What Creepy Delights Await You In San Francisco’s Musee Mechanique?

Twice in just over six months I’ve been lucky enough to visit one of my most favorite cities: San Francisco. However, every time I’ve gone, I’ve wound up at the Musée Méchanique.

This time was no different. Except, I told myself I wasn’t going there this trip. Which disappointed my inner child immensely.

“We won’t be near Fisherman’s Wharf,” I tried to assuage her. “There’s so much of the city we have yet to explore. We just happened to stumble upon the Musée our first trip. Remember? There’s no telling what we might find this time. We just have to remain open to new adventures. So what do you say? Let’s go see what else we find,” I urged.

So I did —we did, my inner child and I– find new sites to behold.

San Francisco 2019 Sites

We visited the haunting hotels of Sutter Street. (Hotel Vertigo, Hotel Majestic, and the Queen Anne Hotel. I’ll be writing about them too.)

We took a jaunt in search of the Maltese Falcon Alley.

We used Cafe Zoetrope’s short story vending machine.

Then we hopped on a bus and hoofed it over to the Wave Organ. (Which, we’d been right by when my husband did the Alcatraz Swim last time we were in San Fran. Speaking of, what a couple we make, huh? I chase ghosts, he swims with sharks. Anyway, didn’t know about the Wave Organ then or I for sure would’ve visited last time. It’s okay. Thanks to my friend Emz from HorrorAddicts.net, I saw it this visit.)

Back at the Wharf

But then I was hungry. I’d been out jaunting around for hours. At that point I’d already walked eight miles. (I logged nearly 10.5 by the end of that day.) I was famished.

That’s how I found myself on a bus headed towards Fisherman’s Wharf –after researching the best, most direct way to get back to the hotel. It was a straight shot from the Wharf via a cable car –something else I’d never yet ridden on a previous visits. I could knock out yet another adventure…

It was a partly sunny day, but cool. Soup weighed heavy on my mind. Specifically, clam chowder. That would warm me up and nourish me.

Yes, most people probably associate such soup with the East Coast, particularly Massachusetts. I associate it with the ocean period. So whenever I’m seaside anywhere, I get it. San Fran’s fun contribution is the sourdough bread bowls.

I hadn’t been back to Boudin’s in a couple of visits. I decided to head there.

Coincidentally…

And, oh, lookie there. It’s right by the Musée Méchanique.

Well, maybe I could stop in after all. Be a shame to be so close and not, right? And it is free… (Well, admission is free. You do have to pay to play.)

So I revisited this favorite place. Because I love games. I love museums. I love that this is basically a museum of classic games. Ones from the turn of the Twentieth Century. Even a few newer ones.

But the kicker is, it’s an interactive museum. It’s not a “look, don’t touch” place. It’s a “play to your heart’s content” place –or until your quarters run out.

Laughing Sal

Yet what probably delights me most of all are the creepy automatons. Like Laughing Sal. (I wrote a post about my first encounter with her –and a video she once inspired me to make, which has since been removed. I don’t remember doing that, but if I ever figure out why it’s not showing up, I’ll amend this.)

She still fascinates me. I think because nowhere else have I ever seen such a giant moving doll before.

And she is a giant. I think she stands at six feet tall. But then she towers over everything else because of the stand she’s on in her case. The top of her head has to be 10 feet high, and the way she’s slightly stooped over…it’s really not hard to imagine she suddenly springs to life and tries to grab you as you as you walk –or run– by.

Adults Only?

Moving on from Sal for a moment, there are a lot of kookie, head-scratching dioramas and automatons that never fail to have me wondering, “Who thought this would be amusing boardwalk entertainment? Or were people back then just darker, and I’m once again reminded I may not be living in the right era?”

Like the Drunkard’s Dream. Okay, I have never put any quarters in to actually see what it does. I’m sort of curious, but the kid in me has also been conditioned to spend my money wisely. “Play the games you really want to. You only have so many quarters and then that’s it. No more!”

So, I’m pretty frugal. Maybe it’s hilarious, and that’s its value?

Or what about the Guillotine. That’s pretty macabre, right?

Although, maybe it’s not as gruesome as I imagine. Again, I’ve never “played” it.

Still, I know how today’s parents are. I can only imagine the controversy this would cause.

Were parents back then in an uproar over such games? (“Game” for lack of a better word.) Did children see this? Or were such things meant only for adult amusement? Did arcades have an Adults Only area?

Because the Musée Méchanique does have a few “peep show” machines.

Such as this belly dancer one.

Haven’t ever put a quarter in to see how risque this is. Might be like today’s headlines: sensational to lure you in, but lacking in explicit material.

I’m going to have to research this more –and apparently save up my quarters. I have some spending to do on my next visit.

The Creepy Automatons

But the ones that freak me out the most are Sal and her lot, a.k.a. the automatons. (Sounds like something out of Battlestar Galactica or Westworld, doesn’t it?)

These are what draw me back each time. Like I wrote about my first meeting with Laughing Sal:

An irrational part of me hoped the glass that encapsulated her would hold. My imagination ran wild with images of her breaking free and causing mayhem as she terrorized museum go-ers, swatting them into the other machines while she laughed and laughed.

That’s it. It’s the terror that maybe these things aren’t mechanical. Maybe they might come alive. They might break out of their cases. They might “get” me.

I couldn’t help but chuckle (and feel relieved) when I texted pics to my horror-loving pal,Sheila, and she immediately responded,  “Okay, that is frickin creepy! Those boxed people scare me!”

Ditto. (Glad I’m not alone –and glad I wasn’t alone in there. Sometimes it’s packed. I was visiting at off hours, but there was still a decent amount of traffic. Phew!)

If you’ve never been to the Musee Mechanique to see them for yourself, let me show you a couple examples of what I mean.

Do any of these “boxed people” give you the creeps too? Would you feed quarters into any?