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| At
65 or so (she refuses to reveal her exact age), Sal was
a bit overdue for a makeover. Although a stiff shot of
110 volts would get her giggling, she clearly needed a
tune- up, as well as some transmission, paint and body
work before she was ready to return to the spotlight. |
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| The
task of ascertaining what type of work Sal would be needing "under
the hood" fell to Mark Hersey. He's the Lighting and Visual
FX Technician for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, involved in concert
lighting, dark ride design and maintaining all of the park's animated
pieces, to name just a few of his duties. We'll let Mark pick
up the story from here. |
| One
day my boss tells me he needs me to go with him up to
San Francisco to pick up our newly purchased Laffing Sal.
"Who?", I say. "Laffing Sal," he says. "Haven't you heard
of Laffing Sal?" He then explains her history with Playland
and shows me the check for $50K. Holy cow!! $50K?? She
must really be something! |
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| There
I was, riding in the truck on the way to SF, imagining
a pristine piece of antique animatronics, sealed
in a glass enclosed, climate controlled, UV protected
case! After all... We were going to retrieve her
from a museum, right? Boy, I couldn't have been
more wrong!! |
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Above:
Mark Hersey experiences his first 'Close Encounter'
with Laffing Sal at the Wickett Museum.
Right: Mark has Sal all bundled up for the trip
to her new home in Santa Cruz. |
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| We
arrived at the Wickett "museum" to find a very shabby
Sal, precariously perched there with all the mountains
of eclectic, eccentric stuff that John Wickett had collected
over his life. We're paying how much for that? Holy cow
again! It wasn't until much later that I realized her
value didn't lie in her state of preservation, but solely
in her historical significance to the amusement industry,
and especially to the people around the San Francisco
Bay Area. |
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