Photos From My Dead Mall

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Mickey

A few years ago my mall died. I know I’m not alone in this fact as numerous malls have closed all around the country in the last decade. For our local mall, it started when a new shopping center was constructed seven miles away. Only a few stores left for the new center, but it was like the first little snowball starting to roll down the hill. A couple of years later, a new mega-shopping attraction began construction, and all of the anchor stores in the mall declared they would be moving there. Even Stevie Wonder could read the writing on that wall, and before we knew it, most stores in the mall were signing up for the move to the new outdoor shopping center. The few shops that were left were too small to afford the move and ended up staying at the mall until the end, and then just vanished. The independent stores went out of business altogether, and the smaller chain stores just didn’t relocate, and that was the end of the mall.

A few days before it closed for good, I was able to get in and take the photos in the slideshow below. Consider them autopsy photos. If you have any questions as you browse through them, feel free to ask. I’ll be over in the corner weeping.

The main entrance to the mall.

One of the many entrances to the mall, and the one I used.

Another entrance to the mall.

Part of the main drag on the upper level of the mall.

Looking down the main aisle of the upper level.

The Customer Service desk also doubled as Gift Wrap during the holidays.

Part of the lower level of the mall.

A look at the escalators from the lower level perspective.

The middle of the mall, lower level.

What used to be two of my favorite stores. Kaybee Toys was on the left, and Spencer's Gifts was on the right. The wooden door front was added near the end when the store transitioned to a music store.

The store with the green exterior was Rack Room Shoes.

What used to be our local GNC store.

Game Stop, which before that was Software Etc...the absolute best place around when it came to buying computer games.

On the right is the exterior of what was FYE, a store I spent a small mint at through the years.

Misty Mountain Designs was the hippy store.

The lower level entrance to Sears.

The lower level entrance to JC Penny.

It's not hard to spot a Bath and Body Works facade. Even though it was empty, I could still smell the Cucumber Melon.

On the corner of the main aisle sits what used to be B. Dalton's book store...one of my favorite spots in the mall.

The exterior of Proffitts.

Friedman's Jewelers...where I bought my wife's engagement ring.

What once was the arcade. In it's later years is sported a neon sign and was called Tilt. When I was younger, it had a mining facade and was called The Gold Mine.

The small store you see here was our only Chic-Fil-A in the area for many years.

The display cases of Great American Cookie Company always looked great, and the smell coming from that store was one of the best in the entire mall.

One of the mainstays of the food court was Subway. It used to sport the familiar green and yellow color scheme, but changed when Subway left.

The exterior of the Piccadilly restaurant.

The dark corridor of Piccadilly's food line.

These two stores were part of the food court. On the left was Villa Pizza where you could get great pizza by the slice. And on the right was a small eatery called China Shuttle.

T. Gordon's restaurant where you could grab an adult beverage and a steak while at the mall.

A sad sign hanging in the window of one of the stores. A major part of my childhood and teenage years died along with the mall itself.

Highlights From the 1984 Montgomery Ward Catalog

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Mickey

As I’ve said before, nothing reminds me of Christmases gone by more than browsing through old catalogs. As a kid, I could sit for hours looking through the many pages of possible gifts, circling the things I wanted in hopes Santa Claus would make my dreams come true. As we’ve already done with the 1988 Sears Catalog, and the 1991 Sears Catalog, we’re going to uncover some highlights from an old catalog, and this time we’re looking at the 1984 Montgomery Ward catalog!

Bed Tent

I had one of these bed tents, but I didn’t have it by 1984, so I would have been asking for one I’m sure. I’m not really sure what the intent was with these bed tents, but I can tell you that I used mine in a multitude of ways. First off, it made for a great fort in my bedroom. And when I wasn’t using it for defensive measures, I was using it to imagine I was camping out under the stars. And sometimes, I liked to imagine I was sleeping in some fancy bed. You know, the old four-posters that you could draw the sides on.

GoBots Power Cycle

I probably had at least a dozen different power cycles through the years. My cousin Tim and I would just wear them out going up and down the hill at my house. We’d do down the hill at top speeds, and then lock up the front wheel for a sliding stop. All of those sliding stops would wear flat spots on the front wheel, and before long, they would be un-rideable. But I never had this GoBots cycle. That kind of surprises me as I was a big GoBots fan, and this looks like a cycle I would have been asking for.

Books on Tape

I was also big into books on tape, and books on records, especially when they featured properties like these G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe ones. I don’t remember having any of the ones shown here, so I’m adding them to my list.

Rocky III Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots

Oh man, I always thought that Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots were pretty damn cool when it was Red Rocker vs. Blue Bomber, but this set featuring Rocky Balboa vs. Clubber Lang is so much cooler! You could replay the fight of the century over and over again, and if you were really feeling your oats, you can dare your friend’s sister to come over and find out what a real man was like, just like CLubber Lang!

Crayola Designer Kit

The designer kit on the left is the one that my brother had, and I was always so jealous. Mainly because he loved the damn thing so much that he would never let me touch it. He designed so many cool cars on that drafting table, that he developed a lifelong love for stuff like that and ended up pursuing a career in blueprinting. But since he never once let me have a turn at trying my hand, I’m adding it to my list now.

G.I. Joe Toys

So at this time, my two main toys were G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe. When it came to G.I. Joe, I had several figures pictured in the above scene, but none of the playsets featured. My brother had the Sky Striker, but like a lot of his things, I wasn’t allowed to even touch it, let alone put it through its paces. But it’s the Hovercraft that really catches my eye. Of all the toys to be produced for the line, it’s the one I always wanted the most, with the notable exception of the USS Flagg Aircraft Carrier. So I’m definitely putting the hovercraft on my list from this catalog.

Snake Mountain

As mentioned above, MOTU was one of my two favorite toy lines. I don’t know what year I got my Castle Grayskull for Christmas, but Snake Mountain came the year after that. I want to say I got Grayskull in ’84, and would have gotten this Snake Mountain in ’85. But memories are funny, so I can’t say that with any certainty. Regardless, it was an awesome addition to the MOTU line and a toy that I would go on to play with for hours and hours after getting it. We had a fireplace in our den where I played, and I would set this thing up in front of it, and the fire behind it became kind of like a Mount Doom before I knew what that was.

I also had the Fisto figure pictured here, and he was one of my favorites. I want to say that I had the dragon walker as well, but my memory is a little fuzzy on that, so don’t quote me. But for shits and grins, let’s add everything seen here to my list.

Construx

Construx was another big toy for me. I had several of the sets through the years. Whenever I got a set, I would build it the way it was supposed to be, but then quickly take it apart and incorporate the pieces into my larger collection and make my own creations. I had the big set pictured on the left, as well as the truck and helicopter at the top. I know I had several space sets, but can’t remember exactly which ones. Let’s assume I had one or both of the ones pictured here. Again, let’s just everything seen here to my list.

The Fall Guy Remote Control Truck

The Fall Guy was a kick-ass show, and I never had a remote control car as cool as Colt Seaver’s truck. I would have taken this thing everywhere and run it up and down my long driveway. It probably wouldn’t have lasted long as I can see myself wearing it out quickly, but that’s not going to stop me from adding it to my list!

I don’t want to be too greedy, so we’re going to stop this list right here. Getting even some of these things would have made for an awesome Christmas back in ’84. Hell, it would make an awesome CHristmas this year. C’mon Santa, work your magic and bring me some of this stuff this year!

Five of My Favorite Christmas Gifts

Posted on December 9, 2022 by Mickey

With Christmas getting ever so closer, let’s take a break from everyday life to remember some of our favorite old Christmas gifts. I’m listing five of mine here for you to check out, but please, drop some of your favorites in the comments at the bottom!

Castle Grayskull

I’ve got a feeling I got this in 1984 since it probably wouldn’t have been like my old man to buy it in 1983 when my fandom was just blossoming for all things He-Man.  He generally liked to wait until he was sure I was really into something before dropping a lot of dough on it.  But what kid out there who was lucky enough to get this for Christmas wouldn’t enjoy it?  I know I flipped for it.  I’ve got an old polaroid of me just after opening it, and I’m crying.  They had to be tears of joy.  But this was the highlight of my Christmas that year, and countless battles were fought around, in, and for Castle Grayskull in the following months and years.

Cobra Terrordrome

You’ll remember that I rambled on in-depth on the Terror Drome back when I described my mega haul of Christmas toys from 1986, so I won’t add much here, except to say that this was the largest piece I had in my assortment of G.I. Joe toys.  With G.I. Joe being both my favorite toy and cartoon at the time, it was a huge deal for me to get such an important piece of the toy puzzle with this thing.  I absolutely loved this thing and used it for so much of my G.I. Joe play.  It was also very handy when it came to having wrestling matches with my figures too.  Forget War Games, I was having Terror Drome matches.  The REAL most dangerous match in the world.

G.I. Joe Tomahawk

Also from Christmas morning of 1986, the Tomahawk would also go on to see a ton of playtime in all of my G.I. Joe battles.  The Joe side of the battle had plenty of vehicles, and with the exception of the Whale Hovercraft, this was my favorite one.  I never owned the hovercraft myself, so this was the best thing I owned on that side of the fence.

Super NES Super Set

I was a Nintendo guy.  I had friends who were Sega guys, but this old boy was firmly in the Nintendo camp.  I played Nintendo daily, so when this thing came out, it was all I could think about asking for in the 1991 Christmas season.  It was touch and go on whether I would actually get one or not.  My brother kept telling me that I wasn’t getting one because my Dad’s line of thinking was that I already had a Nintendo, so why would I need a new one?  But it turned out that was just a ruse, because on Christmas morning, there it was under the tree.  Of course, it went on to see hundreds or thousands of hours of playtime, and it still ranks as my favorite video game system of all time.

DC Comics Silver Age Classics Box Set

I got this set in 1992…right at the beginning of my comic fandom zenith.  I was soaking up whatever comics I could find like a sponge, so my Mom thought I would like this set.  It featured old stories, so it would have to be worth something she thought.  Well, in monetary value, she was wrong.  But in pure enjoyment, she couldn’t have been more right.  I was over the top with excitement at the fact that I could now read some of the most important stories in the history of the DC Universe.  It was a twelve-issue set and featured reprints of the issues that featured the first appearances of the JLA, Flash, Green Lantern, the Legion of Super-Heroes, and Swamp Thing.  It also featured the first team-up of Green Lantern and Green Arrow, as well as the first appearance of the “new look” Batman.  Who knew you could put such a price on happiness?

Well, there’s some of my favorites Christmas presents from through the years.  Be sure to share some of yours in the comments.

He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Mickey

The He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special debuted on television in 1985, and I was there for that original broadcast. While the franchise was on the verge of starting to lose steam as a property, it certainly wasn’t losing steam with me. I was still watching both half-hour cartoons every afternoon after school, and still playing with the toys on a daily basis at this point. So when this special dropped, I was excited for weeks on end leading up to it. For years and years, there really wasn’t any way to see this special again, but thanks to the power of the internet and online videos, we can watch it any time we’d like.

With that said, find some time to relax and give this old special a watch again. I’m sure it will bring all kinds of memories flooding back for you.

Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie Recipe from 1987

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Mickey

That date of 1987 is a little misleading, as this recipe actually dates back to the 1950s. But the ad itself is from 1987 so there you go.

With it being Thanksgiving, I just had to feature a Thanksgiving-centric recipe as part of this Retro Recipe series. It’s an easy recipe to pull off, so if you’ve been invited somewhere for the big dinner and want to take something, or you’re having folks over, you can really impress them with this pumpkin pie. And if you’re just eating alone, be careful, as this pie is so damn good you may find yourself eating the whole thing.

This recipe is the one I used when I made my first pumpkin pie. As you’ll read tomorrow, my parents went out for Thanksgiving all the time, and I never really had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner until I got married. The first year I was married, I told my wife that we were going to cook a full Thanksgiving dinner, and this was the pie I made. So look it over and give it a shot, it really is easy, and probably the best pumpkin pie you’ll find.

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