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Midway Directory · Museums and collections · San Francisco, California

What is Musée Mécanique in San Francisco, and what's in the collection?

Musée Mécanique is a family-owned museum of antique coin-operated amusements at Pier 45 on Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco. Its 300-plus working machines include Laffing Sal from Playland at the Beach, fortune tellers, player pianos and mutoscopes. Entry is free, and visitors feed coins into each machine to play it. It moved from the Cliff House in 2002.

Open Facts checked on against 9 sources.

Quick facts

Every line comes from a source listed at the bottom of the page. The small numbers point to it.

Official nameMusée Mécanique1
Listed asMuseum or collection
WherePier 45, Fisherman's Wharf. Pier 45, end of Taylor Street, San Francisco, CA 94133246
On the eastern side of Pier 45, in Shed A, alongside the U.S.S. Pampanito.
AboutThe museum is a privately owned, hands-on collection of coin-operated music machines and old arcade amusements. Its own welcome text spans hand-cranked music boxes from around 1900 through to modern video games. Visitors can operate the machines, which are kept in their original working state.17
OpenedFamily-run since 1933, the year the founder began collecting coin-operated games at age 1118
Run byPrivately owned and run by the founding collector's family138
VisitingEntry to the museum is free. Each machine takes coins, and visitors pay per play only for the machines they choose to run. The museum is open every day of the year. Food and drink are not permitted inside because the machines are fragile. The museum does not host private parties and does not close to the public for groups.2417
Opening hours
  • Daily, 10 am to 8 pm24
Hours change; check the official site before you go.
History topicsMechanical amusements, Automata, Arcade history, Amusement park history
Official websitemuseemecanique.com/

What's in the collection

  • The holdings number more than 300 machines, all playable by visitors.158
  • Laffing Sal, a laughing figure about seven feet tall, came to the museum from the Fun House at Playland at the Beach after that park was taken apart in 1972.581
  • Susie the Can-Can Dancer is one of the animated figures the museum names on its home page.1
  • The collection covers arcade games, music boxes, player pianos, fortune-telling machines, peep shows, animated dioramas and photo booths.5
  • Mutoscopes, early flip-card motion picture viewers, are part of the collection; one was placed at the Lands End Lookout visitor center in 2012.5
  • A steam-powered motorcycle from 1912, called the Steam Flyer, is among the most prized pieces.83
  • A Seeburg coin piano fitted with xylophone and mandolin attachments was bought from the Mills Novelty Company shop in Oakland in 1946 and repaired by the founder himself.3
  • Toothpick Fantasy is a miniature carnival scene, including a roller coaster, made from toothpicks.8
  • A 2003 museum press release listed Grand-Ma fortune tellers, a Wurlitzer orchestrion and an arm-wrestling machine among the pieces.9
  • A Fun Land pinball game, first produced by D. Gottlieb and Co. in 1968, is also on the floor.8

History

  • The collection was first shown at the Sutro Baths and later moved to the basement of the Cliff House at Ocean Beach.5
  • The owner moved the museum to the end of Pier 45 in 2002, when the Cliff House was being remodeled.59
  • Playland at the Beach opened beside the Great Highway in 1913 and closed in 1972, and machines from it, including Laffing Sal, joined the collection.85
  • The museum shut its doors on March 15, 2020, under the pandemic stay-at-home orders, and later reopened at Pier 45.82

Getting there

  • The museum sits on Pier 45 where Taylor Street meets the waterfront at Fisherman's Wharf.29
  • The 2003 press release said the F-line streetcar and the Powell Street cable car from Union Square both reach the area.9
  • The same release said public parking was available on Pier 45.9

What we worked out

Not stated outright by any one source. This is our arithmetic or reading of the sources cited.

  • Family-run since 1933, the business marks 93 years in 2026.1
  • Having moved to Pier 45 in 2002, the museum has been on the pier for about 24 years as of 2026.5
  • The Port memo says Pier 45 tenants hold leases with the Port and plans to keep the museum in the eastern bays of Shed A, so the museum is a Port of San Francisco tenant.6

What we couldn't confirm

  • The official site (museemecanique.com) is a script-rendered app; its text (hours, free admission, address, story) was read from the site's live published code on October 13, 2026, because the page fetcher returned an empty page.
  • Founding year: the official site says family owned and operated since 1933, which is when the founder began collecting; Local News Matters says he bought Musée Mécanique itself in the 1960s, implying the museum name or business predates his ownership. We could not confirm who first opened it or when.
  • Year of the move from Playland-era sites to the Cliff House basement is not stated on any page we fetched.
  • The 2003 press release was read on museemechanique.org; we could not confirm that this domain is still run by the museum, so it is cited as a reference, and its transit and parking notes date from 2003.
  • Status in 2026 rests on the live official site (open daily, 365 days a year); we found no dated 2026 news or government notice about the museum.
  • The Port of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf Revitalized plan (October 2024 term sheet) would keep the museum in Shed A; we did not confirm whether that project has proceeded.
  • Toothpick Fantasy: Local News Matters says prisoners built it; unverified listings disagree on which prison, so the maker is left out.
  • Machine count: the 2003 press release said more than 200 machines; current official and NPS pages say more than 300.
  • Per-play costs are not recorded, by policy.
  • Owner names: the official site and news coverage name the founding collector and his son, who runs the museum now; names are left out under the directory's no-personal-names rule.

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Sources

Official sources first. We paraphrase; nothing is copied. We use no logos or photos.

  1. Musée Mécanique: Welcome to the Musée Mécanique. Read on · official
  2. Musée Mécanique: Visit | Musée Mécanique. Read on · official
  3. Musée Mécanique: Our Story | Musée Mécanique. Read on · official
  4. Musée Mécanique: Contact Us | Musée Mécanique. Read on · official
  5. U.S. National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area: Vestiges of the Cliff House. Read on · government
  6. Port of San Francisco: Port Commission memorandum on the Fisherman's Wharf Revitalized proposed term sheet (October 4, 2024). Read on · government
  7. San Francisco Travel: Visit These Instagram-Ready Attractions In San Francisco. Read on · tourism
  8. Local News Matters (Bay City News): Musée Mécanique tries to ride out pandemic, but it could use financial help from friends. Read on · news
  9. Musée Mécanique press release, October 1, 2003 (museemechanique.org): Musée Mécanique open at Pier 45 (news release). Read on · reference

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