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Arts & Entertainment

The Late Richard Tuck's Playland-Not-at-the-Beach

Before El Cerrito businessman Richard Tuck died Tuesday, veteran journalist Sewall Glinternick penned this profile of Tuck's extraordinary and unique Playland-Not-at-the-Beach. We publish it today in Tuck's memory.

Editor's note: This article was written before the death this past Tuesday of the founder of Playland-Not-at-the-Beach, . We had intended to publish it soon but had not set a date. We are publishing it today in honor of Tuck.

Although it was torn down some 39 years ago, fond memories of days and nights of joy and fun at San Francisco's __ — Northern California's premier amusement park — still live in the minds and hearts of many formerly young residents of El Cerrito, the Bay Area, and thousands of tourists who visited there over the years.

In 1913 various independent rides and attractions started springing up on ocean-front land at the western edge of San Francisco. In 1926 George Whitney became general manager of the growing amusement complex, and, with his brother Leo, set about building what he envisioned would be the best amusement park on the Pacific coast.

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Following George's death in the late 1950s, the park was sold to a developer and eventually torn down to make way for condominiums — thus depriving future young and old generations of the thrill and delight of such attractions as the Alpine Racer, the Big Dipper, the Hi-Miler, the Kiddie Coaster, and Laughing Sal's Fun House.

With the dernise of Playland-at-the-Beach, all that remained for most Bay Area residents were fond childhood memories and a few fading photographs of past family outings.

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Not so for El Cerrito businessnan Richard Tuck and a group of hard-working volunteers who were deternined to keep the spirit of Playland alive!

Tuck's personal tribute to the famed S.F. amusement park was born in the year 2000 when he bought the vacant Blue and Gold Food Market building at 10979 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito to use as headquarters for his executive search business. A former part owner of a one-ring circus and long-time collector of amusement memoribilia, Tuck used the back of his new headquarters building to store his extensive collection of amusement items — including many things from the original Playland.

Upon hearing of his collection, community members began volunteering to help Tuck organize and catalog the material — which led to the local businessman deciding to to turn the back of his business into a 9,000-square-foot non-profit family museum dedicated to the memory of long-gone amusement venues.

After eight long ycars of designing and construction by Tuck and his army of dediceted volunteers, the museum  — quite naturally named Playland-Not-at-the-Beach — opened for business on May 31, 2008, and has been growing as a major tourist attraction ever since.

A real tribute to the memory of the San Francisco facillty, Tuck's museum features amazing scale models of Playland, several exhibits that specifically deal with tbe former San Francisco park, and historical items such as posters, original signage, parts of rides, tickets, employee uniforms, prizes from the original park's arcade games, and hundreds of rare old photographs of the amusement park and neighboring Sutro Baths.

The El Cerrito businessman was outbid in his effort to add the original Laughing Sal to his collection, but he managed to get the original giant blue clown hat from the top of Playland’s fun house, along with the original Walking Charley, one of the original hand-carved, life-size wooden characters from the front of the fun house,

As for Sal, Tuck didn't let being outbid stop him. Working with a sculptor, Tuck built a Sal of his own and half "Hysterical Sal." He then acquired one of the original Laughing Sals on eBay from an amusement park in Ohio — making Playland-Not-at-the-Beach the only place with 2-1/2 Sals of its own.

Aside from being a shrine to Playland, Tuck's "museum of fun" features a miniature three-ring circus, complete with tents, animals, sideshow freaks, back stage, carnies, and acrobats. It reportedly took a local father-and-son team over 50 years to hand carve. It fills an entire room of the museum.

In addition to vintage posters, the circus section of Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is augmented by an interesting miniature side-show display. By sliding back wooden doors, visitors can view a Fiji mermaid, an atomic fish, and a Devil Boy.

Other sections of the museum are devoted to a rumber of other “fun things."

The price of admission allows visitors to freely play Playland-Not-at-the-Beach's collection of carnival games and vintage arcade games and test their skill for prizes. It also lets visitors play on the museum's collection of both old and new pinball machines, visit the black light "Laugh in the Dark Room," and view miniature dioramas celebrating various holidays and the world of Charles Dickens, and occasionally be entertained by young Magical Nathaniel and other local magicians.

Tbe cost of admission is $10 for children up to 14 years old, $15 for adults, and $10 for seniors.

Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and evenings by special appointment. The museum also hosts blrthday parties. Group rates are available. Call (510) 592-3002.

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