There’s been a resurgence of interest in the Playland at the Beach amusement park ever since the first documentary about its history premiered at the Balboa this time last year (DVD info).
Late last year, a new 152-page book was released by historian James R. Smith entitled San Francisco’s Playland at the Beach: The Early Years. It contains a pictorial history of the amusement park including images that have never been published.
This collection contains a comprehensive photographic record of the enthralling amusement park from its construction in 1920 through its glorious heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. Each of Playland’s famous rides receives its own chapter—including the Hippodrome Merry-Go-Round, the Merry Mix-Up, and Rocket Speedway—with photographs showing both how the rides were built and how they looked in their prime. Painstakingly researched, this book also includes chapters on the pioneering park’s attractions, arcade amusements, restaurants, and nightclubs, along with incidental photographs depicting the clothes, cars, people, and customs of the era. Describing the fun sights, sounds, and flavors, this little-known history gives readers an enchanting vision of a glamorous and care-free time.
This Saturday from 12noon until 1:30pm, author James R. Smith will be at the Main branch of the San Francisco Public Library to give a historical talk in support of his new book. Here’s your chance to ask all the questions you wanted to know about the once popular attraction that sat on the Great Highway.
The lecture will be held in the Latino/Hispanic Meeting Room B of the Main Library, 100 Larkin Street.
Sarah B.
[via SFAppeal]