Going to the mall in 1978 

Growing up as a Gen X kid in the 70s and a teen in the 80s, I thought the world would always be like this. Boy was I wrong.

Does anyone else wish society was still like this? I can't be the only one

Thank god I lived my childhood with no cell phone in hand

It’s not that everything was “perfect” back then but life was simpler and calmer and less stressful! ❤

Back when you would hear: "Behave, you're in public."

I miss the warm, analogue, earth-tones aesthetic of the 70s and early 80s. Today everything is silver/grey, digital, and synthetic, all lit up by garish blueish- white LED lighting. Thanks for this little time capsule of a more simple time.

I can almost smell the fountain chlorine, carmel corn and Orange Julius. Fantastic!

Before technology, social media, and cell phones ruined society forever. Best times!

It’s so crazy that someone in 1978 took the time to record all this for future generations. Cherish this footage.

Back when people got dressed before they left the house.

The closest we will ever get to time travel. Thank goodness someone back then took these videos. They literally had no idea how much watching them in 2024 would mean to so many!!! What I would not give to go back!

No cell phones… just playing together with fun and conversation. Loved these days

I love watching old footage like this, but at the same time it makes me so sad. I feel like I'm im constant mourning for the world we've lost.

Back when you didn't have to wear a bulletproof vest to go to the mall.

Those were the days that people enjoyed going to the mall on the weekend, checking out the stores, eating at the food court and a place that teenagers hung out to socialize. No one would even think of doing a hit and run theft of stores in the mall. Much more dignity, honest and morals back then.

I am Gen x and I so miss mall days. Meeting up with friends, clothes shopping, then lunch at food court. Yes we have that now. It's not the same. Everything was cheaper and more accessible. Like I miss Sanrio store, it was my fave place. Granted every store has hello kitty now, but it isn't the same. Ppl were friendlier and customer service was great. It was happy times as well as affordable times. Buying cassettes of ur fave music. Getting the latest release. Clothes were in bright neon colors and it smelled so good everywhere u went. It was so pleasing environment, just to sit and enjoy water rippling on rocks. I want to go back everyday.

I was 22 in 1978. It was a great time to be alive. The USA was a much better place then.

Notice the calm,NOT yelling and drama everywhere.The time when people had good common sense!

By the time babies grow up they won't even know what a mall is. Back then people respected one another, dressed well and behaved. A sign of the times.

I live in Japan and I always tell my friends back in the USA it's like living in the 70s here. People are polite, calm, woman have style class and dignity, very little crime, and you can trust the food. Seeing these videos makes me never want to return back to the USA as it really is like that here and better.

I miss those days when America was populated with normal people.

The one thing that really stands out is virtually all the people are thin and in good shape.

This is when everyone behaved. I could shop without fear!

Something else you rarely see nowadays: good customer service..the gentleman helping the lady trying on shoes.

The world felt a lot cozier back then..............

These poor people had no idea back then of the nonsense world that would come in the 2020s

I see Hickory Farms in the background. Loved that place!!!

I miss arcades. Not just video games either. I miss the ski ball games and pinball machines.

We had it so good. And we messed it all up.

You have no idea how much I miss those days. This was back when things made sense.

I miss Hickory Farms being open year round. And even though I was around for it, it's still weird seeing pre-Pac-Man arcades.

Shoutout to whoever owned a video camera in the 70s. If you would have told me what the world would be like 50 years later, I wouldn't believe it. I miss those days.❤

Three words: NO MOBILE PHONES 🎉

I was 12 in 1978, brings back strong memories of my mall experiences at that age. I can smell that Hickory Farms store, like wood and summer sausage. A great time to be young!

Before Amazon, cell phones.... I am class of '78, and this really pulled my heart strings. Sad, but glad to see it. "You can never go home". No Rap gangsters, no purple hair, no sex confusion, personal customer service was the norm, no hardware in people's faces.... thanks for the memories, Vampire Robot!

I was born in Plattsburg but grew up in different malls that all had that similar 70's brown orange style. The best thing is that you could go to the arcade, book store, music store, toy store while your parents did their thing. But this also reminds me of the 1978 DAWN OF THE DEAD.

Omg I wanna go back in time so bad and just stay there.

So serene when compared to the nonsense in malls these days. Miss the 70s and 80s.

I was 9 years old in 1978. Wish I could go back to the 70's. 😔

I'm happy to be old enough to remember these days.

The good old days, before mass shootings, fake breasts, and cellphones, I try to walk in my mall nowadays and I’m constantly trying to avoid collisions with people whose faces are buried in their phones, mindless zombies

Everything so slow, everything so calm. Take me back this is awesome.

It's amazing how much style changed in just 2 years from 78 to 80

Gone are the days of carefree happy people thin people!

Wow. The shoe salesman is in a suit.

I was 11 in 1978 - crazy all those kids are approaching their 60's, including ME!!

This was a time when the mall was an enjoyable place! Especially for going back to school shopping and during Christmas. I do miss those days!

Ahhh!... No computers, no hand-held "devices" glued to people's faces. lots of pen & paper... and people writing out checks to pay with... Awesome!

People were so calm and kind compared to today.

If this 1978 mall video was 10 hours long I’d sit here and watch the whole thing! Absolutely Sensational!☺️

I've been to the Pyramid mall in Plattsburgh, NY, many times as a Montrealer during the late 70s - many weekend drives to Whiteface mountain, Ausable Chasm, Santa's Workshop, ferry to Vermont, etc. when I first got my driver's license. The video brought back many fond memories!

The best of America is certainly behind it. Just glad that I was there to experience it

For those of us that lived through this era, all we have are these vids and our memories. It's too depressing to walk through a mall now, (and unsafe) that is if you can find one open. But just the people out with friends and family, and nobody stuck with their faces in a cell phone brings back happier times.

Seeing no cell phones or people looking down is strange, I love it!

This is my childhood, gone forever, replaced by...well....it's comforting to recollect that opiate rush you would get on weekends at the mall as an adolescent, nothing to trouble you, you are being taken care of with by parents back then I had no clue what was coming.... and just like my childhood, pure brick and mortar stores, video game arcade, Hickory Farms, landlines, all vanquished.

Those were the days the good old days.😊❤❤❤❤❤

The old shoe store experience…can’t remember the last time I ever had shoe store service like that where the salesperson would unlace the shoe and make sure it was the right size.

This is the year I was born. My dad worked as a delivery driver for a small company and my mom worked part time at K-Mart. They were able to buy a three bedroom two bath house in California. How times have changed.

This video brings back memories. The person with his new home video camera never knew that his videos would ever be uploaded on a platform for millions to watch I often see old home movies and wonder where and how the children ended up and who all is still alive. This of my era that I grew up and I can imagine where the adults are now. Some are with the 😇 up in heaven and some are still alive. Thanks for the memories

You know you’re old when videos start popping up everywhere documenting how much the world has changed since you were a teenager

Fun to remember the good days… not one face buried in a cell phone, not worried about looking at someone sideways cuz they might shoot you and everyone nearby. Just carefree shopping. So sad that malls are struggling to survive & scary to think what life brings in just 20 more years.

I remember mid 80s, the mall scene was absolutely glorious during the holidays as the holiday music echoed throughout and hired Carolers and band would roam around with great cheer… Ahhhh the nostalgia 😢

I was 13 at this time. Eastridge Mall here in Gastonia, NC (outside of Charlotte) was a huge hangout for us junior high and high school kids on Friday/Saturday nights. The 3rd floor had about 8-10 restaurants/snack bars and a large arcade called Time Out. Hanging out with friends. Making new ones. Flirting with girls, lol. No drama. No fights. No yelling/acting stupid. This video is a great example of this. It stopped being a hang-out spot around in the late 1990's. The mall is still open, but not nearly as crowded as it once was. It still has enough shoppers to keep the mall going. I am so, SO glad to have lived, experienced, and grown up during this time period. Thanks so much for posting. God bless whoever videoed this for future generations to see.

Thanks for posting this....and thanks to the person that had the foresight to make this back then. It really is a small time capsule of the way things were when I was growing up.

Yep, this is what it was like in the 70's at a mall! I was in my teens then - hanging out at malls was so common back then. Love seeing the 70's hairstyles and clothes - just a simpler time as others have mentioned - none of the craziness of our current times.

If malls were still like this, I’d go back. I was a teenager and took it all for granted. Now I’m grateful for all of it. I’d love to go into a “Spencer’s Gifts” one more time.

I had just graduated from high school and I assure everybody that is looking at this with nostalgia that we were all part of the problem that has led us to where we are today in 2024. Think about it

Geez, I was 17 in 1978. My friends and I practically lived at the mall on the weekends. We had so much fun shopping, eating at the food court and checking out all of the cute guys! A beautiful time to be young........

Nobody on cell phones, people actually talking with each other. I remember the 70’s. It was the best. 😊

Hickory Farms during the holidays simply the best!

That's a memory that footage! I'm from Montreal, Canada and went there a lot with my parents and grand-parents! I recognized it right away with the Hickory Farm store. Great memories.

I was 22yr working in a hair salon. We were so busy, making good money. I had my own place, people wanted to get out and make their own way in the world. We had so much fun, glad I was there to live it ❤

I started watching this and told my husband, "That looks so much like the Pyramid Mall." And then it was! That was a blast from my childhood.

No gangs, no shootings, just real Americans 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

This reminds me when I worked at Hickory Farms in the early 80s. I really had fun working there.

Can we please go back to this 😢

Oh wow! It’s like stepping back into time

Hickory Farms! Great place for a quick snack at work.

That was me in 1978, as a freshman in high school, hanging out at the local mall with my friends on a Friday night 😊

Wow, no 300+ pounders with purple hair!!

Another thing I noticed: no morbidly obese people. We still cooked and ate real food back then, we didn't get everything delivered in plastic containers cooked by strangers - strangers that may hate their jobs (do you KNOW what young cooks are capable of?!). Being fat didn't become popular until Oprah realized she'd never be thin and made it fashionable. There are some people that are naturally large, but for the most part THIS is what human beings are supposed to look like.

There is the complete absence of the din of stultifying pop music that sadly today inhabits our public spaces nearly everywhere. Also, the complete absence of people wearing headphones of any description, being the late 1970s, adds to the sense of community.

😭😭😭 This made me miss my grandma sooo much … I was 9 in 78 and what a sweet, sweet time … My grandma and I would walk arm in arm and get all the tasty treats …It was so calm and people were authentic … this nostalgia breaks my heart … thank you though, it’s beautiful ❤

I Wish We Could Go Back Such Great Times😊I Was 22 Years Old In 1978❤

I love it when you get 70's footage Vampire, and this time you struck gold. This one has it all. The primordial pre-80's arcade. The funky looking mall. Shopping for the fashions of 78. The hairdos. It's amazing just how different the world looks in '78 compared to say just six years later in '84.

Generation Jones here - I was 16 in 1978 - brings back lots of memories of that time.

Sad to see them go. So many great memories with friends, family and OH , THE GIRLS ! Ha !!!

It was such a better time. Like a different world. If you werent there, there is no way you can even begin to imagine how much better EVERYTHING was . I miss America, I will never forget it. And what killed it.

The Hickory Farms store made me smile. That was a must stop for my parents and I. ❤

The year I was born! I was too young to remember anything from the 70's. It's so nice to see what life was like in the eyes of an adult. If I went back in time I probably would have just as much fun hanging out at the mall as I would today.

I just suddenly realized that one of the things that my local malls don't have anymore are water features (fountains, shallow pools, rock art with flowing water, etc.) They were all ripped out and replaced with more blank floorspace for walking and shops when my local malls got renovated in the 2010's. I guess the mall managers also had enough of people/kids trying to dive into the water features, wetting the surrounding area, and sometimes collecting the coins that other visitors tossed into the fountains.

The best times were Christmas. The malls n parking lots decked out with xmas decorations, Santa clause, n people gathering together as a community. What a sad world we live in today with internet

It was such a wonderful time to be alive and it is absolutely true that EVERYTHING was better. I was 11 in 1978 so I've been aware of everything going on since then but I have no clue as to when/where/how things changed. Probably a combination of things that can never be reversed. I do think we were all happier then and you can see it on most of those people's faces in the video. Everyone in the video is socializing, talking, smiling and hanging out in groups, close to each other. Sure many people smoked and most cancers were a death sentence, but we seemed healthier as well. A grown man or woman could actually earn a living as a retail associate in a mall. My uncle was a bartender and my aunt was a homemaker but they could afford a modest home, car, etc. and travel a little. Same with my parents.

The mall during Christmas was very cool!

Love the innocence and tranquility. Life was simple and ppl respectful of one another.

Loved it! Back in the day when CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS KING! The shoe salesman getting the shoes you wanted from the back room letting you know what colors and sizes he had left and then placing the shoe on your foot!! Wow!!! You definitely couldn’t have that now! Someone would get offended or cry rape!!! 🤦‍♀️ how very sad it is now in the world all this hatred we have towards one another I never ever thought I’d see the day! Nor even conjure up how sinister this hatred has become….. I cry bcause we took these peaceful times for granted back then …..

It’s weird and sad that the elderly people walking by in the video are all dead now. They were alive back then, shopping, not knowing we would view them momentarily in a video passing in 2024

1978, age 6. The mall was like paradise to me. The Moorestown Mall in NJ had everything a kid would love...Kay-Bee toys, Roy Rogers Restaurant, petting zoo, fountains with the pennies and ducks swimming in the ponds. But Sears was the best because they had that giant Winnie the Pooh in the kids section and I loved Pooh!

I remember as a young kid going to department stores with my mother to buy shoes. Shoe salespeople would bring boxes of shoes to us and help my mom find the best fit, literally putting the various options on my feet and advising. It seems so very different but not that long ago.

Record stores were the best back than. Walking in and seeing 1000s of records and tapes as a teenager. Seeing the promotional posters of your favorite groups on the walls that only the record stores got were very cool.👍