Cleveland (Ohio) Arcade. Built 1890.
Posted on 10/23/2019 9:10:58 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Shopping malls have always been a hangout for bored teenagers or families looking for something to do on a rainy day. They've probably also been around a lot longer than you might think. Long before Americans made malls their own, residents of ancient Rome met in the marketplace to buy goods and catch up on the latest gossip. In Victorian times, arcades with covered walkways became the precursors to today's malls. With the rise of the suburbs and automobile culture in the mid-20th century, what's generally accepted as the first enclosed mall in the country opened near Minneapolis in 1956. Others quickly followed as the idea of having a central place to shop became increasingly appealing to a growing middle class.
In Asia, the Middle East and Europe, modern malls also rapidly grew in popularity. Although they're sometimes called a shopping plaza or shopping center in other parts of the world, they’re the same thing: A collection of independent retail stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Travel through the decades with our photos of malls through the years to see what things were like when the shopping trend began.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
I thought it was going to be a picture of a pasture. Because that’s what they were in New England.
Back in the ‘60s, shopping areas which weren’t fully enclosed were called shopping centers, while the term shopping mall was used for those shopping centers which were completely enclosed.
As we see the mall conceot is nothing new.
Malls used to have teens. Now they have “teens” and “Brawls”. Brawl being the plural word for female teen
Some of the defunct malls have been turned into housing.
I think most of those photos were of malls in the ‘60’s, not the ‘50’s...
Unless they made 1960 Chevys and 1964 Ford Falcons back in the fifties...
Some can make great business parks for companies.
However it is ironic that the once thriving malls were beaten out by newer, larger malls. Being the “newest” seems to be the winning game.
A new evolution are outdoor malls (a cluster of stores around a courtyard or walkway). Apparently maintenance and overhead costs are less this way.
I loved those old plazas, many of which had a Bishop's Buffet (which my dirt-poor parents could occasionally afford)… the enclosed malls, not so much.
yep, a dead mall by my kid’s house is now a homeless shelter.
woo hoo! love Cleveland!!
I was in High School, so it was great!
Next was as I was stationed at Lowry, AFB, CO in 1972.
Cinderella City, in Denver was great!
Both had Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor, which was heaven at that age.
Not in the Northwest...we did not have a “mall” until the 1960s
The ones I heard about were made into apartments being rented out or condos or something. They looked like tiny houses only smushed into a mall.
Southdale Shopping Center in Edina, Minnesota, February 1957. In 1956, the Southdale Shopping Center, located in Edina, Minnesota, opened its doors to the public as the first modern shopping mall in the nation.
Being Minnesota with 6 months of winter, kinds of makes sense they were 1st
The first “mall” I remember was the Town & Country shopping center in Minot, ND.
With the harsh winters, it made sense to enclose a dozen or so stores so shoppers could go from one to the other without facing the snow and freezing temps.
Why not Minot? Wasn’t that a saying in the Air Force?
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