In Disneyland’s early years its shops were operated by retailers who leased the space. One small shop on the north-east block of Main Street, U.S.A. sold a very small product – children’s shoes. The Blue Bird Shoes for Children store was an original Main Street shop when Disneyland opened in 1955.

The shop was leased by the Shoe Corporation of America (also known as SCOA Industries) which was a major shoe retailer based out of Columbus, Ohio. SCOA Industries sold roughly 15% of all shoes in the United States in the 1950s among its various brands and more than 600 retail locations. It sold shoes at the Blue Bird shop in Disneyland from its GallenKamp children’s shoe brand.

You can see in the photo below that at some point the name GallenKamp was added to the shop’s signage, presumably because it was more familiar to guests than the Blue Bird name.  

Most pairs of shoes in the store sold for less than five dollars. Like other shops in this early era, guests had the option of paying at the store and having the shoes mailed to their home. 

The store also distributed Disneyland map brochures that included an advertisement boasting about the “official Disneyland children’s shoe” that was “out of this world!”

However, after just a couple years of operation the Blue Bird Shoes for Children shop came back to Earth and closed its doors in the fall of 1957. 

Retail Main Street