Santa Monica Mall
Santa Monica, California - circa 1960s
This colorful pedestrian mall shopping district in Santa Monica, is now called the Third Street Promenade (since 1989), and dates back to around the '60s. Though not an enclosed shopping mall, I'm sharing it here because of the beautiful fountain and swanky stores! Besides, we gotta get outside and get some fresh air once in a while, don't we? Can't stay cooped up inside the malls everyday. :) From Wikipedia:
The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian street in Santa Monica, California, United States. It is considered one of the premier shopping destinations in West Los Angeles and frequently draws crowds from all over Los Angeles County. Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean coupled with Los Angeles' mild climate, it has become a popular tourist destination. It is part of a larger redevelopment area in Downtown Santa Monica.Thanks very much to, Charles Freericks, for this great postcard submission!
Third Street has been a center of business in Santa Monica since the town's inception in the late 1800s. The Promenade's roots date back to the 1960s when the Santa Monica Mall was developed and an outdoor shopping promenade similar to the one known today, though less upscale in nature. By the late 1970s it was in serious decline. The area was gentrified during the 1980s to become what it is today.
Mall history: 1960s - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: none
posted by Keith @ 12/03/2006
19 Comments:
Ahh, this would be looking south down the Promenade towards the
This mall did have a JCPenney store as an anchor on the very north end (Today its a Banana Republic).
Although most are unrecognizable, those buildings are for the most part there still. Today, there are 3 movie theatres, a ton of upscale shops, and the Santa Monica Place Mall all located here.
here are some pics I took last year:
http://tinyurl.com/y9m7tk
http://tinyurl.com/ycaphn
http://tinyurl.com/yfsgyr
as you can see from this picture, you can see the tower in the background:
http://tinyurl.com/ymgalz
Wow! I gotta be there! This place reeks of swank! What is in the Toni store? Was Europa a dining place? We must complete the time mcahine so we can investigate properly!
Sincerely
Kev
Being reminded this was also where they shot a part of Tim Burton's first feature "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" at for when Pee-Wee gets his bike stolen. That's really the only thing I know about this place at all! :-)
They also shot PRETTY IN PINK here, but tried to hide that it was getting ratty at the time.
In the mid-1980s, when I was at USC architecture, the only reason to go to the pedestrian mall was Hennessey & Ingalls Bookstore and my wife got her haircuts at the Vidal Sassoon Academy. We would then hit Frank Gehry's Santa Monica Place at the end of the pedestrian mall for the Broadway or Robinson's. There was a Sears on the other side of Santa Monica Place but physically cutoff from both the pedestrian mall and Santa Monica Place.
As the other poster already mentioned Pretty in Pink was shot here. The record store that Molly Ringworm worked at is located on the southern end of the promenade. The is now a French Crepes restaurant.
Henshey's was on the SE corner of 4th and Santa Monica. This picture was taken at 3rd about halfway between Wilshire and Arizona. A block and a half north and a block west. I'd love to see the old Henshey's building again with it's 1950s sheeting. It's not in this picture.
I grew up near this place. I'm still surprised that I remember the OLD style before the big make-up in the 80's. I bough the soundtrack of and saw XANADU (number 11 & 12) at the one screen Cretiron (sic) Theatre.
I haven't been down there much since the late 90's as the smaller indipendant (sic) shops like Midnight Books & Penny Lane were kicked out for more chain stores.
Can anybody near there say hello to Barry 'The Lion' Gordon for me? He's the one playing the great stride piano.
I love these swanky signs!
I had the fortunate chance to visit this mall right before it turned into what it is to day, when it still looked like it did in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. It's unfortunate that they didn't keep some of the architecture, as it would've added a lot of character. I do miss it!
Europa was not a dining hall. It was a clothing store and it was cheap. My mom bought me some oh so mod striped pants there in 1969.
I was a 1968 graduate of St. Monica's Elementary School. We lived on the beach in a hotel that was managed by Mr. and Mrs. Brown who had a daughter who attended SM High School. I used to walk home through the mall on the days that I didn't catch the bus home. I can't remember the name of the hotel, but I do remember stopping at the Sees Candy store to get square suckers. I wish that I had paid more attention to the other stores...Memories are great!
My Mom worked at Haber's Youth Mart on the southern most block of the mall (60's-80's)I remembr going to the grand opening of the mall in the mid 60's. They had little concrete stages and live bands.
We used to hang out there after high school in the 70's when the Tony and Susan Alamo folks and the Nicheren Soshu would try to recruit young people to their meetings.
Where the current enclosed mall is used to be pawn shops and the original Evening Outlook (local Newspaper)building.
I bought my first electric bass at one of the pawn shops.
There were two movie theatres, the Criterion and another whose name I forget , as well as Bay Music, Newberry's with a lunch counter, JC Penney's a Wherehouse Record Store, and Singer Sewing Machine store and abunch more I'm forgetting.
I tossed many pennies into that fountain. I remember that place so well just looking at it brings back so many wonderful feelings. I grew up right near there and attended Saint Monica's elementary and high school. I loved that mall. Remember Hensheys? I left and moved further into the city around 1989, but have returned many times but it will never be the same.
My Grandma lived on 2nd and Idaho in the home that is now the Channel Road Inn. Yes. She moved it. We would walk down the street to Biffs and have breakfast then stroll through the mall. I remember a dark restaurant just a few doors down from Pennys that had a bar in it. What was that called. It was very dark and had red lights. I remember (as a small child) standing near the bar station, reaching my hand up into the bowl that had the maraschino cherries and helping myself! We would go to Europa and put money in the fountain too! So much fun!!! later, I got my hair cut at Vidal Sasson School. I remember dodging homeless people and just "getting in and out of there". I remember when the Pier was also quite dangerous to visit after dark. That all changed after the police sub station opened up down there!
IN 1962 I WORKED AS A PAPER BOY FOR THE SANTA MONICA EVENING OUTLOOK, I REMEMBER 3rd STREET YEARS BEFORE THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA MALLED IT UP , I LEFT S.M. IN 1964 TO LIVE IN CORPUS CHRISTIE , BUT WHEN I CAME BACK IN 1971 AFTER MY TOUR IN THE ARMY 3rd STREET WAS MALLED UP . I THOUGHT THAT SUCKED , NEVER LIKE THE CONCEPT, AND P.O.P. WAS GONE , BUMMER . MIKE SCHWINN HERE IN SAN FRANCISCO , I LOVEIT HERE !
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I worked at The Jerry Brills in 1959
The restaurant at the corner of Wilshire and 2nd was Bob Burns - it had a great piano bar. Orange
Julius was on the East side of the block between Wilshire and Arizona. Europa was like a department store with household goods and clothing.
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