dark side of Playland-at-the-Beach

Rare color footage of Playland's dark Limbo ride, which (Witch) was a few steps south of the Funhouse, until it was all torn down in 1972 when a typical real estate redevelopment jump claimed the resulting (drafty and ghastly) condos would brighten up 4 square blocks instead of a landmark sprawling amusement park, which they dissed as seedy and past it's prime, of no further value to "the community".
Yes, Playland was going through a slow period, one which it would have rebounded from - had they let it be, rather than ripping out any theaters, tiki lounges, drive-ins, trading posts and candy stores that had been blocking progress: read the swarm of cold gray neo-Fascist monoliths that in large part have contributed far less than any unprofitable Mom & Pop holdovers from the Jetson and Flintstone visions of a bulbous, organic future with room to spare for kooky cubes, ferry barges, defunct trolley cars (reshaped into cozy cottages), neon & incandescent-lit amusement park sculptures that could whip, loop and roll with the Hill's Bros coffee-scented breezes, salt water taffy, cotton candy & caramel popcorn aromas and fog-dampened sand dunes of a seaside ice plant zone unsuitable for junk bondo condos, tontos!

They paved, repaved and ultimately corroded any charm the city had they could get their ham-fisted paws on.

To hell with them for tearing down Playland-at-the Beach, especially.
Lesson learned, sadly only by those that already knew our real culture of "unreal" estate is more precious than any mortgage creditors idea of life is.

So long Sal, howdy Chase Rockefeller. What kept you?




For my illustrated article on Playland, where no spammers will pop up, have fun at...
http://www.laffinthedark.com/articles/pacific/pacific.htm

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• San
• Francisco
• Playland
• Topsy's
• Roost
• Red
• Roof
• Fox
• Straight
• Embassy
• I-Beam
• Haven
• El
• Capitan
• Carousel
• Avalon
• Sutro's
• Blum's
• Fleischacker
• Pool
• Winterland
• Jabberwocky

[alexdelrio45]

I agree with you!!

[usedMTVpromos]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

I have more Playland footage up my sleeve, some (home movies) even going back to the late 1920s!

[ballsandhoops]

I totally agree with your commentary about

the "re-development" of "Playland"

SF seems so "magical" in the old days of "Playland" and the "Pool" on Great Highway.The city is so boring now nothing for the middle class to do and it is really sad little by little the city is losing it's history and charm only to become a real estate mecca for greedy land grabbers who want to tear down 100 year old house to build 3 or 4 story ugly flats to rent out so they can get as much money as possible.

[sjtom57]

Progress sucks.

[bcal51]

I wish Playland could have been saved. My favorite attraction was the diving bell. They had mics on deck so people waiting or walking by could hear passengers in the bell. The bell captain would scare us with stories of sharks and leaks. He'd point to the water on the floor of the bell and said he hoped we were strong swimmers. We'd scream our heads off not realizing drowning was a lesser problem. We'd scream even louder as we shot up from 30 feet down and everyone walking by could hear,

[Kevinwren99]

The limbo witch at 0:14 reminds me of the witch from Snow White

[ttcalant]

I remember going to playland with my parents and grandparents when I was a child. Many fond memories. I used to enjoy hearing their stories of playland during the war and when my mother was a youngster. thanks for the video.

[loungerenownrecords]

As a young teenager I used to go there in the 1960's.What a fun place!!!

It's a shame it was never preserved as a National Historic Site! For us teen-

agers it was heaven on earth.

[BerkeleyBuilt]

i still see that bitch at Santa Cruz beach boardwalk.

[33vicparis]

My dad went to Playland the last day to ride my favorite horse on the merry-go-round. It's been restored and resides at Yerba Buena now - but it's such a sweet memory of my dad.

[bjcpc0337]

@ballsandhoops

It had become out of touch to the everyday person now. Used to be able to pay a little more and get a place, but since the 1970s it has become very exclusive in even what used to be very rough areas. I'll never be able to afford to live out the last of my days back home in SF or even close by. But you are right, it has lost it's magic for the greed of the illusion that new Yuppies move in and create for themselves. Such a shame, the bohemian free thinkers are gone.

[RocketRodder]

Naw.  You don't condemn an entire city just because it wanted to make some changes. That's just... wrong. And like your opinions, I have mine.