Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Taylor St.
San Francisco, California
Tel:
(415) 346-2000
Remember your old toys and those antique arcade machines? Ever heard yourself saying, "Boy they just don't make things like they used to?" Well get ready, the Musee Mechanique in San Francisco, holds the world's largest privately owned collection of antique arcade machines and mechanically operated musical instruments. The creator of the collection, and museum owner, Edward Zelinsky, has over 300 items on display. The exhibits, many of which are over 100 years old, include coin operated pianos, turn of the century hand crank music boxes, figures that will dance, fortune telling machines, slot machines, bird boxes, and countless other antique toys, games and gadgets, as well as lots of old-fashioned folk-art. Some well-known attractions include "Laffing Sal" (who greets visitors as they enter), "Susie the Can-Can Dancer", and the fascinating "Carnival".
The Musee Mechanique will take you down memory lane, and you will love explaining to your children what you did for fun in the days before television.
To get to the Musee Mechanique, head all the way north on the I-280 and exit onto King St. Ride that along the coast onto The Embarcadero which turns into Pier 45 and look for Shed A.
Your childhood memories of toys and fun await you in this blast from the past museum.