Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Groovy '60s Eastwood Mall Decor


Birmingham, Alabama - 1960's

Here's a very retro looking sixties postcard photo of a court fountain and Bell shoe store inside Eastwood Mall. This one really has that vintage mall stink all over it, which I love! The original scan came from the great Eastwood Mall fansite, that unfortunately appears to be gone of late.

As the original image was smaller and darker, I did some editing for use here (enlarged, brightened, cleaned, adjusted colors and contrast, etc.) to bring out more detail. I'm trying to find an original copy of this postcard for my own collection and will re-post a much higher quality version when/if I ever find one. Meantime, here's a little Eastwood Mall history via Wikipedia:
"Eastwood Mall, located in metropolitan Birmingham, Alabama, was the second enclosed shopping mall in the Southeast; this following the opening of North Carolina's Charlottetown Mall, which debuted on October 28, 1959.

Eastwood Mall opened on August 25, 1960. The original tenant list included J.J. Newberry and S.S. Kresge (two defunct five and dime chains), as well as J.C. Penney, a Kroger supermarket, and Colonial Stores supermarket, (which became a Hill's Food Store, and eventually evolved into Winn-Dixie). The mall had no major department stores until the mid-to-late 1960s. Anchors that have been connected to the center over time include Parisian, Pizitz, Yielding's, Service Merchandise and Party City.

Eastwood Mall was the creation of Newman H. Waters, who owned a chain of drive-in theaters in the Birmingham area, including one adjacent to where Eastwood was built. Early advertisements for the mall boasted of its 'Air Conditioned Sidewalks' and dubbed it 'The Merchandise City of the Future'."
Mall history: 1960 - 2004
Current website: n/a
Developer: Newman H. Waters
Info from Wikipedia
Current aerial view
Resource links: 1, 2
Previous entries: 1

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MOA Galleria - Eastwood Mall Fashion Shop


Birmingham, Alabama - 1960's

Swinging '60s ladies shopping and chit-chatting inside a fashionable store in a vintage-era Eastwood Mall. Don't know if this was a boutique, salon, or just the women's department of some larger store, but whatever it is, it looks pretty groovy to me.

In the '70s I remember getting dragged into lots of these kinds of stores by my mom as a kid. I didn't mind too much though, because even at that young age (we'll say around 10) I'd always use the opportunity to "scope out the chicks"! Usually meaning any cute 9 or 10 year-old girls who got dragged in by their mothers, too. And sure, sometimes I even scoped out their foxy, hot pantsted, go-go booted moms, too, I'll admit it. I had that kind of game.

More Eastwood Mall: 1, 2

(Study image © & courtesy The Birmingham News)

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