Sep 27, 2022
Funny thing: Do a podcast like
ours long enough, and the most random and randomly awesome tidbits
will pop in and make the cut.
Last episode, it was the Doc Ellis
"LSD" perfect game that MLB doesn't like to talk about. In Part 2
of this episode, it's New Orleans and P.T. Barnum.
Musée Mécanique owner Dan Zelinsky
shares the story of how his dad, Ed, bought the collection of the
original San Francisco owner, George Whitney, and ran the Cliff
House location until around 2002. Ed Zelinsky found the spot at
Pier 45 just before he passed away, in 2004.
Whitney inherited a collection that
showman P.T. Barnum brought to San Francisco from New Orleans. Much
of it lived at Playland at the Beach before moving to the Cliff
House, where it remained until around the turn of the
century.
Condemned building, fires, and
pandemics later, Musée Mécanique thrives today at Pier 45 in
Fisherman's Wharf. Part 2 concludes the history of the place and
our episode all about it. Hear more from Dan as well as visitors
Brian and Michael, from New Jersey and New York state,
respectively.
Join us next week as we kick off a
series on San Francisco cemeteries!
Photography by Michelle Kilfeather