The Original Mickey Mouse Club

Categories: Did You Know|Published On: November 8, 2002|Views: 4|

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Today, the Mickey Mouse Club often brings to mind images of fresh-scrubbed
teens singing and dancing their hearts out on T.V. But did you know that the
club actually began in 1929? It gained instant popularity, and within only four
years there were over 775 branches of the club nationwide, serving over 1
million members. The club’s success was due in part to its impeccable
organization; meetings were held on a weekly basis at the neighborhood movie
theatre, usually just before the Saturday matinee, making it an ideal time for
kids to come together and for parents to get a break. The club itself was free,
so the only fee anyone had to pay was the small one the individual theatres
charged. Once inside, the members were left to the leadership of 9 officers who
were re-elected every two months (so more and more kids could get involved).
Officers were those kids who perfectly embodied the ideals of the club – they
were good students who made excellent role models and young citizens. And it is
from these officers that the rarest Mickey Mouse Club collectibles come.

Each officer was given a button to wear identifying his or her role –
and to this day, no full set of all nine buttons exist in any known collection.
In fact, few have ever seen these buttons – let alone owned them! The buttons,
which were given to the Chief Mickey, Chief Minnie (so both boys and girls could
be leaders), the Master of Ceremonies (the one who would introduce the features
that would be shown after the meeting) a cheerleader, a songleader, two
sergeants of arms (one for each side of the theatre), a colorbearer (to carry
the U.S. flag) and a courier (shown here). The courier was responsible for all
the letters, flyers and other papers that had to be handed out at each meeting.

Each officer took extreme pride in his or her role, and it was because
of them that the meetings flowed so seamlessly. Members (also known as Mickey
Mice) all upheld a special oath to respect all people and things, to do well in
school, and, like Mickey Mouse, to not “swear, smoke, cheat or lie.” After
members recited their pledge, club issues were discussed, fun and games were had
and cartoons were shown. Patriotism also played a big part in the hoopla – not
only was the American flag present at the meetings, but the games, contests,
songs and such that made up the meetings often had a patriotic theme.

Needless to say, plenty of merchandise was released as a result of this
club. In 1933, merchants found the perfect spot to advertise in Mickey Mouse
Magazine
, the same magazine that gave rise to that nifty password,
Spingle-Bell–Chicko-K (see last week’s Scoop for more!). But despite the
profusion of products and memorabilia that were produced, none are quite so
treasured today as those exceedingly rare officer pins.


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