"The Little
Shop on Main Street" by Dave Mason
(©2003 David Mason)
In just a few months, television, magazine, and print media will soon
begin to herald the coming Golden Anniversary of Southern California's original Disneyland. For the giftware
industry, this anniversary takes us back to another significant beginning that coincided with that of Walt Disney's greatest
achievement.
It
was July 6, 1955, just days before the Grand Opening of Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Phil and Sophie
Papel had just been issued their Disneyland identification cards which would prove to one and all that they had been chosen
as opening day merchants on Main Street USA.
Disney imagineer Harry Johnson's original concept sketches had been fully realized in the fixtures and furnishings
of a turn-of-the-century China & Glass shop. The task that lay ahead would include unpacking and carting
the merchandise that Phil and Sophie had purchased to fill the shop. The product was stored in a
farmhouse in the near-by community of Garden Grove. The select merchandise would feature Wright Glass,
Smith Glass, and a large selection of imports from England and West Germany. Little did Phil and Sophie
know at the time that what they imported would lead to a dynamic wholesale business and a chain of retail gift shops in Southern
California malls and tourist areas for the years to come. Along with the shop at Disneyland, their success
would quickly spread to include locations at attractions such as Movieland Wax Museum, Ports O'Call Village, and the historic
Queen Mary ocean liner.
Phil
Papel started Ruggles China & Gifts as a single gift shop in Disneyland that resulted in a 20-store retail chain and wholesale
corporation with sales in over 15 countries. Beyond the Papel family's wildest expectations, over 250,000,000
mugs have since reached consumers worldwide through their giftware companies.
Ultimately, this little shop in Disneyland resulted in associations over the years that touched the major giftware
corporations including Hallmark, Enesco, Russ Berrie, and Ganz. Today, the offset of the retail shop is
the same corporation, with their giftware designs having been distributed in over 15 countries.
Phil Papel knew the tremendous value of being at the right place, at the right time. Those who excel
in their chosen field realize early that success doesn't happen by accident, but is the result of hard work and a relentless
drive to carve out new opportunities within uncharted territory.
In that sense, Phil Papel was the perfect partner for Walt Disney. Both men had spent a lifetime
celebrating that moment of serendipity when a customer discovers the perfect expression of their personal interests.
When a merchant can cause that moment to happen over and over again, that person has tapped into the stream of public
expectation and the result can be unprecedented success.
Nothing like Disneyland had existed before 1955. The traveling circuses, carnivals and amusement
shows were well known, and most American homes had the souvenir pennants and postcards that were saved as a remembrance of
the excitement that had come to town. Still, when Walt Disney introduced Disneyland on ABC television
in October 1954, the entire nation could sense that something extraordinary was about to unfold. For
Phil Papel, his lifetime of experience in the giftware industry would position him as a front-runner in the most exciting
entrepreneurial venture of the twentieth century.
Both men knew they couldn't achieve success on their own. Walt didn't have the resources or experience
to operate a large shopping center. Disney was a specialist in filmmaking. He knew that
it would take time for his team to learn the art of merchandising on this scale, and he needed experienced partners to meet
the expectations of a worldwide customer base that understood and appreciated his commitment to the finest in quality.
Phil Papel believed that this was the opportunity he had been working toward all his life. Upon
learning that Disney would be interviewing potential merchants to fill the shops of Main Street, Papel was among the first
to express interest. He was eager to place his merchandise in this new marketplace, and he understood that
this would be an expansion that could put him at the forefront of a whole new wave of commerce.
The hurdles to Papel's involvement were not insignificant. Main Street's original merchants would
be required to pay for the furnishings and decor of their shops. Not the humble decor that would have been
suitable for Anaheim's downtown business district, but Disneyland was to be Walt Disney's personal showplace.
The shops would be finely appointed and designed by Hollywood's most talented art directors. Main
Street's design would rival the finest Victorian homes and businesses to be found anywhere in the country. Beveled
glass doors and windows, antique gaslamps, velvet curtains, brass fittings; these were finishes that came at a high price,
and that price was paid, in advance, by this first generation of Main Street merchants. In addition, each
shopkeeper would be required to pay their entire first year's lease, again, in advance.
Clearly, Disney needed the money. Their seventeen million-dollar financing package was completely
exhausted. Walt Disney had mortgaged his home in Palm Springs and had cashed in his life insurance.
The negatives to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" were leveraged in order to obtain the studio's share of
funding for Walt's new project. The well was completely dry. Without the inflow of operating
capital from this new group of merchants, Disneyland would not have been able to open that summer. If that
were to prove true, it would spell the end of Walt's dream. Even so, Walt Disney never looked back, and
neither did Phil Papel.
Papel
had learned about ceramics from a small production studio that was originally housed in his mother's garage (converted from
a prohibition-era distillery in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles). This enterprise eventually grew
to become a successful domestic ceramic and gift manufacturer called Ever Art Ceramics, and likely contributed the incentive
Papel would have needed in founding a small business of his own.
When he was notified of his selection as one of the original merchants for Walt Disney's new theme park, Papel was
asked to choose a new name for his shop. His excitement over this new opportunity reminded him of the 1932
Paramount Pictures film, "If I Had a Million."
In the film, famed character actor Charlie Ruggles played "Mr. Henry Peabody", the owner of a China Shop
who had just received a million-dollar gift at the bequest of a complete stranger. Upon learning of this
unexpected wealth, he picked up a broom and began smashing all of the glass and china in his shop with an unbounded expression
of total rapture.
So complete was Papel's joy in hearing that he had been selected for Walt Disney's new venture, that he immortalized
Charlie Ruggles in the name of his brand new shop on Main Street USA: "Ruggles China and Gift Shop."
It is interesting to note that Charles Ruggles was not known to work for the Disney organization until his unforgettable
role as Hayley Mills' adoring grandfather in the 1961 film, "The Parent Trap." But for Phil Papel
and his family, Ruggles early film role in "If I Had a Million" gave perfect expression to the pinnacle of opportunity
which had suddenly placed them in 1955 on Disneyland's Main Street USA.
The Papel family found a way to generate the funding needed in order to demonstrate their commitment to Walt Disney
and to the Disneyland project. During the busy days before the park's opening, each member of the Papel
family was pressed into service so that the shelves could be stocked and merchandise cleaned and tagged for sale.
Phil and his wife Sophie worked tirelessly until the shop was ready for opening day on July 17, 1955. Something dynamic
was happening, and it felt right to all involved. There was a new hope, and a new future unfolding before
this young family.
During
those early years, Phil's son, Stanley Papel, then age 13 and future owner of Papel Giftware unpacked the German Lead crystal
toothpick vases that Phil and Sophie developed for the store. Phil proudly said these cost only 1 mark
each (then 20-cents) and I am going to sell them for 79-cents, or 2 for $1.50. This item later wholesaling
for 40-cents ended up selling in the millions in the USA and was the item that started the Papel wholesale division then named
Phil Papel Imports.
Daughter,
Arlene Papel, then age 8 and now the Vice President of Product Development of Ganz, spent her early summers wrapping grab
bags at the store. Phil bought closeouts that were then wrapped in colorful grab bags that were to be a main feature in the
store. Originally retailing at 50-cents (with values up to $5.00) the counter display sign read, “Odds
much better than Las Vegas”. Arlene proudly bragged that she was making 60-cents an hour based upon
Phil’s rate of 1-penny per grab bag. This became her summer job for many years when the family would
move from their Los Angeles home to Anaheim for the busy summer season.
Stanley Papel remembers that his father's shop at Disneyland focused only within the China & Glass category.
Specifically excluded were authorized Disneyland souvenirs, as these were sold at the Disneyland Emporium.
However, Ruggles' would be allowed to sell a narrow line of collectibles featuring the word "Disneyland"
on the item. Phil developed gift items that did not infringe but created the feeling of what people liked
about Disney and Disneyland. “ The number one item that I remember my Dad developed”, states
Stan, “was a fairy that looked remarkably similar to Tinker Bell. Of course, it never said, “Tinker
Bell”, but this fairy had wings and a pin going from her head to a stand. You’d blow on the
wings and the fairy would spin. We had them right by the cash register and the sales girls (and, my Dad)
would blow on the wings and that fairy would spin! During a good summer day we would go through 2 gross
of them." This may have raised a few eyebrows at the Emporium, but Disney cleared the concept for
the Ruggles store, and led to one of their most successful products in the history of the shop. The spinning
"fairy" sold for only $1.98 when it was introduced. Almost five decades later, when this line
of rare ceramics appears on eBay, it is not unusual for the final auction price to surpass two hundred dollars.
While other merchants at Disneyland found that they either lacked the experience or capital to survive in those early
days, the Papel family found that Main Street visitors were enthusiastic about Ruggles China and Gift Shop. So
much so, that when the Hollywood-Maxwell corset shop closed next door, Ruggles jumped at the chance to expand with an upscale
new line of china, ceramics and decorative glassware.
Millions of customers found their way through Ruggles during that first decade of Disneyland's operation.
Papel's personal philosophy insisted on only the highest regard for his customers. This was clearly
articulated on the display tables of the Main Street gift shop: "Relax. We do not charge for accidental breakage."
This was in stark contrast to the sign hanging in the china shop of the Charlie Ruggles film, "If I Had a Million",
which read: "Fragile: Anything You Break You Pay For." Phil Papel won over the hearts of his
customers with kindness and respect, and that first generation of Disneyland guests learned quickly that there truly was something
special about this "Magic Kingdom."
As with all of the early lessees of Main Street, this family business was eventually required to close as Disneyland
exercised their option to assume operation of the Main Street shops. While this may have seemed catastrophic
at the time, the succeeding years were good to Phil Papel and his family. In fact, it was Walt Disney himself
who ensured that they were treated fairly during this transition, and as a result, the Papel family has a deep appreciation
for both Walt Disney and for their own contributions to the continuing success of Disneyland.
Today, Phil's son, Stanley Papel and granddaughter, Melissa Papel provide the primary leadership to Papel Designs (www.papeldesigns.com)
as a successful worldwide giftware corporation. Papel Designs continues to be blessed with a hope and a
future that is rooted in the early commitment of its founder, Phil Papel. The family and friends who have
joined in this continuing story carry forward this same promise. It's probably safe to say that Phil would
be very proud. And come to think of it, so would Walt.
Dave Mason is an author and Disneyland historian living in San Diego, California. His book, "The Merchants
of Main Street" was released in early 2004 by Town Square Publishing.
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