Greetings family, friends, and neighbors. Today's snippet is about a long forgotten attraction at San Francisco's Playland at the Beach with connections to a World's Fair, Disneyland, a vintage sign, and a memorable morning with a good friend more than 50 years ago. I hope that you enjoy "Splish Splash".
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SPLISH-SPLASH
George Whitney had to have one! He was convinced that an attraction like the one he saw at the 1939 Golden Gate Exposition would be an instant hit at his Playland at the Beach amusement park at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. Whitney commissioned Edward Martine, inventor of the Submarine Diving Bell, to construct a concrete tank, lifting superstructure, and welded steel passenger chamber to join his Big Dipper roller coaster, vintage Carousel, Fun house, Dodg’m bumper cars, and a host of popular rides, attractions and eateries.
After following a playful ENTER sign and forming a queue, apprehensive guests were ushered into the water tight cylinder, the hatch was sealed from the inside by the ride captain who slowly lowered them beneath the surface of the water. After a few anxious moments gazing out of the portholes and hanging on for dear life the Submarine Diving Bell shot out of the water like a cork, then bounced back creating a huge splash. Spectator’s waiting in line could hear the screams of passengers over a loudspeaker as the diving bell made a few more bounces and splashes.
Walt Disney visited Playland at the Beach in 1954 seeking ideas and advice for his own park and was so impressed by George Whitney’s son, George Jr’s hands-on knowledge of amusement park operations and management that he hired him for his Disneyland development team. Among his contributions, George Jr. was instrumental in maximizing visitor flow configuring entry queues and exit route signage for Disneyland’s most popular rides and attractions. I met up with friend and Wadsworth Publishing Company coworker Steve Renick at Playland at the Beach on a foggy and drizzly Saturday morning in 1972. With our 35mm cameras and rolls of black/white print film in hand we spent several hours capturing images of the abandoned park before it’s scheduled demolition and replacement by a condominium development. The Big Dipper had already been removed and many of the other attractions allowed to deteriorate while the faded Submarine Diving Bell stood defiantly while it’s Enter sign awaited the excited guests that would no longer be coming.
-Bill 6/25
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