While each Disneyland-style park (so far anyway) has a Main Street, each street has been designed from a different point of view. The original at Disneyland, of course, was inspired by Walt Disney's boyhood home in Marceline, Missouri. It's a very small town, Midwestern street. At the Magic Kingdom, Main Street is far more upscale and East Coast, taking its cues from places like Saratoga, New York. Here in Paris, Main Street is presented as more of a melting pot, bringing together design elements from cities and towns across the country.
San Francisco is represented by the Cable Car Bake Shop. The interior is laced with carved wooden scroll work and dotted with Tiffany-style lamps, and everywhere you look, you'll see homages to San Francisco's famous cable cars.
The dining room alongside the bake shop includes a pot-belly stove to warm customers, as well as this unique table stand, topped off with new-fangled electric lights and fan. Elsewhere, booths separated by etched glass panels are adorned with antique photos of cable cars and even an authentic cable car bell.
Down the street is the Market House Delicatessen, bringing a taste of New York to Main Street, U.S.A.
The deli is a warm, welcoming space with dark woods, tile work and cases stocked with delicious sandwiches. A selection of meats and cheeses hangs from the ceiling. You'll also notice the cleavers hung on the back wall, ready to be pressed into service.
The Market House Deli is a thriving business and one of the social centers of town. This is where people congregate, not just for food but for fellowship, news and information. The Market House provides the first telephone services in town, and the clerks here do double duty as switchboard operators. The switchboard, a tangle of wires and lights, is right behind the deli counter. There's even a party line phone in the Market House, for those who just want to listen in on the town gossip.
A large, wood fire stove in the center of the deli attracts customers with warmth in the cold winter months, but that's not all that draws people in. There's entertainment to be had here, too, in the form of the new Quarter-Lodeon standing in the corner. Folks in other towns may have their Nickelodeons, but this one's a Quarter, so it's naturally better!
In another area of Main Street, you can find the Boardwalk Candy Palace. The candy-striped awnings, seashell-inspired accents and marketing ballyhoo on the windows (A Conglomeration of the Most Captivating Confections!) recall the glory days of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The interior of the space seems to be under a sideshow tent, with flashing rim lights and a wall-size mural depicting classic Atlantic City attractions.
At the side of the shop is a mechanical model of a Ferris Wheel, surrounded by towering columns of candy. The photograph really doesn't do it justice. The columns are filled with colorful, translucent candies illuminated from within to create a beautiful effect.
Head to the back of the store and look closely at the mural. It showcases several early Atlantic City attractions, among them the Double-Dare Loop Coaster, the Sea Wagon and Charles Dubois & His Orchestra. Fans of Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress will also notice something familiar: A billboard advertising Little Egypt. I wonder if we'll see her do the "Hoochie Coochie?"
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