Howard Bronstein
The Fun Tier Town Wrangler
As a child, Howard lived in Parkside and attended Parkside Elementary School. When he was 12 his family moved to the Westlake neighborhood of Daly City. The post war neighborhood developed by Henry Doelger is said to be a crowning example of his post war suburban architecture. The neighborhood also inspired the Malvina Reynolds’ folk song,"Little Boxes,"
Like many other kids of the early 60's, he enjoyed our beloved Playland. Howard loved the Fun House... but admits to being a little fearful of it's attractions. He spent many hours enjoying the Barrel of Fun, Joy Wheel, Fun House Mirrors and the infamous Giant Slide. Howard recounts, “I believe I attended birthday parties there..... Tables with a tablecloth, paper cups, plastic ware, and free rides for tickets. Cheap sheet cakes and candles. Usually held on the fun house mezzanine.'
'I did not have the guts to go all the way up the slide till I was older. It was so high up and I heard you could get a nasty burn on your arms/hands trying to slow down at the bottom,' Howard recalled.
Howard didn't hold himself to just the Fun House! He loved other attractions at Playland including the Diving Bell. Looking out the Diving Bell porthole, he remembers seeing a lot of dirty water, rather than any
swimming fish.
The shooting galleries were a big attraction for Howard... a place where
your could shoot a real gun!
Howard's memory of Playland, 'I remember the smell of electricity and
the food. There was always ride noises and screams of joy from park
attendees.'
Like many of us back then, life extended beyond Playland. Howard
remembers making a few visits to Sutro's before it closed. He went to
the Zoo, Golden Gate park and remembers loving Pink Popcorn. He had
typical local boys entertainment and social life of the era. Howard was in
the Indian Guides, played Baseball and was in the Cub Scouts, pack 83.
A New Cowboy arrives at Fun Tier Town
In 1966 at age 16, Howard started work at Playland. He worked in Fun Tier Town from 1966, through 1967's Summer of Love. This is where he has his fondest memories.
Operating the Fun Tier Rides was his primary job, but he has vivid memories of operating the Train ride.
Howard takes us on a journey on Fun Tier Town's Train in great detail. He remembers, 'I'd take the passengers tickets and when the train was full, close the entrance gate. Taking a seat in the trains main engine, I'd grab the Bullhorn and turned it backwards toward the passengers, then recite... "Good afternoon cowboys and cowgirls, and welcome aboard the Fun Tier Town special. Now leaving on track #9 for the haunted tunnel, the ghost town, dead man's curve, the painted dessert and the horseless carriages.”
Ridding that Train
'The train started at the station on level ground, then went through the
"haunted tunnel." The train gained elevation, making a sharp turn in the ghost
town which was called 'dead man's turn.' Leveling out post turn, we traveled
into the painted dessert. The painted desert was a fence painted like a desert
with phony cactus, rocks and the like. You could see outside the park (La Playa)
as the train went down a grade. We'd cross the road of the horseless carriages,
which were Antique Kiddie cars that ran on a track. This road crossing lead to
the Horseless Carriage ride entrance. This area was where the train would
come off the tracks if you took the turn too fast! The train, back on level ground,
re-entered the Train station.
Train details. 'The train was a 2 cyl AMC built engine with one speed and very
poor air brakes...which slowed, but did not stop the train. There were no
straps to hold passengers in the train cars. The train barely moved, then slowly
got up to speed, It traveled maybe 5 mph or so. It was key operated which
workers left in the ignition. There was a bullhorn with an external cabled
mic. You'd put the horn facing backwards towards the passengers and did your speech while starting it up. Howard couldn't remember wether they went once or twice around the trains route.'
Visiting the Fun Tier....
The weather was always overcast. The Coastal fog and moisture left a grime on everything, leaving an occasional tar smell in the air. (probably from the heavy gear grease used on the rides?) I was ALWAYS Cold. Sheriff C. U. Soon with his guns a blazin', loomed over the Fun Tier entrance from the roof area. Today, he greets customers at the entry of the Cliff House... minus the guns!
A lot of single parents would bring their kids, buying a handful of tickets for them. Most parents went into the saloon to get warm, drank coffee and socialize while the kids enjoyed the rides. Some parents did stand by the rides with their kids. Rarely was there a full family together at Fun Tier Town.
Everyone went on the train, but the horseless carriage ride was fun and popular too. There were also kiddie Helicopters, Cars and Boat rides.
The park was arranged in a rough circle. You entered on the corner of La Playa and Cabrillo, got your tickets at the booth or saloon, and hit the rides. Howard can't remember if there were restrooms, but assumed they were they somewhere onsite.
Life in Fun Tier Town...
The whole town was run by a husband and wife who stayed in the saloon most of the time.
The managing couple provided birthday parties in the Saloon. Howard remembers 'the bad over cooked hot dogs' they would get after the birthday parties were over. After the parties, 'kids would come out of the saloon with a tummy full of sugar and fat with a 1/2 dozen tickets for every ride! It was hard to keep them inside the rides! They would hang out of the copters, cars and boats unless strapped in and even then.' That sounds like a job in itself.... like herding cats.
'Playland gave us shirts with a logo on the back, they were like engineers shirts with a zipper part way down the front, very thin and cheap. You had to buy a jeans jacket to wear, no one wore cowboy hats. We had to bring your own lunch.'
Workers were not allowed to look like they were hanging out or loafing. You were supposed to look busy, unless on a break. 'Breaks were 10 min for every 4 hours with a ½ hour lunch. If you stood around on your break the boss hassled you, but if you had a cigarette in your mouth he did not. So I bummed smokes till I had to buy them and that's how I started smoking.' Howard doesn't smoke today. 'There was a manually operated cigarette machine. When the price changed from .25 cents to .35 they only changed the sign, so you would be able to get your cigarettes cheaper.'
Work Supervisors were basically typical task-masters and gave little slack to the workforce.
*** Worker names have been changed to protect the innocent... ;-)
'Rusty was a work manager, he got $1.75 an hour. I (Howard)
was manager for a week with no increase in pay.'
Playland's work atmosphere in 1966. 'Fun Tier Workers were
friendly with the midway personnel and the Playland ride
operators, but they did not communicate much. Rumor was
the park had been turned over to the carnival people who were
running it into the ground. Maintenance guys would just
shrugged their shoulders when things broke and patched things
back up. There was always one or two rides not working.'
Fun Tier Ride condition. 'The rides had layers of paint covering
the rust. The train would come off the tracks regularly and the
whole staff had to pick it up and put the cars back on the track.'
Howard was laid off with his entire crew at the end of the 1967
Summer. No raises, just lay em-off and hire a new crew.
There was no face to face communication of the lay off, just a
note in his paycheck. Paychecks were handed out in the
Administration building across the street. Opposite corner from Fun Tier Town. Worker went upstairs and received their paycheck through a grated window.
Fun Tier Town: Behind the Scenes
*** Worker names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Many of the Fun Tier Town workers for the Summer of 66-67' were from Westmoor high school. Ironically, Howard tells us stories about workers who didn't come from Westmoor. ;-)
Rusty, a work Supervisor, forgot to set the chalk behind the rear wheels of the train (it had no emergency brake) while parked in the lower tunnel. The train broke through the door and he was fired for this mishap.
Clem from George Washington High went to park the train in the tunnel for the night but gunned it instead. He came running out of the upper entrance train tunnel. He said, “I flipped the train, I quit...” He ran out of the park. He had flipped the train on it's side on dead man's curve in the ghost town, pinning one guy in the train. Workers used some 4 by 4's to right the train. There were no injuries.
Shane from Lowell High was a very straight guy. One night, some of the guys smoked some dope with Shane and got him stoned in the Painted Desert. Shane freaked out, yelling, I can't feel my legs!” The other had to 'talk him down' for hours...
I'm sure Howard has plenty of stories of after hour antics, but he has been sworn to silence by those involved..... I think the legal statute of limitations has long expired being that it's been over 40 years. Maybe, we'll get those stories in time...?
