Musée Mécanique proprietor's aluminum pocket protector

One of my all-time favorite spots in San Francisco is the Musée Mécanique, a magnificent penny arcade of yesteryear filled with dozens of incredible antique arcade machines, mechanical music instruments, and bizarre automatons. Today, I spent the morning at Musée Mécanique with my pals from OpenRoad.TV, a new travel video site dedicated to unique destinations in the American West. I've been visiting Musée Mécanique for years and this time had the chance to meet the proprietor, Dan Zelinsky, who also leads the restoration and maintenance of the machines. Dan's a wonderful guy with a passion for these delightful contraptions and a love of sharing his fun with the public. The first thing I noticed when I met Dan is that he was wearing a aluminum stainless steel pocket protector. He said he made it himself after realizing that he was tearing through at least one plastic pocket protector a week. The side seams are sewn with copper wire and coated with cellophane tape so it doesn't snag his shirt. I think it's a real beaut. Click the photos for a better view. I'll link to the interview with Dan and the tour of the Musée Mécanique once it's online at OpenRoad.TV. Link to Musée Mécanique, Link to OpenRoad.TV

Previously on BB:
• Pocket protector museum Link

UPDATE: OpenRoadTV's Doug McConnell posted about our visit too. Link

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Seriously? No comments?

I haven’t met Dan, but if I do in the future, I will shake his hand. I also recommend that anyone who visits S.F. skip some of the mroe touristy attractions and hits up the mechanical museum.

My favorite is the baseball game that keeps track of balls, strikes, outs, and runs with marbles that are used during gameplay. Way fun.
Eddie Codel

The MusÃ©e MÃ©canique is indeed rad. I miss its old basement home in the Cliff House, although it has plenty of room to stretch out in its current Pier 45 location.

Violet Blue and I did a Geek Entertainment TV episode touring the MusÃ©e a couple months ago.
Rob, Denmark

Shows there is a market for pocket protectors in kevlar out here… :o)
Yep

Love that place – my favorite is the Mouth of Truth with the hokey italian accent… “Puta yo hand inna my mouth!”
MegaPickles

I met Dan a few years ago. He truly is the wizard of oz.

I wrote a bit about my visit: http://www.themarkpike.com/blog/2005/08/07/musee-mecanique/
David Pescovitz

@Megapickles (#3), Great post! Thanks for linking to it.