A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Rosie’s at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

By Dave Shute

Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

ROSIE’S ALL AMERICAN CAFE

By Jim Korkis

During World War II, the term “Rosie the Riveter” was created by the government to represent the many patriotic women who took temporary jobs “making history working for victory” on the assembly lines of various industries to free up men needed in the military.

That image and distinctive name was portrayed in posters, magazine covers and even a popular 1942 song recorded by multiple artists.

Rosie’s All American Café is an homage to this well-known feminist icon. Part of the Sunset Ranch Market area in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Rosie is depicted in the Café on the sign as a smiling redheaded welder heating up a frying pan which is meant to imply that she has experience handling flames and is a good cook.

The interior of the quick serve location is decorated with some authentic World War II memorabilia alongside some “Imagineered” items relating to the fictional life of the woman owner.

Several signs including “Keep ‘Em Flying”, “V for Victory” and “Stay True to the Red, White and Blue” adorn the outside. Even the outside condiment bar is topped by a glass enclosed case featuring metal toy soldiers and other authentic artifacts from the 1940s.

Since it is “All American”, it offers the traditional American food offerings of hamburgers, fries and a Coke.

On the side of the building is a large colorful item that is not only a reference to World War II but to the Disney Studio participation during the conflict. Over the course of the war, the Disney Studio designed roughly twelve hundred different military insignia free of charge for all branches of the United States armed forces.

Under the supervision of artist Hank Porter who did most of the designs, a team of five artists did the work. In October 1941, the Disney Studio created the famous insignia for General Chennault’s legendary American Volunteer Group, Chinese Air Force, better known as the Flying Tigers.

The original rough design was done by Roy “Big Mooseketeer” Williams and finished by Porter. It featured a winged tiger springing upward against a background letter “V” standing for “Victory”. That early insignia is displayed on the side wall.

Additional Disney created insignia including those featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and a Gremlin are on the interior of the café.

Nearby is Rosie’s Victory Garden, a familiar site during the war years when growing vegetables, fruits and herbs in a private garden for home use helped free up supplies so that the government could send more of these items from farms to feed men in the military.

Rosie uses her garden to supply some of the food for her service counter. Real items like cabbage, mustard, beans, peppers and corn grow in the garden and change out over the different seasons.

Imagineering was faced with the sensitive challenge of how to create an accurate depiction but avoid any derogatory references to specific nationalities that were involved in the war just as they did in the American Adventure attraction at Epcot.

The scarecrow wears an old U.S. flight suit including goggles, helmet, oxygen mask and inflatable yellow life vest from Rosie’s boyfriend who is still serving his country as a pilot overseas according to memorabilia inside the café. This figure was meant to scare off unpatriotic birds who might pillage the small garden of its bounty.

The sign proclaims “Victory With Vegetables” and above it are three dots and a dash, which were the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Five in Roman numerals is “V”. At the bottom it declares “Rosie’s Victory Garden”.

In addition, there is an Uncle Sam wind spinner whose unpredictable movement is also meant to scare away pests. Rosie’s garden tools are hanging along the side of the Catalina Eddie building right next to the garden.

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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

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