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12/20/08
12/20/08
12/20/08
12/21/08
12/20/08
this seems to be an exaggeration of the former mall I was a'splainin about.
12/20/08
One of the mall's original tenant's was Orange Julius. This is Mall Zero.
12/20/08
[www.orangejulius.com]
12/20/08
Southdale was not the first in this category, in fact several other malls carry earlier start dates in this dubious category.
To my knowledge, the first was Northgate Mall in Seattle, Washington. Northgate was fully enclosed, climate controlled, and started in 1950.
Thank you, thank you, let us get a new armchair historian!
12/20/08
[www.economist.com]
If it makes you feel any better, Seattle begat Starbucks, which have been churning out branches faster than Mama Dugger off her birth-control pills.
12/20/08
It pretends to be informative but instead just raises more questions instead of answering a question I never asked. Now I want to know who the first mall security cop was. And the first mall rat. Was the term "mall rat" coined here?
Which mall had the first Orange Julius? Where was the first food court? Who coined the term "food court"? Was this mall first for everything mall-related?
Did it have the first baby-changing station in the men's room and ladies' room? Was this the first place that the anti-shoplifting sensors were installed? Was crappy mall-music invented here? Is there one central tape for crappy mall-music? Do they ship mall Santas from here?
Is this the corporate headquarters of the Mallwalkers? Maybe it's their secret base - like the Legion of Doom, but with speed-walking and no Solomon Grundy.
That is why this is a horrible post - because now I want more answers and yet I lack the initiative to actually look up the answers.
A word of warning, Mr. Nosowitz - next time you see a can of worms sitting on the counter, instead of thinking "Mmm... tasty worms. I think I'll open this can and have a few", put the can opener down and walk away.
12/20/08
12/20/08
12/20/08
there were no mall cops when southdale opened, because people were more well behaved then.
the first mall rat was maynard g. krebs, born in edina, minnesota to the last of the remaining beatniks, young maynard was sent to the mall by his parents to discourage rampant prosperity, when that failed, they fled to california, where maynard hooked up with dobie gillis.
the term "mall rat" was first used at an undetermined mall somewhere in so cal, when the overabundance of unsupervised children first became troublesome.
here is the dope on orange julius, alas, it gives no info on the first mall location [www.orangejulius.com]
i believe the first food court would have been at southdale, and it would have been named a "food court" by none other that bud grant, former minneapolis laker player, and vikings head coach. as in "it's like a basketball court for food"
first for everything mall related, more than likely not, but southdale is proof of concept, and therefore may take credit for anything good about malls, and can shun any mall negatives with no foul.
baby stations? more than likely not, for people were not in the habit of dragging babies around with them in the 50's
anti theft sensors? likely a later development and implemented in a higher crime mall as opposed to southdale.
yes unfortunately, crappy mall music was started here, and as the first all the crappy tunes come from here as well.
why yes we ship ALL the mall santas from here, and during the off season they are stored in a massive underground cavern beneath the mall.
while southdale was the original HQ for the mall walkers, the HQ and central planning committee moved to an undisclosed location at the MOA in the early 2000's
hope this helps
12/20/08
Without it, all sorts of random flotsam washes up from my stream of consciousness.
This Santa-Cave - is it outfitted like the Bat-Cave? If so, which one? The one from the TV series? The Burton Bat-Cave? Or is the facility like the underground facility in "Coma" where they'd do all sorts of testing on homeless guys? How is the CHUD problem in the Santa-Cave?
You have, however, explained Prince. For that I thank you. But I want to know about the Santa-Cave.
12/20/08
12/20/08
Where did you get your computer? Your clothes? Your iPod?
Also, learn some history. Malls did not create the car culture. The car culture sprang up initially in the 1920s - an economic boom time. Cars, however, were largely the province of the wealthy.
The real development of suburbs, however, did not occur until the boom-times following WWII. Industry, having greatly expanding to meet the demands of the war, provided numerous job opportunities. Furthermore, thanks to women's contribution to the war effort, it had become more acceptable for women to be in the workplace. Thus, America became more productive and more affluent. This affluence found an outlet in cars.
With more money to buy cars and the ability to travel larger distances, people were able to move out of polluted and overcrowded cities and into the surrounding environs. Thus were suburbs born. The suburbs, naturally, required infrastructure improvements so that workers could get in and out of the city for their jobs. This led to highway construction projects, further keeping unemployment low and many employed.
At this time, the car was in its heyday. There were numerous songs romanticizing the car - everything from "Route 66" to "Little Deuce Coupe". In the movies, cars were a symbol of machismo, perhaps best exemplified by James Dean in "Rebel Without A Cause".
You should look to see what was going on in the urban centers at the time that malls started appearing. Look up "urban blight" and "white flight". Cars, having led many affluent (and yes, white) Americans to the suburbs, city services like police, schools, and roads, was left to the wayside. Most people did not want to drive to areas not as nice as their home environs to buy things. Land was still cheap and large artificial urban centers - shopping malls - could be built.
If anything, the car led to malls. Malls most certainly did not create the car culture.
12/20/08
12/20/08
12/20/08
Afton is always good in this weather, haha.