Text by Patrick Bell.
Climb aboard as we tour some malls and large shopping center parking lots. They are always a good place to see everyday drivers, and we have a good selection today.
For starters, we are in San Francisco at the Stonestown Shopping Center. The year appears to be 1961 as I see a dark blue or black ’61 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 or Super 88 facing this way in the center, and to the right a white ’61 Chevrolet Impala facing away. Plus, on two cars in the foreground were red tags on the license plates which were for ’61. There was one foreign car for sure, a blue Volkswagen Type 1 behind the aforementioned Oldsmobile, and at least two other possibilities, a red one to the left of the Type 1 under the tree, and to the right, about halfway between the “F” pole and the edge, is a light blue one that reminds me of a Renault Dauphine. And just one truck, a white ’55 Chevrolet Task Force company truck with a rack in the bed in the upper right.
In the front row from the left, a gold over white ’58 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Sedan, white over yellow ’56 Mercury Monterey Coupe, gray ’52 Plymouth Cranbrook Club Coupe, and the nose of an ivory ’49 or ’50 Chevrolet.
Now we are at the Northland Center Mall in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was opening day on March 22nd, 1954, and there was lots of American iron in the parking lot. On the left a black ’51 Ford, white over green ’54 Ford Customline Tudor Sedan, black over red ’53 Dodge, black ’51 Kaiser Special 4 door sedan, and perhaps a black over blue ’54 Buick convertible.
Let’s head back west to the Bon Marche in Eugene, Oregon. The newest cars I see were a tan ’57 Oldsmobile Golden Rocket 88 or Super 88 Fiesta wagon on the right edge, and next to it at the curb was a two tone ’57 Buick. Others include another ’51 Ford sticking it’s nose in the left edge, a green ’55 Ford Custom Ranch Wagon 2 door with fender skirts, blue ’48 or ’49 Hudson Commodore Convertible Brougham, gray ’49 Plymouth Special De Luxe 4 door sedan at the curb, and a green over off white ’54 Oldsmobile Super 88 turning the corner.
The Sunrise Shopping Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is where this image was taken in 1956. It looks like a GM town with two Buicks, a white over green ’53 Super or Roadmaster on the far left and a gray ’51 Special DeLuxe Tourback Sedan on the center row. Also there are two Oldsmobiles a green over white ’54 Ninety-Eight 4 door sedan and a white over red ’55 Super 88. And one Chevrolet, a ’54 Two-Ten Handyman wagon.
There were no results from a quick photo search on this one. The newest cars were the two ’60 Chevrolets on the right edge, a white over turquoise Impala Sport Coupe, and a white over black Bel Air 4 door sedan. Some other interesting units were a sharp white over red ’58 Oldsmobile Super 88 or Ninety-Eight Holiday Coupe, black ’53 Oldsmobile Super 88 4 door sedan in the center, and in front of it a blue ’59 Buick LeSabre 2 door hardtop.
This is another one with no quick search results, but I am going to guess somewhere in North Carolina. The ’55 Chevrolet Two-Ten or Bel Air 2 door sedan in the lower left is from a dealership in Durham, although the newest car I can ID is from ’61, the license plates have the color and design of ’62 North Carolina, and “Colonial Stores” was a southern institution. There are three ’61s I see, a turquoise over white Plymouth Fury 4 door sedan in the center of the image that looks sharp in that color combo and style, on the other side of it a white over blue Pontiac Catalina Sedan, and further down in the driving lane headed this way was a ’61 or ’62 Ford Econoline, which is also the only truck. Others include a red Volkswagen Type 1 close to the right edge, with a blue Citroen DS on the other side of it, next to the white ’60 Dodge Dart 2 door hardtop.
Here we are at the Dixie Square Shopping Center (later the Dixie Square Mall) in Harvey, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The photo was shot in ’68, two years after it opened. It had a relatively short life as it was closed by ’78. Around that time it was used to shoot a scene in the classic movie “The Blues Brothers”, which was released in 1980. After that it remained vacant until it was torn down in 2012. Parked on the left was a ’66 Buick LeSabre convertible, and to the right a ’65 Dodge Dart 270 is heading away.
We are now in Phoenix, Arizona at a Woolco Department Store. I did not find a photo date, but I am going to say mid ’66 given the license plates and I see at least four ’66 models. There was also some sort of promotion going on for RCA Victor. The ’66 models were, on the first row left edge the corner of a gold Pontiac, next over a Dodge Coronet 500 2 door hardtop with a vinyl roof. And two Chevrolets, an Impala Sport Coupe in green by the building, and above the yellow ’65 Ford Mustang Hardtop was a Bel Air 2 door sedan. Others included a gold ’63 Oldsmobile F-85 DeLuxe 4 door sedan, three Volkswagen Type 1s, and the oldest was a ’56 Buick in front of the Coronet.
Our final image is another one with no search results. The “Hinky Dinky” was a grocery store based in Omaha, Nebraska, with stores mainly in Nebraska and Iowa, so that narrows it down somewhat. Above the red ’59 Chevrolet Bel Air 2 door sedan was the roof of a Chrysler product fuselage style, with a gold wagon fuselage to the left of it. Those debuted in late ’68 as ’69 models, and are the newest I see. At the left edge of the “Hinky Dinky” building was the roof of a light colored Jeep Gladiator, and to the right of the “H-D” sign a blue Volkswagen Type 1, which made up the trucks and foreign cars. Otherwise, in the foreground left a black over cream ’68 Ford LTD 4 door sedan, and on the right a tan ’68 Chevrolet Chevy II Nova Coupe.
Thanks for riding along and have a great day!
And the memories come rolling in .
-Nate
They sure do, in my case Towson, Eudowood, Westview, and Perring Plazas, all around Baltimore in the late ’50s to late ’60s, the prime time for the suburban “Shopping Center”.
great shot of that sharp ’58 Ninety – Eight Holiday coupe in chrome with paint trim.
That one caught my eye as well. Not really a fan of that “over chromed”, edition. Still it’s attractive in that pic.
Good color combo as well.
I can help with the locations of the North Carolina images (Pictures 6 & 7).
Picture #6 (with the red ’58 Olds) was taken at the Cameron Village Shopping Center in Raleigh. I believe we’ve had a few other pictures of Cameron Village here a while ago, but not from this angle. The business far in the background is the Red Wolf Restaurant, which lasted there until the mid-1960s.
Picture #7 (Colonial Stores) was at the Northgate Shopping Center in Durham (later the site of Northgate Mall). The image below (from a grand opening pamphlet) shows how the scene lines up:
Beat me to it re. Cameron Village 🙂 This angle has the Stephenson Music Company (music/record/book store) on the left. That means that Cameron Street is running down the middle of the picture (actually separating 2 parking lots and more shops across the street).
The “61 Plymouth”, wearing the “tutone”, looks quite good. Do not recall ever seeing a pic, ((and for sure not the actual car)) adorned that way.
At a car show many years back, a “60 Ford”, coupe wore red/white. As I think back, the grayish inside made me wonder if the “tutone” was original to the car.
Like the fabulous cars, Malls and most of the stores are now a fading memory. BTW, I believe WOOLCO was an off shoot of F. W. WOOLWORTH, as AyrWay from L. S. AYRES (Indianapolis) which eventually became TARGET.
Mall have sure evolved since the 50s and 60s
Ah, the Emporium now long gone. Had many locations in the Bay Area from San Francisco, out to Walnut Creek, and down to San Jose. Stonestown is out by S.F. State on 20th Ave. I always patronized the main Emporium in The City on Market Street and had a girlfriend who worked the Men’s Department in the early 80s.
Just an observation, fifth picture down, the ’54 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight is air conditioned…
Malls used to be a social and commerce hub, for communities all across North America and the world. As the retail industry has been rocked in recent decades by industry monopolization, suburban big box stores, and a shift to online shopping.
Here in Canada the Hudson’s Bay Company (the oldest corporation in North America), has been forced to liquidate stock, and close many high profile stores. They face bankruptcy. At least one major mall in my city, has lost all their major anchor stores in the past decade.
As a kid, I wasn’t a fan of packed shopping malls and crowded parking lots. Some people enjoyed it, but many didn’t enjoy the routine Saturday afternoon crush of shoppers.
Malls had their appeal. Making them public transportation hubs has worked in some cities. I don’t miss them personally.
My mom took us to Dixe Square and shopped at Jcpenney.
In that Woolco in Phoenix image, you missed out on what appears to be a white ’66 Oldsmobile Starfire parked between a Beetle and a Dodge Coronet, way back, seen nearest the store’s entrance. An abandoned shopping cart is blocking the view to its side, making it difficult to confirm its trim belonging to either a ’66 or a ’65 Starfire or Jetfire of the latter’s equal vintage. The simpler-looking grille, though, suggests a ’66?
Sal, I did see that Starfire, but I though the headlamp bezel looked like a ’65 model so I did not mention it as my comment was already getting too wordy. It was far away from the camera and wasn’t much to go by so you could be correct calling it a ’66. Thanks for your comment!
I remember my grandparents taking us to Bigtown Mall in Mesquite, Texas. Through its no longer there, the memories lasts a life time. My grandmother was a fan of Montgomery Wards…
and/or, the “Esso”, tiger tail extending out from the gas cap, cover.
Union 76 Gas stations gave away a red 76 foam ball to stick on your antenna. Made it easy to find your car in the sea of cars at Northland Plaza. It worked too until 75 percent of cars had a red ball.
Replied. accidentally to “Mike”. Was able to cancel the errant post. Meant for it to go you. Mentioned the “Esso” tiger tails hanging out from the gas cap covers.
Another gas station, gimmick I used to look for.
My two favorite subjects, classic cars( always # 1) and Mid Century Malls! One to research is the Jordan Marsh Mall in Framingham, Mass. In the late 50′ s. The Jordan Marsh dept. Store looked like a Flying saucer. Framingham was a mall mecca in the fifties and sixties,with seven malls in two square miles. The cars were awesome as well !
Last image is at Westroads Shopping center here in Omaha. On top of the building you’ll notice a heli-pad; a waste as it only got used to bring in Santa at XMas. And yes–Hinky Dinky–an Omaha staple for decades, but the chain is now gone. Monkey Ward’s on the far right was an anchor store with JC Pennys at the other end. The mall still operates, but a couple tragedies over the years have chased away the crowds.
The Northland Center in Southfield, MI, was a big deal when it opened in 1954. It was one of the first designed-from-scratch projects by the noted Austrian architect Victor Gruen, and was self-financed by the Hudson’s Department Store company as their first suburban branch location.
It closed down for good in 2015.
If that opening date is correct (March), there is no way those flowers would have survived for long in Michigan.
Creative naming. “Northland Center”, was in “Southfield MI”.
In the mid to late 1970s I was the corporate Interior Designer for an upscale fashion department store chain. In a new mall we were considered an “anchor” and depending of the size of a mall there would be 2-4 anchor stores. Anchor stores invested in, and stipulated many aspects of a mall design. Materials, finishes, signage, etc. So I had some control on the design of a number of upscale malls in the Southwest.
I have been driving since early 1967. My first violation / ticket, was 1971 in Miami. I turned left to enter a mall parking lot and I swear, I never saw the no left sign. I swear I never saw the no turn sign. One other violation I received. Years ago I received a stop light ticket caught on camera in Ottawa Ontario. I missed the stoplight by 0.01 seconds. Got me and I paid the fine. But I also showed there was only a 5 second delay between amber and red light. Money grab.
Mom worked in the JC Penney store in Meyerland Plaza Mall in SW Houston, and back then (1970-78) it looked much like the one pictured. The employees parked at the back edge of the parking lot, in spots marked with a blue line on the end of the demarcation lines. The JCP is still there but remodeled. The mall as a whole is much different than it was back in the 70s, with an HEB grocery store, Target, and many restaurants now.