Looking Back a Move Forward in Airport Entertainment
What do you get when you pair a terminally boring place (an airport) with an equally boring attraction (a museum)? Actually, you get something that proved to be quite a bit of fun.
While transiting in San Francisco recently, in between scouring for elusive electrical outlets for my laptop and scanning the departures board for flights to Bangkok (I had 4 hours to kill), I happened upon the San Francisco Airport Museum.
In their own words, here’s what it’s all about:
“Since 1980, SFO Museum (SFOM) has presented the traveling public with exhibitions exploring art, history, anthropology, science, and popular culture in galleries throughout SFO’s terminals, SFOM has the distinction of being the first and only fully accredited museum located within an airport, and its success has inspired the initiation of arts programs in other airports nationwide. Nearly all of SFOM’s galleries are located presecurity and are accessible to the public year-round and twenty-four hours a day.”
Rotating Exhibits
The current rotating exhibit is entitled “Television: TV in the Antenna Age”, and since I’m a recovering boob-tube addict, I was like Lindsay Lohan in a jewellery shop.
The displays and stories just drew me in.
I got a real kick out the old collectible television sets from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
Television Remote Controls
I love an industry whose idea of a key improvement is a quicker way to turn off what they’ve just sold you.
So what self-respecting television museum collection would be complete without a thorough inventory on remote controls. There’s a stellar display here on the history and development of the remote, including the aptly named Blab-Off.
The small print in the bottom left of the Flash-Matic (the world’s first TV remote control, invented by Eugene Polley) reads: “With a beam of magic light, this Zenith ‘flash tuner’ works TV miracles. Absolutely harmless to humans!”
I like the wording of the Commercial Killer best: “This is the way to beat televiewers’ disease…yes sir, men, tests prove that you can cut the glib gab out of your set with this gadget.”
But let’s not forget the granddaddy of all remotes – the seminal Lazy Bones.
Television Games and Memorabilia
Several display cases are devoted to games, puzzles and all shapes and sizes of television memorabilia.
Dino the Dinosaur table lamp anyone?
A rousing round of The Patty Duke Game perhaps? No? Think you’ve got a prayer in a spirited game of The Flying Nun?
Thirsty? What say you wet your whistle with a sip from a Hopalong Cassidy thermos?
Or maybe just take a seat and just soak it all in.
Television Posters
The exhibit also features an array of vintage television posters. One entire wall of otherwise wasted space along a moving sidewalk is adorned with TV Guide covers from the 1960’s.
Larger stills from favourites throughout the history of television are displayed throughout the exhibit adding visual interest to a usually dull and monotone airport space.
The San Francisco Airport Museum is a shining example of how an airport can do it right.
There’s only so much book-reading, web-surfing, and duty-free’ing you can do before you go bonkers. The museum here gives a much needed boost of fun (did I just say museums were fun?) to the waiting game. And the rotating exhibits ensure frequent fliers are not stuck with the same old same-old.
What cool things to do have you encountered at airports?
If you’re stuck in an airport with nothing to do, make use of that free Wi-Fi and check out holiday comparison sites from Easy Voyage. You’ll save yourself time and hassle, and — more importantly — money, the next time you travel.
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That’s pretty cool. i can’t lie…for me it was shopping.
The stuff I like to buy they usually don’t sell at airports.
Haha – these are great! A smart idea for all airports…have seen this one before but never had enough time to go through.
Yeah airports need to spruce things up a bit. Would it kill ‘em to have something to look at in all that space?
This is pretty cool! Knowing the museum geek I am, I’d be so enthralled by Zenith’s new technology (“absolutely harmless to humans!”) and the intricacies of the “I Dream of Jeannie” board game (“Yes, Master!”) that I’d miss my flight…
The worst airport “museum” I’ve encountered was in Toronto – there was a room reserved for such historical wonders as a glass case filed with a pile of used slippers from the (yawnnnn……) National Ballet of Canada. They were behind several layers of bullet-proof plexiglass, so you couldn’t even try them on to see if you, too, would develop an impressive case of pre-flight hammer toe, or have a toenail or two turn black and fall off, a la Natalie Portman’s “Black Swan”.
One again, Raymond, you are my HERO, man…
LISA!!! You leave the best comments EVER! Sadly I missed the slipper show in T dot O. Well not sadly at all really. And when I read “hammer toe” all I saw was “camel toe”. Thanks for that.
Tsk, tsk, tsk – don’t you know by now that us girls DON’T get “camel toe” from trying on USED FOOTWEAR?!?! We get it from actually trekking across the SAHARA in MOROCCO on a CAMEL in our Patagonia zip-off pants and a Tilley hat!!
Which, as I recall, I don’t believe YOU’VE ever done, Mr. Walsh – with or WITHOUT the Patagonia pants and/or Tilley hat!! (PS – Name-brand endorsement contracts gratefully accepted)….
Pronotional consideration for this post has been provided by Lithium — helping bipolar readers since 1898.
Love ya babe!!
I am another musuem geek and I have to admit that I sometimes book my flights to get routed through Amsterdam’s shipohl. Why? Because a) they have a real musuem too, orignlas from the teikjsmusuem, so you can get up close and personal with your Rembrandt and Tizian. Next to it is the casino, where I just love to watch the addicts pull at the one armed bandits and then comes the best massage parlor (no, not what YOU think) I’ve ever been in. 5 hours in Shipohl? No hardship at all.
I haven’t been to Amsterdam in years. And I do love me some casino action every now and then.
I think that’s pretty awesome!
It is indeed!
SFO has terrific exhibits. I liked this television one, too, even though I haven’t had a chance to really stop and look — just enjoyed it while passing by on my way to/from the gate. Cool post.
Thanks Cathy. It was my first time at SFO in many years, so was pleasantly surprised.
Wow, game show board games! I used to have that Family Feud game, but now I want them all.
I had that Family Feud game too! Survey says it’s a keeper!
In Salt Lake City, they have a photographic exhibit on all of Utah’s beautiful places. Makes you not want to get back on the plane!
Utah is spectacular — would love to see that one day…
That’s fantastic! “TV will never be a serious contender for radio”?? Wot?? Top stuff thanks!
Thanks John — I loved that sign too!
This is like striking gold when you’ve got hours to kill at an airport. I have actually been quite impressed with some of the art exhibits in airports. It is great that they make their exhibits available to the public.
Some are much more enticing than others (see ballet slippers above), but very good that they are moving in the right direction.
This is very cool. I love it when airports make a bit of an effort to make things interesting for people in between flights.
My favourite is Detroit, they have a lightshow.
Now that would be cool to see!
I wish I would have known about this when I was at SFO on a long stopover to Asia in September! So cool!!
I remember reading about that stopover. Weren’t you the one who spent WAY too much money on sushi at Narita?
That is definitely an awesome way to kill time.
I just wish some of the TVs worked. I was missing the Young and the Restless.
That is super interesting. I’ve never seen anything like this in an airport!
All they needed was a little stand selling TV dinners. That would have been epic.
I love the 70′s spherical TV’s…WANT
They are pretty sexy.
Having used SFO as my airport base for the past four years, I think I can say with authority that it consistently has the BEST airport exhibits. Oh, and have you seen the new Virgin America terminal 2? Stunning!
I may have to waltz on through there one day and take a looky-loo…
Last time we flew through Bush International (Ugh) they had a brilliant arts and crafts exhibit (I mean the movement, not latch hooks). Really, it turned out to be a very enjoyable way to kill some time.
This exhibit in SFO looks great. Fun surprise.
I have to agree with you on Bush International. Ugh. (Half that “ugh” is for the airport, the other half for the man it’s named after.)
Before reading this, I thought FOR SURE I wanted to live at the airport in Singapore.
(The auditorium-like seating and kids jungle had me sold.)
But a feature on television remote controls? Well I think I may just change my mind…
All they need is a tribute to the humble rabbit ear, and it’s move-in ready!
Working in TV Land, this is totally cool! I love airport museums.
It was a pleasant find for sure.
What a great idea! I would definitely go to a museum at the airport if there was one…
Yeah I’m not entirely sure why more airports aren’t bandwangoning on this one. Great idea to kill some time and actually learn something…
Very cool. That’s one way to pass the time at the airport. More should have exhibits like this for us to browse while we wait for our planes.
Yes, fewer duty free shops and more of stuff like this would be a welcome addition IMHO.
What a cool way to spend some time in an airport! I’ve never heard of an airport museum before. I wonder why more places don’t do it when there is such a captive audience.
Captive is the key word! People are starved for things to at airports — there should be more of this!
I could think of much worse ways to kill time! That’s a very cool display
I was mesmerized by the Howdy Doody tribute.
I was mesmerized by the Howdy Doody tribute.
My vote is for Amsterdam’s Shiphohl, too. Besides great design throughout, I loved that they actually had a LIBRARY!
That’s the second vote for Schiphol — I definitely need to pay a visit! L(
Love the old tv and bought one at a flea market and got it working – did not have a tv at the time so this was a good thing
Great post just found your site, can’t wait to read more.