A Photo of the Disneyland Staff Cafeteria in 1961

Here’s a great photo from the Disneyland staff cafeteria in 1961.

We’re guessing the shot is staged, since Goofy and the astronaut would have a hard time eating with their headgear on, but there’s a chance that the smiles are genuine, or at least highly trained.

A Disney employee manual from 1962, a year after this photo was taken, has an entire section on how to perform an “Honest Smile”:

A smile cannot be painted on, like lipstick. You can’t turn it on and off like a water faucet. And, in fact, a “forced smile”…the “grin and bear it” type may be worse than none at all.

You’ve got to have an honest smile. It’s got to come from within. And…to accomplish this…you’ve got to develop a sense of humor and a genuine interest in people.

But, in case you can’t develop a genuine interest in people, Disney helpfully provided “a few tricks”:

Don’t take yourself too seriously:

One reason people can’t smile with others is because they can’t smile at themselves. The first lesson in smiling…have a good laugh at yourself. You’re a bit funny (or dumb) yourself sometimes.

A frown won’t help:

Maybe if you are a judge or the villain in a play, a frown or grimace will help you in your work. But generally it won’t do anything but harm, and particularly at Disneyland….. the Happiest Kingdom in the World.

And most importantly:

You get paid for smiling:

If nothing else helps… remember that you get paid for smiling. You don’t have to laugh — just smile.

Another way you can develop your smile is to use smiling
phrases…….

Source bonappetit.com