Category Archives: Memorabilia

Major Updates for Song of the South Memorabilia Museum

The Song of the South Memorabilia Museum has received some much needed attention! This is the single biggest update to the museum since I migrated it to a database in 2009. Here are what’s been going on behind the scenes:

  1. Redesigned interface — As you may have noticed, the entire web site has be redesigned from the ground up, including the memorabilia section. The museum is now more mobile-friendly and adaptable to any size screen, so no more squinting on your phone or tablet!
  2. Suggested Values added — About 17 years ago I planned to publish a Song of the South memorabilia price guide book, but that proved to be too impractical. So, I’ve added this information to the database, free of charge and available to everyone. The suggested value ranges for each item are based on nearly 25 years of collecting Song of the South memorabilia; I hope you find it useful.
  3. Advanced Search added — As the museum has grown so much in the past 20 years, I’ve added the ability for you to perform your own custom searches with the new Advanced Search feature.
  4. 20 New Items added — A lot of new memorabilia and extra photos to existing items have been added (the database now has over 850 photos!) Visit the New Additions page to see what’s new.
  5. Books & Print section split up — At nearly 200 items, the Books & Print section has proven to be the largest memorabilia category, so I have split it out into 2 separate sections: 1) Story Books for books, and 2) Periodicals for comic books, magazines, etc.
  6. Database Code Updates — Under the hood, I’ve updated all of the PHP and MySQL code to improve security and version compatibility, which should hopefully help future proof the database for several years to come.

I hope you like the improvements! If you enjoy this website and would like to support my efforts, I’ve added links in my Store and on individual memorabilia pages to relevant products you can purchase for yourself. Clicking on these links and purchasing items through them will benefit the both of us. Thank you for your support!

Memorabilia Corner: Noel Dwelley Richards Song of the South Dolls

In this issue of Memorabilia Corner, we’re featuring a set of hand-crafted dolls made by Noel Dwelley Richards of Fort Pierce, Florida, from the 1950’s through the 1970’s. There is very little information out there on the Internet about these dolls, so it’s time we fixed that! While these dolls aren’t technically official Disney memorabilia, it turns out they were directly inspired by Walt Disney’s Song of the South.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, I caught my first glimpse of Mrs. Richards’ handiwork back in 2001, about when I started this web site. I was provided a photo of two stuffed animals that looked remarkably like Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox from Walt Disney’s Song of the South. There were no tags, so I filed the photo away in my “More Research Needed” folder. Fast forward to 2018, when I found and purchased a Brer Bear doll on eBay that looked remarkably similar to the other two dolls. I assumed they were early Disney dolls, but had no other information to go on.

Then, in March 2019, I was contacted by Mary Jo from Kentucky:

 I know your primary interest is the movie, but thought you may have some suggestions or guidance. In the 1970s, my mom bought me a set of handmade dolls made by Noel Dwelley Richards from Fort Pierce, FL (my mom’s hometown). I have Uncle Remus, Brer Bear, Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Tar Baby. 

My interest piqued, I thanked her for contacting me and asked to see photos. When she sent the photos, there they were! The very same stuffed animals, plus two more dolls I had never seen before (The Tar Baby and Uncle Remus). Not only that, but she provided me with a newspaper article from The Palm Beach Post (March 16, 1977) featuring the shop where her mother had purchased the dolls—The Emporium, which was located at 301 S. US Highway 1 in Fort Pierce, Florida. The article, which interviewed Noel’s son Nick Richards, states that these dolls were indeed directly inspired by Walt Disney’s Song of the South:

Richards family is still actively interested in the shop, and one of his best selling items is made by his mother, Noel Dwelley Richards, who patented her own line of stuffed dolls.

“When my brother and I were young mother took us to see the ‘Song of the South,’ and we liked it so much mother made us some dolls based on the Uncle Remus characters,” Richards said.

“Everybody liked them so much that she patented the patterns and has been making them ever since,” he said. “Now she sells them only through the store, but they are so popular I can’t get her to make enough,” he said.

Excerpt from “Emporium Preserves History” by John Bartlett, The Palm Beach Post, March 16, 1977, Section C

Mary Jo generously let me purchase the set of dolls, and I am happy to report their new home here in the Song of the South Memorabilia Museum! I believe this may be a complete set.

I wanted to try to find out more about these dolls and the Richards family, so I did some more research. While I was unable to find any patents for Noel’s doll designs, I did find a 1952 copyright entry in the Library of Congress:

RICHARDS, NOEL DWELLEY ©. Cartoons in cloth. “Negro man and animals” Photo. ©29Oct52 JU7208.

Library of Congress – Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third Series, Pg. 232 (Link)

Based on the 1952 date, that would indicate that the Richards family had seen the original 1946 theatrical release of Song of the South. Noel passed away at the age of 79 in Fort Pierce on Thursday, January 8, 1998. Based on further research, it also appears that her son Nick Richards may have passed away on February 9, 2005. Based on the article above, Nick had a brother, but I have not attempted to contact him (I believe his name is William Brooks Richards Jr.) If anyone has any more information on these dolls, please let me know!


Movie Turns 72; 500th Memorabilia Item Added

Song of the South has officially turned 72 today! It premiered at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia on November 12, 1946. Song of the South has never been released commercially in the United States, so if you want Disney to know you want this film released, please be sure to sign the Song of the South Petition.

Also of note, the 500th memorabilia item has been added to the Song of the South Memorabilia Museum! Recently, I found a third party to assist me with purchasing Song of the South & Brer Rabbit (“Rabito”) memorabilia from Argentina, and it’s turning out to be bigger than I thought. It seems that Disney released dozens of books and comics in this country in the 1950’s through 1970’s.

The 500th item is a book from Argentina entitled “Rabito Pierde Y Gana” which translates to “Brer Rabbit Loses and Wins”. Usually I’m able to guess the synopsis of the story because it was also released in the United States, but in this case the story was completely unique and I’d never seen it before. Granted, there are pictures so I could get a very rough idea of what the story is about, but I wanted to get more detail. Now, I could type the entire book into Google Translate, but I decided to try the Google Translate app on my phone. All I can say is… WOW! I was able to point my phone’s camera right at the book and it translated it in real-time. While the translation was very rough, it was enough for me to get the gist and give more detail in my synopsis than I could have done just based on the pictures alone. Pretty cool! I expect to do the same for any other unique stories in foreign languages I happen to come across.

Expect more items to be added to the museum in the coming months! And as always, if you find a piece of memorabilia I’m looking for (please see the Wanted section), let me know!

Memorabilia Corner: Song of the South Soundtrack WDL-4001

WDL-4001 Album Cover (U.S. Pressing)

In this issue of Memorabilia Corner we’re going to talk about the first soundtrack album ever released on the Disneyland record label back in 1956: the venerable WDL-4001. It has never been re-released in any format, and sadly remains one of the few soundtracks still unavailable from Disney. Fortunately, this soundtrack can be listened to in its entirety on YouTube! (Note: The first track is incorrect; the actual first track can be heard here.)

So, what makes this record so special? There are a couple of reasons: 1) WDL-4001 was the first motion picture soundtrack released on the Disneyland record label in 1956. 2) While the popular songs from Song of the South were released on myriad of record albums over the years, WDL-4001 was the only album that contained the instrumental music from the movie interspersed with the songs. It contains three extra tracks compared to the more common DQ-1205: “Ginny and Johnny”, “Uncle Remus Leaves”, and the reprise of “Let the Rain Pour Down”.

To date, I’ve collected pressings from the United States, Canada, and Australia, though I suspect it was also released in other countries as well. The earliest U.S. pressings are on the yellow Disneyland record label, and were manufactured by Hansen Records. Versions of the early yellow Disneyland labels exist both with and without “Hansen Records, Inc., New York” in an arc across the top of the label.

Later pressings have a red record label, and I have even come across a WDL-4001 record label with a DQ-1205 sticker placed over the record number. My best guess is they were either phasing out the more expensive WDL-4001, or had a surplus of them and/or a shortage of DQ-1205 pressings. In any case, it makes for an unusual find!

In Canada, the record was pressed and distributed by Sparton of Canada Ltd. The cover is almost identical to the U.S. pressing except “SPARTON” has been stamped in the upper right corner in black ink. The red record label is also unique (see photo).

In Australia, the record was pressed and distributed by E.M.I. (Australia) Limited. The album cover is similar to the U.S. pressing as well, but has the Disneyland Records Hi-Fidelity logo in the upper right corner. The red record label is also unique (see photo).

Yellow Hansen Records Label

WDL-4001 with a DQ-1205 Sticker Applied

Canadian Sparton Pressing

Australian E.M.I. Pressing

For those like me who are interested in the early history of Disneyland Records, this thread over at MagicMusic.net has some interesting relevant information.

The back side of the album explains how the sound track album came about, and is a wealth of information in and of itself! Here is a direct excerpt:

Disney directors and artists and even the Disney musicians themselves have always considered that most Disney film music had no place apart from the film. It took a couple of talented outsiders, visiting the Disney Studio to find material for the new Disneyland Record label, to discover the fabulous quality of the sound track music itself. These two; Tutti Camarata, the celebrated musician, composer, and arranger and Charles Hansen, of Hansen Publications, Inc., the firm which handles Disney educational music, dared to watch SONG OF THE SOUTH with their eyes closed. They believe they are the first people ever really to hear the score of the Disney film. They may be right because the visual impression of color and action in Disney features is often so over-whelming that one literally does not hear the music. Camarata and Hansen came out of the projection room convinced that they had discovered something which must command a place on long-playing phonograph records. Disney executives were dubious but, after some of the other Disney films were screened, including Pinocchio which the Disney officials also viewed with their eyes closed, the decision was made to produce original sound track albums from the Disney scores.

So, the idea for this original sound track album was born. But, having an idea and putting it into execution are sometimes separated by many problems and much time. Dialogue and distracting sound effects would have to be eliminated from the phonograph record. The portions of the music sound track to be used would have to be carefully selected and edited. Fortunately, the Disney method of sound recording involves many different sound tracks and the original components were still available. Also very fortunately, two of the men who were responsible for the original sound recording of SONG OF THE SOUTH, Sam Slyfield and Harold Steck, were still available and they, working with Bob Cook, Herb Taylor, Mel Poche and Ed Ornsten of the Disney Sound Department and especially with Evelyn Kennedy and Rusty Jones of the Disney Music Editing Department under the able supervision of Tutti Camarata, were able to produce this fine hi fidelity recording of the sound track of this classic Disney film. Final tape editing for the phonograph record master was done by Tutti Camarata.

The album originally sold for $4.98 (which was a fair amount in 1956) and was geared more towards adults than children. Today, the album is fairly desirable. Some price guides value this record album at $200-250, though I think that’s a bit on the high side. On average, I would estimate their value closer to the $75-150 range for the rarer pressings (Hansen, Sparton, EMI), and $50-100 for the later pressings. In any case, this album is a neat part of early Disneyland Records history!

New Song of the South YouTube Channel

I have created a new YouTube Channel for Song of the South! No, I won’t be posting the movie (other people have that covered already) — my focus will primarily be posting rare audio recordings and other material that wouldn’t otherwise be available to the public.

My first video features the rare 1946 Radio Transcription Record (South 3), featuring a 15-minute radio show with Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers, Walt Disney, James Baskett (Uncle Remus & Brer Fox), Luana Patten (Ginny), Bobby Driscoll (Johnny), Nick Stewart (Brer Bear), Johnny Lee (Brer Rabbit), and Clarence Nash (Donald Duck):

I’ve had this record in my memorabilia collection for years, but up until now I had never been able to play it. 16″ transcription records were made primarily for radio stations. They’re much bigger than standard 12″ LPs and therefore won’t fit on most standard record players. They’re also fairly rare, because they were often destroyed after use!

Until now, this recording was nowhere to be found on the Internet. So of course it was my duty to fix that! I either needed to locate someone with a transcription turntable, or purchase one for myself. I decided to go the purchase route, and I’m glad I did. The plinth (wood base) is custom built, and the turntable is a vintage 1950’s era Rek-O-Kut model CVS-12 (variable speed 25-100 RPM). The tone arm is model S-120 and the cartridge is a GE VRII with dual heads so I can play both transcription and 78rpm records. Special thanks to Oleg for building it!

This is only the beginning. Look for more rare audio recordings in the future!

Memorabilia Corner: Featuring Song of the South Memorabilia

It’s hard to believe that I started collecting Song of the South memorabilia over 20 years ago. And next year will mark 20 years since I stood up my first Song of the South memorabilia web site on Tripod (remember them?) featuring my modest collection of 15 books and records.

A lot has changed since 1998. My Song of the South memorabilia collection is now approaching 500 unique items, and I think it’s time to feature some of these items from time to time in this new blog series I’m going to call “Memorabilia Corner” for now. Whether you’re a Disneyana collector or just looking to rekindle a fond childhood memory, I hope you enjoy!

Capitol Records’ Tales of Uncle Remus (CC-40) (1947)

For my first article, it’s only fitting that we feature the first piece of memorabilia I ever collected (and what subsequently got me to start collecting.) From 1946: Capitol Records’ “Tales of Uncle Remus” (CC-40) is a set of three 78 RPM records featuring the original cast from Song of the South, and the music of Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers. This was a very popular set, and if you’re looking for one they can often be found for under $30 on sites like eBay.

Don’t have a record player that plays 78 RPM? No problem! Thanks to YouTube, you can hear the album for yourself.

Sides 1-3:

Sides 4-6:

This set is the single most reissued Song of the South album I know of. Are you ready for this? In addition to originally releasing the album as CC-40, they also reissued it under the following albums (click on the links for more info on each):

  • c.1948: Tales of Uncle Remus (DC-116) – A reissue on “Superflex” (a trademark for their unbreakable 78 RPM records)
  • c. 1948: Tales of Uncle Remus (DCN-116) – Identical to DC-116 except it’s a box set instead of the book-style binding of the original.
  • 1949: Tales of Uncle Remus (CCF-3008) – 45 RPM set, highly popular due to its ability to play in modern record players. This one has so many different record labels that it will need its own article someday!
  • 1962: Tales of Uncle Remus (J-3265) – Reissued as a 33 1/3 album
  • 1975: Tales of Uncle Remus (L 6986) – Final release on 33 1/3 album in partnership with ZIV International/Wonderland Records. This is probably the least desirable of the above examples, as they decided to remove the story of Brer Rabbit Runs Away to make room for “Tickety Tock” on Side B.

Brer Rabbit Runs Away (CAS-3108)

In addition to the above albums, they also released each story separately on both 78RPM and 45 RPM records. These are neat to find with their original sleeves as they have unique artwork I haven’t found on any other piece of memorabilia:

These were released in the United States, New Zealand and Australia. They were likely released in other countries as well, but those remain to be discovered!

I hope you have enjoyed the first article. If there’s a particular piece of memorabilia you’d like to see me cover in a future article, please contact me and let me know! And, if you happen to have a piece of memorabilia that’s on my Wanted List, I am very interested in hearing from you as well. Until then… Keep Collecting!