passatdoc
Well-known member
Balkanized shopping in San Diego
San Diego during my childhood (late 50s/60s) was moving from the old downtown-based merchandising system to the mall system. The stores that sold the nicest clothing (e.g. Marston's) were downtown. As a very small child I remember going there with my mother, if not in Sunday best then in very nice clothes, and there was a tearoom on the top (sixth?) floor. I loved to ride escalators and this store had LOTS of escalators. Marston's however did not sell appliances, only clothing.
The Sears in San Diego was an early postwar building near the Hillcrest neighborhood. It was a free standing store, not a mall. Parking was so-so because when it was designed, many families did not own cars. People who owned Kenmores presumably bought them here, but since there were closer (and more convenient) sources for clothes, we rarely visited.
San Diego's first mall opened in 1962: Mission Valley Shopping Center. There was a May Co (no appliances) and Montgomery Ward (did have appliances), but we rarely went into Wards because there were better deals on more fashionable clothing at May Co. My parents would buy appliances from local appliance-only stores, not dept stores, so I rarely had the chance to spend time monkeying around in the appliance section (the TV section was where that happened). My parents had a matching pair of GE Filter Flo's---since they moved into their first house in 1958, I'm guessing they were 1958 models (and the 1958 washer depicted on this site matches my recollection of that washer perfectly).
http://www.automaticwasher.org/MUSE...GE Filter-Flo/1958-GE-Filter-Flo-Exterior.jpg
I know that the washer was working when they moved from that house in 1971, but after that my appliance memory gets a little hazy and I don't know when or where the washer finally gave up the ghost. I had learned to do basic laundering as a teenager, and I remember my confusion the first time I had to wash a load of clothing on a different machine---I thought ALL washing machines had those wide white buttons (cycle selection) in front!!
San Diego during my childhood (late 50s/60s) was moving from the old downtown-based merchandising system to the mall system. The stores that sold the nicest clothing (e.g. Marston's) were downtown. As a very small child I remember going there with my mother, if not in Sunday best then in very nice clothes, and there was a tearoom on the top (sixth?) floor. I loved to ride escalators and this store had LOTS of escalators. Marston's however did not sell appliances, only clothing.
The Sears in San Diego was an early postwar building near the Hillcrest neighborhood. It was a free standing store, not a mall. Parking was so-so because when it was designed, many families did not own cars. People who owned Kenmores presumably bought them here, but since there were closer (and more convenient) sources for clothes, we rarely visited.
San Diego's first mall opened in 1962: Mission Valley Shopping Center. There was a May Co (no appliances) and Montgomery Ward (did have appliances), but we rarely went into Wards because there were better deals on more fashionable clothing at May Co. My parents would buy appliances from local appliance-only stores, not dept stores, so I rarely had the chance to spend time monkeying around in the appliance section (the TV section was where that happened). My parents had a matching pair of GE Filter Flo's---since they moved into their first house in 1958, I'm guessing they were 1958 models (and the 1958 washer depicted on this site matches my recollection of that washer perfectly).
http://www.automaticwasher.org/MUSE...GE Filter-Flo/1958-GE-Filter-Flo-Exterior.jpg
I know that the washer was working when they moved from that house in 1971, but after that my appliance memory gets a little hazy and I don't know when or where the washer finally gave up the ghost. I had learned to do basic laundering as a teenager, and I remember my confusion the first time I had to wash a load of clothing on a different machine---I thought ALL washing machines had those wide white buttons (cycle selection) in front!!
