Saturday, August 29, 2015

Greenbriar Mall & Miami Hotels

Sheer indolence has reduced me to posting today's offerings for "Anything Goes Saturday"!

Here's a scan of a slide from 1967 that was labeled "Mall, Atlanta". It was such an odd photo, with that glowing oval tunnel - almost like it was from THX-1138. After a little bit of research, I discovered that this was the Greenbriar Mall, which had opened two years earlier. JCPenny is at the other end, that's a long way to go for affordable pants! Hopefully there is a Hot Dog On a Stick along the way to keep me provisioned.


I couldn't help thinking of the "Time Tunnel"...


Here's a vintage postcard view, looking considerably more warm and inviting.


Next up is this view looking south on Collins Avenue, in Miami, Florida (circa 1959). To our left is the famous Eden Roc hotel, which had only been built a few years before. Lucy and Ricky Ricardo stayed there with the Mertzes! Somehow I expected there to be more pastel colors in Miami, but apparently that is in some other location. Classic car alert! 


While the lens on Google's street view camera gives a very different perspective, things still look remarkably the same almost 60 years later.


7 comments:

Nanook said...

Major-

Chandler Bros. Marionette Show-! Now that's a mall. Who needs Hot Dog On a Stick-! (Can the jugglers and mimes be far behind-?)

As for the cars... At the very far left, we can just spot the left-rear section of a 1957 Mercury. Next to it is either a 1956 or 1957, red Corvette-!. Then the rear end of a 1956 tan/black Plymouth. To its right, a 1956 white/dark blue-? Chevrolet. Farther down the street, the back of a red 1956 (possibly a 1955) Ford. And to its right, a 1957 (maybe a 1958) yellow Mercury. Let's go motoring-!

Thanks, Major.

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, I think the pastel colors in Miami didn't come until later....like in the eighties or nineties. But don't quote me on that. The Ricardos and the Mertzes both kept 100 lb. tunas in their hotel rooms during their stay at the Eden Roc....."Mrs. Ricardo, what do you want me to do with these 4,000 ice cubes?"

I wonder if that Atlanta mall and it's cool tunnel still exist?

Jimmy said...

The pastel buildings are in South Beach. I believe they date from the late 70s and were part of an initiative to breathe life into a declining area and its classic Art Deco architecture.

K. Martinez said...

I'm pretty sure Collins Avenue is in Miami Beach and not Miami. Two different cities even though across from each other. I remember getting off the bus in Miami back in the 1970's and thinking what an ugly, hot and hostile place it was. That's when I learned the difference between the city of Miami and city of Miami Beach. The Miami I read and hear about today does seems totally different and more prosperous than the one I saw back in the 1970's. Love the comparison to "The Time Tunnel". Thanks, Major.

Major Pepperidge said...

Nanook, I didn’t notice the marionette show until you pointed it out. I wonder how long that lasted? Such a great, old fashioned thing. Thanks for the auto ID’s!

TokyoMagic!, I suppose you’re right - now that you mention it, the colors DO seem rather 80’s. I am amazed that you actually remember the exact episode of “I Love Lucy”!

Leonard Bast, thanks for the info; as far as I can tell, the painting project worked; isn’t that part of South Beach now considered quite a ritzy area?

K. Martinez, well, I learn something new all the time. Even though I looked at a map and saw that Miami Beach was next to Miami, I just assumed that it was part of the same city. I see that there is a North Miami, a South Miami, Miami Springs, Miami Shores, West Miami… it’s too many Miamis!

TokyoMagic! said...

Major, there were actually two I Love Lucy episodes where the stayed at the Eden Roc. The other episode was when the met Claude Akins (Double A, beep beep, MCO) after getting marooned on a desert island. Both Florida episodes open with on location footage of the Eden Roc Hotel taken from the beach.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that mall is bizarre. Second reference I've seen this week to Time Tunnel, the design is almost subliminal. I doubt that form survives to the present. Malls are throw-away architecture.

Never been to Miami, or watched ILL. Never too late for either, I guess.

JG