SFO airport

Keep on Truckin’ at SFO Airport

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The Amazing Answer Board c. 1944 Courtesy Eugene Orlando_Museum of Talking Boards_SFO Museum

There are lots of reasons I enjoy spending time at San Francisco International Airport.

Tops among them: the exhibits offered by the SFO Museum, which currently has a Ouija board – or spirit board – exhibit in Terminal 2.

On my most recent visit, I discovered one more reason to add to the list:

A shop selling Grateful Dead stickers and other groovy accessories, so travelers can take home that San Francisco vibe.

 

Museum Monday: Games of Chance at SFO Airport

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If, by chance, you’ve got some time before or between flights at San Francisco International Airport, you’re in luck.

That’s because the SFO Museum has just kicked off a new exhibition featuring more than sixty examples of early gambling devices, including the first automatic payout, three reel slot machine.

 

 

According to the exhibition notes, at one time San Francisco was a hotbed for these types of games:

“In no part of the world did gambling take place so openly and on such a large scale than in San Francisco during the Victorian era. The city’s residents were largely pioneers or one generation removed from those who risked all to relocate and gamble on a new life in the West. San Franciscans wagered in nearly every possible manner, including horse races, sporting contests, card games, wheels-of-fortune, and impromptu barroom arguments on every conceivable subject. At the beginning of the twentieth century, more than 3,000 machines operated freely, enticing customers from busy sidewalks into the saloons and cigar stores that proliferated throughout San Francisco. “

 

 

The devices on display range from very early models that rely on simple clock mechanisms and a payout by the bartender to automatic slot machines with elaborate carved-wood, cast-iron, or painted-aluminum bodies – and each was designed to part a person with a small bit of their money.

 

 

All the objects in this exhibit (and all photos used here) are courtesy of Joe Welch American Antique Museum in San Bruno, California and will be on display at SFO Airport in Terminal 3, Boarding Area F through June 18, 2017.

You can see descriptions of the gambling devices featured here – and photos of others – in the SFO Museum’s online exhibition.  But I bet the exhibition is far more entertaining if you see it in person.

At SFO Museum: spooky, cool Ouija board exhibit

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The Amazing Answer Board c. 1944 Courtesy Eugene Orlando_Museum of Talking Boards_SFO Museum

The Amazing Answer Board c. 1944 Courtesy Eugene Orlando_Museum of Talking Boards_SFO Museum

It’s Halloween season and a perfect time for the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport to host an exhibit of Ouija boards and other “talking boards” from the 1890s to the present.

These devices can be dated back to 1886, when news spread of Spiritualists in Ohio using a “talking board” with letters, numbers and a small wooden device, called a planchette, that pointed to the letters. With that set-up, the living could ‘simply’ hold their hands on the planchette and then spirits could move their hands to letters and words and spell out messages. (“Water the plants.” “Bring home milk” “You snore..” are some of the messages I imagine…)

Official “Ouija” boards began being produced in 1890 and a variety of knock-offs were issued with imagery that included Egyptian sphinxes, swamis, fortune tellers and witches.

Here are some images from the exhibition,  The Mysterious Talking Board: Ouija and Beyond, which is on display at San Francisco International Airport through May 7, 2017, post-security in Terminal 2.

sfo-ouji-star-gazer-mystical-question-board-tray-c-1944

 

sfo-ouji-the-mitche-manitou-board-c-1917

sfo-ouija-ziriya-human-battery-circuit-talking-board-1972

Can’t make it to Terminal 2 at SFO before next May, 2017? Here’s a link to the online version of the exhibition and here are links to an online Museum of Talking Boards and an online Oujia board you can use to communicate with a spirit of your choice.

All images courtesy SFO/ Eugene Orlando/Museum of Talking Boards

Museum Monday: Toy Story at SFO Museum

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Woody Bud Luckey reproduction of marker on paper Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios -

Woody
Bud Luckey
reproduction of marker on paper
Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios –

A new exhibition from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the Toy Story film with a presentation of artwork and artifacts from Pixar.

Early Woody and Woody - cast urethane resin Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios -

Early Woody and Woody – cast urethane resin
Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios –

Included in Toy Story at Twenty are maquettes, modeling sculptures, creative props and images that illustrate the development of Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang. Look for the fun exhibit, pre-security, in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby through May 22, 2016.

Aliens - Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios

Aliens – Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios

Mingei: Traditional Japanese Art at the SFO Museum

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SFO Mingei Fish

Carp lantern 20th century Japan – courtesy SFO Museum

The SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport is hosting an exhibition of traditional Japanese arts – mingei – in the International Terminal Main Hall through January 2016.

The objects on view include lanterns, fans, iron kettles and toys and are on loan from the Mingei International Museum in San Diego, which collects and exhibits the arts of daily use.

SFO MUSEUM CAT GOOD LUCK

Maneki neko 20th century Japan – clay From Mingei International Museum – courtesy SFO Museum

SFO Museum happy face

Charcoal caddy possibly 1800s gourd, paint Mingei International Museum -Courtesy SFO Museum

Monsters move in to SFO Airport

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Frankenstein

The newest offering from the SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport is an exhibition about monsters.

Not the kind that live under the bed, but the monsters made famous by Universal Pictures, which pretty much invented the monster movie genre in 1923 with the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Chaney in 1925.

Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi in the first talking vampire movie, followed in 1931, and within a year, fans were being frightened by Frankenstein, which was inspired by Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel. Later came The Mummy and a series of mummy movies, The Werewolf of London (1935) and The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Revenge of the Creature prop head c. 1955_courtesy SFO Museum

One big fan of monster memorabilia is Metallica’s Kirk Hammett,
and its part of his collection of monster movie props, original artwork, themed novelty toys and other creature collectibles that are on display in SFO Terminal 2 through November 2015.

Some of Hammett’s custom-made monster guitars are on display too.

Guitars_Custom Monster_from the Kirk Hammett Collection_ courtesy SFO Museum

(Photos courtesy of SFO Museum)

SFO Museum celebrates aviators at the 1915 World’s Fair

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SFO_Art Smith ( left) with his biplane and fairgoers at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition,

Art Smith (at left) with his biplane and fairgoers at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco 1915. Courtesy SFO Museum

A new exhibition at San Francisco International Airport displays images of the popular aeronautical programs that were presented at San Francisco’s 1915 World’s Fair – known as the Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

SFO_Lincoln Beachey performing in his biplane over the Panama-Pacific International Exposition grounds,

Lincoln Beachey performing in his biplane over the Panama-Pacific International Exposition grounds, San Francisco December 25, 1913 – courtesy SFO Museum

Included in Fancy Flying: Aviation at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition – are twenty-one recently created black and white gelatin silver prints made from the vintage glass plate negatives of the Cardinell-Vincent Company. Many show famous birdmen of the day, including Lincoln Beachey and Art Smith, who performed aerial acrobatics for the crowds.

SFO_Art Smith performing an illuminated night flight at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition,

Art Smith performing an illuminated night flight at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, San Francisco 1915 – Courtesy SFO Museum

Many fairgoers got their first look at an airplane at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition and many paid what was then a considerable sum of money – $10.00 – for an air tour over San Francisco Bay in a floatplane made by the Loughead brothers, who later changed the spelling of their name to Lockheed.

Fancy Flying: Aviation at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition is part of the citywide centennial celebration and is on display in the pre-security area of the SFO International Terminal through August 31, 2015. (Open Sunday to Friday; closed Saturday and holidays).

Can’t get to SFO before August? Here’s a link to an online exhibition of some of the images.

Museum Monday: Egyptian Revival at SFO Airport

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SFO MUSEUM EGYPTIAN CIGARETTE CASES

On display at SFO Airport: Egyptian-inspired cigarette packs. Courtesy SFO Museum

The SFO Museum’s newest exhibit at SFO Airport highlights the design style known as Egyptian Revival and features objects ranging from nineteenth-century mantel clocks and ornate Victorian table stands to Art Deco beaded purses and cigarettes and cigarette cases.

SFO MUSEUM Egyptian cigar bands

Cleopatra, the Rosetta Stone and King Tutankahamun’s tomb are just a few reasons why the West has a thing for Ancient Egypt. And, according to the notes for this exhibit, “No other ancient civilization’s art and architecture has captivated the Western world in quite the same manner,” and influenced everything from commercial buildings, movie theaters, films and opera to decorative arts, clothing, mass-produced items, operas, and advertisements.

SFOMuseum Egypt beaded purse

Beaded purse c. 1920s From the collection of Jennifer Whitehair – courtesy SFO Museum

Egyptian Revival: An Everlasting Allure is located pre-security in the International Terminal Main Hall Departures Lobby at San Francisco International Airport and will be on view through July 5, 2015.

SFO Airport concert: Big Brother & the Holding Company

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big-brother-holding-company

Far out, man!

As part of the SFO Winter Music Festival, San Francisco International Airport will be offering a free concert by the iconic ‘60s rock band Big Brother & The Holding Company, which played with Janis Joplin from 1965 to 1968.

The free one-hour concert will be held at noon, on Wednesday, December 10, pre-security, in the main hall of the International Terminal – right next to the SFO Museum’s “When Art Rocked” exhibit, which features San Francisco music posters from 1966-1971; including posters from Big Brother and The Holding Company.

Big Brother

Big Brother and the Holding Company November 23–25, 1967 Artist: Joe Gomez Avalon Ballroom San Francisco. Courtesy SFO Museum

Not planning on being at SFO on Wednesday? Bummer.

But you can check out the rock poster exhibit here, see a list of other concerts in the SFO series here and and download free music by some of the performers here.

SFO inks deal with Uber & Lyft

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Uber app

Airports around the country are grappling with how – and if – they can regulate and collect revenue from  taxi-alternative companies such as Lyft, Sidecar and UberX, which maintain that they do not fall under the same rules that apply to traditional taxis that operate at airports.

Some airports have taken a hands-off approach to the problem, but San Francisco International Airport has been adamant that these ‘transportation network companies’ are operating illegally at the airport.

But things have changed.

Earlier this month SFO announced that it had come to an agreement withe Sidecar to allows that company to operate legally at the airport.

Now comes word that the airport has worked out a deal that allows Lyft and UberX to pick up and drop off at SFO as well.

All three companies should be operating – legally – at the airport within the next 30 days and the deals will no doubt serve as a guide to help these companies work out their differences with other airports as well.