Walt Disney 1955 Vintage INP PHOTO B'nai B'rith MAN OF THE YEAR Beverly Hills

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Walt Disney 1955 Vintage INP PHOTO B'nai B'rith MAN OF THE YEAR Beverly Hills
Walt Disney 1955 Vintage INP PHOTO B'nai B'rith MAN OF THE YEAR Beverly Hills
Historic Walt Disney Memorabilia from Saturday's Toys presents...
a vintage photo of Walt Disney being congratulated upon his designation as 1955 "Man of the Year" by the Beverly Hills B'nai B'rith Auxilary.
B'nai B'rith International was founded in the City of New York in 1843.  The organization is the world's longest continually operating Jewish service organization for combating anti-Semitism and racism throughout the globe.
The esteemed award was presented by Dr. Irving Leroy Ress (1904 - 1962) and Mrs. Harry Flyer, president of the Beverly Hills (California) auxiliary.  With the opening of Disneyland in July 1955, and the spectacular rise of the "Disneyland" television anthology, "The Mickey Mouse Club", and feature animation including "Lady and the Tramp", it seemed that every organization on earth was hopeful of bestowing some kind of recognition upon Walt Disney and his studio; particularly those organizations within the close community near the Disney family residence in Holmby Hills.
Dr. Ress was a prominent Beverly Hills physician and obstetritian (sometimes referenced as "Hollywood's obstetritian to the stars.").  He was also a regular dinner guest at the home of American bandleader Kay Kyser (1905 - 1985) and his wife, Georgia.  Those joining the group regularly included the likes of Sue and Alan Ladd, Mrs. & Mrs. Red Skelton (Skelton's daughter, Valentina, was delivered by Dr. Ress in 1947), Mr. & Mrs. Edgar Bergen, Dinah Shore and George Montgomery.
Mrs. Harry Flyer was elected as Beverly Hills' B'nai B'rith president only six months before presenting Walt Disney with this significant honor on December 9, 1955.  She was married to Dr. Harry Flyer, a Los Angeles area physician.
Photo measures 8" x 10" with press caption integrated onto the right side of the image.  Issued through Internation News Photo (INP) on December 9, 1955.  The photo was cataloged at the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper the following day, December 10, 1955 (included with the Examiner's reference library).
A small section of the photo (approx .25" x .5") has been clipped at the upper right corner (for unknown reasons and not impacting photo image)
International News Service (INS) was founded by media mogul William Randolph Hearst in 1909. As technology advanced, they added International News Photo (INP) to the company.  Competition between news services continued to increase during the 1950's and International News merged with United Press in 1958 to become United Press International (UPI).
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was founded in 1994 by Southern California author and Disney historian, Dave Mason. Soon after eBay's launch the following year, Saturday's Toys was among the first Disneyana specialists to strategize in embracing this rapidly developing technology. Having delivered over 10,000 coveted Disney treasures since then, Saturday's Toys is pleased to partner with researchers, collectors and friends throughout the world with a shared interest in the preservation of authentic and accurate Disney history.
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