Must-See Hidden Gem in
San Francisco:
Musee Mecanique
It’s a place that’s fun, cheap, interesting, and disturbing all at the same time.
San Francisco’s little-known gem, Musee Mecanique, is a place your whole family will learn some history from and get a real kick out of.
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History and Entertainment at
Musee Mecanique
It’s no mystery that San Francisco is filled with history.
Stories of the gold rush, the construction of the Golden Gate bridge, and tales of Alcatraz convicts are often the first to come to mind when discussing the history of this city by the Bay.
However, narratives of another equally-as-historical San Francisco landmarks, Playland at the Beach, often get’s overlooked. In addition, old relics from the historic 1915 World’s Fair held in San Francisco often gets forgotten as well.
Luckily, San Francisco’s Musee Mecanique shines light on these two key pieces of San Francisco history. It is home to a huge collection of antique arcade and carnival games, many of which once starred at Playland and the 1915 World Fair.
AND this post is your must-have guide to visiting this little-known gem.
We’ll explore what this antique museum has to offer it’s visitors. We’ll also dive into why it’s a cheap and fun activity for families to do on their next jaunt around San Francisco.
And stick around until the end for other great, family-friendly things to do in the City by the Bay.
What is the
Musee Mecanique?
The Musee Mecanique in San Francisco is a unique, privately-owned museum that houses over 300 antique, arcade-type machines. It is own and managed by collector Dan Zelinsky.
All the machines in the museum are coin-operated, which take older visitors down memory lane and make younger guest feel like they just time-traveled years back in time.
A lot of the games here were taken from the famous
beachside amusement park, Playland-at-the-Beach, which entertained local San Franciscans between 1913-1972.
In addition to hand-cranked, old-time machines, the museum also features coin-operated player pianos, pinball machines, skee ball, and air hockey.
How much is admission to Musee Mecanique?
Admission to the museum is 100% free! You only have to pay for the cost of the individual games and machines.
Depending on the game, the cost of operating the machines can range from one to four quarters.
Bring your change! In keeping with the theme of the place, there are no credit-card readers and everything is coin-operated.
Where is Musee Mecanique
Musee Mecanique is tucked away nicely in San Francisco’s Pier 45, which is in the middle of the city’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf.
It is neighbored by well-known seafood restaurants, colorful souvenir shops, and gorgeous views of the San Francisco Bay.
What to Expect at Musee Mecanique
Now that we have all the basic questions answered, here are somethings you can expect to see and experience when you visit this antique-filled museum.
Change Machines
At Musee Mecanique, don’t be surprised by the fact that there are no modern-day credit card readers or reloadable game cards. It’s an antique museum after all.
With that said, be prepared to turn your bills to quarters with change machines.
While this definitely might be huge inconvenience in all other areas outside of this museum, the fact that you have to make change in order to operate the antique arcade games is all part of the fun and charm of the Musee Mecanique.
Laffing Sal
Musee Mecanique is the home to Laffing Sal (yes that’s spelled correctly) who is an iconic San Francisco legend.
Laffing Sal is a boisterous, somewhat-creepy, and all-around entertaining animatronic character whose loud laugh either frightens guests or makes that want to laugh along with her.
Laffing Sal has made appearances in films and in amusement parks all around the United States, so seeing her in San Francisco is like running into a long-time celebrity.
Whac-a-Mole
Compared to many of the older games at Musee Mecanique, Whac-a-mole is definitely one that’s more on the newer side and is one that many visitor love playing more than once.
When standing in front of this game, players have a good view of 5 holes in the machine which each are home of a pesky mechanical mole. The moles who inhabit the holes randomly pop up into view every so often as if taunting the players standing by.
The goal of the game is to quickly whack the moles with a padded mallet before the moles duck back down into their holes.
It’s a popular arcade classic and one that most grown-ups and kids love.
Orchestrions and Nickelodeons
Coin-operated nickelodeons and orchestrions are definitely a relic of the past that you can see and play at San Francisco’s Musee Mechanique.
These machines are kind of like an old-timey jukeboxes.
At the Musee, you can easily operate one of these wooden antiques with one or two quarters.
For just 25 to 50 cents, the nickelodeon will serenade you with a tune that transports you to a time long gone.
Marionettes
If you pay close attention, you might come across at marionette or two at the Musee Mecanique.
A marionette is a a type of puppet that is maneuvered from above with strings that are attached to its limbs. Think Pinocchio!
At the Musee, with a drop of a quarter, you can make a marionette dance to a familiar tune with a push of a few buttons.
No prior puppeteering experiences necessary!
Pinball Machines
Pinball machines are a common game to find in most places that have a collection of arcade games, so expect to see a few of them at Musee Mecanique.
Pinball machines have been around since as early at the late 1800 with the most simplistic form of the game and are still popular during today’s digital age.
Miniatures and Animations
Miniature games and animations are the most common machines found at the Musee Mecanique.
These machines exhibit scenes filled with little character in familiar and entertaining events.
For example there are small interactive baseball scenes where you control the baseball players in playing a quick game of baseball.
There is also one that depicts a horse track where players quickly turn cranks in order to move the horses around the track.
Regardless of which animation you drop your quarters into, it’s fun to watch the little people move and play in their miniature worlds.
Bizarre and Disturbing Things
Some of the miniatures and animations at the Musee Mecanique can be quite bizarre and disturbing, however.
One type of disturbing animations are the ones carrying the theme of executions. These are ones you might want to keep kids away from if they are sensitive to violent visuals.
At first it might be strange that anyone would find these scenes entertaining, but they also serve as an interesting history lesson in how people from past ages found these things to be human spectacles.
Arm Wrestling
Are you ready to test your strength? Ready to take on a fun physical challenge?
If you are, then Musee Mecanique has an antique game you’ll absolutely love.
You may or may have seen this older arcade game before, but it’s one that many can’t resist trying. It is literally a game that pits a human against a machine.
A player stands face to face with an animatronic-like machine, rests their bent elbow on a padded cushion, and uses the corresponding hand to grasp machines’ in a quintessential arm wrestling stance.
Like any arm wrestling match, the goal is to successfully push the opponents hand down onto the table with the strength of a single arm.
What’s great about this game is that you are able to play several arm wrestling rounds with just one payment and the rounds get more and more challenging as you go on.
Prizes
We all know that an arcade just isn’t complete without some prizes! Musee Mecanique is no exception.
There are a few old and new machines at the museum that give guests the chance to win simple prizes like rubber duckies, prank teeth, plastic jewelry, and finger traps.
These prize machines exhibit the ever popular claw that players can move back and forth into the perfect position just above the desired prize. Players then drop the claw down with a push of a button, in hopes that the claw gets a good enough grasp on the prize to move it safely into the opening from which players can claim their prize.
Good old arcade fun!
Don't forget these things when going to
Musee Mecanique!
- Cash! As mentioned earlier, there are no credit card readers were, so bring your quarters and dollar bills.
- Many of the machines are very old and are sometimes glitchy because of that.
- In addition to old-timey, wooden games, there are also newer arcade games like air hockey and Pac Man.
- What was once really entertaining many years ago, might not be as entertaining to us now. With older game, the fascination will come in understanding that. It’s a great history lesson!
- There are lots of great seafood restaurants just outside of Musee Mecanique. Grab a delicious meal at one of them either befor or after visiting the Musee.
- Musee Mecanique is within walking distance of Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square, so you can potentially visit all three of these places in on day.
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