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219 reviews for Musèe Mècanique
i normally don't walk back there because there are so many things to do and see along the main street, but oh man, we were so glad to find the place.
if it wasn't sure the indian fellow we ran into collecting money for a soup kitchen, between the both of us, we would've had PLENTY of one's to change in here and try out all the machines. don't you guys hate those guys that come up to you in fisherman's wharf and tell you you're getting a ticket for "not smiling" and it turns out they're collecting donations for a soup kitchen? you didn't have to use that line on me to donate... how lame!
anyway, i love the vintage machines here. i really got a feel for playland at the beach and the old san francisco pier passtimes. i even saw a model town made of toothpicks - i LOVE those things. we got our fourtunes read too on various machines and saw laughing sal... a playland at the beach icon!
this was a great place to turn back time... except no more giving out ones to the guys outside!
Such an interesting and fun place, and now at a convenient (for touristy types) location!
It's so cool to play vintage "arcade games" and see how far technology has come! Some of the best games are the simple ones! I swear me and my bf played this crane game (use the crane to scoop beans into the scale) for an hour and kept trying to beat each others high score..lol we play Wii for 10 minutes and he gets sick of it so this really says a lot! Hahaha
The only advice I have is to watch out for some of the machines where you're supposed to watch something happen, not really play. One in particular I remember is like a covered wagon in a desert or something. Sometimes they are stupid as hell and even though it was only a quarter or two, you get pissed cause you coulda spent that 50 cents beating ur boyfriend (again!) at the crane game!
A SF time machine to get lost in! Save up your quarters for this amazing collection of over 300 antique-coin operated machines, hand cranked music boxes, and photo booths. Old as late 1890's, Early 1900's, 20's, 30's, 40's and 70's pinball, and 80's arcade games. What museum can you go an interact with the old exhibits? Here..
See the 1906 earthquake in moving pics or bathing beauty pinups.(G-rated now) Old school seaside amusements from Sutro Baths & Play Land of SF you should not miss! Loved this place before at the Cliff House and now here at Pier 45.
The last time I came here was on labor day weekend. I took my date and we had a great time. He found an old arcade game he played in the 80's called Phoenix. Dan Zelinsky the owner was rollerskating around and keeping the museum open later for holiday visitors. He was so chilll and showed my friend from Toulouse the oldest cinematic machine which was from France. My parents even love this place while coming to town to visit me. We'll pop in after a lunch and my dad I will mechanically box each other. Good family therapy* Especially when I win.
My personal favorite is the 'Carnival' which hundreds of moving parts are displayed in a panoramic view of ferris wheels, acrobats, cigar shop, kiddie rides, circus animals, carnival workers and the side show. So old, colorful, detailed and charming. Unexpected characters like creepy 'laffing Sal' or the gypsy fortune teller will be unforgettable.
It's amazing that Ed Zelinsky started collecting these timeless pieces at the age of 11. We are so lucky to continue to enjoy the Zelinksy Collection. FREE ADMISSION and great for all AGES!!
Love this place! Extra stars for the attendant on roller skates. Photo booth was out of film and never produced our pictures- full refund vs. today's arcade standard of "play at your own risk". I left really thinking times were better back then.
The bf and I headed toward Fisherman's wharf on a beautiful Sunday. Spotting it while having clam chowder and calamari/chips next to the seagulls, I urged Ben to come in with me! I remember this from back in the day, during its cliffhouse days. We loaded up with quarters and took our first instant pix, laughed with sally, watched what a bellydancer does on her day off (evidently play the guitar for a really long time), arm wrestled, had our fortunes told, got our fingers trapped, shot at some cans, watched santa's workshop, watched the chinese smoke opium, found out we were both "clammy" on the hotness scale, and only amateurs at kisisng, watched a hanging and MORE! Some of the machines were broken and ate our money bur we still had a great time! Quite a gem amongst the fisherman's wharf tourist trap
Bring quarters or small bills for the quarter machines because you are going to want to play the Pole Position game near the front of this place. There is also a Ms. Pac-Man buried in the back. Sure, there are lots of interesting games, pinball machines and a giant diorama of a fairground that lit up and moved and played that creepy-cute fair music, and my family enjoyed it all immensely but I can't tell you how thrilled I was to play those two games from my days of working at a small town movie theatre when I was in high school.
I sucked, but whatever. It was great, best dollar I've spent in a long time.
This is so much fun! Bring $5, change it into quarters, and go wild! Get your fortune told by a machine older than your parents (at least my parents). Get your butt kicked arm-wrestling a machine and look like less of a man in front of your girl (or not). Play some hockey or Foosball. Find out how high you score on the love machine, or simply make some puppets dance! Oh what fun there is to have.
Plus, no admission fee!
Out of the ordinary!! This place was awesome!
A-W-E-S-O-M-E.
No one plays the 80s arcade games.
$5 bills only for the vending machine. BOOOO.
Piano player music is awesome.
Provided you don't try to, you know, do anything like eat or drink around here, you're guaranteed a really good date or time out with friends. Maybe even your out-of-town relatives (unless they're no fun), or your curious kids.
It's like Big (the movie) minus that one wacky machine that fucks with your age. OK, then I suppose it's not like Big at all.
This old-timey penny arcade feels like what I imagine the old Playland at the Beach was like. Stories about SF history (centering mostly around Playland) are scattered throughout the big warehouse of old-timey arcade games. Laffing Sal (enormous, creepy laughing doll from the old Playland) still holds court in her large, creepy glass case. My visit was one of my favorite payday lunch dates, and I'm definitely coming back.
Bonus: penny flatteners!
One of my favorite places to visit again and again.
This is where magical worlds of old and older come together in a historic arcade of hand made, mechanical, and electronic entertainment spanning the ages. Admission is free. Bring smaller bills to get coins out of the change machines.
This is part of Edward Galland Zelinsky's collection. I'm glad we're still able to enjoy these treasures.
http://museemecaniques...
Side note, this place reminds me of a scene in the ol' River Phoenix/Lili Taylor film, Dogfight.
A big thank you to my friend Suzie Q for reminding me about this place and how much I love it.
Located in an unassuming warehouse on the pier, it may look initially dodgy but don't worry. Inside, you'll find a little treasure trove of old mechanical machines. They range from games to mechanical marionettes.
The individual machines are cheap but you may end up spending more than you intend (says the voice of experience!) because there are so many things you want to play with.
Well worth a stroll round
Want to talk Vintage ?? Do you remember the Camera Obscura ?
Back in 1984, we all wrote letters to save the Museum and the camera over at Sutro Baths.
I still have the fortune that was spit out by the famous fortune lady !
Pier 45, thats where we used to have the Festa Italiana ! Great place to have the Musee !
You can definitely waste some time here if you're at the wharf waiting for friends or for that ferry ride to Alcatraz. You can drop so many quarters here and be easily entertained for hours.
I'm not sure if it's because of the flashing lights, arcade games, and colorful buttons you can push. Or maybe it's because of the unintentional comedy behind a lot of the mechanical attractions. You can put in a quarter to see old school XXX films. Another quarter could afford you a peek into the "Opium Den". One more quarter will give you an instant access to a French Execution.
This place is definitely fun for groups and families. If you have a twisted sense of humor, this will really float your boat. What's even better? If you look outside the main doors you'll see the Boudin Sourdough Bakery & Cafe waiting to serve you some hot chowder.
This place is now going to become my MUST SEE place when visiting San Francisco.
I fell in love with the Pinball Hall of Fame and Vegas. Who knew San Francisco had something similar!
Playing vintage arcade games is like being in a usable museum. If you're in the area check this place out!
There's a huge parking lot next door for $2 per half hour.
Introduction video: http://www.youtube.com...
Watch the Bimbo Box play: http://www.youtube.com... and the scary lady laugh: http://www.youtube.com...
Musee Mecanique: http://www.youtube.com... & http://www.youtube.com...
Susie the Can-Can Dancer: http://www.youtube.com...
The French Execution: http://www.youtube.com...
Spanish Inquisition (San Francisco needs this...clearly they're missing out):
http://www.youtube.com...
This is definitely one of my favorite places in San Francisco, it's really fun! There are a variety of arcade games, some of which are reeeally old. If you're not that into video arcade fighting or shooting games (like me), there is still plenty to do, like foosball, air hockey. There's a variety of coin-operated mechanical instruments, a scary laughing lady with lovely teeth, silly fortune tellers, photo booth. You can see the 1906 SF earthquake in 3D, play golf with little metal guys, or watch a miniature town operate, for a couple of quarters. Just a tip: If you do put your money into the hand-cranked machine featuring an XXX "movie" from the 1950s, be sure to turn the handle clockwise, not counterclockwise - in which case you will see everything backwards.
A winner for all ages, although personally haven't been here since it moved, so, it's been while. Will have to work on that, how could I forget to show every out of towner this? Really! Both kids have loved it from when they were wee one year old lads (and they are now 12 and 14 year old towering boy/men).
Also, not a sociologist's nightmare. All those awful racist, misogynist games happened in a time and place and tell you perhaps more than you want to know about the people who lived in that time and place, but, that was reality at the time. It's actually an opportunity to talk to the kids about this stuff. (Which of course they hate, because they just want another quarter and do not want to hear my "lesson"!)
This place is pretty much one of the best places in the wooorld. Here is why:
1) Not only do they have one old-timey photobooth, but they have THREE.
2) It is a photographer's dream
3) It is historian's dream
4) It is a sociologist's nightmare
5) It is flat out fun, and instantly turns anyone who enters back into a seven year old while still feeling classy and/or cultured
Skip 90% of the other stores along the piers, and spend at least an hour or two here.
You can spend hours here for under 20 dollars. A lot of tourists forget about this place. Even though it's on Fisherman Wharf (bleeehhh), its fun to peek in and watch the fat lady laugh, the player piano and the bizarre mechanical re-enactment of executions.
I got a fortune from a Zoltar type machine that said I'd find a lover this week. Ok, week is almost over Zoltar machine. Where is he???
This is a really fun place to take your family, especially when money is tight because the games are cheap and a lot of fun. I love getting my fortune ticket. I still have it from the last time I visited.
This place is great! Highly recommend it, if you need something fun to do, but are short on cash.
I came here when I heard that the original venue (at the Cliff House) had partly inspired the Neutral Milk Hotel album "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" (an all-time favorite album of mine). I'm not sure how true this is, but it does seem plausible.
Overall it's an impressive collection of old-timey machines that somehow made me nostalgic for a time that I never even knew. I did play a couple of the games, but that wasn't nearly as fun as just walking through the crowded maze of arcade machinery humming my favorite NMH tunes.
Often I sit and wonder what it would have been like to be at Coney Island around the Roaring '20s. Musee Mecanique is about as close as a person, in want of a wayback machine, can get to feeling like they've wandered into a turn-of-the-century arcade.
They have so many machines--from Wurlitzer player pianos to peg and gear models of farms and carnivals to stereoscopic pictures of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake's aftermath. Near the back where they keep some of the "younger" machines (video games, etc), you might feel as though time were in a blender.
Come prepared with quarters and dimes!
I am a sucker for old time charm and this place is full of it!
All you need is a pocket of change and some time to kill. There are tons of games and old time mechanical toys that dance and put on little shows for you. If you don't have an affinity for old time things then don't bother here, that is all you will find at this gem!
The best/scariest thing is the creepy clown lady at the front from Playland.
This place is totally rad! I love the historical vintage arcades. It's really cool to look at and play (if applicable...lol) with the games. If you need coins there's sum dude roller skating around with change. Seeing him on wheels, made me want to skate!!! If you can't find him there's change machines somewhere. They also have the old school photo booths and mini-sticker photo. I took a few and placed my photo up on the booth hehee! There's also foot massagers in case your feetsies get tired, mine did. Over all, just take $20 dollars and have fun ya'll!!!
I was down here the other week and after eating out at Boudin's. We seen and went into this museum which double doors were wide open and signs that said "Free Admission" WTF?..Heck yeah, let's do this...
I wondered what happened to all those antique mechanical machines and 80's video games went from th Cliff House.
You can't help to getting your hands on antique machinery and you can play and touch them too.
Down side is I lost 50cent on a game. No one to assist you on refunds..
Laughing Sally was on display.
This place was a whole lot of fun. A whoooole lottttt of fun. I changed $5 into quarters and just went to town. The things that show you natural disasters in pictures are boring but I recommend the more interactive toys. Skee Ball for 25 cents? WIN! Racing horses by quickly spinning a wheel and trying to spin it faster than your opponent? Double win! You can literally spend hours in here just playing with old toys and I recommend that you do.
I love that this place is free to enter. Tons of old games
whoa whoa whoa - how have I never been here?
This place is not to miss - so random, so interesting, so cheap and so creepy!
Yes, creepy - Laughing Sal did entertain my 4 yr old nephew however that giant clown gave me the creeps as did some of the weird $.50 games.
It is so cool to see what was considered a fun arcade game back in the day - like 3 buffaloes moving over a dead 'Indian', a sex appeal machine, a moving metal horse, etc.
I can't wait to take others to this free place!
While id suggest reserving a visit to the Musee Mecanique on a gloomier and less tourist friendly day ( for aesthetic and crowd avoiding reasons) if your a bay area local; it is non the less enjoyable at any time. The real apeal to Musee Mecanique is by far its turn of the century automatia, the
Englehardt Orchestrion and player piano's being my personal favorites. Many of these machine's would be at home in a Jewels Verne novel and conjure up images of excited onlookers at a early worlds fair.
The Musee Mecanique is most certainly worth taking the time to view for the simple pleasure of getting to view such unique antiquity.
This always been a favorite hangout for when my ex bf comes to visit me in the city :) Usually after we had our seafood fix at one of the crab stations on the wharf, we make the trek over here and spend about $5 worth in games. I love how these antique games are about a few quarters worth :) We both end up smiling like kids when we play here. It's the complete opposite from what he's used to since he lives in vegas. He doesn't lose as much money hahahaha.
Our favorite games are foosball and the digital ping pong. He likes the ones that test his strength. I like the ones that give you your fortune on tiny cards. Those are great souvenirs :)
This place is great for people of all ages. If you're in for a laugh, a trip down memory lane, spend a few quarters, or just want to have fun, this is the place to go.
This is one of the best kept secrets in San Francisco. I have been visiting since it was located at The Cliff House 10+ years ago. I don't know anywhere else in the world that has such a vast collection of vintage arcade machines and coin-operated games.
This is the perfect place for people of all ages. There is something for everybody and it is a challenge to spend much money since it goes one quarter at a time.
Carnies. Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage. Small hands.
The Musee Mecanique is an interesting snapshot of "what has amused Americans over the ages", from miniature Ferris Wheels made of toothpicks to Ms. Pac Man and Air Hockey to naughty ladies showing ankle to modern day video games.
Fun for the whole wretched family, and "free" until everyone starts sinking quarters into mecaniques.
If you can successfully avoid attacks from the Bushman and are willing to wade through the hordes of tourists on Jefferson, Musée Mécanique is a lovely reward.
Adam and I cashed in for $5 worth of quarters, and enjoyed the vintage zoetrope machine, player pianos, the arm wrestling game Julie Andrews went up against in the first Princess Diaries (not going to lie - I enjoyed that movie), took a trip to Drunkard's Paradise, and A. even got the high score on an early 90's hoop shootin' game. We also dominated at skee ball and I got a serious kick out of playing the 'Olympics' Gottlieb pinball machine (such a classic one-player title) right near the entrance.
They even have two mid-century photo booths ($3 a pop, bills only, no coins) - I don't think we've ever looked better.
The macabre/racist theatre of my nightmares - otherworldly in its belligerent insensitivity. You can walk past the physicalization of pretty much every racial stereotype that's plagued our sordid history. I got great photos.
I dock a star because the awfulness of the neighborhood signficantly detracts from the experience. I was getting really cool pictures, but shit, I had my fill of gastropods in fannypacks and those "SF" fleeces, and I fled.
Also, none of the captions by the displays suggest any awareness of the offensiveness of the machines/toys, and that kind of freaked me out. That might just be because the most pointed sociological observation you can make when you're stared in the face with this stuff is "Um. Wow". At any rate, it's totally fascinating, and if you're into weird shit, this is probably your bag.
The Musee Mecanique, aka the penny arcade, is one of those places you can lose yourself in for hours. Laughing Sally welcomed us as we were coming in the door, and yes, she is still as creepy as ever. The hippie couple on acid seemed to be getting a good kick out of her though!
This place will never cease to amuse, and maybe does even more so now that we're decades away from when the original machines were built. You can pay 25 cents to see a flapper "undress" in her bedroom, a French execution and an opium den in full swing. Be sure to check out the old school black and white photo booth -- it will make you look like you're from a different time.
Only one thing -- they should call it the Quarter Arcade! They don't take no pennies these days.
I love this place. Sometimes I will come here alone just to get my fortune told by the creepy, 1920's era typewriter in a box - a psychic machine.
Best $1.50 ever spent.
Every city needs its pure kitch museum. Amsterdam has it's Sex Museum. Minneapolis used to have the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices (tis a shame that one closed down). IMHO, this is San Francisco's answer to those icons.
The basic theme is that mankind's willingness to drop a coin in a machine for entertainment purposes pre-dates Pac-Man by quite a bit. Yes, there are the modern video games to the back (I discovered the place in the early 90s during the height of my Quarterback addiction when the museum was housed at the Cliff House). But for the most part, what you get is hours of coin-operated entertainment. I can lose myself for hours playing the pinball baseball game from the 30s, and the video cinemascopes prove just how harmless "risque entertainment" used to be. Plus, my Facebook page now sports pictures of me being embarrassed by the arm wrestler there.
Whenever I have people in town and have to make that inevitable trip to Pier 39 and the Wharf, this place (and the sea lions at Pier 39) adds a bit of spice to an area of SF that is a little too touristy for its own good.
(Inserts 50 cents into the slot)
Me: "I want to be Big!"
Creepy Fortune Teller: "Creak, rattle, shake,shake,shake......Ding!"
Me (reading the card): Except for one small dark cloud, your immediate future appears to be quite bright and cheerful. What?! No!!! I want to dance on a big floor piano!!
There is something very scary about this place, and at the same time uber cool.
I am in awe that the over 200 coin operated entertainments are from a sole collector! The variety is staggering. I love the creepy Laughing clown, fortune tellers, and player pianos. All to play for 25-50 cents!
My nephew god love him, was looking for the fortune teller that makes wishes come true. Guess he has seen the movie BIG. He was wishing for 29 million dollars! Makes sense :) Instead he settled for the arm wrestling machine and had his butt wooped!
We wandered to the back to a bowling game. He is BIG into bowling, and he will be relentless in telling you he has won many a Special Olympic medal in it! The aimer was off, he kept getting gutter balls, and an occasional pin would fall. He had fun though.
He knocked down 15 pins altogether. We were just turning away, when the scoreboard lit up again, and all of a sudden instead of a 15 up there, a 32 showed up even though no more pins were knocked down. Now THAT is spooky! Cause if you read my other review today, Brian turned 32 that day! STRANGE :O
I'd love to have it pitch black in there with people stationed at each of the machines that had creepy clowns, fortune tellers, and music, and at the count of three all put in their quarters. Now THAT would be frightful! :S
Novelty of the old 1940's and 1950's, when outlandish racism existed in all of its glory. In 2009, this place isn't so racist but there are bookmarks of such things exist within the machines that captured the imaginations of yester-years and today's youth in culmination to what people found "amusing" in a sense. I visited this place with the BBA folks, when providing one last tour to our friend Dingo, before he headed back to the land down under.
Take for example the presentation in a glass, made with just toothpicks. Erecting such monuments (take your mind out of the gutter), is a tedious and useless task to some in this day and age, its all about Computer Graphics, animations, and 3D-Models heh. Not necessarily but you get my point. One thing as I've addressed about this knowledgeable museum earlier, is the fact that they have certain arcades or games that depict Africans as savages or "uncle toms" with physical traits of a big gorilla, is what they depict as "exotic" in the carnival.
Then of course for my Asian Yelpers, there's always the fact that our Asian Brethren, love to get high on Opium that is. Yes, one exhibit depicts us as Asians as lazy bums in our caves, getting high off our rockers. Lastly, one appalling exhibit in this museum, is the lynching/noose machine. There's an actual arcade, that allows carnival goers to experience the fun filled excitement of re-living such tasteless torture.
Despite all the negative stuff, this place really educates us about the type of "recreation" the typical American (non-minority mostly) enjoyed at that time. Sure it isn't appealing to us minorities, but the U.S. was at a different time back then, hell if someone were to look at our forms of recreation at the moment, our predecessors would scoff at how primitive and unwavering some of this stuff actually is (Mainstream Junk Media like Jerry Springer and other senseless reality shows).
P.S. They have the Fortune Teller from the movie Big, and they have vintage porn...ooh, let's see you rock your socks off on that one!
