WMAQ Channel 5 - Sorting It Out - "Woodfield Mall" (Segment, 1/20/1974)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- Here's a segment from an edition of Sorting It Out on WMAQ Channel 5, hosted by Bob Smith, with "social phenomenon editor" Abra Anderson (a columnist for the Chicago Daily News with her then-husband Jon Anderson (no, not the guy from Yes) - and co-founder with him of a '70's revival of The Chicagoan magazine; she is known today as philanthropist Abra Prentice Wilkin).
Includes:
Recording coming in midway just as Bob begins to introduce Abra... (no Shelley Long as co-host?)
...who sets up the piece, about the phenomenon of shopping malls, and in particular the Woodfield Shopping Center a.k.a. Woodfield Mall (shown on a graphic as Woodfield Shopping Plaza) located at Route 53 and Golf Road in Schaumburg, northwest of O'Hare Airport...
...leading to a film piece (voiceover by Bob) showing the place, first outside (with space to park 10,000 cars), with a look at how it got developed (thanks to population shift to the suburbs), and how such malls serve as "community centers" for people to network with each other; the mall (about three city blocks long, with three levels) was built and first opened in 1971, with (as of this segment) almost 200 retail stores situated therein, the idea being people could get a lot accomplished in one trip and how, in practice, it evolved from that simple concept; and a prediction that more shopping malls will spring forth in the future to meet such needs (including psychological counseling, medical care, churches and reference libraries)
Next is a look inside, where on a typical Saturday nearly 200,000 visit the mall - and tend to stay and stay (though the footage was filmed on a Friday); first seen going up an escalator looking from the down side, then a view from the second level where a Sears is in the background, inside an in-store babysitting service where children of shoppers stay for the duration ($1.25 per hour), and one scene where children in the on-site child development/day care center (ages 2 ½-6; $35 for a 40-hour week) were being creative with foam shaving cream; in another, children slide through a "do-it-yourself escalator"; other amenities include a fish pond for people to walk under, a public ice-skating rink, two movie theatres and 20 restaurants; each of the four courts have distinctive pieces of sculpture, as well as actual flowers and trees; also on site is a Greek amphitheatre for style shows, beauty pageants, and exhibits of new model cars; 249 audio speakers are on the grounds to pipe the latest Muzak heard in the background (different types according to the time of day); besides Sears, other establishments seen within the grounds include such establishments as Marshall Field's, Singer, Kinney Shoes, Rothschilds, Dr. Scholl Footcare, and JCPenney
(Note: some of the music during this had to be partially muted to prevent blocking - namely, Deodato's "Non Stop To Brazil" which can be heard in its entirety here: • Eumir Deodato - Non St... )
Back in the studio, Bob tells Abra he had no idea what those malls had become, she envisions herself as one of the kids; it had been been filmed 4-5 weeks in advance, after which more stores opened up; she notes that this country is late to the game, with such places situated in cities like Montreal, Quebec, for years, and notes her preference for going there over coming to "the Loop"
With that, Bob ends this segment and teases the next about a "de-bugging operation" (what could this have been? de-bugging as in computer programming? Or insect abatement?) after a break
"If nothing else, this is a spacious, well-lit indoor park where someone could wander for several hours just to see some other human beings who will not harm them."
This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, January 20th 1974 within the 9:30pm to 10:00pm timeframe.
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I was the first kid lost in Woodfeild Mall, on the day it opened. I was four, but I still remember. Spent a great deal of time there growing up. I loved that slide.
Congratulation 🙂
Yeah, I was a handful.😂
I loved that slide too and going under the waterfall. Shame they removed so many of the things kids loved to climb on.
You sure your folks weren’t trying to ditch you? 😉
I have no idea how any malls survive now. Most times, we see people wandering around but very few people seem to be buying anything. Few people holding bags of stuff. I don’t know how the stores survive.
Who remembers "the alley" ???
I don't but now I'm curious
I was discouraged from hanging out there. Spent most of my time downstairs at Disc Records.
@@CineMollusk I still have a few of those satin tour jackets they sold there.
And just steps away from The Alley on the same level was "The Orange Bowl" - a place to get a good slice of pizza
I miss the Alley!
The voluptuous Abra Anderson.
Woodfield Mall is one of the few malls in America today still going strong after all of these years!
I love this mall!
Yes Woodfield was even able to replace an entire anchor store that closed (Sears) with a new anchor, Primark. Which is unheard of in this age of dying malls. Most old Sears stores are just collecting dust at other malls.
It’s way better than stupid Southlake Mall in Merrillville. Woodfield is so much better.
Are there any of the 4 original Anchor stores left. ??I grew up in the Original “W” section of Schaumburg .I lived there from 1960- 1974 I have not been to Woodfield in the last 15 years .
@@johnplong3644 Yes JCPenney is still there. Marshall Field's became Macy's as you probably know but some of the original Field's store still remains. The restrooms in the basement level I believe are still green. But their Sears was the last in Illinois to close after 50 years in 2021. It was the company's flagship Sears store. It was replaced by Primark. Lord and Taylor closed in 2020 and is still empty.
See some other human beings that will not harm them. Why are humans so dangerous that even then we notated this?
"The largest shopping mall in the country..." (to be surpassed later by the Mall of America, located near the Twin Cities).
3:40 "The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year"
"This mall has everything."
Park your kid for $1.25 an hour. That certainly wouldn't happen today !
That was so much fun to watch. Much of Woodfield still looked like that in around 1999-2000 when I lived not far from that mall.
Actually a lot of it still looked like that until 2015, minus the fountains of course. Then they did that refresh and changed the flooring.
For reference... Evergreen Plaza was built in 1952. Becoming enclosed in 1966 .
Ford City was the first mall to open in Chicago ( 1965).
Spent a lot of time as a kid there in the 80s. I'm pretty sure that slide was right under the McDonalds. There were never movie theaters within the mall. The two they mentioned were separate buildings at the far outer edge of the parking lot; too far to walk on a cold day. I remember a very popular Hello Kitty and eating at a burger joint called Roy Rogers-both of which closed by the early 90s.
He actually introduced her as "The voluptuous Abra Anderson"??
I always loved those fish aquarium tunnels and the fish pounds etc! Plus the sitting area, with the carpet. I think by Marshals, is where it was? The elevators were cool too! Even miss the music throughout the mall and aquarium! Please, please, upload more videos like this. Especially, on our Chicago malls etc! Who's the narrator? I recognize that voice!
It's crazy how little that felt like a news piece and more like a straight up commercial for the mall.
Sure love those 70s cars,wish I was back to 1977 when our Mall opened up
“We’ll meet by the ugly sculpture.”
“Which one?”
Why not have the kids slide into a vat of shaving cream and be done with it? Call it a kid laundering service.
Ironic that at 5:15 the narrator says that shopping malls will be used for other things in the future, when that's exactly what a lot of malls are turning into now. Police substations, medical facilities, community centers, churches, etc.
I was born in the 90’s and totally remember the aquarium and waterfall! And also remember the sculptures outside Marshall Fields, Sears, and JC Penny’s. That yellow sculpture thing outside JC Penny’s I remember was always a popular place that kids used to climb all over 😂
I went to Woodfield Mall 40 years ago when it was the ultimate. I wonder what it looks like today?
i work in woodfield! definitely still alive and busy, but it has been renovated. No more fish, no ice skating, and the sears has been closed and replaced :( I would say the mall still has another 40 years in it
Sad they got rid of the fountain with the waterfall and the fish. My dad would always give me a penny to throw in to the fountain to make a wish. I remember smoking was allowed in the mall and there were ashtrays too. I wonder where all the classic Woodfield sculptures are, they are part of the mall's history.
I remember going there shortly after it opened. I was 7. The one thing I always had to get was one of the giant soft pretzels. I never had one of those before 😂😂😂
The woman commentator has the same name as me!
Malls were at their absolute peak during the 80s and 90s. Great memories. Unfortunately, since 9/11/01, increased feelings of insecurity and increased availability of online shopping, streaming, etc have led to the demise of many things like malls, video rental stores, etc. There’s not as much to draw us out of our holes anymore.
Every child’s favorite toy, shaving cream.
My malls were Ford City...Ever Plaza...Chicago Ridge - not as nice as this!
Ford City was my childhood, Chicago Ridge Mall was my adolescence (going with my first love), and Orland Square was the "upscale" shopping center to visit. It wasn't until I first got a car that I saw places like Woodfield, Oak Brook Center and Yorktown.
Yes! Orland always seemed fancy - maybe it was the Marshall Fields.
Ford City Mall, Water Tower Place and Chicago Ridge mall are my favorites
This was so cool to watch! I grew up going to Woodfield. My parents used to take me ice skating there and I loved looking at the fish in that tunnel! Thank you for the memories!
I miss the days of shopping on 47th and Ashland in the early 70s. That was really amazing 🩵
I used to watch this program on WMAQ TV in Chicago on Sunday night. Shelley Long co anchored this program at one time.
Woodfield is still going unlike other malls that are dead malls
I miss the big shopping malls....I loved spending hours there
Lovely scenes from a lost world, a country now gone.
worked here for ten years. horrible security in place. it's amazing nobody has blown it up.
My first visit to Woodfield was 30 years ago!!
Youngster
Not to be weird but one year me and my friend planned to go to gay pride and then we said “let’s just go to the mall instead” lol 😎
If people want to hear the REAL honest-to-Goodness Chicago Accent, listen to Bob Smith.
Woodfield Mall seems different, I wasn’t even born yet, I only been inside there a few times, Primark is taking over the former Sears area on October 12th of this fall.
Love this! Thanks for posting!
Just think: The small children in the day care center are now at least 50 years old!
At one point in the late 70's there were FOUR record stores in the mall. Two Musiclands, Disc Records and another I cant recall. The aquarium was awesome, sad that they got rid of it.
Sam Goody?
Fantastic
Where's Shelley Long?
what if the kids eat the shave cream hum?`
The Woodfield Mall really reminds me of the West Edmonton Mall (WEM) but with out the Indoor Amusement Park and the Hotel. It Looks.
Now that's how I remember them.
#restinpeace #itwasanera
I was there at Xmas time as a kid. Abra was kind of a downer and didn't quite seem to have much of a grasp of the mall. She pretty much parroted what the reporter said.
2:02 - The Kresge store used to be in Woodfield on the upper lever next to Sears!
My grandmother used to work at a Kresge’s in Detroit back around the same time Woodfield opened 😂😂😂
What memories.
Fun for zombies movies
Has anyone noticed about Bob Smith, how similar in this he looked to the way James Taylor has looked in recent years?
i didn't knew it had a skating rink. did they close it later on?
It was replaced by a cinema multiplex, and is now a comedy club.
I don't recall the skating rink being visible just walking through the mall. It was behind a restaurant called Johns Garage. Back of that restaurant had windows to watch the skaters.
I was there as a kid from pakistan in 1980... most amazing place
Then in 2023.... the magic was gone