Murals and Merry-Go-Rounds

A postcard of the Fairmont Hotel's Merry-Go-Round Bar, with Esther Bruton's murals in the background.

In 1947, Esther was called back for another mural project at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. More than a decade after completing her paintings for the Cirque Room, she was asked to create a series of murals for the new Merry-Go-Round Bar at the hotel.[1] This kitschy drinking establishment was located just off the lobby; there was an actual carousel installed in the center of the room, where guests sat and slowly rotated as they drank their cocktails. Esther’s murals depicted “Golden Gate Park and Fleishhacker Zoo in 1903.”[2]

A postcard of elegantly dressed guests at the Fairmont Hotel's Merry-Go-Round bar.

The Merry-Go-Round Bar was unveiled in April 1947, and from the start it was considered somewhat ridiculous. The San Francisco Chronicle reported: “People sitting on it as it slowly revolves in the opposite direction from the customary carousel seem to feel rather silly… But they put on a brave front and waved sheepishly to a few friends who had come round to stare.”^[3]  Despite the lukewarm reviews, advertisements claimed that “America’s most novel cocktail bar” was “one of the most popular cocktail lounges in San Francisco.”^[4]  

Eventually the novelty wore off, and after operating for less than five years, the Merry-Go-Round Bar was scheduled to close its doors permanently in January 1952. On Christmas Eve 1951, a careless guest left a smoldering cigarette in the upholstery, starting a fire that destroyed the lounge -- and Esther Bruton's murals -- just a week before its planned closure.^[5]

Article from the San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Dec. 1951, p. 3.

If you want to see the former site of the Merry-Go-Round Bar, just visit the Fairmont's expansive and elegant Laurel Court Restaurant and Bar, which is straight ahead as you enter the hotel. It's not difficult to imagine a carousel spinning under the high, domed roof. Although Esther Bruton's works are gone, new murals have been painted on the curved walls.  Interestingly, the new murals feature park-like scenes that resemble Esther's original works.

The Laurel Court Restaurant and Bar, former site of the Merry-Go-Round Bar, as it looks today.
Courtesy of the Fairmont Hotel.

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^[1] Esther, Margaret, and Helen Bruton : Exhibition of mosaics.  [San Francisco: Gump’s Galleries, 1949].  The Merry-Go-Round murals are also mentioned in a document the Brutons wrote about themselves in 1963.

^[2] San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Feb. 1950, p. 5.

^[3] San Francisco Chronicle.  Women’s World, 11 Apr. 1947, p. 12

^[4] San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Feb. 1950, p. 5.

^[5] San Francisco Chronicle, 25 Dec. 1951, p. 3.