By 1970, the nation's space program has caused 20th century technology to take a giant leap into the future. In the news were the problem-plagued Apollo 13 moon mission, reduction of the voting age to 18, debut of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and drug OD deaths of rock stars Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.
"Love Story" image from Paramount Pictures Corporation
"Bridge Over Troubled Water" LP image from Sony Music Entertainment
(See media fair use rationale at the end of the article)

From today's vantage point, a shopping mall from the year 1970 seems quite different than a contemporary one. Here is a quick rundown of the standard features of a circa-'70 center.
-Click on image for a larger view-

As Jackie Gleason says, "And aaaway we go!" Get your BankAmericard ready for a groovy shopping spree!

In our very own Wayback Machine, we are transported back to the year 1970. Far out, man!

Our destination: the Main Entrance of a large, multilevel -and fully air-conditioned- shopping center., which we'll call PLAZA SQUARE. 

Just inside the mall's Main Entrance is one of the big national chain shopping mall record retailers. It is among the seventy-five stores and services in PLAZA SQUARE.
Graphic from Camelot, Incorporated

Inside the Camelot store, we find that -in the year 1970- the prevalent formats for recorded music on vinyl are the 45 rpm Single and 33 & a third rpm (Long Play) LP.
Image 1 from Bell Records 
Image 2 from EMI-Capitol Records 

In a cabinet along one side of the store is a selection of Stereo 8-track tapes. This format was first marketed in 1965. It has replaced the earlier 4-track Stereo-Pak cartridge and become the purveyor of recorded music, tape-wise. Farther down the cabinet, we have a selection of  "Quad 8" tapes. This is a brand new, 4 channel format. By the way, tapes always cost a dollar more than record albums.
Image 1 from the Warner Music Group / https://www.ecrater.com
Image 2 from the Radio Corporation of America / http://www.8-track-shack.com

In an adjacent cabinet are Stereo Cassettes. This tape format was introduced in the United States in 1964 for use in dictating machines. It is rumored that its sound quality will be substantially improved by the debut of Dolby Noise Reduction; this to take place next year (in 1971).
Image 1 from the Warner Music Group / https://www.discogs.com

A couple of stores down in PLAZA SQUARE mall is a popular young men's apparel retailer...rather notorious for trendy (and sometimes tacky) fashions.
Graphic from the Melville, Corporation


Speaking of tacky, the Nehru jacket burst on the scene and -in 1968- was THE THING. If you blinked twice, you might have missed them. They seemed to go out of style almost as quickly as they came in. If you look on the clearance rack here at Chess King, you might find one dirt cheap!

In 1969, the fringe vest came along and kind of knocked Nehru out of style.


Fringe is THE groovy -with it- look for 1970! There are several styles to chose from, here at Chess King.

Just about any shopping mall these days has one of the big, national chain pet stores, such as the Docktor Pet Center seen here.
Graphic from Docktor Pet Centers, Incorporated

Our shopping mall visit now takes us to one of the largest stores in the PLAZA SQUARE complex, a McCrory 5 & 10. Variety stores such as this carry all matter of general merchandise. There are lots of nuts & candy, floor coverings, housewares, records, cheap stereos, live pets, toys, some shoes & clothing and various what-nots. The PLAZA SQUARE McCrory's also has a Luncheonette.

Mattel's Hot Wheels cars and race track sets came on the scene 2 years ago. The latest thing, Hot Wheels-wise, is Hot Wheels Sizzlers. They use a new-fangled rechargeable battery, "refueled"  by a "Power Pit," that runs the car for 5 to 7 minutes. The PLAZA SQUARE McCrory's is selling Sizzlers cars for $2.10 each.
Image from Mattel, Incorporated 

Cashing in on the space race and impending Apollo moon landings, Mattel brought out the first Major Matt Mason figure in 1966. In 1970, a boy can get fellow astronauts Sgt. Storm, Lt. Jeff Long and Doug Davis (a civilian). There are also as a Lunar Crawler vehicle, 3-level Moon Base and several aliens...including Callisto, who hails from Jupiter.
Image from Mattel, Incorporated 

Another Mattel creation is the Thing Maker. With a bottle or two of PlastiGoop, one can cook up several varieties of Creepy Crawler rubber insects.
Image from Mattel, Incorporated 


The latest thing, Thing Maker-wise, is called Incredible Edibles. Bottles of GoobleDeGoop are used to bake edible rubbery insects. These things are advertised in the McCrory's sale paper as being "frightfully delicious." Actually, their taste is more like plain frightful!   
Advert from Mattel, Incorporated

Stepping out of McCrory's, we then walk past another large PLAZA SQUARE store; Lerner Shops.
Graphic from the McCrory Corporation

The famed "mini" skirt of the 1960s is now slowly going out of style. Ladies' hemlines have gone limbo low during the past year, with the new "midi" skirt being THE THING in 1970. Guys are none too pleased with this new (and less than revealing) style.


Here's the lowest a gal can go...the "maxi" skirt. All of these styles, and more, are available at the PLAZA SQUARE Lerner Shop.

After browsing at five mall stores, we come to the North Court and fountain. This faces the main entrance of the PLAZA SQUARE Anchor Department Store.

Among its many departments, the Anchor Department Store has its own upscale, sit-down restaurant, which is known as the Palm Court. This is a standard feature of the large -mall-based- department store of 1970.


Another service offered at the PLAZA SQUARE Anchor Department Store is a Beauty Salon. Its staff of beauticians now offer the very latest hairstyle, which is known as the "Shag."

The Anchor Department Store at PLAZA SQUARE also has a TV & electronics department. A Sylvania-brand color set is on sale this week for less than 500 dollars! 
Advert from the General Telephone & Electronics Corporation


Moving to the next aisle, we have a Zenith Mediterranean Styled console stereo. It sells for $268.99. Mediterranean furniture and home decor are very much in vogue these days. By the way, an optional 8-track tape deck for the stereo is available for $79.99.
Advert from the Zenith Radio Corporation

Speaking of Zenith, just about anytime that you turn on a TV these days (any brand of TV, mind you), you see commercials telling about Chromacolor. It is touted as a "totally advanced color TV system, (the) first to fully-illuminate every color dot on a jet black background."
Graphic from the Zenith Radio Corporation  


The Zenith Eakins model is one of the new Chromacolor sets currently on sale at the Anchor Department Store. With a TV such as this, one could be tuning into programs such as "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in," "The Carole Burnette Show," "To Rome With Love," "Room 222," "Love American Style," "The High Chaparral," "Ironside," and "The Mod Squad."
Graphic from the Zenith Radio Corporation 

Moving right along in our PLAZA SQUARE shopping spree, we decide to grab a bite to eat at one of the fast food restaurants located along the mall. In fact, there's an Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips right across the from the Anchor Department Store.
Graphic from the National Fast Food Corporation-Fisher Foods, Incorporated


The Arthur Treacher's lunch special is just a dollar thirty.
Graphic from the National Fast Food Corporation-Fisher Foods, Incorporated


Or, we could pick up a sandwich and "devilishly good drink" at the Orange Julius down the mall.
Graphic from the International Industries Corporation


The current Orange Julius lunch special.
Graphic from the International Industries Corporation


How about a snack for dessert? Karmelkorn is down on the Penneys Court.
Graphic from the Franchised Growth Corporation


As the advertisement says....munch a bunch as you shop.
Graphic from the Franchised Growth Corporation

After getting a snack at Karmlekorn, we enter the J.C. Penney -a.k.a "Penneys"- across the mall. The store faces the Center Court area.
Graphic from the J.C. Penney Company

Walking down an aisle, you notice some really loud stovepipe pants in the Misses & Juniors section.
Advert from the J.C. Penney Company


Next, we come to the menswear department, where there is a special on Towncraft-brand suits.
Advert from the J.C. Penney Company

Taking an escalator to the upper level of the store, we come to the floor coverings department. Fashion Manor Carpeting is on sale this week.
Advert from the J.C. Penney Company


In the center of an aisle is a stand with various Penneys store circulars. This one advertises sale items at the Penneys Auto Center. The Auto Center is in a freestanding building, in the southwest corner of the mall's parking lot.
Advert from the J.C. Penney Company

The next stop on our Penneys shopping trip takes us to TV & electronics. We check out a "Spanish Mediterranean" Penncrest console stereo, which includes a Garrard record changer and 3-speed reel-to-reel tape deck.
Advert from the J.C. Penney Company


Back on the ground floor of the store, we enter the appliance department. We see several models of Penncrest-brand stoves, refrigerators, washers and dryers.
Advert from the J.C. Penney Company

Upon exiting Penney's, we head into the adjacent Spencer Gifts store. We recall reading in the newspaper about how the chain has grown by leaps and bounds since opening its first store, at a New Jersey mall, back in 1963. A Spencer store, such as the one in PLAZA SQUARE, carries a wide variety of merchandise, such as T-shirts, music paraphernalia, gag gifts, strobe lights, light boxes, room decor, jewelry and incense.
Graphic from the Music Corporation of America

Far Out, man! This store has "Smiley" bath mats, posters, coffee mugs, stationery, ink pens and napkin holders...What'll they think of next?"
Graphic from Wikipedia / "Pumbaa"


These Soma puzzles came out last year. Seven pieces made out of unit cubes must be assembled into a 3×3×3 cube. According to Parker Brothers, the manufacturer, there are precisely 1,105,920 possible solutions.
Photo from Parker Brothers


Can anyone say Psychedelic? Spencer Gifts stores are known far and wide for their groovy selection of "blacklight" posters and ultraviolet ("black") lights.
Poster 1 from http://www.posters2prints.com/love-black-light-poster-pr-16213.html
Poster 2 from http://sunshinedaydream.biz
Poster 3 from http://www.visualtransformation.com
Poster 4 from http://www.thefind.com



In addition to strobe lights, light boxes and blacklights, the store also carries the latest lava lamps.
Photo from Wikipedia / "NovemberChild"

Thom McAn Shoes, named after a Scottish golfer, operates some 1,400 shoe stores in 1970. In fact, one would be hard-pressed to find a shopping mall without one. The PLAZA SQUARE location is down the mall, along the Montgomery Ward Court.
Graphic from the Melville Corporation


As the ad states, "Something ugly...but also rugged, earthy and just a bit feminine. Exactly the way a girl wants to look these days.."
Graphic from the Melville Corporation