What Was it About Malls in the 1970s?
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- Опубликовано: 15 мар 2024
- There was just something different about shopping malls in the 1970s.
Step back in time with us to the 1970s, an era when shopping malls were more than just places to shop-they were the epicenters of fashion, culture, and community.
Picture yourself walking through the doors into a world where the sounds of the latest music could be heard streaming out of the record stores, the newest fashion trends dazzled from every shop window, and the air was charged with the excitement of innovation and social connection.
The 1970s shopping mall was a revolutionary concept, a space that redefined leisure, retail, and entertainment, setting it apart from any other decade.
From the unique architecture and mod designs to the birth of the food court, join us as we explore why these temples of consumerism became the heartbeats of towns across America, and how they left a legacy that's still felt in the way we shop and gather today.
Dive into the nostalgia, the uniqueness, and the undeniable impact of 1970s shopping malls with us.
#1970s #mall #nostalgia 
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Mall bookstores always made me so happy!
Oh yes...I worked in a mall bookstore in the mid to late 70s. Sold lots of romance novels, poetry books and of course, the iconic Farrah Fawcett poster! Those were the BEST days ever!
Oh yesss! Always loved going to the bookstores! Never left without a purchase! 📚 😊
Yes a real get-away for me to get lost in other worlds.
Waldenbooks, B Dalton, Paperback Booksmith...
Same. I used to drift between Waldenbooks and B. Dalton all the time.
I especially miss malls during the holidays. As a kid growing up in the '70s/'80s, a trip to the mall to go Christmas shopping was a big part of the holiday experience: the music, the decorations, the hustle and bustle, kids waiting to see Santa, the kiddie train, etc.
I seriously miss that so much, too. And you didn't see Christmas stuff until after Thanksgiving, just made that time of year so special. Seemed like everyone in the mall was "in the spirit".
The former Eastfield Mall(now demolished) on Boston Road, Springfield had it all; movies, restaurants, shops, and socializing! In temperature-controlled comfort! We saw "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory" during the Christmas season of 1963, fifty years ago last December, two screens. That "Wondrous Boat Ride" was terrifying to a ten-year-old me! We still have Holyoke Mall, thankfully! Both in Massachusetts. I also checked out electronics, mostly computers, 1992, at Eastfield Mall, Radio Shack. Eating places were "The Flaming Pit", "Friendly's" and the ubiquitous "Orange Julius"! I am going to miss this mall!
😢 life will never be that good again
I don't miss them - I still go to them for all my shopping trips (and they have free parking!). Guess I'm lucky - 5 large malls all within a 15 minute drive.
we had a jewish-owned mall where i grew up, so we didn't have a santa there. we had a huge talking snowman with scary red eyes- i survived it.
I wish I could go back to those times. Things were simpler then.
People were so much thinner then.
Simpler, more honest, and much, much cheaper.
go a few days living your life as if the internet doesnt exist...that's the first step toward recapturing those times...bet youll decide this is best!
Less humans, less problems.
You're far from alone. The world is a much, MUCH darker place now.
I enjoyed the malls with their extravagant holiday decorations.
And thefts cars getting stolen
The former Baystate West(now Tower Square), the now-demolished Eastfield Mall, on Boston Road in Springfield, MA. Holyoke, Hampshire and nearby malls had everything under one roof! You had to remember where you parked your vehicle, especially if you had a snow storm while you were "in" the mall!
I remember not having any money and yet walking the malls and enjoying the lovely scenery !
Today the jack-booted rent-a-cops would harass the teens and the Boomers would clutch their pearls at the dangerous gangs.
I enjoy it today
You really don’t realize how good times were,until you compare to this present time.Wish I could go back to live it again,even if it’s for a day.👍🏼
There was a well-known department store chain, "Albert Steiger & Company" here in Western New England. (Massachusetts), it figured prominently in the area. For decades. It was sold to other buyers, a shame. The Eastfield Mall, Springfield, MA, has been demolished. Holyoke Mall, also in Massachusetts, is still going strong! the locals called it "Steiger's" it was everywhere! In all malls.
I would give all of my tomorrows for a single day. Seriously.
From Jimmy Carter to Joe "lobotomy " Biden
Also.... EVERYONE WAS THIN !!
So obvious. wow what happened, America ?
@@goofygrandlouis6296 😂 so true
I grieve the loss & closing of malls.
As a kid who grew up in the '70's & '80's, it was the ultimate place to shop.
The mall was such a fun and exciting place on Friday and Saturday nights - just plain fun! And at Christmastime - WOW!
It was a golden age for child molesters.
I miss the Orange Julius stores. And the smell of the Cinnabon stores. I get fat thinking of them.
Orange Julius 😋😋😋😋
You can get them at some Dairy Queen joints.
All the malls still have cinnabon stores... The malls are all still around, just a bit less crowded... Around here they are growing, expanding...
they had great chicago dogs at OJ. if a chick in a hot dog-on-a-stick uniform looked cute- she really WAS certifiably hot.
@@0ooTheMAXXoo0 not true- they are having a tough time of it. ask a management person like one of the higher-ups like westfield or simon bros.
The Internet destroyed the Malls.
Along with a lot of good stuff.
no, people acting like fools and slobs did. Malls are huge in Asia and they have better internet than we do.
@@doctordetroit4339"better internet" What does it even mean? 😒
@@-Thauma- they can order stuff faster, their tech is better and has been for decades. Go live in Japan for awhile, you'll see. Same all over Asia. The malls in the US failed because of animalistic feral behaviors primarily. People in the US have become disgusting in dress and conduct. Which is why most vote left demcrap. Go to Asia and visit a mall...you will see what it used to be like here.
Amazon was the death nail in the mall coffin.
Malls were a comfortable, safe place to shop even when the weather was bad. Everything was in one place. You could meet friends, have lunch, see a movie and in the early days some had ice skating rinks and pet stores where you could go see the puppies. We had this in North Hollywood, CA. When video games became popular, every teen in town was there. It was a wonderful time. Now, it's just ANOTHER THING THE INTERNET DESTROYED !
Laurel Plaza?
Malls were already on their way out in the 90s before internet was a thing. It was a failing economy that killed off the malls along with other social factors. Don't let your hatred of internet and computers cloud your reason!
Yep! Lived in North Hollywood with my aunt during the early to mid 1970's. The mall was a fun place to go, and then at night cruise Van Nuys Blvd. in my 69 Roadrunner. Great times.
No, the internet didn't destroy malls. Greed did. Land got expensive, rents went up, stores charged more, and we stopped shopping there. Simple.
@@LaurenMirandaG My local mall was the May Company Mall at El Camino Real and Highway 78 in Carlsbad, CA. May Co is gone from there, but the mall remains, amazingly enough.
I am 61 years old...I grew up in Dallas during the 70's...there were many malls all around us...but the mall all my friends went to was in Mesquite, Texas, (we all lived in the eastern part of Dallas next to Mesquite)...The Mall was a three level circular megamall called Town East...And we did far more socializing than shopping...meeting together, eating at the food court, going to the movies, perusing book stores, or even buying the latest clothes or records...every Friday or Saturday, It was the place to be, and be seen...I look back now and am sad at the demise of this once community center...malls are now dead...killed by the Internet and laziness...there is no community now...just people fighting each other on "Social" media...I am thankful I lived during those times...but I cry for my children and grandchildren...
I'm with you on that , I'm 62 I remember going to the mall with my sisters and her friend when I was a kid it was something to do. The internet and on-line shopping killed it.
The Almighty Town East Mall...Mesquite, Tx...right down the road from Balch Springs, and Seagoville...the Good old days...miss them. What about Bruton Terrace Movie Theater? Back then everybody knew everybody. These kids today numb from the neck up.
Wasn't Big Town out that way? I grew up in Denton. I remember finally getting our mall, Golden Triangle in 1980. Before that we had to go to the Galleria, Valley View, or that one just north of those that had an ice rink. There was the Tandy Center downtown Fort Worth. It had an ice rink too.
You’re my age and our mall was Cinderella City. It had everything including an arcade just for teens (Funway Freeway) as well as a wing resembling a dark British alley where the head shops were located. This section of the mall was completely secluded so that families weren’t accosted by the noisy shops selling bongs, pipes and incense. If you were in Cinder Alley you were specifically looking for drug paraphernalia. We, and all the kids from school as well as kids from neighboring high schools lived at that mall. There were probably 5 or 6 large high schools in the area so there were lots of us. At that time it was the largest mall west of the Mississippi.
@@scott-in-dfw3005 Oh my gosh how could I forget the Tandy Center! Thanks for that reminder. Last time I went there was in the 2001 I think, it was starting to fizzle out at that point sadly.
Malls had everything. Girls, frozen coke, hot pretzels, arcades, record stores, and much more. It was my hangout for years.
Malls are still around, at least around Chicago area they are seemingly doing well...
don't forget ice cream joints and model trains
Born in 1965, the 70’s were great ! Don’t get me started on the music 🎶
Same here, October 1965. So in the 70s I went from age 4 to 15. Great time to be a kid, except for the gas shortages, the 55 mph speed limit, and lethargic, bloated, smog era cars. But the music ruled!
born in '64 and feel the same way
I was born November 1965. I feel you brother.
Born in 1977.....
culturally I'm a 80's Baby, but can fully RESPECT the 70's!
Same here. 1965 baby. We didn't realize back then how great the times were. Glad to have lived it!
The girls where so slim and beautifully put together back then! Right down to their hair and shoes! Loved those 70s
even now the rare slim girl can blow up in literally months, ive seen it...they never come back down either, bizarre stuff, i dont know if it's fast food or no exercise or both but fast food's been around since 1950s and used to be no diet sodas.
At least the models for the photos, LOL
And hoes were very rare
Very true!
@@joejones9520
_"even now the rare slim girl can blow up in literally months"_ 9 months ? 🤭👶🏻
Anyways, maybe it is because the inflammatory chemicals (sodium phosphates etc etc) plus the use of GMO HFCS in everything (including mustard and meats) instead of regular sugar, and everything back then was "organic" - no gmo. HFCS prevents feeling satiated so people just keep on eating/drinking without ever feeling full. PS - artificial sweeteners cause weight gain and diabetes
I used to love Spencer gifts.Picking out a tee shirt silk screen was fun .
We still have a Spencer's in our mall. I think it's the only original store in the mall besides Penny's. I'm in my early 60s and still have to go in there and look around if I'm in the mall maybe once a year just for the memories😊
The Methuen Mall (Methuen, Mass.) circa 1975: Spencer's Gifts (if you remember that retail chain) was painted all black inside and lit only with blacklights and strobes. You could smoke in stores back then -- and not all of it was tobacco. 🙂 The rock music was ROARING in that place, sometimes 104.1 FM-WBCN out of Boston, other times tapes, but it was constantly Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Stones, etc. They sold blacklight posters, water bongs, incense, novelties, etc. It was a huge hippie-fest. 7 years or less later it was just plain white lights, the male clerks wore collared shirts and ties, the gifts sold were far more mainstream, there was no smoking allowed. The entire culture had changed. In the late 80s, the whole mall closed, was torn down, and the property turned into a housing development.
@@doorswhofan
We had another store in our mall next to Spencer's called the Moon Fun Shop. They had pipes and bongs and all the related supplies. Lol !
They had mugs that looked like boobs.
i used to like showing pictures of that chubby pin-up girl bridget to my mom and it would totally disgust her.
Between 1965 and 1995 life was amazing.
I think that the major decline can be traced to 9/11. Things really started to get worse at some time after 2012, so maybe the Mayans were right.
The only thing that changed is that you got old.
And *globalism* kicked in... and the US was destroyed.
Then the neocons, then more wars.. THE END.
@@texaswunderkind Nah. This is decadence, just like with Rome.
Asia, yes, they are factually on the rise, especially VietNam right now.
@@purplepanther2771 And let's not forget March of 2020---wondering if we're on our last legs.
It was a place for the Older and the younger
generation to hang out, shop talk to friends and people they may have not seen for a while. restaurants. NO CELL PHONES either. Great era to have experienced miss those days.
Was? nothing has changed. Malls are still where youth come to hang out...
no- but a lot of us kids got CB radios when we got our first cars.
@@0ooTheMAXXoo0 once again- a lot of them are gone. in the past 7 years- nearly 8000 US indoor shopping malls have gone under.
Today's youth cannot believe that in the 1970s and 1980s entire families SHARED a single phone line.
They were great. Indoors with air condition and heat and all the stores in one place.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
And the movie theaters
Were? Malls are still around, still have similar features...
@@0ooTheMAXXoo0 some around DFW are gone. Some are open with just a handful it stores. Search youtube for abandoned malls and find them around the country empty but with electricity and AC still running.
who could forget leaving the mall at closing time and walking thru the slush and snow to our car?
I think the women in the 1970s were absolutely beautiful
That was before tattoos, body piercings, and fishhooks in the nose.
That’s because they are of normal weight, not obese
and theyre all grannies now
Naturally so too!😃
@@danityvanityinsanity I agree girlfriend
People who didn't grow up going to the mall in the 70's, 80's, and I would say even into the 90's, just don't understand what it was like. Not only was it THE social scene, but it was safe. Malls weren't dodgy places with roving packs of thugs shoplifting the stores, attacking women in the parking lots, or brawling in the food court. You didn't see a bunch of empty store fronts, either. Those spaces commanded a premium.
if that were only true- a lot more of them would still be vital....
@@tommurphy4307 It was true.
I loved malls in the 70s and 80s! Even if you didnt always buy a lot, it was fun. They were such an integral part of life, it never occured to me the possibility that fairly soon they would all but disappear. I'm still not over it. 😢 Thanks for the memories! 😊
the most common problems were malls located in marginal, low-income neighborhoods- many of these failed just because of the logistics.
i didn’t know how much i missed by not ‘malling’ … truly a consumers paradise!
It wasn't. You would walk around for hours, looking at overpriced crap, and then grab some cardboard-tasting pizza on your way out the door.
@@texaswunderkind youre calling sears a store with overpriced 'crap'- on the contrary- if that were true, they would probably still be around. i agree with you on the food- only the finer department stores had decent eateries. sears had a better-than-average coffee shop with great desserts.
I'm a real 80s buff..& I liked buying (cassette tape)📼 magazines, going to the movies, eating in the food court-grabbing a burger or getting a Coke Slushy..I could have a hay day in a Drug Store or card store-where people actually bought cards. And, people also saved them. One more thing, I like to buy the occasional stuffed animal..& getting a coffee ☕ ❤ 😍 Those are my 80s days, favorites!!👍👍 😊Great Times!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I still have all my records of 70s and 80s rock music that I bought back then. Still play them on the weekends... loud!
Yeah the food courts were always nice , a variety to please every palate !
they didn't have food courts in the early mall years- the eateries were spread all about the mall to make the competition seem less apparent. and BTW- the word is 'heyday'.
Before we shopped online and before mega corps bought out all the smaller retailers...... ALL the stores you could imagine all in one place. Plus food and arcades and music and books... It was a BLAST! I miss those days.
big-box operations were also a big factor in killing off the malls.
I was waiting for an image of Radio Shack with the TRS-80 in the window along with Electronics Kits.
Heathkit!
the problem with mall-based radio shack stores was they usually had fewer parts and lots more expensive appliances, hi-fi, and TV's
Yep!!! Fun times. My first computer was a TRS-80 Color Computer w/ 4K RAM I bought in 1981,
If only I could go back to the beginning of the mall era (1950’s to 1960’s) and live through it all, and shopping the whole time!
Tom Sisson
there were no indoor malls in the 50's
Wow the design of the malls in the '70s was really cool.
I was 13 in 1978 and going to the mall was the place to be
thumbnail is off. 70's was "natural" era. long straight hair. minimal makeup. jeans we aged to perfection through wearing, embroidery. we made our own cut offs. in high school we weren't trying to look like a hoochie. people were a lot more innocent n innocence wasn't a bad thing. yes young girls are beautiful but a lot of us didn't know it because the culture wasn't so focused on looks 24/7. people had crooked teeth, imperfect skin, wore mostly only clothes your mom ok'd. endless credit cards/$$$$ were not spent on us. not everyone was "cool". if you had a few friends and the basics, a lot of us were pretty happy. yes farrah fawcett hit the scene in 76 but none of us looked like her. malls meant independence. you got dropped off with your friends and got to buy what you'd saved for and eat what you wanted. it was a treat. i still remember the smell of a bottle of tangerine oil in a shop with stuff from india, baskets, posters, plants, sheer paisley batik fabric we used as bedspreads, incense galore and going record shopping and then memorizing all the words of the songs for a few days. we had a lot of fun.
And Patchouli!! And Spencer Gifts!!🙂
The girls where mostly all slim and took care of themselves! Beautiful jeans 👖 and fit like a glove!
Is that Farrah Fawcett in the thumbnail?
The women then were real women. Nothing fake. All natural. Wish I was born in that era
fashions varied a lot more back then according to which area of the country one was in....in 1976 delaware straight leg jeans were in and bell-bottoms were embarrassing but in 1978 Arkansas full on 70s bells were still in style and straight leg were unheard of.
Personally, I love the darker woods and Earthly tones of the 70s. Give us back our Earthy tones!!
i love earth tones- always in style on the west coast. i also love earthy smells like when i'm chiefing out in front of the tube.....
@@tommurphy4307 Earthy smells are the best 👍👃
I loved malls and am sorry they have declined. Shopping online is convenient, but I like to see what I am buying and some things, like shoes, must be tried on to insure a proper fit. I cold spend hours in Sears drooling over the tools!
I just bought shoes on-line and they fit perfectly. Free shipping and returns.😅
i don't know what to say to you- maybe call the snap-on guy and perhaps you can walk thru his truck- it will change your thoughts on the quality of craftsman tools....
@@tommurphy4307 I also have Snap On.
God, what I wouldn't give to go back to the golden age of the mall era. I love malls. There is now only one good mall near me, and it's located in a rather upscale area. It makes no sense to me why so many malls failed.
I live in Australia and malls like these are as popular as ever here. I'm curious as to why they declined in the U.S.
@@bunion8579 Many folks here blame the Internet, but I don't think that would explain it completely.
After thinking about it, I’m going to blame lazy and greedy management. It’s looking more and more to me like a management issue.
The malls here still thrive in high trust areas @@bunion8579
@@bunion8579 your nation doesnt have something that we have lots of and theyre drawn toward group settings like malls...
I liked the smells at the mall. It was perfume, like Eternity from CK, mixed with freshly baked pretzels. My favorite store was Contempo Casuals. Hot pink walls, bright red carpet, loud music. They had such artsy style, fishnets, spiky jewelry, neon-colored accessories, stuff Cindy Lauper or Madonna would wear, jacquard longline blazers, black satin vests, corsets and bustiers, lace dresses, spandex jumpsuits, ruffle white swashbuckling shirts, with a little bit of a gothic flavor. And then, there was the books stores.
my fave was lane bryant where all the big women went to buy clothes
Ahhhh, the 70's! We certainly made our mark in history 😂❤☮
Basically they were fun. Can't have any of that can we WEF?
I remember pumping gas and not paying until after you knew how much your tank held.
when they first started making people pay first several times i paid and then drove off forgetting to get gas
At my first job, 1974, I did that for you, washed your windshield and checked under the hood. 14 years old with $1200 in sales in my pocket, one of those 4 tube change dispensers on my belt. Never worried about getting robbed.
@@joejones9520lol yes it became confusing haha!
@@paulhare662 i worked at a honda car dealer when i was a sophomore in HS. i used to get paid straight commission selling 1973 honda civics- had to be the easiest sell in the world. i used to sell about 5 cars a week- if we had them on the lot.
Just one more thing kids today will never get to enjoy.
I thank God that I was born when I was.
Maybe if the malls didn't charge such an exorbitant amount of rent for shops/spaces, they wouldn't have shut down. Greed has a way of ruining things.
True. Many merchants I got to know complained about how greedy the mall owners were as time went on.
Mail order also did a lot to take malls down
Demographics killed my mall (which still operates somehow with barely 30% occupancy) A shooting, pushy Gypsies operating kiosks, and White flight ruined my attendance. A chick-fil-a, movie theater, nail salon, and a cosmetology school is what dominates.
@@Agislife1960Not an efficient use resources when you analyze it. It certainly contributed but malls were dying in the 90s.
Maybe if government wasn't so greedy with wanting more and more in taxes and quit increasing overbearing regulations then malls could have charged less rent.
Great time to be alive
Loved going to the mall. The stores, record/ music stores, food court, meeting friends, and enjoyment of it all. True, some prices were outrageous, but it was a nice clean enjoyment.
We had 3 malls here in Central Ohio in the '70s.. all identical to one another.. Eastland, Northland and Westland. Fun times at each one!
I moved to Columbus, Ohio in 1977 and was a regular shopper at Northland Mall. Once and a while at Westland, too. They were fun, & useful.
That's funny. Here in the Detroit area we had Northland, (see my previous post), Southland, Eastland and Westland too.
my family used to go to the state fair every fall- the oktoberfest in columbus' german village was awesome.
Thanks for including the Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne PA. Loved going there as kid; I loved running up that ramp in the picture. I saw Gerald Ford there in 1976 when he was campaigning against Jimmy Carter. Ford was on a stage opposite a huge office building associated with the Mall with the words emblazoned on the side of the structure in glowing letters ten fight high reading "Oxford Valley One." Ford began his speech by saying, "Welcome, everyone, to the ORCHARD Valley Mall!" The whole crowd groaned; "look at the damn sign, Jerry!" we all thought. Still rooted for him in the election (wasn't old enough to vote yet.) The Mall was still open two years ago although it was starting to look run down. It may be closed now.
Still open, but barely. Same for Neshaminy Mall. Sad, such great memories.
gerald ford had to climb steps?? OMG!!
It was a sweeter time. People were more trusting and trustworthy. They actually dressed up to go to the mall. You didn't see a lot of bratty children and shoplifters.
We left our kids at the mall arcade while we shopped. Put the oldest (14 yrs) in charge of the younger two. No worries at all. Not bad parenting then, but I'd not try that today. I don't even want to be alone in a mall, lol.
I could wander off to the arcade, a music store, a toy store, or a different department. It never occurred to me to do anything wrong or to leave the place. We would just have to find each other. However, that was my parents. If I was visiting my grandparents, they wouldn't let me out of reach.
Weirdly, my parents became closer to "helicopter parents" as I got older and well into adulthood.
they were a lot more naive then, too.
I remember going to Woodfield Mall outside Chicago at Christmas time in 1970. The Mall was the attraction and it was packed with people.
As I recall Woodfield was THE biggest mall for a while.
Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg was epic! Old Chicago Mall was great, too!
It was absolutely gigantic, perhaps the biggest mall I've ever been in, would go there all the time. I forget of Gurnee Mills was bigger, didn't got there as much, maybe once or twice.
There are still thriving malls where I live. They built a bunch of super malls at once and the excess closed down while the popular ones remain open and busy. London, Ontario.
there's a key reason but it cant be said here
the race team i used to crew with (nelson ledges, summit point, mid- ohio) would drive their van from akron up into ontario at the peace bridge and buy 9 cases of labatt 50 ale, 9 cases of labatt blue beer and 18 cases of molson golden ale and we always brought them 432 empty bottles in trade. wow did we ever stay pasted during the summer. i didn't grow cannabis back then, but we could usually find something in canada for the ride back.
The late 70s and 80s was a great time to be Young
The malls were great. For teens, for families, just a day out. Fun. Festive at times. A break from summer heat. Loved them. Hope they come back, online shopping is lame. It was a meeting place, a gathering place.
I live in Australia and malls like these are as popular as ever here. I'm curious as to why they declined in the U.S.
@@bunion8579on line shopping is what most people say. People today would rather look on line pick something out and have it delivered to your door in a day. Amazon is killing all of the stores, that and everybody is too damn lazy to get in they’re car, drive to the store, find what they want, and buy it and go back home. It started getting real bad in the 2000’s and stores began closing everywhere. Won’t be long the only stores you’ll see are grocery stores, a few home improvement stores, and Walmart.
I guess kids born in the late 90’s never went to the malls and all the kids are addicted to they’re phones, they would rather stare at they’re phones then meet somewhere and socialize with other kids. We had two malls here where I live one turned into an outside shopping center the other has no big anchor stores left and maybe ten women’s clothing stores where they used to have about 100 and in the food court only one bender is left. It’s just an eerie ghost town oh there is also a Planet Fittness that’s not accessible from inside the mall and that’s it. Cell Phones and the internet have changed everything some ways good many ways not so good!
@@bunion8579 Blacks, its the blacks.
@@bunion8579 Same in Italy.
@@bunion8579 read some comments- maybe you'll find out.
In 1968 a big Mall was built near my house, out in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. I began high school in 1969, and me and my friends loved hanging out at the mall. We bought our bellbottoms, and wide leather belts, and leather sandals. We ate fun mall foods,....Orange Julius,....big soft pretzels, slushee....shaved ice with Coca Cola over the top. We'd ogle the pretty girls, from our school, who were there in droves. We shopped for cool items for our bedrooms, at Spencer Gifts, which had the latest Hippie/Counter culture decor. Black light reactive posters, posters of the sexy female stars of the day. Mobiles with Op Art & Pop Art imagery. Strobe lights, incense, plastic beaded veils that could hang in a doorway. By 1970, many people were smoking weed and getting stoned, and it was a hoot to go to the mall, to people watch, in that altered state of mind. Malls started exhibiting real art made by local community members. In high school I was already making art, and I was in a couple exhibits, sponsored by a local art gallery. Crafts-workers had stand-alone kiosks,....you could find smoking pipes made of animal antlers, & people who manipulated colorful sand within glass bottles. Tons of unique hand made jewelry.
Randall Dark Mall ?
@@meatballmagoo6134 No. Eastern suburb one, called Severance Center. Named after some rich family. Same family had something to do with the Cleveland Symphony music hall at University Circle.
@@meatballmagoo6134 That one opened in 1976 and was torn down years ago.Anyone from around here gets the reference. It wasn't wrong BTW. I'm guessing this one was actually Richmond Mall.
The Methuen Mall (Methuen, Mass.) circa 1975: Spencer's Gifts (if you remember that retail chain) was painted all black inside and lit only with blacklights and strobes. You could smoke in stores back then -- and not all of it was tobacco. 🙂 The rock music was ROARING in that place, sometimes 104.1 FM-WBCN out of Boston, other times tapes, but it was constantly Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Stones, etc. They sold blacklight posters, water bongs, incense, novelties, etc. It was a huge hippie-fest. 7 years or less later it was just plain white lights, the male clerks wore collared shirts and ties, the gifts sold were far more mainstream, there was no smoking allowed. The entire culture had changed. In the late 80s, the whole mall closed, was torn down, and the property turned into a housing development.
@@doorswhofan Yay for Spencer Gifts!...Ours, in Cleveland Ohio and other close by cities was not "as hep" as your was. They did sell all the black light posters & strobe lights, other things to simulate a "psychedelic trip",,,or enhance the one you might take. I wasn't a cigarette smoker until I was 30,...but I began smoking weed at age 17. We were too paranoid to smoke weed in public,....but had all sorts of rituals and places to sneak off to. In our cars, in friend's basements, out at parks. Cleveland, Ohio, & Columbus, Ohio, and all colleges in Ohio, were flush with weed. College towns always had plenty of "Head Shops" & record stores, that sold pipes, rolling papers, bongs, water pipes, backlights & posters. It was pretty funny,...back then I began growing some pot plants, on a small outside porch, outside of my bedroom, at my folks house. My folks were oblivious, and knew nothing about such matters. This was before people grew pot indoors with grow lights. I was a senior in high school at the time. (my asshole older sister busted me,....ratted me out, to our mom.) My mom was a teacher, and was somewhat aware of the emerging recreational drug culture. I wasn't punished,...but I had to give my plants away to a friend, to grow in their house. It was a low grade Mexican weed, hardly worth the effort. Much later, after I graduated from Grad. school,....my Mom was very curious about trying weed herself. She was open minded, and let me explain & educate her about weed, & hashish. She seemed genuinely curious about it, and who knows, she may have even tried it. She & my Pop were not drinkers,...not beer, wine or anything. They didn't smoke cigarettes, either, though my Pop smoked a tobacco pipe, and a once-in-a while cigar.
During the 80s I use to live near Orange Park, FL. And Orange Park Mall was a great place to meet girls and have lots of fun, video arcade, theater, food court. I was a teen and 20s then.
Sad to see all of the stores that are no longer around. The 70s and 80s were the best Era, in my opinion. The internet certainly changed everything. We are such a throw-away society now.
It was always a treat when i was young to go to Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem NC.back in the late 70's early 80's
Wow. That brought back some memories.
ahh, I'm 55 this is my generation! Love it.
I can remember the local malls were jam packed!
The thumbnail answers your question.
Great memories going to the Meriden Square in CT. during the late 70s, 80's and into the early 90's.
Malls started to take off here in Australia around 1960. They were a huge part of growing up in the 70s and 80s. My mother would drive much further than she needed to, just to get groceries, have a coffee and stay in the air-conditioning as possible before getting in her croaky old Valiant with NO aircon and driving home again! We were only able to go with her during the school holidays, which was annoying but exciting. Simpler times!
The mall had everything!! Great way to window shop. Miss that era.
The internet caused alot separations in family and togetherness.
No doubt true words!
Tik Tok has an actual “Parental Estrangement Phenomenon”
only if people let it happen.
I think that's called "Divide to conquer"?
👍👍👍👍👍 Thank you!!!
I used to love being in the mall when it rained!! The rain on all the skylights sounded wonderful to me.
I wish in my heart of hearts I could go back.
I love see all of the different stores they had back then and seeing if they are still in business. Like Basket House is no more but Buddy Squirrel is still around so I ordered some stuff from them.
I vaguely remember a mall when I was very little in Minnesota. I just remember it was large with walkways and that aspect just stuck with me.
mall of america
@@tommurphy4307 Could be...
Great vid!! Born in 1968, I remember these indoor mall’s being so busy in mid to late ‘70’s and into the ‘80’s. Oh, the memories!! Lol
Christmas decorations were so wonderful in the 1970-80s at the big malls. I remember so many of the stores shown here.
Grew up in the shadow of Brookdale Mall, the 3rd built. The others being Southdale mentioned here as the first built mall, and Rosedale and Ridgedale. They were built by the Dayton Hudson company (Daytons). Brookdale had a large aviary and white tiled aquariums. Hung out at the arcade and food court nearly every day. Kids nowadays have nowhere to gather and hang out.
Thanks ❣️🤗
As a teen in the 70's, one of my favorite things to do was to go shopping at the mall with a couple of my friends. We would try on different clothes then get the opinion of the others how it looked, etc. It was a time when you could actually try it on, know how something fitted, the quality, and how it looked on you BEFORE you paid for it and brought it home. It was also a social time when we would see other classmates there and get together with them for a while. Much different than the increasing on-line shopping is, now!I really miss those days! Things were much better then in many ways!
I still go to Malls. I still love and appreciate the shopping experience. I only resort to online shopping when i can find what i'm looking for locally.
(and i'm not talking about amazon either) The Internet hasn't destroyed everything .
wanna go to the mall?
oakley-doakley
They were massive! Valley Hills Mall was my stomping ground as a teen in the late 70's.
life was so magical back then, it still is, but the overall balance of the world was on a much chiller frequency
we thought pocket calculators were incredible back in the late 60's.
Belo Horizonte Brasil 👏🇧🇷🇺🇸
Malls were fun and safe. They were in middle class neighborhoods, so the people who went there were middle class and well behaved. What changed?
not all malls were in decent neighborhoods- many were in low-income areas. some areas were decent but some turned ghetto- thats what changed.
These were the days!!! Best times of my teenage years!!! If only..........
Lycoming mall in Williamsport PA will always be my favorite growing up as a kid in 1978 I was 15 and 16 those beautiful days!
Hot Sam pretzels were 25 cents!🥨
Some of the newer malls built in the country I live in have condos built as part of the mall. Quite convenient living if you ask me.
built-in customers- good idea.
Valco shipping center in Cupertino. That was the place for Christmas Shopping.
We had several of those older original malls in the Detroit metro area when growing up in the 60s and 70s. Macomb Mall was where our family went every Saturday. Sears of course. Then in 76, the first huge mall was built. Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, MI. Located on M-59 (Hall Road). It was the place to be back in the day. It's still around in 2024.
Love this video. My only critique is the picture for the record store is from 1980's. The posters show Missing Persons and Queen's "The Works" both from 1984.
Great catch! You should edit your comment and add the time. I rewatched it to see.
what are words for?
Northgate Mall, Seattle? "Northgate started as an open-air shopping mall in the northern environs of Seattle. It was the first post-war shopping mall in the United States"
Northland in Southfield Michigan was opened in 1954. It was the third oldest mall in America.
I lived in N Seattle at the time and enjoyed Aurora Village Mall growing up in the 70's!
I miss the 70’s
Brooklyn got its first mall in 1970, anchored by Macy's and Alexander's. I was 12 and was there the morning it opened, with my mom, we were there for the ribbon cutting. I grew up in the Marine Park section, within walking distance. Spent pretty much all my weekends there in years to come, hanging with friends, as well as spending time with my family particularly my older sister- we'd go to Sam Goody and pick out an LP together just for fun. I had my first date there. Just wonderful memories!..
King's Plaza I'm guessing by your description! Took organ lessons there- and was always cool getting new stuff for the train set at the hobby shop! The delights of being 8....
Just look at all the people. No cell phones, no iPads, and no over weight kids. And they all took pride in themselves. I miss the malls but that isn’t what changed society.
A time ago, a buddy had a need for some speakers.(hifi speakers you actually listened to)
Problem we are in Maine they are in the FoxRun mall in New Hampshire. (2 hrs away)
We have a two hour window at work. I have a fast truck (Cabellero).
Down an back in one hour ten minutes. Some laws were broken.
To much traffic today. No one listens to music out loud any more.
unless you live in my neighborhood- especially on friday nights near the air b-n-b's. what kind of speakers were they?
There is one huge mall in Cincinnati that is still packed with people just about anytime you go there…Kenwood Towne Center! When it opened a lot of the other malls in the area died a slow death. At one time Greater Cincinnati had about a dozen malls. Every area of town had its own mall. Now we are getting a lot of the open air malls. I like the enclosed so you don’t have to dodge rain. ☔️
Great music in this video! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Its been downhill since then. We is doomed
Great name choice..and oh so true
Back when people paid for stuff instead of running out the door with it.
they say they are are going to fix that law soon, but not very many southern califonians trust anybody in sacramento.
Briarwood Mall Ann Arbor, Michigan was my favorite place for my husband and myself to spend time mall walking , shopping, taking in a movie or enjoying ice cream at Farrell's! I truly miss those days. Briarwood Mall is still open!!
Grew up in central valley of CA, so we had many malls around. Sherwood & webberstown in Stockton, several in Sacramento, vintage fare mall in Modesto,...
Now after 12 years of traveling thru our US and seeing many closed or almost dead malls, i live in a small town in western Kentucky & they still have a functioning mall! ❤
The Malls eventually just became a location where a certain minority could PREY upon the people going there ! That Minority found that the malls provided them with fertile hunting grounds and as the neighborhoods around the malls declined due to THAT MINORITY moving in, so did the Malls !
Mall were awesome back then, the place to be seen and to see.
If you want a peek of that now...go to Asia and see their malls. They are clean, packed and the people don;t look or dress like it's halloween like in the west.
Record stores & Spencers, loved those places! And of course The Food Court!!
Went to the Mall for the first time in 1968…Midway Mall in Elyria Ohio…went there many times…now a ghost town…so sad…😢.
reminds me of oberlin- love that little town and school.
The major issue helping end the mall era was crime. Malls would still be viable in many areas but the quality of visitor declined driving away people with money to spend. No one who isn't a thug wants them for company and since they steal rather than buying malls are perfect targets. Popular culture today celebrates murder. The self-discipline and ethical behavior which enabled malls is gone outside of a few areas where residents exclude the criminal element. The third world the left adore is now America by choice of the voters. We don't need public spaces any more because the public is infested with violent predators the courts won't punish. Malls only remain viable where the right kind of people live in sufficient numbers to support them.
Here come the far righter Nazi's with their weapons. Won't be happy until the Fourth Reich rules America.
Popular culture today celebrates the outliers of society - 'being yourself', breaking rules, nonconformance and stepping outside the lines...people who just want a quiet, stress free, hassle free shopping experience are seen as 'dumb', 'boring' or downclass somehow. It all got twisted around.
They were air conditioned and usually had some cute girls.
Malls brought people indoors to shop in a contained environment where they could grab a snack and shop and even drop the kids off to play games at the mall arcade. It was weatherproof in that you could walk from store to store and not be worried about rain or heat.