Uncanny Valley

Playland at the beach was of the ilk of Coney Island or the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, and was on the waterfront of San Francisco until making way for condos in the 1970s. Now the mantle has been taken up across the Bay and not at the beach.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at this place. I heard about so many things being here: Laughing Sal, a complete circus carved out of wood in miniature, penny arcade games, and so on. Looking at the satellite picture the buildings in the area looked tiny. How can all this be here? When I arrived and saw that half of the building is another company, I was even more puzzled. But inside, I understood.

The amazingly-friendly people here are not the only ones wanting the Playland spirit to live on. People have donated many items, and more importantly along with them detailed stories of the items and the circus or carnival that they came from. What started as relatively small grew and grew. The place is full of amazing things to marvel at, and this is what the spirit of Playland is. The space is used very efficiently, so although a bit overwhelming the senses I think they’ll manage to fit most everything in.

The walls are covered with old posters and photos, with the exception of the mural area. The mural is a composite of many scenes from roller coasters, the old Cliff House, and the Sutro Baths before it became ruins. Another room had an exacting recreation of a circus on a particular day: There are workers sleeping on hay, people changing, and trapeze artists working without a net over tigers and lions. In another room is Laughing Sal, a crazy-looking mechanical woman that will laugh hysterically when activated. She’s a bit of a Bay-area institution, as she also appears in another favorite place of mine, Musée Mécanique, as well as a recent issue of Polly and the Pirates.

There is much more, and I’m sure more than I even saw. I was told that this place could open as early as 2006. Let’s hope so. To that end, Playland not-at-the-Beach is in real need for volunteers. If you have some spare time, contact them and help them out. You’ll be sure to see some amazing stuff.

Otherwise, to get a peek at what’s going on, you MUST make an appointment like I did. It’s not that hard, just call or email, just don’t drop by. You’ll want to talk to these people any way, as they are very warm and full of interesting stories.