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| Video Time Capsule...Mall Culture 1983 (Page 1/2) |
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TheDigitalAlchemist
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APR 16, 11:11 AM
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2.5
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APR 16, 11:35 AM
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No cell phones (internet), good point. Folks living their lives in the moment, face to face with friends.
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MidEngineManiac
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APR 16, 11:48 AM
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In terms of access to information, efficiency and productivity technology is amazing.
Socially, is the single most destructive thing ever invented.
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williegoat
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APR 16, 12:04 PM
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I love cultural snapshots like that. Thanks.
I skimmed through it and I will watch the whole thing later.
Is that your era and area?
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RWDPLZ
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APR 16, 12:13 PM
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This is actually an entire genre, search 'Dead Mall' videos, guys like Dan Bell, Sal, Retail Archeology, etc. make great videos on old malls, lots of period footage, too.
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TheDigitalAlchemist
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APR 16, 03:15 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by williegoat:
I love cultural snapshots like that. Thanks.
I skimmed through it and I will watch the whole thing later.
Is that your era and area? |
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I was around 9-10 in '83, I went to that mall every now and then. The area is still physically very similar, but the stores inside and around the mall sure have changed. Cars in the parking are almost all SUVs now...
Found a few others that hit me in the head - like the coney island one... I remember when the trains used to look like that... (around 1:40 into it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN4ATDfCYmo Thick black graffiti...
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maryjane
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APR 16, 07:50 PM
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I never thought I'd see the day that a shopping mall defined an era's culture.
I haven't been in a mall more than a dozen times my whole life tho.
There's a big gas station nearby, that gets more business than most malls around here
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TheDigitalAlchemist
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APR 18, 10:34 AM
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Honest question- what else were they supposed to do?
Mostly kids, living in suburbia - hang out at the mall to look for partners or work at the mall, so they can buy stuff at the mall...
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MidEngineManiac
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APR 18, 10:45 AM
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I dunno...I was a "mall-age-rat" late 70's/early 80's. I never hung out at them much. Summer time I was busy riding my bike or dirt bike, shooting (dad built me a BB gun range in the basement when I was about 6 or 7), fishing, tromping through the woods or trying to make money for all that and winter time was "project" time. I never really did get into that whole huge "hang-out social scene", there were better things to do.
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williegoat
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APR 18, 02:48 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by TheDigitalAlchemist:
Honest question- what else were they supposed to do?
Mostly kids, living in suburbia - hang out at the mall to look for partners or work at the mall, so they can buy stuff at the mall... |
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When I was in high school (1969-73) hanging out at the mall wasn't really a thing yet, at least not here, although I did work at a theater in the mall. We hung out at the park or outside Jack-in-the-Box, cruised Central Ave. in downtown Phoenix or had a desert party (boondocker, kegger).
We lived out on the edge of town and I always describe those times as a mix of "That Seventies Show" and "American Graffiti" with a bit of "The Last Picture Show". If you have seen all three, you will know.
This was my part of town. My high school was about a mile and a half east of where this pic was taken and east of the school there were cows wandering around in the middle of the road. This little community was known as Paradise Valley, not to be confused with the hoity-toity town of Paradise Valley:
Within a one mile radius of this pic, there were about six bars and three feed stores.
Here is a video I found online:
By the eighties, Central had changed and much of the Cruising scene went to Metrocenter Mall.
The theater I worked at was owned by a couple named Red and Viola. Their son Danny was a 19 year old college kid with long hair and a beard. Danny now goes by Dan and owns the sixth largest theater chain in the world.
 [This message has been edited by williegoat (edited 04-18-2021).]
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