Walt Disney's Name Tag

Q: Our family vacations at the parks regularly, and I have noticed that every Disney cast member all the way up the CEO wears name tags. Did Walt ever wear one? If so, is it in the Archives?
Christopher, Phoenix, Arizona 

A [Dave Smith]: Walt Disney was adamant that Disney should be a first-name company. The first name tags for Disneyland came in 1962. They were a gray oval with a white name. We do have a "WALT" one in the Archives, but I have never seen a picture of him wearing it. I guess everyone knew him, so he felt it wasn't necessary. 

Walt's Name Tag was just like this one above

 

Each nametag has its own history, which in turn is a small part of Disneyland history. Let's look at the tags, row by row, starting with the top and working our way down. (Don't forget to click the image for an even bigger view!)

TOP ROW

• The badge in the upper left hand corner is made of metal, and is the very first name badge issued at Disneyland. There were two kinds used in the first seven years Disneyland was open. Regular employees had a badge with their employee number. Supervisors and managers had their full names on their badges. The badge in this picture belonged to Jim Warrick, who was in charge of the Maintenance department.

From 1962 to 1974, the thin oval nametags were used at Disneyland. There were three varieties used:

• First was a steel gray oval, with silver inlay (LYNDA).
• In 1967, there was a slight change, and the inlay was changed to gold (PAUL).
• From 1971 to 1974, a while oval was used (RICK).
• In 1975-76, the Bicentennial of the United States was celebrated at Disneyland and a new nametag was made (SHANE).

To learn more about the other rows, visit Disneyland History Through Nametags