Jim will show the progress of Playland from early removal of the sand dunes to putting in foundations, then building the earliest attractions and later transforming them into the rides and shows many San Franciscans remember from their youth. Smith who will be talking about the history of “Chutes at the Beach” which later became Playland.
This weekend, Playland-Not-At-The-Beach welcomes historian and local author, James R. The Western Neighborhoods Project website has great background, history and photos on Playland. Playland was an amusement park that sat right along the ocean on the Great Highway from the 1920s through the early 1970s.
Like any good museum, Playland-Not-At-The-Beach lets you relive the past, including exhibits about San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach and the Sutro Baths. Let me introduce you to Playland-Not-At-The-Beach, a “Museum of Fun” located in El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley.Īccording to their website, the museum houses “over 25 pinball machines spanning seven decades (and all on free play!), video games, Penny Arcade machines, challenging carnival games of skill, interactive displays and exhibits, miniature circuses, sideshow exhibits, baffling magic shows - they are all here waiting to entertain and amuse you!” Come on, give it a try.For this one, we have to leave the comfy confines of the Richmond Distict and, I know it’s hard, head across a bridge.
Want more news, sent to your inbox every day? Then how about subscribing to our email newsletter? Here’s why we think you should. Photo of Playland T-shirt: Gangs of San Francisco Where: SF Main Library in the Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room B When: Saturday, March 26 from 12pm-1:30pm Smith is giving a historical talk to promote his new book “San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Early Years” His talk is expected to, a spokesperson for the book’s publisher says, “document a lost world of fun, glamour and excitement.” Sounds good to us! Many of the photos are previously unpublished and have been culled from Playland builders Arthur Looff, John Friedle, and George Whitney. His new book, “San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Early Years” contains over 200 vintage photographs, back when its carousel first drew oohs and ahhs. Smith can change all that for you, however, with his talk this Saturday at the San Francisco Public Library on the origins of the Ocean Beach amusement park. Unless you were in San Francisco in the early 1910s, the beginnings of Playland are more a fantasy than experience.
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