Malls of America is the brainchild of suburban Detroit resident Keith Milford, who has devoted his webspace to showcasing his collection of vintage shopping mall photographs and postcards. The site is an incredible find for vintage mall buffs everywhere.
Thanks to Mitch for telling about this site. :-)
Alright, I'm insanely tired of this mall krep, but I'm going to put my $0.02 in anyway: Since the mall deal was not an essential part of my life beyond high school (ca 1200 a.d.) - though I've been known to use them in cases of severe duress, i.e. my pregnancy and the first two years of my son's life (malls are great facilitators of light and aromatherapy) - and I can totally picture you with your Air Force Ones and Green Bay Packer outfit, smirking and chillin' at the food court, I will say this: A) I am determined to make this all one sentence, and B) My neighborhood mall wins the oft-disputed title of first covered mall in these god-fearin', commerce-lovin EEUnited States of UH-MERIKA (can you name it??)!!!
ReplyDeletesee? one sentence......
d'oh!
Hey Heather, nice to have a visitor from Tube City :-)
ReplyDeleteThat mall is Southdale and you live near Minneapolis, right? Pretty cool, huh? Kreskin, I ain't, but I know my mall geography.
I will try to make this a little less "The Mall Channel" in the future, but you gotta go with what you know, and I've had a couple of frequent posters that dig this stuff as much as I do. I'm somewhat carried away, but the ride's nice.
Again, thanks for your patronage, and I'll shufflle up the krep as needed to keep my readers interested. :-)
My guess was wrong. Heather's neighborhood mall is Northgate, a Seattle mall that predated Southdale by six years.
ReplyDeleteSteve, Heather's comment shows that we have become bad influences on each other in the blogosphere! :)
ReplyDeleteLargely due to our interaction, my blog has become more mall-focused than yours, though I've yet to recieve any complaints. But I think blogging is a selfish act and it doesn't really matter if anyone reads it or if anyone finds it interesting. You consistently post good stuff, whether it's on malls, shoes, or civil rights.
By the by, you weren't wrong to assume Heather was referring to Southdale...Northgate was indeed the first mall in America, but it wasn't enclosed originally.
Correct, Mitch. The historians say that Northgate wasn't "completely covered" until 1974. I'm asssuming the implication there is that all of her stores originally had roofs......
ReplyDeletehttp://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=3186 has a brief history if you haven't already read it. The Bon Marche was its anchor store, and remained a Seattle mainstay until it was bought out a couple of years ago by ... (I'll give you ONE freakin' guess..)
And yes, I wouldn't have even bothered to pester Steven on the topic if I didn't enjoy his work. You know what the ladies say: Big shoes? Good blog.
You're too kind, heather :-)
ReplyDeleteThat link is awesome, too.
No need for alarm, Mitch. I know Heather from her comments at Tube City Almanac. She's cool. :-)
ReplyDelete