California
Related: About this forumAny San Francisco Bay Area Old Timers Remember Playland at the Beach?
https://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2011/04/14/looking-back-at-playland-at-the-beach-photos/alwaysinasnit
(5,038 posts)Mr.Bill
(24,104 posts)We moved to San Jose in '61.
still_one
(91,965 posts)kimbutgar
(20,882 posts)I still remember that funhouse and how it could never be now because of the liability. The spinning disc that speeded up and threw you off of it could never happened. Those long wooden slides with burlap you sat on that it you came off it gave one a nasty burn. The split stairs that went in opposite directions. I still have vivid Memories of it. I was mad when that stupid developer tore it down and for over 10 years there was a big hole. To this day I get mad if I hear the name et Hopkins.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)He supposedly later regretted tearing down Playland.
kimbutgar
(20,882 posts)I remember he was hated after that in the early 70s.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)Tumbulu
(6,267 posts)my grandparents had a store near it....my mother told us so many stories of the people who worked there while she was growing up in the 20's and 30's.
Nice to see the photos.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)"Since it closes forever today, I decided to give Playland-at-the-Beach one more chance to kill me"
Tumbulu
(6,267 posts)red dog 1
(27,648 posts)of Playland.
You can Google it if you want:
"Looking back at Playland at the Beach (photos)"
The fifth photo down is a great shot of the roller coaster they used to have there; and the next photo is of a guy standing in front of the Ferrris Wheel who looks exactly like Uncle Junior from The Sopranos.
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)I remember the wooden slide. Rode down it on burlap sacks.
And the clown, of course.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)tennis shoes took them off before going down the slide?
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)But it's almost 60 years since I was there.
I just remembered the flat, spinning platter-like thing we sat on that sort of spun us off to the sides. And the rotating barrel we crawled through.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)so you could sit right on dead center, and wouldn't get spun off.
The rotating barrel, the wooden horses that moved, the moving stairs, the mezzanine, where we used to stand right behind the guy who controlled the whole place, including the air chutes near the entrance, where girls who wore dresses had air shot up at them from underneath.
I loved the Fun House!
Brother Buzz
(36,217 posts)But I love them today
In 1928, a celebrated San Francisco tradition began. George Whitney placed a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream between two freshly baked large old-fashioned oatmeal cookies, and then dipped the sandwich into fine dark chocolate. The delicious combination of savory sweetness was declared by all to be "IT!" That how the IT'S-IT Ice Cream Sandwich was born and got its unforgettable name, being sold in droves exclusively in San Franciscos own legendary Playland-at-the-Beach for over four decades.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)street fair in Downtown San Jose where one guy was selling "It's Its" with either vanilla or chocolate ice cream.
I bought as many chocolate "It's Its" as I could carry back home.
Like you, I don't think I ever bought an "It's It" at Playland.
For me, the best Playland food place was "The Pie Shop," with about 25 different pies for sale, whole or by the slice.
I remember often buying a huge piece of chocolate pie for 35 cents.
Brother Buzz
(36,217 posts)Last summer, I had my first mint IT'S-IT. Definitely a treat when the temperatures are in the triple-digits.
Waxed maple disc, polished concrete, stuffed canvas perimeter bumpers, and an asshole up in the console operating things, including the air jets at the entrance.
Don't forget Laffing Sal.
It was common schoolyard knowledge that one would burn their hand if they touched the wooden rails on the way down.
The secret to staying on was to lift your knees up and plant your sneakers firmly on the surface after it started turning, plus a judicious use of an elbow helped (Did I mention the asshole up in the console?)
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)being thrown off the thing....it only postponed it.
The only way to ensure that you stayed on the whole time was to be the first one on and sit firmly right on dead center.
I remember many times I was in line for it, and a bigger kid would be there at the front of the line, letting everybody go ahead of him.
Then, when the guy in the booth said "No More"..the big kid would stay at the front of the line so he would be the first one on next time, and he would sit right on dead center, and he would not spin off.
Thanks for the photos!
ailsagirl
(22,842 posts)It really was fun
I remember riding down the wooden "slide ride," where we sat on rugs and plummeted
And, as I recall, there were various spots where women/girls would get their dresses blown up
And, finally, the Laughing Fat Lady!
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)In Brother Buzz's reply # 18, the second photo down, if you look close, you can see her.
She now resides near the entrance of "Musee Mechanique," the famed collection of vintage penny arcade machines & moving dioramas near Fisherman's Wharf.
ailsagirl
(22,842 posts)red dog 1
(27,648 posts)I had a lot of fun there over the years.
ailsagirl
(22,842 posts)I don't like to be slammed around in rides!!
Dem2theMax
(9,595 posts)I have lived in Southern California all my life. It sounds like I missed out on a lot of fun!
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)It's a little fuzzy in my memories, but I do think my parents took me there when I was a child.
We lived 20 minutes from Disneyland, so we tended to go there more than any other place. That was way back in the day when you didn't have to rob a bank to be able to afford tickets to get in.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)It was HUGE!
And all the rides were totally awesome compared to Playland or Santa Cruz, the only other amusement parks in the Bay Area at that time.
The Pike;s roller coaster had two tracks, so 2 different coasters could run simultaneously, (but not side-by-side)...and the ride lasted at least 3 or 4 minutes, compared to the 58-second-long roller coaster at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
And the bumper cars....the 1st time we went was on a weeknight, not too many people there, and the guy let us ride those bumper cars for at least 10 minutes,,,and the bumper car place was at least twice as big as either the bumper cars at Playland or Santa Cruz.
I loved The Pike!
I actually liked it more than Disneyland.
Dem2theMax
(9,595 posts)And if the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was still in existence in the late 70s, then I did go there. And that one I can clearly remember.
The old Disneyland was good. I have not been there since I moved further south in the 80s. And I won't go back there. They changed it too much, and I would much rather have my memories of the place.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)and it's still there now, except it's only open on weekends from Sept. to May.
During the summer, it's open every day.
The Santa Cruz "Giant Dipper" roller coaster was the exact same type that used to be at Playland (that was before my time)
Dem2theMax
(9,595 posts)It was more my size. I have a fear of falling, so roller coasters and I don't get along real well.
I did get talked into going on Colossus, the extremely large, wooden roller coaster that used to be at Magic Mountain, which I believe is out in Thousand Oaks.
And I still remember being absolutely terrified!
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)I can't remember the name of it.
This was back around 1980, and I was with my adult nephew.
He refused to go on it until I went on it first, alone.
The damn thing went up, down, sideways and upside down, and I nearly had a heart attack on the damn thing.
After the ride ended, I got off, went over to my nephew and said:
"What a bummer! It wasn't scary at all!'
Then we went on it together, and I waited until the bars came down to lock us in, and then told him:
"I was lying!..This is the scariest ride I've ever been on!"
Dem2theMax
(9,595 posts)Okay, I have to share a funny roller coaster story with you.
There was another roller coaster at Magic Mountain, a big iron or steel, whatever they make it from, roller coaster. Can't remember the name of it, but it had some killer loops in it. First time I had been on a roller coaster with loops
Anyway, I have to wear glasses to be able to see. I'm blind as a bat without them. And of course, I had to remove them for the ride or I would have lost them.
I'm on this roller coaster with my younger cousin. I was in my late teens or early twenties, and the younger cousin was probably about 10 years old. She was quite game to go on the roller coaster, and I was the one who was scared to death.
There were two young boys sitting in front of us. And I am guessing they were roller coaster old timers, in spite of their age. They could hear me talking about my fear of this ride, so they spent most of the ride turned around, to watch me and my reactions. I'm sure they had a lot of fun with that. Lol.
The ride started, and we were pulling out of the station, my glasses tucked safely away in my purse. And I could see some white framing up ahead, and I took that framing to be part of the support for the roller coaster itself. This 'framing/support' was painted white, as was the entire roller coaster.
The next thing I know, the roller coaster car starts climbing this white framing. At about that point, I realized it wasn't framing, it WAS the roller coaster, and I was about to pee my pants! Because of my vision, I couldn't really tell where we were going at any moment in time, so the entire ride was one surprise after another. To this day I don't know how I survived it. I never got on that thing again.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)The 2nd time I visited The Pike Amusement Park in Long Beach, I was with a friend who wore glasses.
For some reason, he didn't take them off for that mammouth roller coaster they had there, and by the end of the ride, they had fallen off his face.
He needed them because they were the only pair he had, so we all walked around the base of the roller coaster, outside the fence, trying to spot the glasses.
That roller coaster was so large, it must have covered more than 4 or 5 acres of land, and despite walking around for nearly 30 minutes, we never did find them.
The Pike was my all-time favorite amusement park!
Dem2theMax
(9,595 posts)It's not funny, but it is.
red dog 1
(27,648 posts)I loved the bumper cars, the Diving Bell, The Fun House, the ride that had "rockets" that went around & around which had a lever so you could go up or down,, or both
(I remember us kids pulling that lever back & forth to make a "bumpy ride"
Our least favorite ride was the Merry-Go-Round.
The only ride we didn't go on was the "Rocket Ship" that was to the left of the Diving Bell.
That one scared us!
I also loved "Laff in the Dark" "Limbo" & "Dark Mystery" (I think that's what it was called)