Jonathan Cohen's photos with the keyword: Zelinsky Collection

Laffing Sal is one of several automated characters that were built primarily to attract carnival and amusement park patrons to funhouses and dark rides throughout the United States. Its movements were accompanied by a raucous laugh that sometimes frightened small children and annoyed adults. Laffing Sal stands 6 feet, 10 inches high, including a 12-inch pedestal. She is made of papier mache, consisting of seven layers of pressed card stock with horse-hair strengthener, mounted over steel coils and frame. She wears an artificial wig and has a large gap between her front teeth. Her head, arms, hands and legs are detachable and are held together with fabric, staples, pins, nails, nuts and bolts. When activated, she waves its arms and rocks foreward and backward. A record player concealed in its pedestal a recording of a woman laughing hysterically. All this for only 50¢!

They dance -- what else is there to know? The Musée Méchanique is one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines. Located at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, California, it consists of some 300 early 20th-century penny arcade games and artifacts including: music boxes, coin-operated fortune tellers, Mutoscopes, video games, love testers, player pianos, peep shows, photo booths, dioramas and animatronic machines. The machines require constant maintenance, with some having undergone major restorations. The collection is a for-profit interactive museum: While admission is free, visitors must pay for the use of each game. More than 100,000 visitors a year do just that.

So what if their harmonies are somewhat wooden! The Musée Méchanique is one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines. Located at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, California, it consists of some 300 early 20th-century penny arcade games and artifacts including: music boxes, coin-operated fortune tellers, Mutoscopes, video games, love testers, player pianos, peep shows, photo booths, dioramas and animatronic machines. The machines require constant maintenance, with some having undergone major restorations. The collection is a for-profit interactive museum: While admission is free, visitors must pay for the use of each game. More than 100,000 visitors a year do just that.

The Musée Méchanique is one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of mechanically operated musical instruments and antique arcade machines. Located at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, California, it consists of some 300 early 20th-century penny arcade games and artifacts including: music boxes, coin-operated fortune tellers, Mutoscopes, video games, love testers, player pianos, peep shows, photo booths, dioramas and animatronic machines. The machines require constant maintenance, with some having undergone major restorations. The collection is a for-profit interactive museum: While admission is free, visitors must pay for the use of each game. More than 100,000 visitors a year do just that.