FROM: The Adventures of Tom Nabbe Published Every Other Tuesday

Tom's in the Parade!

Let's rock 'n roll the clock back to 1957. Disneyland has that new park 'smell'. Walt ambles down Main Street every afternoon. Tom Nabbe baits hooks on Tom Sawyer Island - and talks to famous Parade journalist, Lloyd Shearer, about life in the park.

- Tom Nabbe (and Lloyd Shearer), March 29, 2011

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Let's do something a bit different with Tom today.

And let's involve Lloyd Shearer, a name I'm sure none of you recognize, but who in the past has interviewed Elvis Presley, Ralph Nader, and ... Tom Nabbe! As the West Coast correspondent for Parade magazine, Lloyd caught up with young Tom for a story published in the magazine on April 7, 1957.

Later, Mr. Shearer achieved even greater fame as 'Walter Scott', the pseudonym he used for over three decades to write the enormously popular question-and-answer column, Personality Parade.

Mr. Shearer died in 2001. As a tribute to him, and as a magical glimpse into the earliest years of Disneyland, here's the text of Tom Nabbe's long-ago chat with Lloyd Shearer. Make sure you don't miss Tom's clever answers to some of the common questions that park guests would ask him every day!

(Tom, of course, will return next week with a new column.)

Tom Tells Lloyd About Persistence

Two years ago, when the fabulous playground called Disneyland was getting its finishing touches near here, bossman Walt Disney kept seeing a freckle-faced redhead around. He was Tom Nabbe (rhymes with abbbey), a local 12 year old. Day after day he beseeched Disney for "any kind of a job here."

Persistence paid off. "After I got Tom Sawyer Island finished," Disney says, "I got the idea of having a real Tom Sawyer on the place. Naturally I thought of Nabbe. He was friendly, bright - and he sure looked the part."

Next thing Tom knew, he'd been signed up as a sort of a child actor with the title of Guest Relations Assistant. Since then, he's worked as a guide and ticket taker on Tom Sawyer Island.

In a year and a half, he estimates, "I've talked to almost 4 million kids and grown ups. I've baited fishhooks for the people. I've posed for pictures. I've taken thousands of folks through Injun Joe's Secret Cave, Lookout Point, and Fort Wilderness. And I've answered a million questions.

Tom Answers Some Tough Questions

The five most frequent questions:

1. Who are you supposed to be, Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn? Tom Sawyer.
2. How many freckles do you have? Just one - the others are descendants.
3. The clothes you wear - are they your own? No, my costume is provided by Disneyland.
4. How many fish in the lake? If you're lucky, a lot. If you're unlucky, not so many.
5. What's your setup here? I work five days a week from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. During school I work only on week ends.

Tom Consults with Walt Disney

In the first year, Tom spent all his spare time on the various Disneyland rides. Now that he's approaching 14, however, he's a bit jaded. So he's making a "serious study of the amusement business".

"Mr. Disney and me," he explains, "have conferences every few weeks. He asks me if I have any suggestions and I tell him. The escape from the fort and the treehouse, those are two of my suggestions. I got a lot more."

Tom's family, which includes three younger sisters, has learned to live with his career. But at school he's regarded as a minor celebrity.

"Every day," he says, "a hundred kids ask me to use my influence with Mr. Disney to get them jobs. What they don't seem to understand is that not everyone is born lookin' like Tom Sawyer."

Tom's adventures with Disney spanned the early days of Disneyland, his special relationship with Walt, and his five decades of work for the company. We're just getting started!

More: THE ADVENTURES OF TOM NABBE