  Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1992 Registered: 12-2005 |
Northland's iconic water tower, Aug. 19, 1956 (full size)  Parking Lot G, with nothing but "Detroit Iron", Aug. 19, 1956 (full size)  Exterior wall, Aug. 7, 1954 (full size)  Bus stop beneath the flags, March 9, 1957 (full size)  Landscaped courtyard with water sculpture, April 1955 (full size)  St. Francis of Assisi water sculpture close-up, July 1955 (full size)  Closer yet, Aug. 19, 1956 (full size)  Autumnal yellows, Oct. 28, 1957 (full size)  (Message edited by Mikeg on October 19, 2008) | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1975 Registered: 04-2006 |
Sweet!!! Its kind of funny how malls are returning to this. They have come full circle. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 3782 Registered: 01-2005 |
Ah. Finally, a picture of the photographer in the lower right corner of the last pic. Great pix, Mike. Thank you so much for taking the time to scan and post these. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 1605 Registered: 01-2007 |
Parking lot "G" is my favorite shot in this Northland series. I don't see a single import car in the bunch, or an SUV for that matter. I like how the architecture looks so ’modern’ in the 1950’s. | ||
Lowell Moderator Username: Lowell Post Number: 5100 Registered: 07-2008 |
Absolutely outstanding pictures, notes and contributions to the forum MikeG! Thank you so much for the effort. Every thread is Hall of Fame bound. The enduring quality of the pictures and their lush colors are magical! In the "Autumnal Yellows" above we finally see our outstanding photographer [in shadow]. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 7523 Registered: 11-2003 |
MikeG, excellent shots. jjaba rode his bike out to Northland, 1954 on James Cousins Parkway, before they built the John Lodge Expy. jjaba remembers how nice the new buldings looked. And all that parking! jjaba. | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 3215 Registered: 02-2007 |
Larryinflorida has a pic of Larryinmichigan on Santa's lap at Northland, circa 1964 (Message edited by Larryinflorida on October 20, 2008) | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 1606 Registered: 01-2007 |
I agree with everything Lowell says above. Outstanding job in all regards Mikeg. Woot! | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1995 Registered: 12-2005 |
Here's some more. Oct. 28, 1957 (full size)  Oct. 20, 1957 (full size)  | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1996 Registered: 12-2005 |
Aug. 7, 1954 (full size)  Jan. 16, 1955 (full size)  (full size)  (full size)  July 1955 (full size)  | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1997 Registered: 12-2005 |
Dec. 20, 1955 (full size)  (full size)  | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1998 Registered: 12-2005 |
Marshall Fredericks' The Boy and Bear Aug. 7, 1954 (full size)  July 1955 (full size)  July 1968 (full size)  | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 1999 Registered: 12-2005 |
Aug. 1956 (full size)  (full size)  July 1971 (full size)  (full size)  | ||
Gravitymachine Member Username: Gravitymachine Post Number: 2369 Registered: 05-2005 |
all of your pictures are amazing, thank you so much for sharing! someone give this man a megathread! | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 7524 Registered: 11-2003 |
Kodachrome, Paul Simon. (With a nod to MikeG) When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school It's a wonder I can think at all And though my lack of edu...cation hasn't hurt me none I can read the writing on the wall. Kodachrome They give us those nice bright colors They give us the greens of summers Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph So mama don't take my Kodachrome away. If you took all the girls I knew when I was single And brought them all together for one night I knew they'd never match my sweet imagination everything looks worse in Black and White. Kodachome They give us those nice bright colors They give us the greens of summers Makes you think all's the world's a sunny day, Oh yeah I got a Nikon camera I love to take a photograph So mama don't take my Kodachrome away. Mama don't take my Kodadchrome away. Mama don't take my Kodoachrome away. Leave your boy so far from home Mama don't take my Kodachrome away. jjaba, riding bike to Northland, Summer of 1954. | ||
Downriviera Member Username: Downriviera Post Number: 1016 Registered: 02-2008 |
In the landscape with water sculpture pic I see what I think is a Thom MCann shoe store. Totally forgot about that place. Used to get shoes there when I was a kid. Had to put your foot in the big metal shoe sizer that was always really cold. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 4259 Registered: 04-2005 |
they still sell Thom McCann's at Meijer's I think. You can get them online also | ||
Jerrybear Member Username: Jerrybear Post Number: 14 Registered: 10-2008 |
yes, I think Thom McAn is just a brand name that other stores like Meijers and K-Mart sells. I do not think they have their own stores anymore. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 4263 Registered: 04-2005 |
Mikeg, I love the pictures. It reminds me a lot of Eastland. I'm guessing same architects. But what is with that Christmas tree? Is that supposed to be citrus fruit? | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 3221 Registered: 02-2007 |
On the 2nd to last pic, I think I see "Hughes Hatcher and (Sufferin?) on the left. | ||
Jcole Member Username: Jcole Post Number: 4265 Registered: 04-2005 |
I think it was Suffrin. | ||
Onthe405 Member Username: Onthe405 Post Number: 81 Registered: 11-2007 |
I still recall the 'swinging 70s' TV jingle, featuring foxy guys in leisure suits: "Give your body a chance at Hughes Hatcher Suffrin". Also visible in pic #12 (1.16.1955): Van Horn's (menswear) and the "rts" at the end of Albert's (womenswear). My mom worked at Winkleman's Oakland in the 70s, and Albert's was their big nemisis. Jcole, you are correct. Northland & Eastland were designed by the same architect. Northland preceded Eastland by about 3 years, although JL Hudson Co secured the land & design at the same time. As a kid, my mom didn't work. I swear we spent as much time at Eastland as we did at home. It's as much a part of my childhood as school or relatives' houses. | ||
Blueidone Member Username: Blueidone Post Number: 363 Registered: 03-2007 |
I remember going shopping at Northland with my mom, who could shop for hours and hours! I'm only sorry that I was too young to appreciate the artwork and such that was all around the walkways. Thanks for the pics! | ||
Larryinflorida Member Username: Larryinflorida Post Number: 3222 Registered: 02-2007 |
There is a cool Eastland thread here with the rare lion and mouse pic and more!. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1139 Registered: 10-2003 |
FYI, Thom McAn Shoes was a unit of Melville Shoe, which is now CVS, as in the drug store. Melville spun off the shoe line as Footstar, which leases and operates the shoe departments in K-Mart. At the end of this year, the lease ends, and Footstar will probably disolve as a retail entity. The last Thom McAn store closed in 1996. I got my first retailing job at Bakers Shoes in Northland in 1965. Those pictures bring back a lot of memories. Thank you for posting them. | ||
Jimb Member Username: Jimb Post Number: 17 Registered: 09-2008 |
Awesome pictures. More than anything I remember the sculptures back when it was an 'outdoor' mall. Me and my buddies used to ride our bikes up there when we were 10-12 years old (early 70s). We would take sidestreets from home (near Greenfield and Eaton) all the way to 8 Mile, sometimes stopping at Forrer Park, then ride that treacherous stretch on the main roads from 8 Mile and Greenfield til we made it to the outskirts of the parking lot. We would occasionally walk up there too. I remember walking there and stopping to bowl at a bowling alley on Greenfield a bit south of 8 mile - I think it was Great Lakes Lanes maybe? For some reason I remember a store called Four Seasons, and I always loved the Hot Sams pretzels. I ended up working at the Winkelmans there in the summer of 1980 as a porter, after my Sophomore year in college. I started out at the one by GR and Greenfield, then was sent to Northland for a while, worked at one near 6 and Woodward a little bit too. My sister worked as a cashier at Phillips Shoes at Northland for two or three years when she was in her late teens/early 20s, probably 79-82 or so. I used to have to drop her off and pick her up quite a bit. I'll never forget the time she took the car to work at Northland and left the lights on. It was one of the coldest days we've ever had, I think the high that day was -12 or something ridiculous. Probably winter of 80 or 81. Me and my dad had to drive over to give her a jump. | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 2002 Registered: 12-2005 |
Aug. 7, 1954 (full size)  Oct. 1964 (full size)  Oct. 1965 (full size)  (full size)  | ||
Mikeg Member Username: Mikeg Post Number: 2003 Registered: 12-2005 |
Northand's Lot G hosted an unusual display during August of 1968: (full size)  (full size)  (full size)  (full size)  This is the last batch of Northland slides in the collection. Time to start a new "Vintage Kodachrome" thread. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 1609 Registered: 01-2007 |
Good job on this Northland thread, Mikeg! I think the last four photos prove beyond all doubt that man and dinosaurs once roamed the earth at the same time. But who would have thought it was in the late 60's? | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 211 Registered: 02-2008 |
MikeG, do you have Eastland photos before the ghetto? |
