Paramus Park Mall Turkey Statue

Paramus, New Jersey - circa 1970s

In my Paramus Park Mall entry of a few days ago, mention was made (via Wiki info) of a large metal turkey statue that sat in one of the mall's courtyards:

"Two small courtyards are at the other leg intersections; one now hosts a carousel, the other the bronze statue of a turkey described below.

The name Paramus comes from the Lenni Lenape Native American word meaning 'land of the wild turkey' or 'place of fertile soil'. That is why there is a giant metal statue of a turkey in the Paramus Park mall."

Thanks (once again) to Charles Freericks, who supplied the photo of the mall for the last post, we now have the above vintage-era shot of the Paramus Park Mall wild turkey statue! It's apparently still there today, btw, albeit now demoted to a more low-key location in the food court on the mall's upper level.

To the left is a recent picture of it (2006) I found on Photobucket. Gives a little more perspective on its size, and you can also see a plaque on the display which explains the piece and names its artist (Christopher Parke, I believe).

Mall history: 1974 - present
Current website: here
Developer: The Rouse Company
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1

Paramus Park Mall & Sears

Paramus, New Jersey - circa mid '70s

Mid-seventies snapshot of Paramus Park mall in Paramus, NJ, taken from the parking lot (the Sears anchor store is visible to the right). Many thanks to Charles Freericks, for this great photo submission!

My buddies over at Labelscar have a nice entry on the mall as it looks today, if you're curious about that, and below you'll find some Paramus Park mall history from Wikipedia:

"The mall, developed by The Rouse Company, opened on March 14, 1974, with a 300,000 sq. ft. Abraham & Straus (now a Macy's store) and Sears (which didn't open until August) as anchors and space for 120 specialty stores.

Paramus Park was the fourth, and final major indoor (or in the case of Garden State Plaza, soon to be indoor) mall in Paramus. It is shaped as a four-legged zigzag, with an anchor store at each end and the second-level food court on a large balcony in the middle. Two small courtyards are at the other leg intersections; one now hosts a carousel, the other the bronze statue of a turkey described below.

The name Paramus comes from the Lenni Lenape Native American word meaning 'land of the wild turkey' or 'place of fertile soil'. That is why there is a giant metal statue of a turkey in the Paramus Park mall."

Mall history: 1974 - present
Current website: here
Developer: The Rouse Company
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: none