Monday, February 26, 2007

A Shopping Center is Born

David at Retail Memories From Coast to Coast uploaded 2 videos (split) about Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, California, as it was in 1957 when it opened.

The videos show the center before it was enclosed, activities related to it, and vintage fashions, stores and signage. They serve as almost a class as to "how to shop" in what was then a new style of commerce.

Check them out. I think you'll enjoy them.

A Shopping Center is Born

(photo courtesy of Scott at BIGMallrat's Malls in Northern California and Reno Blog)

2 comments:

  1. Loved the two new videos about Hillsdale. It's a trip down memory lane for my parents, who grew up in the area.
    One interesting thing... did we, as Americans, suddenly decide to pronounce "peninsula" differently? In the video, the man kept saying "peni-sh-ula." The S and U making a "sha" sound. Hmmm. No one says it that way here.
    Scott

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  2. That is weird!

    You have to consider at the time the American ideal speaking voice was largely Midwestern, and words like peninsula were fairly exotic. In time, we got to where we needed to be with it :-)

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