On this day, Walt Disney’s father, Elias Disney was born in Bluevale, Ontario, Canada to Kepple and Mary Disney. Throughout his life, Elias dabbled in a variety of careers, usually with little success. He was a carpenter contractor in Chicago where Walt was born and later became a newspaper dealer in Kansas City, Missouri. Interestingly, neither Elias nor Walt’s mother Flora was artistic, and Elias often grew impatient with Walt’s desire to study art. The blue-eyed, copper color-haired man believed in “walking a straight and narrow path,” as Walt often described him. He didn’t smoke, drink, or swear, and he was deeply religious. Today, if you are strolling down Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland or Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, take a look at the windows. For each has a window bearing the name “Elias Disney: Contractor.”
