San Franciscans with fond memories of Playland at the Beach (or who just get a thrill out of circusy old San Francisco) will no doubt want to make a trek to the brand-spanking-new museum, Playland-Not-at-the-Beach.
The El Cerrito museum pulls together artifacts from many private collections including that of proprietor Richard Tuck, who rescued many curios from the garages of original Playland neighbors. Highlights include fascinating historical photographs, exhibits spotlighting circus sideshow acts like the Fiji Mermaid, vintage movies of Playland and the Sutro baths, sculptures of Playland’s coasters, and other weird and wonderful stuff, like a miniature circus diorama that took 50 years to carve. Playland also has a room full of creaky old pinball/arcade machines, all free with the price of admission so you needn’t play quarter-dispensing machine for your children.
One more thing Playland-Not-at-the-Beach has — its very own Laughing Sal. But wait (you may be asking yourself, as I did)–isn’t Laughing Sal currently terrifying children at the Musee Mechanique? Ah, it turns out that Playland at the Beach’s Laughing Sal was only one of many. There’s another one at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Who cares about authenticity, anyway? Laughing Sal laughs and stares at you with her dead soulless eyes as your frightened children cling to you. What more could you want?
Like a preview? SFGate has a nice video of the place.
Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is located at 10979 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, and is open by appointment only, Saturdays from 10am-5pm, and some Sundays. Admission is $5. To make a reservation for a visit, call 510- 232-4264 ext. #25 or visit playland-not-at-the-beach.org.
sound cool!
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:52 am