San Francisco's Playland at the Beach by James R. Smith

So this is your chance to see the history of Playland up close and ask all the questions you want. The photos are from a private collection belonging to Laurie Hollings (artistic designer of Frontier Village and many Hollywood productions) and they have never been seen before by the public.

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!” Smith is a frequent lecturer and discussion leader at universities, historical societies, libraries and bookstores.For this one, we have to leave the comfy confines of the Richmond Distict and, I know it’s hard, head across a bridge.

A well-respected authority in California history, he has spent years chronicling the stories of San Francisco and the California Gold Country. Smith is the author of San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks, The California Snatch Racket, and San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Early Years, as well as numerous historical articles.

Illustrated by over 200 rare black-and-white and color photographs - including many images never before published - San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Golden Years takes the reader back in time to experience the rides, attractions, restaurants and behind-the-scenes operations of the great amusement park at the height of its glory.Ĭalifornia historian James R. San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Golden Years ($22.95) presents Playland as it is best remembered today - a playground where families experienced endless days of fun in San Francisco’s glorious postwar boom.

San Francisco's Playland at the Beach by James R. Smith