Retro Mall Video: NorthPark Mall Psychedelic Dance Show

Dallas, Texas - January, 1968

Why is a clip of a vintage Texas television dance show here? Ah patience, young Grasshopper, patience... It's here because it was shot in and broadcast from, the NorthPark Center Mall, in Dallas!

Local Dallas TV station, WFAA-TV, Channel 8, had a studio that was housed inside NorthPark Mall, where they shot the daily "Sump'N Else" teen dance show, which ran in the mid to late '60s. They also produced a morning game show for housewives called "Away We Go", that was shot live from the mall as well.

Anyway, in this context, I thought this groovy video highlight from the Sump'N Else Show (where they were staging a psychedelic light show that day) would be fun to look at here on the blog. Even though you don't technically see any of the shopping mall proper itself, we know it's there, in all its 1968 glory, right outside the studio walls! :)

More NorthPark Center Mall: 1, 2

NorthPark Center (aka NorthPark Shopping Center)

Dallas, Texas - photos circa 1960s

Malls of America regular contributor, J, sent me these scans a while back (from the pages of a '60s-era Encyclopedia Britannica) of NorthPark Center Mall in Dallas, TX (commonly referred to as NorthPark Shopping Center in those days). Thanks again for the great submissions J!

The first photo is a shot of the Plaza fountain in one wing of the mall (which you can also see here in color). The second shot is obviously an exterior view of one of the mall's parking lot areas and store entrances. Some Wikipedia notes:

"NorthPark Center opened in 1965 as the largest climate-controlled retail establishment in the world. Originally developed by Raymond D. Nasher, the center is now owned, managed, operated and leased by husband and wife David J. Haemisegger and Nancy A. Nasher. After a three-year, $235 million expansion that doubled its size, NorthPark Center is expected to surpass $1 billion in sales in 2007.

From its inception, NorthPark Center has made world-class art an integral part of its interior landscape. NorthPark received the American Institute of Architects Award for 'Design of the Decade - 1960s' as one of the first commercial centers in the United States to create space for the display of fine art.

Over the years as NorthPark Center has remained true to its original design. For the most recent expansion, NorthPark’s owners returned to Omniplan, the architectural firm that originally designed the center with clean, modern lines, signature white brick and highly polished concrete floors. The expansion turned NorthPark’s original U shape into a unique square design surrounding a 1.4-acre landscaped garden known as 'CenterPark'."

Mall history: 1965 - present
Developer: Raymond Nasher
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3