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The Beat Museum
Rating Details »
Category: Museums
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill540 Broadway
(between Columbus Ave & Kearny St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
(800) 537-6822
- Good for Kids:
- No
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13 reviews for The Beat Museum
Not everyplace where a tourist might go is a 'tourist trap'. Yes, there are many businesses in SF that would NOT be in SF if it weren't for the City's number one industry. I don't think this place falls into that category. It's here because this is what North Beach was back in the day. Embrace it.
I do love my "I'm with Ginsberg" t-shirt and my Kerouac bobblehead doll though.
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The store probably isn't worth much of your time, but if you're interested in learning about the Beats then check out the museum! It's $5 and there is a movie playing. We sat and watched at least half of it--very interesting. There are various works of art and photos and memorabilia giving info on different Beat writers. I was glad I went.
I suspect the people who tell you to go to City Lights instead are mainly reviewing the store. Yes, if you want to buy books, go to City Lights! Why not? But if you want to watch a movie and learn about the history of the Beats then go here. City Lights doesn't have a Beat Museum. It's a half block away anyway, so go to both!
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Cute! An interesting and fun experience for $4. You can learn about the beat movement and see first-edition books. I wanted to spend more time here, but my friend had to leave. I especially liked the annotated excerpt of "Howl" on the wall. I love their cute little mini theater. They have cool kitschy stuff for sale - posters, bumper stickers, pins (I got a "fuck bigotry" one), postcards, jewelry. And they sell cool books. The guys there are so friendly and nice to talk to. Love them.
OK, this place is a complete tourist trap selling summer-of-love memorabilia and photos of Jack Kerouac. However, the owners seem to have an actual love of books and it shows --there's even a bath tub of $2 book which I could not help but dig through.
I chatted with the gentleman whom I assumed to be the owner and he took me into the back store room to show me this fabulous twisty slide, installed by the previous leaseholders. I couldn't believe that didn't play on the thing constantly!
Anyway, for a tourist shop, this place is alright. It's well lit and completely free of stuffed Grateful Dead bears however, they do carry plenty of Jerry Garcia posters. But most of all, they have books. And if you are going to sell anything to tourists, I can't complain about books.
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Review is Only for the museum gift shop! My original plan was to visit the Beat Museum but since the gift shop is FREE to browse just went into this area Only. They have many books from the different authors, posters, t-shirts, other stuff.
It's full of black & white pictures of the beat authors and hippies. I only know a tiny bit about the Beat Authors: Neal Cassidy, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg that I feel I should read some of their stuff before going into the museum.
The Beat Museum general admission is $5 per person.
They have a Beat Generation of North Beach walking tour that meets Tues-Sun at 10a, 2p, 7p for $15, a 90 min tour. Might be worth going to one day.
Hrs:
Closed Mon
Tues-Sun 10a-10p
website:
http://www.thebeatmuse.../
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This museum is alright . The guy working there is very friendly and would gladly take the time to give you an introduction to the Beats or answer any questions you may have . The museum is basically just a room , a movie room , and a corner . The room has a few poems , first editions of books , posters / papers with info about the beat authors . The corner downstairs has the same thing . The movie room is just a room with some theater seats playing some movie you could probably rent at Blockbuster . The museum is kind of tacky and a tourist trap .. but hey it's only $5 . Kill some time and learn something .
The museum of the Beat Generation comes to San Fran.
I'm subscribed to FunCheapSF group on Yahoo and recently got an email about this place "The Beat Museum" where they had a 1 hour appearance of the author and filmmaker of "Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" and I was amazed I didn't know about it earlier --- I lost a lot. Such a great place with an extensive calendar of events...there is something very special about it, it's not big, but it includes a collection of books, photographs. Exhibits are happening from time to time...I really recommend visiting that place and check their calendar regularly.
I'm on their email list and can't wait to be a part of another event.
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My boyfriend just loves Jack Kerouac and really wanted to go into the museum part for $5. We always walk into the shop and view all the cool things they have on display. The guy who works the counter is really friendly and he is willing to talk to you for a while. There is so much history in SF and this is one of those places where you can take a look back.
Beat culture happens to be one of the loves of my life. I've written research papers on these people whenever possible and hoarded Beat poetry with gleeful greed. So, the Beat Museum was a must on my visit to San Francisco.
It isn't large by any means, but the information is great. I especially loved reading about the Howl trial. The museum is mildly haphazard, with misspelled words on Time New Roman-printed information cards mounted next to displays. Perhaps this suits the Beats though. Minus a star, however, for the "Beat pad" set up just before the museum's finish. Cheesy.
The dude working was super awkward and I would have spent more time (and probably money) if my friends were as obsessed as I am, but I found some great books nonetheless. And I will definitely go back any time I'm in the area again--the area prominently dotted with speakeasy establishments. How appropriate.
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I finally wandered into this joint while working at last year's International Poetry Festival event. The owner demanded I give him as many Poetry Festival fliers as I had on hand, and then requested more! I was only too happy to oblige him, then spent some time wandering around.
Lots of cool artifacts here! Typewriters, weird items, photos, and some great displays. Not so cool in my opinion was the t-shirt collection on sale as offered, (prices not worthy of the consideration) but this is a minor bitch-out. They also had some gallery-quality photos on display (at gallery quality prices!). But the overall vibe was welcoming, honoring the Bay Area's contribution to both the Beat and the Hippie convulsions. (or as I love to call them, the Beat and Hippie Invasions.) If you are looking for names to drop, they've got all the usual ones, and then more you probably never thought of too.
Nice guy (Jerry) runs the shop, and all his employees get a gold star too for friendliness. Be sure to donate on the way out...
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I went with my friend, and local writer, Jennifer Blowdryer. The place was about to close, and Jennifer managed to bargain us in for half price, promising we'd only be 20 minutes. There are bunches of glass encased first editions of books by Ginsberg and Kerouac, and the like. The owner came up, and he and Blowdryer had a nice conversation about spoken word, which apparently they sometimes host there.
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its a little cheesy, but there has to be when you have a museum like that in a tourist trap kinda atmosphere. jerry does have quite the collection of memorabilia, but this is only worth a stop if you are an absolute die hard fan. i personally get more out of going to city lights. they get an extra star for selling some cool merch and the $2 book tub.
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