In 1989, Michael Galinsky, then a 20-year-old student, took a month to traverse the U.S. Everywhere he went, he documented the same place: the shopping mall. The results are now an archive of a vanished world, simultaneously familiar and foreign, trivial and full of meaning.

These pictures are taken from Michael's book, Malls Across America. See also Michael's current project - All the Rage.





"Malls are not the center of our cultural sphere anymore. They're not new and shiny. We've moved on, and now we have the Internet."
MICHAEL GALINSKY


http://mashable.com/2014/12/02/80s-shopp...VlZmgzcSJ9

Not sure what the point is, other than some lighthearted nostalgia.

Are we supposed to be lamenting something here?

You should had post more pictures like the one where the dude leaning against the brick wall, dude gaming on the girl, the pretty blond, men in suit, amused shoppers, the jocks, aerial view of people sitting, and the two kids by the fountain. Two things I noticed is how everyone had hair compare to now where shaving off 30% to 70% is hot and feminie fashion on men have always exist.

Quote: (06-03-2015 03:15 AM)Veloce Wrote:  

Not sure what the point is, other than some lighthearted nostalgia.

Are we supposed to be lamenting something here?

Those of us over 40 are definitely lamenting something. The loss of our youth, the demise of the classic shopping mall era, and the loss of the old America that was filled with thin, non-tattoed blondes with winged hair and Bon Jovi t-shirts.

We're lamenting that life no longer looks nor feels like an '80s teen movie or a Beach Boys song like "California Girls."

At the risk of sounding like Uncle Rico: Back in '89, I could walk into a mall and in an hour have a handful of phone numbers and a date for that night. I was the prince of "mall game." Perhaps even the fresh prince of mall game on my good nights.

I still remember the names and they're as dated as I'm coming off now: Dawn, Tasha, Jenny, Carrie, Brooke, Danielle, Ami (yes, with an "i"), Kandice, Wendy, Robin, Kristen... They worked at stores with names like Claire's, the Great Cookie Factory, and Things Remembered. Golden days, people.

I don't know if mall game can exist now in the form it did in that era. Malls aren't what they once were and have been replaced by big box stores. Teens and twentysomethings no longer congregate there, but online. Even if you do find a mall, the women don't look like they did in the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" era, sad to say. And "live" pickups seem to have been replaced by Tinder, OKCupid, and Facebook.

But if it's possible to follow in my footsteps, I did a few posts on mall game here, here, here, and here. As for me, I'll be checking out those vintage photos.

I am lamenting the loss of this:


The young one on the left would be called anorexic now despite being just normal and thin.

Even young mothers were thin:



And some Wookies going shopping:




Look how thin people in their end 20s/30s were before the coporations decided to call normal food "organic" and put in more toxins than nutrients:



Also the men seem to be more masculine, but no surprise there - bad food, more conditioning and decrease of testosterone levels:

Women were thinner and more feminine.

Men were more masculine.

There were lots of high-paying middle class jobs.

We could speak our minds more freely.

America was more social and less atomized.

There was no social media to pic whore relentlessly on.

Caitlyn Jenner was Bruce Jenner.

There's a lot to miss about the 1980s.

The fitness and hair are great, but none of these women are wearing feminine attire.

Arcades were the most legit thing ever. I remember going to one at my mall up until the late 90s. There were two and sadly both ended up closing shop.

Nowadays arcades suck. The retro games were cooler.

This one is particularly hilarious.

Thirsty ladies?

^^^

Could put that one in the girls mirin guys thread.

What a surreal set of pictures.

Women were nicer in the 80's. Even when a guy married a chick that wasn't "hot" guys would say she has a great personality. Or that she was sweet, and would make a great wife. Broads that were 5's or 6's had to be pleasant, and have domestic skills to land a guy. Now the same caliber broads are cunts, and think they deserve David Beckham.

Quote: (06-03-2015 07:14 AM)vinman Wrote:  

Women were nicer in the 80's. Even when a guy married a chick that wasn't "hot" guys would say she has a great personality. Or that she was sweet, and would make a great wife. Broads that were 5's or 6's had to be pleasant, and have domestic skills to land a guy. Now the same caliber broads are cunts, and think they deserve David Beckham.

I've posted this before, but to watch a TV show from the 1980's is like traveling time. I remember watching these same shows as a kid. Now as a red pill male they are a huge slap in the face.

The women across all the shows are thin, pretty, feminine, dress feminine, support the male characters, and are overall happy and proud to be a mom/wife.

Contrast that with the crap on TV today.

I checked out the link and aside from outdated products and people with hair and clothes from my school years, the malls look more or less like 2015 malls. More hot girls in the malls now (though he probably just didn't aim his camera as much at them as some would have). Doesn't spark much nostalgia in me.
But I'm in Europe so maybe things are different here.

Quote: (06-03-2015 07:23 AM)It_is_my_time Wrote:  

I've posted this before, but to watch a TV show from the 1980's is like traveling time. I remember watching these same shows as a kid. Now as a red pill male they are a huge slap in the face.

The women across all the shows are thin, pretty, feminine, dress feminine, support the male characters, and are overall happy and proud to be a mom/wife.

Contrast that with the crap on TV today.

TV and movies are another matter. 80s movies or TV shows can on occasion make me a bit nostalgic.

Charles in Charge was popular back in the 1980s.

Quote: (06-03-2015 07:32 AM)MikeS Wrote:  

I checked out the link and aside from outdated products and people with hair and clothes from my school years, the malls look more or less like 2015 malls. More hot girls in the malls now (though he probably just didn't aim his camera as much at them as some would have). Doesn't spark much nostalgia in me.
But I'm in Europe so maybe things are different here.

Quote: (06-03-2015 07:23 AM)It_is_my_time Wrote:  

I've posted this before, but to watch a TV show from the 1980's is like traveling time. I remember watching these same shows as a kid. Now as a red pill male they are a huge slap in the face.

The women across all the shows are thin, pretty, feminine, dress feminine, support the male characters, and are overall happy and proud to be a mom/wife.

Contrast that with the crap on TV today.

TV and movies are another matter. 80s movies or TV shows can on occasion make me a bit nostalgic.

The nostalgic part of it is true. But it is more than that as well...

I was watching Cheers a few months back. The episode I was watching just happened to also be from 1989. And it wasn't the show or content, it was the people I noticed...

#1) The guys were for the most part wearing suits and looking good.
#2) The women were all dressed femininely. I don't remember seeing a pair of dress pants even. All skirts, with stockings and heels. Most in business suits as well.

And I am talking about the extras in the back ground. Obviously this was normal in those days, at least in a large city, or the audience would question why everyone was dressed so nicely and not identify with the show.

Add to it, the behavior of the female characters was very soft and feminine. Their strengths were shown in a female way, not in a masculine way of fighting or kicking ass. But in being persuasive and sweet.

My first thought was, man, I want to go to a place like that. That is what I am missing in life. Then I realized that place doesn't exist today. This was 25+ years ago, and those days are just gone.

Quote: (06-03-2015 07:51 AM)It_is_my_time Wrote:  

Quote: (06-03-2015 07:32 AM)MikeS Wrote:  

I checked out the link and aside from outdated products and people with hair and clothes from my school years, the malls look more or less like 2015 malls. More hot girls in the malls now (though he probably just didn't aim his camera as much at them as some would have). Doesn't spark much nostalgia in me.
But I'm in Europe so maybe things are different here.

Quote: (06-03-2015 07:23 AM)It_is_my_time Wrote:  

I've posted this before, but to watch a TV show from the 1980's is like traveling time. I remember watching these same shows as a kid. Now as a red pill male they are a huge slap in the face.

The women across all the shows are thin, pretty, feminine, dress feminine, support the male characters, and are overall happy and proud to be a mom/wife.

Contrast that with the crap on TV today.

TV and movies are another matter. 80s movies or TV shows can on occasion make me a bit nostalgic.

The nostalgic part of it is true. But it is more than that as well...

I was watching Cheers a few months back. The episode I was watching just happened to also be from 1989. And it wasn't the show or content, it was the people I noticed...

#1) The guys were for the most part wearing suits and looking good.
#2) The women were all dressed femininely. I don't remember seeing a pair of dress pants even. All skirts, with stockings and heels. Most in business suits as well.

And I am talking about the extras in the back ground. Obviously this was normal in those days, at least in a large city, or the audience would question why everyone was dressed so nicely and not identify with the show.

Add to it, the behavior of the female characters was very soft and feminine. Their strengths were shown in a female way, not in a masculine way of fighting or kicking ass. But in being persuasive and sweet.

My first thought was, man, I want to go to a place like that. That is what I am missing in life. Then I realized that place doesn't exist today. This was 25+ years ago, and those days are just gone.

To add to the discussion, I'd say this.

Back then, big American cities usually had lots of local neighborhood pubs where men congregated to drink, watch sports, joke, argue about politics, shoot the sh*t, etc. Men weren't always expected to come home to their wives or gfs. It was usual for a man to want to enjoy his evening at the pub with buddies. So a show like Cheers was an accurate reflection of urban life for a large percentage of American guys.

These days most of those neighborhood pubs are gone because men generally don't do that anymore. Guys usually have to come home to a shrewish, controlling wife. Even single guys usually just come home, watch tv (or social network), and drink by themselves. This has done a lot to smash male camraderie, which was very strong back in the 1980s.

When RVFers talk about how American/Western male masculinity has declined, one reason is that guys tend not to hang out together as much. The male bonding experience created at pubs was important and now it's gone. The other places where guys used to hang out a lot was bowling alleys. That's less common today too. Men need to get together fairly regularly in a type of clubhouse atmosphere. When they don't, they forget how to be guys.

Back then, at the pub or bowling alley, the type of conversations men would have tended to be very "Red Pill" too. Lots of wisdom got transmitted around, especially from older to younger guys. For a lot of guys these days, once they leave high school, most of their social experiences are with gfs/wives. Modern men don't get to be around the boys much anymore. I think that has a feminizing influence on a lot of guys.

If Cheers were made today it would have one character each episode being bitched at on their cell phone.

When's the last time anyone saw a Buy American sign in a department store?

Quote: (06-03-2015 04:01 AM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

Look how thin people in their end 20s/30s were before the coporations decided to call normal food "organic" and put in more toxins than nutrients:

I don't think so.

In the 1980s, America was eating more fast food than it ever had. The nutritional content of food was secondary to gimmick factor. TV dinners and McDonalds had been around for a long time, but they became staples in the 1970s-80s.

Organic didn't exist, food was produced with little to no scrutiny from regulatory bodies, meat was injected with water to make it bigger, vegetables were sprayed to hell with pestecide and transfat went into many foods unchecked.


I grew up in Australia in the 1990s. This was essentially Australia's golden mall era and now it is yielding to online shopping and a return to High St. About fucking time. I personally don't lament the loss of this era as it destroyed small towns, old cinemas and small businesses everywhere. I'm glad to see them failing to fill shops now.

One thing I sure as hell don't miss are high-waisted light blue mom jeans.

Although I came of age in the mid 90s, my childhood was spent in the 80s. I remember walking to elementary school humming Aha's "take on me" when it first came out. I remember the Magic vs Byrd rivalry and being back east crying when the Lakers loss while surrounded by Celtics fans. I remember riding around in little BMX gangs to go play video games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Growing up the San Fernando Valley, I was at the American epicenter of Valley Girl culture and remember taking the bus to malls with my friend to "meet chics" even though we never had the balls to talk to any. I remember going to the mall to see the iconic 80s movies during their first run, Back to the Future, Karate Kid, Indiana Jones, Top Gun, Goonies, Revenge of the Nerds. I remember the old school hip-hop when it was cutting edge, The Fat Boys, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J. Taking the subway in NYC with my dad and remember all the graffiti, boom boxes, grit and danger that use to define NYC before it became it became Disneyland for the 1%.

I totally get why people loved the 80s.

As others have said above, much to miss but by far the biggest difference to my eye is that without smartphones everyone is much more aware of their surroundings and the other people around them. Now everyone is a zombie staring at their phone, and completely awkward and socially avoidant.

No ones mentioned it yet. In the '80s, CHICKS HAD MUFF! WONDERFUL, THICK, WILD MUFF!!!

Quote: (06-03-2015 09:56 AM)Mr. Wolf Wrote:  

As others have said above, much to miss (thinner people, greater femininity and masculinity (funny how those go hand-in-hand)), but by far the biggest difference to my eye is that without smartphones everyone is much more aware of their surroundings and the other people around them. I was in high school in 1989 and worked at a mall. I remember chatting up girls while just roaming the halls. Now everyone is a zombie staring at their phone, and completely awkward and socially avoidant.

This is so true. I went to college when the internet was still relatively new to all of us and almost no one had a cell phone. This was the late 1990's.

I remember on nice spring days I would grab my book bag and walk around campus at the top of the hour just to say hello to friends on their way to classes or to try to meet women. Going to the library back then was almost like going to the bar. Maybe even better. I probably met more girls in the library from the old "hey, you are in my class ____, are you studying for the upcoming test" than at the bar.

I am guessing college campus today is full of insecure young adults who are too scared to look up from their smart phone and make eye contact.

I think for most of us, the way the world is around age say, 20, is burned into our brains forever as defining normality. In a world which changes so fast it's hard to let go of the past. Younger guys remember, the current era will seem quaint and nostalgic sooner than you expect.