling back at the Temple.
Membership grew quickly. By November 1933, there were nearly 5,000 members.
Meetings would be held every Saturday at a special children’s matinee. After club exercises and contests, the audience enjoyed shorts, a newsreel and a feature film. The shorts included Mickey Mouse cartoons and serials like Flash Gordon and the Green Hornet. Feature films were typically westerns, action-adventures, detective stories and comedies.
Something for Everyone at Tacoma’s Mickey Mouse Club
But what made “Mickey Mouse Matinees” special were the activities. Everyone could enjoy sing-alongs and giveaways. Provided by local merchants, kids enjoyed everything from chewing gum to cheese sandwiches. Attendees could also be entered for drawings.
There were contests every week. Most were simple, like who could blow up a balloon the fastest or guess “whodunit” in a mystery film. Children could also show off their skills in hopes of a prize. Kids submitted club yells and songs in hopes of becoming the club yell leader. The reward for a yo-yo tournament champion was a complete fishing gear set.
Other times, the theater encouraged children to visit participating stores to collect “votes” towards bigger prizes. In 1937, they gave away gas-powered flying model airplanes. The 1938 Junior Safety Council Contest was even more elaborate, with merchants giving away dolls, bicycles, and watches.
Members were encouraged to give amateur performances. Local children sang, tap danced and imitated Donald Duck.
The theater also invited professional performers to entertain the kids. “Harmonica King” James Hartley, for example, played for the kids in November 1935, and Frank Fielding thrilled the club with skating tricks in January 1938.
Other guest performers had four legs. In November 1935, “Foxxy,” the dog, performed near the theater, walking on a tightrope from the Bonneville Hotel across the street to the Masonic Temple.
Tacoma’s Mickey Mouse Club Band
One thing that made the Tacoma Mickey Mouse Club unique was its band. Directed by Louis Wersen, music supervisor for Tacoma Schools, it rehearsed on Saturday mornings before club meetings.
They played at club meetings and the annual Mickey Mouse Club picnic at Wright Park and even marched in the 1934 holiday Fairyland Parade.
The band also held public concerts. These included a series of holiday concerts in December 1935. The band showcased their diverse repertoire, featuring “Under the Holly,” a medley of Christmas music, alongside selections from Rudolf Friml’s operetta “The Firefly.” The band kept audiences chuckling with the novelty number, “The Horse’s Laugh,” where a village doctor helped revive a horse (played by two children). The whole act was synchronized with music.
The Mickey Mouse Club band’s fame grew. Concerts were sometimes aired on KVI radio and Columbia radio stations coast-to-coast. The club also had an accordion band.
Curtains Down for Tacoma’s Mickey Mouse Club
But the good times couldn’t last forever. The Disney Company stopped licensing new clubs in 1935. Tacoma’s club shut down in early 1940.
While it only lasted a decade, Tacoma’s Mickey Mouse Club had a record it could be proud of. In the dark days of the Great Depression, the club offered children a few hours of fun and friendship every week. And all for a low cost.
