Recently a nostalgia group posted pictures on social media depicting a local mall when it was first opened. I was not yet two years old, but the event was a major celebration; a countless array of stores under a huge roof, fully enclosed and climate controlled in any weather. The birth of shopping malls was a boom for the economy, and everybody in the family enjoyed the experience of shopping there.
If I were to go back in time, I would like to visit the old mall. Back then, the act of reaching a destination was more pleasant than now. People drove the speed limit, and parking lots were navigated in a mannerly fashion. The men wore properly ironed shirts with ties, dressed in sport jackets and hats, and had their shoes properly shined. The women wore dresses and flats, and their hair was stylish and neat. Children behaved.
The department stores anchoring the ends of the mall were bustling but orderly places to find practically anything by going to the department stocking them. Each department was overseen by an expert trained in the merchandise they sold. They wore uniforms or name tags. Entire drawers of hosiery for women were meticulously labeled behind the glass counter, and you bought your stockings by your foot size, not small, medium or large. Women also were gloves, sized to fit. Coordinated jewelry didn’t come in a stack of pre-boxed piles through which you rummaged to find what you wanted, but were brought out for you to examine and then lovingly placed in a box with the store logo on it and stamped cotton squares of cushioning inside on purchase. They also had the perfect sized paper bag for you.
The store had an excellent restaurant for a quick lunch or full dinner, and a terrace overlooked the scene beneath, where fountains produced a joyous show of jets and rings of rhythmic water waves cascading into a round pool where seating enabled families to rest and enjoy the show or the passing crowds.
Greenery was carefully attended throughout the walkways; some areas were landscaped over wooden bridges or under large wooden gazebos with benches. Overhead were large tropical trees, and overhead were huge windows allowing the natural light to bathe the inside.
The smaller stores held a variety of choices; hats, tee shirts, home accessories, a bakery. Another throwback to simpler times was Woolworth’s, the classic “five and dime” store which also had a cafeteria and a spot to grab a hotdog and eat it while you strolled.
A movie theatre was accessible from outside as well as in the mall itself. Arcades and barber shops took up residences in small stores lining corridors off the main path.
On weekends and during holidays, the mall would add special events such as baseball card shows, interactive exhibits and the Easter Bunny and Santa. The information booth would become a gift wrap station in November and December, and even the most exhausted worker would offer a professional smile to the harried shoppers in line.
Nowadays the mall has lost its original identity and seems more a utilitarian stop than something to anticipate. The same mall to which my parents took me as a toddler is still there, and some of the old feel remains, but only when you know where to look for it. I can shop there in jeans and a tee shirt, and I miss the greenery.
But I can still remember when it was all there, and smile.
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