Smith Collection.)Īfter Charles Looff’s death in 1916, his son Arthur took over the carousel operation and soon began plotting with John Friedle, a concessionaire, to expand operations. (wnp66.276 Laurie Hollings Photo Album / James R. Shoot the Chutes ride at Playland, 1930s. It returned to San Francisco in 1998 and was installed at Yerba Buena Gardens. Later, it would just be called the Merry Go Round. He enclosed it in what he called the Looff Hippodrome. In 1913, Charles Looff, who was a builder of carousels, brought one to this burgeoning play area. Before it was even named Chutes at the Beach, the area by the Great Highway and Fulton Street had a number of carnival games and refreshment stands. We begin with the ride that was the centerpiece at the amusement park’s beginning. Merry Go Round and attached ice cream stand at Chutes at the Beach, 1920s. So for the benefit of all, here’s an OpenSFHistory Top Ten look at the attractions at Chutes at the Beach. And there is likely no one or very few left who visited it when it was called Chutes at the Beach before morphing into Playland around the end of the 1920s. That means that most of us never got a chance to visit San Francisco’s own amusement park by the beach and, for those still around who did, few got to see it in his heyday. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the closing of Playland in 1972.
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