Q: In 1959, at the time of the release of the Disney Sleeping Beauty film, a coffee company advertising on the Disney TV show offered as a premium a castle (complete with drawbridge) that must have been about two feet tall, along with small figures of the various characters from the movie, the tallest of which might have been six inches tall. The castle and the characters were all printed on sturdy paper. Is there any way to get a look at one of those castles and its occupants?
John, Hazlet, New Jersey
A [Dave smith]: In 1959, Hills Bros. Coffee offered a Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle with a working drawbridge which you could assemble. It came with 16 Sleeping Beauty figures, and "a catapult that really works." You could get order blanks at your neighborhood grocery store — the castle cost $1.25.
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