1989 Shopping Mall Looks Like Another Planet
Here at Unreality we pride ourselves on finding stuff that really just boggles the mind. And when I think “Unreal” seeing the pictures we are about to share really resonated with me.
I’m completely dumbfounded that a mere 22 years ago our world looked like something out of the twilight zone. Seriously. How in the hell could we have changed this much and so fast.
Perhaps no better a showing of this is by sharing pictures from a 1989 mall…..
High Tech phones are awesome! Thanks to Kickstarter for the pictures.
weirdest post on Unreality ever 😉
Johnny I have to agree with you but it just had to go up.
I like how the old people really haven’t changed at all.
You know its an alternate universe when you see that many people at once in a mall. Some of them even look excited to be there. Just weird.
Also, the lone old lady in the blue almost looks like she could pass for an extra in a Tron movie.
Credit is due to the photographer/film maker Michael Galinsky for those pictures:
http://plazalondon.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/malls-across-america-michael-galinsky/
Just as awesome as I remember it.
Wow, I am getting way too old. Thanks for reminding me.
That was an unexpected trip to my childhood. Thank you.
This was posted a while ago on another site and I thought one guys response was dead on. It’s amazing how many people are talking and just plain interacting with each other. If you go to a mall today every one is walking around with their head down, using there phones. Also everyone today rolls around the mall with an ipod playing. Simpler times my friends. We should take notice.
Best Unreality Post Ever.
If I could go back, I would. That seems goofy to so many people, but that time period, not just because I was a kid (although, it probably is), was the best. Everything seemed like it was at its peak.
I love looking at photos that accurately capture a time period. Historical photos are great, some are very iconic. But photos like this are a true slice of Americana. These are really people. This was life, not something staged by a photographer and people pre-selected based on attractiveness. This was life in 1989, the mall could be any American mall from the time period. I don’t know where you found all those, but it be great to know, I love looking at stuff like this.
And if you’re considering doing anymore articles like this, it would be much appreciated. Photo galleries like this might not be interesting to everyone, but it sure means very much to me.
Did you think when you woke up today and posted this that you’d bring a tear to a perfect strangers eye? You did. I love the nostalgia.
I’m just looking forwards to the follow up post where everyone in the photos have become ravenous zombies and are strolling around, falling into fountains and shit.
And I reckon it all starts with the lady in the last picture. She’s in the final stages of the change. Mark my words.
Totally lame. Someone could’ve gone to any mall in Arkansas last week and taken these pics.
These pictures look like they could very well be from Finland, circa 2011.
Its hard to imagine where we came from.
What would have made this entire post better would have been a picture of one of the old Nintendo Gaming station kiosks that would sit in the middle of the mall and would be surrounded by 30 to 40 kids at a time just waiting for a chance to play Star Tropics or maybe trade in 11 of their games for one new one. And yes I was one of those stupid ass kids who traded in 11 games for one new one. Don’t judge me.
I just tried googling for a picture of these kiosks and couldn’t find anything. Then I just tried to find any mention of them and turned up nothing. Please don’t tell me that my mall was the only one in America that had a fairly large kiosk in the middle that was dedicated to Nintendo and the NES (granted I did grow up in Seattle and Redmond, WA where Nintendo of Americas is stationed was only 15 to 20 minutes away). It had 6 to 8 screens with 8 to 12 games to choose from to play for a 5 minute demo. They also sold the games and were the first place I ever knew that had a game trading business going on. And don’t tell me that I’m old, I just turned 30 back in November. Am I really the only one that remembers these things?
Where I’m from, small city in Canada across Detroit, friday nights you still see people hanging out in malls on friday nights….I don’t think it’s that unusual. As for the original pic of the kid walking around with the stripped blue and pink shorts, I remember wearing clothes like that when I was younger and thinking I was sweet. I also remember the arcade stations at the mall where I could play X-men, TMNT, T2 etc…wish I could relive those days knowing what I know now….bwahahaha.
1989, first year of college. The 80’s were the best years of my life, God I miss them…nostagically pathetic I know. I had a killer mullet (when I had hair), a six pack beneath my Motley Crue concert shirt (before the beer-gut), the tightest ripped acid washed jeans I could find (thank God I could still have children), and the only payment I had was on my brand new right off the lot Hyundai Pony (gas was bout 50 cents a litre, I could drive forever!!). Thanks for the trip back.