The Main Street Tobacco Shop (1955–1990) was an original shop on Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A., located between the Magic Shop and Main Street Cinema, reflecting the turn-of-the-century small-town aesthetic. Operated by Random Parts, Inc., it sold tobacco products and accessories, aligning with the era’s widespread smoking culture, until its closure in 1991.
Here are 10 fun facts about the Tobacco Shop in its early days (1955–mid-1960s):
- Opening Day Fixture: The Tobacco Shop opened on July 17, 1955, as one of Disneyland’s original Main Street stores, designed to evoke a 1900s tobacconist with old-fashioned lights, a curtained marquee, and wood-paneled interiors.
- Cigar Store Indian: A wooden “Cigar Store Indian” statue, named Big Chief Pipum, stood outside the shop, a common advertising symbol for tobacco stores in the early 20th century, drawing guests to the entrance.
- Global Tobacco Selection: The shop offered an international array of cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and loose blends, including rare pipes and tobaccos sourced from around the world, catering to discerning smokers. The shop’s aromatic pipe tobacco filled the air, creating a distinct sensory experience on Main Street, enhanced by its proximity to the bustling Magic Shop and Cinema.
- Complimentary Matchbooks: Every purchase came with a free Disneyland-branded matchbook, featuring designs like the Main Street light pole or the Cigar Store Indian, making them popular collectibles.
- Hidden Cigarettes: While pipes and cigars were prominently displayed, cigarettes were kept under the counter, reflecting a subtle nod to the era’s social norms around cigarette sales.
- Disney-Branded Pipes: The shop sold custom pipes, including affordable basket pipes and upscale models like a sandblasted black billiard with a Mickey Mouse head silhouette inlaid in the stem.
- Smoking Everywhere: In the 1950s, guests could smoke freely throughout Disneyland, except on attractions or in queues, with ashtrays placed at ride entrances, making the shop a convenient stop.
- Frontierland Counterpart: A second tobacco shop, the Westward Ho Trading Co. in Frontierland, also sold tobacco products in the 1950s, marked by its own Cigar Store Indian in a reddish cape, complementing the Main Street location.
- Van France Connection: Disney Legend Van France, a heavy smoker and park operations lead, championed the shop’s authenticity, noting that tobacco stores were staples of early 1900s Main Streets.
- Retail Evolution: By the mid-1960s, the shop began diversifying with non-tobacco items like candies in jars, foreshadowing its later shift away from tobacco as smoking attitudes changed.
