1957 public domain PR short, “Shopping Can Be Fun: A New Concept in Merchandising”, that chronicles the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo, California.
Visit the MALLS OF AMERICA vintage mall blog for more retro retail goodness! http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com
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or jacking you for …
or jacking you for 5 lousy bucks !!!
yeah, you wouldnt …
yeah, you wouldnt have them pesky black people drinking from your public fountain!
I’d go back to …
I’d go back to these days in a SECOND !!!
I was born in 1952 …
I was born in 1952 and raised in San Mateo. I lived near the corner of El Camino and 14th Ave. I attended Hayward Park School. Any graduates of Hayward Park still out there. My mother and I went shopping at Hillsdale all the time. I remember riding the kiddy rides and all the stores. I hung out at the Farmers Market during my high school years at Aragon High School. I went to Borel Middle School, Great memories. What a rush!!!
12:45
Thats my …
12:45
Thats my grandmother judy may …married to richard(dick) may from san mateo moved to concord in 1972 i believe=)
sirgraves…thanks for havin this video up.
What memories! A …
What memories! A shoplifter’s delight!
never a mickeydees …
never a mickeydees @hillsdale…..the first mcdonalds in the area was in belmont in 1961
The great canned …
The great canned production music from Captiol Producioton music, and the fact that this was done back in the late fifties, not the late sixities, makes it great…even by the early seventees innocence was something the Fat Albert network CBS tried to wreck and I never DID take kindly to the condescending attempts, like on Scooby-Doo, o take something from the late 50s ‘innocence of young people] and cheapen and exploit it..plus by the ealry 70s the memorable produciton music was gone..
I worked as a …
I worked as a busboy/stockboy at Farmer’s Market between 1969-1972. Leroy hired me and we became very close friends. I was 15 at the time and lied about my age! I will never forget the fond memories of the employees, regular customers and the entire experience.
I attended Laurel gramer school, Abbott middle school and graduated (somehow) from Hillsdale High School in 1972. I returned to the bay area after 30 years and reside in Half Moon Bay. I continue to shop at the Hillsdale Mall.
OMG! At 3:10 to :15 …
OMG! At 3:10 to :15 in the Farmers Market, the lady with the tray is Mike & Sandy Fuller’s Mom!! I recognise her, as I used to go to their house often.
(Did they look hard to find guys with voices like this back then?)
Remember, it was originally Sears/Roebuck, till Roebuck was bought out. Most don’t know Roebuck was a black man..
lol: now we know where Wal Mart got their idea!!
So nice to know models haven’t always been thin & flat-chested!
Used to go to the Circus for my Birthday. Thanx!
My friend who grew …
My friend who grew up in Belmont with me (1950′s to 1974/1978) sent this to me.
Aanother friend, Chris, & I used to go the the Mall just to sit & have coffee to watch people. I rememebr there was this older (at the time! lol) grubby-lookin guy who was forever peeking & poking into garbage cans. We figured he was homeless, until sometime in the early 70′s he died….it turned out he OWNED the entire Mall property. I seem to recall his name was George, but I could be wrong.
Oh the Memories!
I moved to San …
I moved to San Mateo from the Philippines in 1973 (was 3 years old then). Melart’s toys was the bomb with the slide. I miss Vince’s Seafood. Love the crab they had there. JJ Newberry, got denied by a server behind the counter when I ordered a Large Coke and all I had on me was a penny. Sears use to have that candy/nut counter where I’d tap the glass with a quarter to get the attention of the employee posted there. I’d love to see an archery demonstration at Hillsdale now.
WOW!
I was born …
WOW!
I was born in Sep 1959 and my family moved into the Hillsdale Garden Apartments in early 1960 before eventually settling into Foster City in 1964.
I remember the slide at Talbots, Archie Martin’s butcher shop in the Farmers Market, QFI, See’s Candies, etc. Most vividly, I remember the giant toys displayed during Christmas…they seem so HUGE when you are two years old.
Also, buying ‘Frampton Comes Alive’ for $4.44 at Banana Records in early 1976!
Great video!!!
Greater memories!!!
remember when there …
remember when there was a mcdonalds at the mall? or am i 35 years too young?
If you really want …
If you really want more info on the old mall and pictures, they are available from Bohannan Development a few blocks from Hillsdale. They are the original contractors for the rebuild and have lots of old photos available. The only problem is getting them to schedule some time for a visit.
Oh YESSS…the …
Oh YESSS…the slide at Melarts toys! I forgot!! Too bad everyone goes sue crazy now a days. I never saw anyone get hurt there, but this would be impossible to have today!
Wow…I can almost see the colors of the walls when you got down there!
I still live in San …
I still live in San Mateo and remember down in the basement of Macy’s the “Mama’s” restaraunt. Had the best “Slim Joe” sandwiches. I really miss the way that mall used to look. The statues are now inside the mall and the Farmers Market is now a food court. How about the old stainless steel slide that went down to the basement of Melarts? I miss those days…..
Fun memories here. …
Fun memories here. I was in high school when this video was made and I lived on Arrowwood Lane ajacent to the mall. We went to the Farmers Market and when I had children, their grandmother walked them there every visit for fried rice. My kids all say they had never tasted such good fried rice again!! I remember Sam, the greeter. How cool is this!
I had forgotten and I am grateful for the memory jog! Are the Bufano statues still in the mall? Does anyone has info about other San Mateo videos?
Great video! I was …
Great video! I was born in 1954 and remember San Jose’s Valley Fair and Mountain View’s Sears in 1957 (See my Valley Fair 1957 home video).
Looking at Hillsdale Center in the fabulous fifties, was there actually an improvement by converting it into a mall? I don’t think so. Things look so much more orderly then and offered reall fun in the outdoor setting, vs the cold indoor echo chamber of the current configuration.
you really screwed …
you really screwed over a lot of good will by abondoning your moa blog….true colors really came through there buddy
gave it up for boobs huh?
thank you for this! …
thank you for this! I was born the year the mall opened but I remember a LOT of this stuff. Do you remember the huge tree they would put in the mall near Macy’s and See’s candies that local groups actually carloed in? I was a blue bird and then a camp fire girl. we sang in that tree every year and every year you got to be higher up on the tree. When I got to sing in the top row–I HAD ARRIVED!!! It was a big deal when I was a kid. What happened to all the Buffanos?
My Grandfather used …
My Grandfather used to work there!! My uncle is right below.
Hillsdale Mall was …
Hillsdale Mall was a very special part of our family. For 23 years a man only known to many as Sam greeted and opened doors for many shoppers at Farmers Market. He was a courtesy clerk. He greeted everyone with a warm smile and a hardy goodbye when leaving. He was the “Unofficial Spokesman” for Farmers Market because he was the first person to see the customer come into the store and the last to see them depart. He was my father Samuel P. Rutland and he won the Sir Hillary Award in 1970.
Hey, looks like we …
Hey, looks like we grew up near each other. The slide at the toy store was the best, Banana Records where I would save for a 45 record once a month!
Capitalism’s …
Capitalism’s creator tought that consumism was no good, he was right.
“There is enough for everyone’s need, not for everyone’s greed” Ghandi
Well said! If I could write like this I would be well pleased. The more I read articles of such quality as this (which is rare), the more I think there might be a future for the Net. Keep on keeping on