Musée Mécanique

Coordinates: 37°48′33″N 122°24′58″W / 37.8093°N 122.4161°W / 37.8093; -122.4161
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the San Francisco, California museum. For the Portland, Oregon band, Musée Mécanique, see Musée Mécanique (band).
Musée Mécanique
Jefferson & Taylor
Websitemuseemecanique.com

The Musée Mécanique (

penny arcade games and artifacts, located at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California. With over 300 mechanical machines, it is one of the world's largest privately owned collections.[2]

History

The museum's original owner, Ed Zelinsky, began collecting at age 11. His games were exhibited in the 1920s at Playland. In 1972 Playland closed and Musée Mécanique became a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.[2] The museum moved into the basement of Cliff House, just a few blocks north and across the Great Highway from the Playland site.[when?] Zelinsky's son, Dan Zelinsky, took a temporary job in the 1970s maintaining the collection.[3]

The museum was featured in the 2001 film The Princess Diaries[4] and in a 2011 episode of the Japanese television show GameCenter CX.[citation needed]

Move to Fisherman's Wharf

In 2002, when renovations to the Cliff House had begun, the National Park Service announced plans to relocate the Musée Mécanique temporarily to Fisherman's Wharf. A portion of the $14 million renovation was devoted to moving the museum, with support from the National Park Service, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and museum owner Ed Zelinsky.[1]

The museum's move sparked protests by San Francisco locals. An

National Public Radio described it as "cramped, noisy, damp and a little dingy."[3]

Musée Mécanique today

The Musée Mécanique is a for-profit[1] museum owned and managed by Dan Zelinsky.[5] The machines require constant maintenance, and some have undergone major restorations.[2] More than 100,000 visitors a year visit the museum. Admittance is free, but visitors must pay to use each game.[1] In 2011 U.S. News & World Report called the Musée Mécanique one of the top three "Things to Do in San Francisco".[6] SF Weekly called it the "Best Old-School Arcade" for 2011.[7]

The collection was threatened on May 23, 2020, when a fire broke out at four A.M. on Fisherman's Wharf. It destroyed a warehouse, but was extinguished before it reached the museum.[8]

Collection

The museum has a collection of over 300

fortune tellers, Mutoscopes,[3] video games, love testers, player pianos, peep shows, photo booths, dioramas, and pinball machines.[1][2] It displays about 200 of them at their current location.[2]

The museum has many rare and historical pieces. A large

ballroom dancing and was featured in the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. Laffing Sal, which has been described as "famously creepy", is a 6-foot-tall[3] laughing automaton. The museum also owns a collection of machines made of toothpicks by prisoners at San Quentin.[2]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Defending a Museum". National Trust for Historic Preservation. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Musée Mécanique". San Francisco. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  3. ^
    National Public Radio
    . Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  4. SF Gate
    . Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  5. ^ "Musee Mecanique - Free San Francisco". California Travel Expert. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Musee Mecanique". Things to do. U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  7. SF Gate
    . Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  8. ^ DAISY NGUYEN (May 23, 2020). "Fire destroys warehouse on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf—A fire broke out before dawn on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and destroyed a warehouse". Associated Press. Retrieved May 24, 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Musée Mécanique.
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