Musée Mécanique

What you need to know

Musée Mécanique is a private collection of antique coin-operated arcade machines at Pier 45 in Fisherman’s Wharf. The collection holds more than 300 pieces total, with about 200 on display at any given time. Pieces include mechanical fortune tellers, player pianos, animated dioramas, antique slot machines, and Laffing Sal, an automaton from the 1940s that originally laughed inside the funhouse at Playland at the Beach.

History

Ed Zelinsky began collecting arcade machines as a kid. Many of the pieces came from Playland, the amusement park that ran along Ocean Beach from 1928 to 1972. When Playland closed, Zelinsky moved his collection into the basement of the original Cliff House and opened it to the public. A 2002 remodel of the Cliff House forced the museum to relocate, and it moved to Pier 45 that year. Ed Zelinsky died in 2004; his son Dan runs the collection now.

What’s on the Floor

Every machine on display still works. Visitors put coins (mostly quarters, some take dollar coins) in the slot and the machine runs through its routine. The mechanical orchestras play, the fortune tellers dispense fortunes, the boxing automatons land punches.

Machines are loosely grouped by era. The collection covers roughly 1880s coin-operated devices through 20th-century arcade games.

Visiting

Address: Pier 45, Shed A, Fisherman’s Wharf

Hours: 10am to 8pm daily (seasonal variations possible)

Cost: Free entry. Machines run $0.25 to $1.00 each. A few dollars in quarters covers an hour of play.

Best time: Weekday mornings, when the floor is quieter. Weekend afternoons fill up.

What to know: A change machine is on site, but lines build during peak hours. Bring quarters if you have them.

Getting There

The F Market & Wharves historic streetcar stops at Jones Street, two blocks from Pier 45. The Powell-Mason cable car ends at Taylor and Bay, a five-minute walk west along Jefferson Street. Parking around Fisherman’s Wharf is metered, limited, and expensive. Transit is the easier option.