Wow! Thank you so much for this! The man behind the counter at 2:12 is my grandfather who passed away before I was born! I never expected to see him on TH-cam, so thank you very much for this unique opportunity!
Kid now have video games. I grew up going here to Playland at the Beach, the beach, and the SF Zoo. Feel like we were the lucky ones. What cherished memories.
Me too. Had many birthday parties there in the sixties. Spend the day there then cross the street and run around the beach for an hour or so. Man, it was always so cold but we didn't care. I remember walking along the beach, shivering my butt off and insisting I wasn't cold. Goddess, I miss it.
It was so sad when they tore it down in 72...I was heart broken. I will NEVER forget Laffing Sal..her laugh used to scare me...that fun house was off the hook...that huge wooden slide we used burlap sacks to slide down on...the stair climb up was kind of intimidating but once you got up there...so fun..remember that spinning disk we all sat on and got shot off of..first lesson in centrifugal force kids...best ride..THE DIVING BELL.that fast blast to the top rocked us...so many great memories.
@Susan Martin: Memories of a lifetime there! I actaully managed "one time" to not get tossed off that spinning disk. Yes, that wooden slide seemed to reach to the sky and it was fun sliding down it on those burlap sacks. I got a wood burn once when I slid off the sack near the bottom of the slide. Laughing Sal was terrifying to me! I was always too scared to get on the diving bell ride. That green roller coaster also terrified me even looking at it! I was also very sad when they tore it down.
I used to just stand there and stair at Sal as she laughed. It was both disturbing and yet funny. I was only 3 or 4 years old and my Mother would bring my brother and I and then to the zoo. I believe we had gone to Playland 3 or more times. Sal was ominous in a dark sort of way and yet she would always make me chuckle. I was mesmirized and could have watched her for hours... Each time we would go to Playland, I just had to see Sal and have a laugh. Something about the recorded sound through a funky speaker and her jerky movements with her hand flopping about was so fake, but she still seemed to be alive somehow...
Loved these kind of parks to bad they are all gone days when you could spend a day and have a good time no drama. no worries just having a good time to bad these days are long gone sad😪
I used to go there with my folks all through the 50's. I was probably 6 or seven when I first went there. Skee ball, the merry go round, the haunted house, the slide and the round room where the floor falls out. God I loved it. Cotton candy, colored Carmel popcorn ! Always left with a fresh pie and turnovers at the bakery shop where you could watch the woman make them through the glass window ! So sad that it's gone. Loved the Cliff House on the hill too. Great childhood memories !
There were a lot of kids in my neighborhood and they all came to my house because we had a big, open back yard and my dad bought the best snacks. In the sixties we'd go to Playland maybe every few months, especially for my summer birthday. I loved the teacups and other fast spinning rides. I didn't like the roller coaster much and hated the ferris wheel. I thought Laffing Sal was the ugliest thing ever; I loved her. Loved the fun house. This video brings back some great memories of home.
Yup we were poor in the 50’s and 60’s. I remember sometimes my grandparents who had very little, would take my brother and me out to Playland. And sometimes all we did was sit on the benches inside the merry go round building and just watch it go round and round, and listen to the wonderful music that played on the 4 working band organs. And when they had a little money, they would take us to eat at the Hot House that served great enchiladas and tamales with sourdough French bread. Great memories growing up in the 50’s in San Francisco
I cannot nor want to shake te memories of Playland. We were plain lucky, our age comes into that, heehee, because it was HAD TO HAVE BEEN THERE! Again, I THANK YOU!!
My number one memory of Playland was, I think, right outside the fun house. There was a statue of a lion with its mouth open. You put your garbage in the mouth and the suction would take it right out of your hand. To a little kid that was the greatest fun. We'd run around picking up cups and things from the ground and balling up our own napkins to get sucked right into the mouth. We were so easily amused in those days, weren't we?
I went a couple of times. We lived in Sacramento, so it was a ways to get there. I remember all the fun we had. So sad when they tore it down to put a grocery store there. :(
Man I had great times as little boys with my family and friends at Playland at the beach as I got older it was even more fun with bands and music on the Beach people from different neighborhoods lots of girls I really enjoyed myself during those times market Street the Fillmore wow!!!! Wayne M Sims.
Do you guys remember fort funston and lake merced? Oh, and the ZOO. I use to race my slot cars at playland where what I remember as a huge slot car track, with many tracks there also!
What fun memories...spent most of my childhood at Playland. Seeing footage of the DodgeCars made me laugh. Remembering a bunch of us kids ditched school, went there & couldn't explain to my parents that day how I cracked 4 ribs (on the dodge cars) lol
When I tried to remember Playland, all I got was Fun House, Diving Bell, and popcorn (or pink popcorn). But seeing this brought back the bumper cars, Tea Cups and Tilt-a-Whirl. Never did the arcade games or the high rides. My older brother had a Lowell buddy who worked there, supposedly won a contest with the name "Fun-tier Village". That was probably one of the last rides I did there, the slow Model T, and a rather sad epilog.
Yup me too. Went out to Playland many times in the early 60's. Had many a birthday parties at Frontier Town out there too. Also miss the Hot House. Had the best Mexican enchiladas and tamales!!!!!! 👍
Great memories of a highly improbable place, due to prevailing weather. You saw some good weather in May and first half of June, before fog rolled in and again late Sept. to early Nov. We tried to time our visits from '64-,70 to these more favorable segments. Don't see the slot-car tracks or Its-It stand. Maybe they came slightly later. Still have 2 slot-cars we raced in mid-late '60s.
Clendendin10, Thanks for the GREAT memories! I lived in Daly City for years. Do you remember Thornten Beach?, Fort Funston?, Palimar Stables?, And of course...the ZOO!!! Thanks again for the wonderful memories back when life was simple and, oh so special.
Does anybody remember what happened to the owners of The Hot House? I'm hoping that their recipe for their enchilada sauce was passed down through the decades. Heard they were out on Balboa after Playland closed, but then ?????
I found this recipe: Hot House Enchilada Sauce 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1/2 cup canola oil 3 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce 1 cup flour 2 tablespoons chili powder 3 tablespoons cumin 2 tablespoons dry oregano 1 (3-ounce) can tomato paste + 3 cans water 1 (28-ounce) can Las Palmas Chili Sauce INSTRUCTIONS: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and heat. Whisk in the tomato sauce, flour, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Whisk until smooth. Add the tomato paste, water, and canned chili sauce; cook until thickened. Yields about 8 cups www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sauces-Both-Sweet-and-Hot-3003772.php
Thanks; brings back memories circa JFK era; pre liability laws so rides were wicked especially those in FUNHOUSE; giant wooden slides and a turntable ride that would toss you...
In the Fun House, the spinning record and the slide were my favorites, which you've documented both here. Wonderful memories. Women got "hit" with the air-holes blowing out of the floor, if they wore skirts in the Fun House. Never liked Laughing Sal.
Does anyone remember the caterpillar? It was a ride pretty close to the bumper cars. It was an “ on the ground” ride, but during the ride this canvas cover came over you.
Of course. I believe it operated right outside the Dodgers (bumper cars) building right under the big Playland sign that hung on the South side of the building. It was later replaced by the tilt-a-whirl and later that was replaced by the meteor ride when West Coast Shows took over the operations in 1968
i am wondering if walt disney modeled some of his disneyland attractions/rides afte attractions/rides from playland at the beach teacups alpine rollercoaster, the flying rockets.. animatronics of laffing sal(laffing sal was created in the 1930s).. used in pirates of the caribean and haunted mantion and its a small world etc .. walt disney even used "land" in the name disneyland
..all these great amusement parks gone. Used to be you enjoyed standard thrills on a favorite ride, now, thrills are extreme, and not for everyone...and advertised with sex, gore, drugs, and rock and roll. Innocent America no more....
By the time I was old enough to go there, my mom told me it was too dangerous, that it used to be different. And then they tore it down for condos and it sat, a huge open pit, for about 10 years, or so it seemed to me. Imagine my mom thought it was dangerous. She wouldn't believe what the City is like now. It's so sad. And the Dems did it all knowingly and intentionally. Something weird is going on in San Francisco. From my sister's house on Cabrillo you could hear Laughing Sal if the wind was right, and you could hear the seals barking too.
Wow! Thank you so much for this! The man behind the counter at 2:12 is my grandfather who passed away before I was born! I never expected to see him on TH-cam, so thank you very much for this unique opportunity!
Kid now have video games. I grew up going here to Playland at the Beach, the beach, and the SF Zoo. Feel like we were the lucky ones. What cherished memories.
I am a native San Franciscan and I was there MANY times!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Me too. Had many birthday parties there in the sixties. Spend the day there then cross the street and run around the beach for an hour or so. Man, it was always so cold but we didn't care. I remember walking along the beach, shivering my butt off and insisting I wasn't cold. Goddess, I miss it.
How I miss Playland! We lived only about 30 min or so from it and went as often as my dad would take me. I loved, loved, loved it!
It was so sad when they tore it down in 72...I was heart broken. I will NEVER forget Laffing Sal..her laugh used to scare me...that fun house was off the hook...that huge wooden slide we used burlap sacks to slide down on...the stair climb up was kind of intimidating but once you got up there...so fun..remember that spinning disk we all sat on and got shot off of..first lesson in centrifugal force kids...best ride..THE DIVING BELL.that fast blast to the top rocked us...so many great memories.
My heart sank too. It was a really exciting place for a kid back then.
@Susan Martin: Memories of a lifetime there! I actaully managed "one time" to not get tossed off that spinning disk. Yes, that wooden slide seemed to reach to the sky and it was fun sliding down it on those burlap sacks. I got a wood burn once when I slid off the sack near the bottom of the slide. Laughing Sal was terrifying to me! I was always too scared to get on the diving bell ride. That green roller coaster also terrified me even looking at it! I was also very sad when they tore it down.
I used to just stand there and stair at Sal as she laughed. It was both disturbing and yet funny. I was only 3 or 4 years old and my Mother would bring my brother and I and then to the zoo. I believe we had gone to Playland 3 or more times. Sal was ominous in a dark sort of way and yet she would always make me chuckle. I was mesmirized and could have watched her for hours... Each time we would go to Playland, I just had to see Sal and have a laugh. Something about the recorded sound through a funky speaker and her jerky movements with her hand flopping about was so fake, but she still seemed to be alive somehow...
Loved these kind of parks to bad they are all gone days when you could spend a day and have a good time no drama. no worries just having a good time to bad these days are long gone sad😪
I used to go there with my folks all through the 50's. I was probably 6 or seven when I first went there. Skee ball, the merry go round, the haunted house, the slide and the round room where the floor falls out. God I loved it. Cotton candy, colored Carmel popcorn ! Always left with a fresh pie and turnovers at the bakery shop where you could watch the woman make them through the glass window ! So sad that it's gone. Loved the Cliff House on the hill too. Great childhood memories !
There were a lot of kids in my neighborhood and they all came to my house because we had a big, open back yard and my dad bought the best snacks. In the sixties we'd go to Playland maybe every few months, especially for my summer birthday. I loved the teacups and other fast spinning rides. I didn't like the roller coaster much and hated the ferris wheel. I thought Laffing Sal was the ugliest thing ever; I loved her. Loved the fun house. This video brings back some great memories of home.
As a kid Laughing Sal used to freak me out, and I remember that diving bell leaked a little. Great memories. Thanks!
Im so glad that i was a kid back then and not now.
Video games are nothin compared to Playland at the Beach.
Yup we were poor in the 50’s and 60’s. I remember sometimes my grandparents who had very little, would take my brother and me out to Playland. And sometimes all we did was sit on the benches inside the merry go round building and just watch it go round and round, and listen to the wonderful music that played on the 4 working band organs. And when they had a little money, they would take us to eat at the Hot House that served great enchiladas and tamales with sourdough French bread. Great memories growing up in the 50’s in San Francisco
I cannot nor want to shake te memories of Playland. We were plain lucky, our age comes into that, heehee, because it was HAD TO HAVE BEEN THERE! Again, I THANK YOU!!
My number one memory of Playland was, I think, right outside the fun house. There was a statue of a lion with its mouth open. You put your garbage in the mouth and the suction would take it right out of your hand. To a little kid that was the greatest fun. We'd run around picking up cups and things from the ground and balling up our own napkins to get sucked right into the mouth. We were so easily amused in those days, weren't we?
I went a couple of times. We lived in Sacramento, so it was a ways to get there. I remember all the fun we had. So sad when they tore it down to put a grocery store there. :(
+Nancy Briner-Stump As I recall it is or was a Safeway. Ironic.
+Paul Miller Now I have to think about "IT'S-IT" sandwiches.
+Paul Miller ...sold from a small shop up the hill.
OMG the ITS-IT!! Now THAT was a proper ice cream sandwich!
JulieSeven 7 they still make them , I buy them here in Arizona
Man I had great times as little boys with my family and friends at Playland at the beach as I got older it was even more fun with bands and music on the Beach people from different neighborhoods lots of girls I really enjoyed myself during those times market Street the Fillmore wow!!!! Wayne M Sims.
Do you guys remember fort funston and lake merced? Oh, and the ZOO. I use to race my slot cars at playland where what I remember as a huge slot car track, with many tracks there also!
So many good times
Beautiful documentary! So many memories! Fabulous ending!
Citizen Kane visits Playland. :^) We lived there as kids along with old Sutro's.
good old days
What fun memories...spent most of my childhood at Playland. Seeing footage of the DodgeCars made me laugh. Remembering a bunch of us kids ditched school, went there & couldn't explain to my parents that day how I cracked 4 ribs (on the dodge cars) lol
When I tried to remember Playland, all I got was Fun House, Diving Bell, and popcorn (or pink popcorn). But seeing this brought back the bumper cars, Tea Cups and Tilt-a-Whirl. Never did the arcade games or the high rides.
My older brother had a Lowell buddy who worked there, supposedly won a contest with the name "Fun-tier Village". That was probably one of the last rides I did there, the slow Model T, and a rather sad epilog.
Yup wow what a trip. I remember the slides and the turn table and the air hose that blew up the girls dresses...hehehe
I grew up having my birthday parties here..such great memories...so much fun.
Yup me too. Went out to Playland many times in the early 60's. Had many a birthday parties at Frontier Town out there too. Also miss the Hot House. Had the best Mexican enchiladas and tamales!!!!!! 👍
Great memories of a highly improbable place, due to prevailing weather. You saw some good weather in May and first half of June, before fog rolled in and again late Sept. to early Nov. We tried to time our visits from '64-,70 to these more favorable segments. Don't see the slot-car tracks or Its-It stand. Maybe they came slightly later. Still have 2 slot-cars we raced in mid-late '60s.
Loved it, We would go there in late 50's to late 60's. Laughing Sal and the diving bell were my favorites.
Thanks for the memories. My grandmother who passed away worked there in the 60s.
I burned my arm on the spinning wheel with the sack. It was such fun.
My Mom used to buy pies from the pie shop on the ocean strip...couple doors down from the Hot House.
marvelous video.....first went there as a boy- in the fifties. It was it..and the Its-It
Clendendin10, Thanks for the GREAT memories! I lived in Daly City for years. Do you remember Thornten Beach?, Fort Funston?, Palimar Stables?, And of course...the ZOO!!! Thanks again for the wonderful memories back when life was simple and, oh so special.
Remember also that enormous swimming pool? Never seen any pool anywhere near that size since. It was like 3 or 4 olympic sized pools all in one.
@@chrisslater4053 Fleishacker. It's now the parking lot for the zoo.
I bought an It’s It bar today at the grocery store. Pales in comparison to the original ones.
grew up there. had two of those dodger bumper cars. one orange and one blue. found a 1945 mercury dime s.f. in the orange one on the floor of car.
remember the slot car track in a building next to it.. It was sold due for privated land until prop 120 voted cannot buy beach land.
Does anybody remember what happened to the owners of The Hot House? I'm hoping that their recipe for their enchilada sauce was passed down through the decades. Heard they were out on Balboa after Playland closed, but then ?????
Yes they moved to Balboa...and then...???
I found this recipe:
Hot House Enchilada Sauce
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup canola oil
3 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons dry oregano
1 (3-ounce) can tomato paste + 3 cans water
1 (28-ounce) can Las Palmas Chili Sauce
INSTRUCTIONS: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and heat. Whisk in the tomato sauce, flour, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Whisk until smooth. Add the tomato paste, water, and canned chili sauce; cook until thickened. Yields about 8 cups
www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sauces-Both-Sweet-and-Hot-3003772.php
And the one waiter at the Hot House named George later worked at Joe’s of Westlake after the Hot House closed
I ate at the Hot House with my first boyfriend in the late 1970's. He adored it. I liked the cheesy atmosphere around the neighborhoods then.
Thanks; brings back memories circa JFK era; pre liability laws so rides were wicked especially those in FUNHOUSE; giant wooden slides and a turntable ride that would toss you...
In the Fun House, the spinning record and the slide were my favorites, which you've documented both here. Wonderful memories. Women got "hit" with the air-holes blowing out of the floor, if they wore skirts in the Fun House. Never liked Laughing Sal.
Does anyone remember the caterpillar? It was a ride pretty close to the bumper cars. It was an “ on the ground” ride, but during the ride this canvas cover came over you.
Of course. I believe it operated right outside the Dodgers (bumper cars) building right under the big Playland sign that hung on the South side of the building. It was later replaced by the tilt-a-whirl and later that was replaced by the meteor ride when West Coast Shows took over the operations in 1968
i am wondering if walt disney modeled some of his disneyland attractions/rides afte attractions/rides from playland at the beach teacups alpine rollercoaster, the flying rockets.. animatronics of laffing sal(laffing sal was created in the 1930s).. used in pirates of the caribean and haunted mantion and its a small world etc .. walt disney even used "land" in the name disneyland
Both George & Leo Whitney who owned Playland at the Beach helped Walt Disney develope his rides and other devices at Disneyland
my aunts boy friend used to stand no hands on cyclone
is someone loking today?
It's the same in NJ. Palisades Amusement Park was knocked down for ugly condos also.
..all these great amusement parks gone. Used to be you enjoyed standard thrills on a favorite ride, now, thrills are extreme, and not for everyone...and advertised with sex, gore, drugs, and rock and roll. Innocent America no more....
By the time I was old enough to go there, my mom told me it was too dangerous, that it used to be different. And then they tore it down for condos and it sat, a huge open pit, for about 10 years, or so it seemed to me.
Imagine my mom thought it was dangerous. She wouldn't believe what the City is like now. It's so sad. And the Dems did it all knowingly and intentionally. Something weird is going on in San Francisco. From my sister's house on Cabrillo you could hear Laughing Sal if the wind was right, and you could hear the seals barking too.
This cannot have been shot in 1960 because the Big Dipper was razed on October 11, 1955!
This was shot in the 60's because the Giant Dipper only appears as a picture in this video. The actual running rides were filmed in the 60's