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Playland at the Beach

Scott Shafer
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 (Photo: Courtesy of James R. Smith)

San Francisco’s iconic Ocean Beach amusement park, Playland at the Beach, closed its gates for good nearly four decades ago. Even so, its legacy lives on in an El Cerrito museum and a new documentary. We look back at the park which gave us Laffing Sal, the Big Dipper rollercoaster and the Its-It ice cream sandwich — and which influenced the development of Disneyland.

Guests:

Tom Wyrsch, filmmaker behind the documentary, "Remembering Playland at the Beach"

James Smith, San Francisco historian and author of "San Francisco's Lost Landmarks" and the forthcoming book, "San Francisco's Playland at the Beach: the Early Years"

Richard Tuck, master of fun at Playland-Not-at-the-Beach in El Cerrito, a museum and amusement center which houses thousands of artifacts from Playland at the Beach

Marv Gold, former employee of Playland at the Beach and member of the Playland-Not-at-the-Beach advisory board

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