A Study of Vintage Mall Fountains
Cinderella City Mall, Colorado
Oxford Valley Mall, Pennsylvania
The Mall, New York
Winter Park Mall, Florida
Cherry Hill Mall, New Jersey
Walt Whitman Mall, New York
Palm Beach Mall, Florida
The Mall (Pontiac), Michigan
Plymouth Meeting Mall, Pennsylvania
Monroeville Mall, Pennsylvania
How funny! I just saw you listed on BoingBoing several days ago, and now I find you randomly via Blogger. Fantastic pics. -)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Thomas! Must be fate, brother. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat is up with that fountain in Palm Beach...it's fantastic! Can you imagine aiming those spigots so precisely? Malls don't have fountains anymore. Too expensive to operate, a huge liability if some idiot falls in and don't contribute to the bottom line. Such a shame.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that Palm Beach one floored me as well, Calvin! Such intricate design there. I'm not even sure how that thing works, but it looks really cool. I have a larger, un-cropped shot of it that I'll post soon so you can see a little more detail close-up.
ReplyDeleteI also can't get over the beauty of the Plymouth Meeting one! Wow. You'll rarely see stuff like this in local shopping malls anymore. The Winter Park fountain is also amazing.
Wow! Really great site! I live in Florida and used to visit the Palm Beach Mall back in the late 80s/early 90s and don't remember seeing that fountain at all. It looks like it may have been in the center of the mall by the old Jordan Marsh/Mervyns/Something else now. There's a different, more "traditional" (but still HUGE) fountain there now.
ReplyDeleteThe Winter Park Mall is sadly gone. It's now one of those outdoor shopping districts made to look like an old city with a 20-screen theater, cheesecake factory, etc. I wonder if any of the original mall was used or if it was all torn down. Is that sand under the fountain? Looks like anyone can just walk right under the jets of water. :)
The Winter Park area still has the old theater across the street from the "mall" that looks like it may have been built around the 1960s or so.
Tom.
What memories! I remember going to the Plymouth Meeting mall as a kid with my mom and my three older (teenage) sisters. I spent a lot of time there, and I loved the fountain. The picture doesn't do it justice -- the fountain would change every few minutes. Sometimes just the center jets would shoot up, sometimes the next layer out, sometimes the very outside, and sometimes various combinations of all three. I would sit there for as long as I was allowed, mesmerized by the patterns and the sound of the falling water. They took the fountain out sometime in the 80s, but I still have fond memories. Thanks so much for sharing. :o)
ReplyDeleteYes you could walk up under the fountain at the Winter Park Mall. The fountain was put in during a "renovation" in the early 80's. Originally it wasn't there. I remember back in the early mid 60's my mom taking us to J.C. Penney's at the South end of the mall to shop for school clothes. I think the one of the anchor stores remained after the last "renovation"
ReplyDeleteAnyone have a photo of Miami's Dadeland Mall fountain, circa 1965? Fountain long gone, mall still open. It was a huge, gaudy mosaic-tiled monstrosity of a horse on its rear legs, with water cascading down, best I recall.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! A friend recommended me check it out. Wonderful pictures!
ReplyDeleteToo bad the Malls don't have fountains anymore. Highland Mall in Austin, Texas used to have wonderful fountains. Great to throw pennies in!!
Hey guys, don't forget the Monroeville Mall was the shooting location used for George Romero's Dawn Of The Dead zombie flick!
ReplyDeleteGreat photos! I love fountains, mostly modern automated water shows, but older malls always had wonderful fountains! That one in Palm Beach has a water curtain - it uses 5mm thick clear plastic lines (called "lace") threaded between nozzles hidden in that black space up top, and small holes in a plastic spacer-bar in the base pool - under the spacer-bar, they are tied off beneath individual metal weights that keep them taut. Water slides down them from a trough in which the nozzles are set. Though the falling water won't form round droplets like a rain lamp, they have very much the same appearance as the water runs down in separated sheets, and are almost silent in operation. PEM Fountain of Canada still makes these (their catalog shows some cool ones in some very mod 60s-ish mall in Toronto) and working examples can be seen in the lobby of the Natural History Museum in Victoria, B.C. I REALLY want to see an uncropped version of this, as I've never seen a water curtain fountain with slanted lace.
ReplyDelete~ Jonas Clark
KitDaKat@aol.com
The fountain at Plymouth Meeting Mall is still operating, and still beautiful. It now has great lighting in the fountain and still "dances" in varying formations.
ReplyDeleteThe Palm Beach Mall fountain was great - I have a picture I can scan from a local history book that is quite good. I am trying to compile a list of the original 87 stores of the mall.
ReplyDeleteIs it the one with the two women looking at it against the rail? Also with the Jordan Marsh signage present? I saw that one!
ReplyDeleteEven though it's not in any if the pics... There used to be two monstrous water fountains in the burlington mall here in mass. Those of you will know it as the mall that mall cop was shot in.. These were removed in 2004... But they were so big that the water actually hit the ceiling of the mall!!!!'
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone out there know where I could find the names of the 1966 design team for Plymouth Meeting Mall.....architects/interior designers/artists?
ReplyDeleteI finally found the photos I took of a colored lucite sculpture fountain that they removed around '97 from Eastland Mall in Bloomington, IL. I looked high and low on the Internet for it with no avail. That's how I came across your blog awhile back. I can sent you my photo if you're interested.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIndia's finest decorative arts for luxury home furniture and interiors. Our collection is custom created for you by our experts. we have a tendency Modular Kitchen Designsto bring the world's best to our doorstep. welfurn is leading Interior design company that gives exquisite styles excellence in producing and Quality standards. will give door-step delivery and can complete the installation at your home. Bar Funitures Online
We do extra care of your babies. Buy best quality baby care products online in Pakistan from medisense. Order Now and get fast delivery.
ReplyDeleteBuy best quality hair care supplements in Pakistan at best prices from medisense. Order Now and get fast delivery at your doorstep.
ReplyDeletemany people dont realize that the mom on growing pains was a godamn filthy slut off camera. i am here to confirm that's true. and she loved banging teenagers. i filled that dirty cumrags asshole with so much manjuice she couldn't sit down for a week without making her pants wet. she fucked kurk cameron so hard that he became Christian. she has been in porn since then
ReplyDelete