Cherry Hill, New Jersey - 1960's
There's been some discussion in the comments here about Bamberger's stores. Well here's another one, in the Cherry Hill Mall. Can't really see much of it (for the trees), but it is back there.
That aside, this is quite a spectacular shot! It's like we're on a tropical island--with a shopping mall built around it! Shopper's paradise indeed. :)
I truly wish there were more plants and foliage in general in malls these days like there used to be. I love the "feel" and atmosphere of it.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother took me shopping there in the early 60's it was the coolest...
ReplyDeleteMy dad used to run the general cnama movies there and I worked there in the 70's. it was like going to a fair with shops it had a place for kiddie rides and an arcade. There was lots of places to eat as well. At one end of the mall there was a big giant bird cage and I mean big and it was filled with birds of all kinds ,They also had one filled with monkys.
ReplyDeleteLove the shot! I wish I could go back to the 50's and 60's in a time machine and just walk around malls like this. Way cool.
ReplyDeletewhat a cool entrance to Bamberger's, a window on the second level is awesome.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I wonder when someone will put a Time Traveller 3000 time machine up for bids on eBay. LOL
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this is a great shot! I find that bamberger's mall entry unique.
I wonder if plants and shrubbery in the mall concourses back then were actually 'live'? By the late 1960s and onward, they went to these fake, plasticy-looking props for plants and shrubs that today, would look very tacky. Most surviving malls have ditched any foliage, fake or real, in their remodelings during the 1990s.
Thanks for all the great comments, guys! Some really fun memories here.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous#1: I'm with you on foliage thing!
Lance: Not sure if you're aware, but I have a picture of that old bird cage in this older post.
William: I'm working on the time machine idea. :)
Matt: Good question about the plants. I bet early on in the '50s and maybe early '60s at least, there were lots of real plants in the malls. In many of the photos here they look pretty darn real at any rate. Don't really know what the normal practice was on that stuff early on, though.
Cora: I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find them directly related. I'll try to look into that soon.
...about the foliage ....in the mall where I grew up, the plants were always plastic and fake wood but then again, it was very dark in there and nothing could have really grown. They even had fake wood chips all around them! It was period when malls were low-roofed, dark and airy inside.
ReplyDeleteI think that Bamberger's in the Cherry Hill Mall was located where a Strawbridge's store now sits (formerly Strawbridge and Clothier - a Philadelphia based department store I believe) and sadly, that Strawbridge's is set to close by April 2006.
ReplyDeletebambergers and strawbridges were actually different ends of the mall. both were there at the same time.
ReplyDeleteRE: p0...
ReplyDeleteI grew up at the Cherry Hill Mall. Bamberger's was located where Macy's now stands... it was converted in the mid-80s. Strawbridge & Clothier had always been the anchor (RIP).
I'm brand new to this blooging deal- I wanted to find some info on the history of the CH mall- I grew up abou 2 miles from there - LOVED the pics-took me right back!! I could actually SMELL the plants, taste the terriffic hot dogs at the CH Grill-going to the Sat matinee with my 10 cent bag of popcorn from Woolworth's...I think the glass on the 2nd floor of Bambergers was a restaurant-I remember that Strawbridges had an open air restaurant on their second floor...the plants were real; I remember the staff taking care of them..my dad used to take me to a nice men's clothing shop there - I've been trying to remember the name of it but I can't and it's driving me nuts!
ReplyDeleteThere were some great stores in the Cherry Hill Mall. It has been expanded 3 times I think and the stores from opening times are most long since gone. There was a radio station broadcast booth that was visually seen by the people walking the mall. I think it was WPEN AM. Stores such as Flagg Brothers shoes, Woolworth, SS Kresges 5 and 10. There was alway a large water show near the Strawbrigge store. The Bailey Banks and Biddle store is still there from the opening day. I was a young teenager in the mid sixties, was always fun to walk the mall and girl watch, buy records, and pizza. They were great times, great stores..........wish we could do them all over again..........
ReplyDeleteThe trees and plants in the Cherry Hill Mall were most definitely the real thing. Bamberger's was a division of Macy's (they had a bit about that under the name on the outside of the building). I used to love watching the fountains in the Strawbridge's court. The restaurant they had there always got good write ups by the local food critics. Apparently, you could get a really good meal for a good price. What is interesting is that during the current construction, before they put down the new tile, you could see parts of the original floor and the spot where the aviary used to be.
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