Playland at the Beach - (San Francisco)

Hi TPR readers.

I recently received a new book and documentary DVD about San Francisco's Chutes/Playland at the Beach amusement park. It seems like a fascinating and popular entertainment hot-spot, that was sadly razed in 1972. The Big Dipper roller coaster looks great, with its below-grade dip!

Did any of you frequent this park? Do you have any tales or stories to share? Was the Big Dipper, Diving Bell, and Funhouse as good as they look on film?

I include the book/DVD write-up's taken from my website: http://www.rollercoastermedialibrary.com (scans of the front cover/sleeve may be viewed here too.)

Thanks all for any tales you might share... defunct amusement parks are my passion!

*****

[bOOK 365] JAMES R. SMITH: SAN FRANCISCO'S PLAYLAND AT THE BEACH - THE EARLY YEARS. [2010] (22x28cm - 154 Pages - Many B&W photos). The most comprehensive and factually correct story of San Francisco's premier amusement destination. Chapter Points: Acknowledgments; Foreword (John Rothmann); Introduction; Playland and Chutes at the Beach -a Short History: (Charles I.D. Looff, Arthur Looff, John Martin Friedle, George K. Whitney, Leo Whitney, Robert Frazier, Jeremy Ets-Hokin). Views of Chutes/Playland at the Beach and Its Surrounds; Chutes' Structures; Arcades; Playland Attractions: (Fun House, Goofy Village, Noah's Ark, The Ship A'Joy, Sideshows, The Unborn "U", Motor-Drome). Rides: (Shoot the Chutes, The Bob Sled Dipper, The Figure 8 Coaster, Aeroplane Swing, Whip, Dodg-Em, Ferris Wheel, Merry -Go- Round, Big Dipper, Whirlpool, Tumble Bug, Sleigh Ride, The Frolic, Red Bug, Loop -O- Plane, Merry Mix-Up, Kiddie Rides, Lindy Loop, Rocket Speedway, Extended Bartlett Rocket Speedway). Playland Clubs: (The Billows, Hawai'Land, Topsy's Roost). Cafes; Events Held at Playland; Chutes and Playland Staff and Friends; Map of Playland 1945; Playland Tickets; Timeline (1906-1972); Index; About the Author. ANDY SHINE'S RATING: Excellent / Recommended.

*****

[DVD 133] REMEMBERING PLAYLAND AT THE BEACH. [NTSC / 2010 / 58 MINS - PLUS EXTRAS] A full-length documentary about San Francisco's famous 10-acre seaside amusement park, Playland at the Beach. Located next to Ocean Beach, it was torn down in 1972. Gone now for more than 3 decades, it remains one of the city's lost treasures. Go back in time to see Laffing Sal, the Fun House, Carousel, Big Dipper, Diving Bell, Dark Mystery, Limbo, Fun-tier Town, and much more, all through the eyes of the people who were there. The first and only documentary ever made about Playland. Extras include: [1]The Funhouse Song (2:04) -A clip from Bob Lesoine's cabaret show, "The Year They Tore Down Playland" circa 1979. [2]The Man Behind the Giant Camera (3:15) -David Warren explains the operation of "Camera Obscura" at San Francisco's Ocean Beach. [3]Playland in Miniature (4:21) -Charlie Moran gives details on the construction of his model of Playland at the Beach. ANDY SHINE SAYS: Enjoyable and informative, but perhaps too much footage of interviewees' faces instead of park-stills and film. I enjoyed the extras too. ANDY SHINE'S RATING: Good / Recommended.

*****

Simon Baynham (Andy Shine's Glamorous Assistant!)

Playland Park was the only place you could get "it's-it" bars for some 40 years until 1972 when the park was demolished.

^The It's-It ice cream treats are still sold today and can be found in many stores in Northern California. (It's basically two oatmeal cookes with ice cream inbetween and then dipped in chocolate - it's great!)

http://www.itsiticecream.com/

Also, there is a museum dedicated to the place in El Cerrito, CA (across the bay from San Francisco) that is called Playland-NOT-at-the-Beach. The museum pays tribute to Playland at the Beach, circus/sideshows, magic, amusement parks of the past and more. The museum has a small 15$ entry fee and included all exhibits including over 30 pinball machines on free play and many old games like skeeball and the like. You can win tickets and bring home prizes with you.

http://www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org

I would highly recommend anyone to visit this place. (Robb - WCB side trip? ) The above book Playland at the Beach: The Early Years by Jim Smith is a fabulous book and is worth the buy.(http://www.historysmith.com) The movie, Remembering Playland is also great.

If you have any MORE questions about Playland, or Playland NOT at the Beach, let me know.

~Nicholas

My grandpa ran the Big Dipper for a bit (where my coaster genes come from), and my dad grew up going to that park! I wasn't born in time to experience it, but the cliff house was a cool experience (old time video games that overlooked Playland). I'll ask my dad about the rides!

^jray: You wouldn't happen to have any memorabilia/photos/artifacts from Playland would you? That's awesome your grandpa ran the Big Dipper at Playland. It looked like quite a ride.

Have you ever heard of Playland-Not-at-the-Beach?

~Nicholas

Ps. The old time games that were in the Cliff House have since been moved down to the Musee Mechanique down by Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39.

I will check to see if they have anything. My grandpa died a while back and he was a mini-horder, but my grandma threw a ton of it away, but hopefully there is something left. I will definitely have to check out Playland-Not-at-the-beach. I do still go to Fisherman's Wharf for the Musee Mechanique. It's one of the best places there and not a lot of people see it when they are walking around. My favorite restaurant is right next door and they have killer lunch deals so we always eat at it (Fisherman's Grotto No. 9) and then play all the games!

Sounds like a lot of fun! BTW, I hate how at Musee they say that their Laffing Sal is the one from Playland, which infact is incorrect. (real one is at SCBB) The nice thing about Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is that all games are on free play - only a fee of $15 to get in. They are open from 10 AM to 5 PM on weekends. Compared to Musee, it's probably cheaper, if you play a LOT of games that is!

~Nicholas

There are lots of videos on youtube about Playland at the beach. Some of them are fairly creepy. They project an image of a seaside park similar to that portrayed in the ride "Pinocchio's daring journey". I do remember my dearly departed dad talking about riding a wooden coaster that was there. I seem to recall him saying it went out over the bay, but the pictures I've seen of the coasters there don't support that. I may have heard him wrong. He said it was really thrilling, but I'm not sure exactly what else he had to compare it to back then. He never mentioned the place seeming as seedy as it looks in many of the youtube videos. Good luck with finding more information on the park. Please post again with whatever you do come up with.

Laffing Sal - there were more than just the one Laffing Sal at Playland. Per the latest NAPHA magazine, there were 4 just at Playland plus many Sals & Sams across the country, all created for the Philadelphia Toboggan Company by the King Cole Papier Mache' Company. The Santa Cruz Sal is the latest to be available publicly. Playland Not at the Beach(El Cerrito, CA) has two. FYI - you can get the book and DVD at http://www.playland-not-at-the-beach.org/

Cheers,

Jim

p.s. I'm looking for Playland photos from 1940-1972 for inclusion in Playland At The Beach: The Golden Years. I need to borrow originals to scan or scans at 300dpi or better. Submissions will be credited.

I'm 70, was born across the Bay in Oakland, and misspent a lot of my youth at Playland at the Beach between 1946 and 1958. For me, the best rides were the Big Dipper and the Chute the Chutes. The Dipper was a multi-sensory experience before you even got on it. You could see it all the way across the park -- a jumble of not- partly- and fully-painted green track and shiny rails. As you approached, you heard it -- shrieks from the riders, clacks from the cars, the brringgg! of the warning bell as another car left the platform. Then you smelled it -- pine and creosote. Then you felt the ground shake as the cars plummeted and careened. When you did get on, it was scarier than most of the new coasters I've ridden on, not because of the steepness or speed but because it absolutely felt out-of-control, the whole structure shaking, the curves brutally sharp so that you thought you would fly off. If you know the coaster at Santa Cruz today, it was like that only considerably more so. I know now that the Chute-the-Chutes was a pretty standard sluice ride, but we didn't know that then -- the three seconds or so down into the pool at the end were pure magic.

The park also had a great Merry-Go-Round, a Tilt-A-Whirl, an Octopus, and a Caterpillar, a Diving Bell, and a Fun House with a great mirror maze and a very long indoor slide. There was also a Crazy House that was built so that it appeared that gravity had been suspended. Balls rolled uphill, you seemed to be walking down rather than up, etc. There were two rides that took you on a tiny indoor railroad past black-lit scary things -- very good for getting to know young ladies better. As for food, somebody else mentioned the It's-It, I'll mention the enchiladas and tamales.

One last memory. In 1966, my new bride and I moved into an apartment at 47th and Sutro Heights, on a bluff overlooking the ocean and Playland. By that time, the park was in advanced decline, the Chutes and Dipper were gone, but at night the romance was still there. Even from our apartment we heard the Merry-Go-Round's organ and saw the lights. We'd walk down the hill, ride the carousel and get a candy apple, all for less than $2.

I acctually have volunteered at playland not at the beach and can say there is a lot of neat history as well as oid fun house visitors. It is definitely worth visiting as it has not only a lot of history and knowledgeable people, but also A LOT of pinball from mechanical to digital. It is a great place that was started by a great group of people led by a wonderful man and I hope you all visit his teams masterpiece.

^The place in Alameda sounds similar as far as pinball goes (Pacific Pinball Museum). I remember you were telling me that the 2 places communicate with each other.

If I recall correctly, one of the piers in San Fran has a small tribute to the old park...I believe it's called the Museum Of Mechanisms or something along those lines. Anyway, it shows off many classic arcade and mechanical amusements from the 20th century.

I recently discovered some Super 8 film that had a very short video that panned across the playland park. I grabbed a bunch of frames and stitched them together as a giant panorama! I didnt bother with color/light adjustment, it was just a quick stitch, but I love it nonetheless! Unfortunately this was pretty much the only video save for about 10 seconds of the teacup type ride and some bumper car footage that's really really dark. Not sure of the date, guessing late 60's based on other films it was with. Enjoy!

Playland At The Beach Panorama

Link to full size photo

Me and David got down there in 1975 - our first road trip together - three years (I believe) after the park was shut down

But we made up for it's loss, with Magic Mountain, Universal, Knott's and Disneyland.