I was looking for some clothes, and I was online. I surfed to one of the shops I had seen in the mall- I looked and I looked and I wasn't really happy with the experience.

I miss going shopping. Going shopping was a production, an event, for me when I was a child. We'd catch the bus and go downtown(in my case downtown Philadelphia) and we head to the stores. Macy's, Gimbles, Strawbridge and Clotheirs, John Wannamakers'... all department stores. with multiple floors! (We;re talking five, six stories here, not just two.) These stores were malls in and of and by themselves! You could go to the women's floor and shop for women's clothes, the men's floor and shop for men's clothes, the appliance floor and shop for appliances... and when you were hungry the store had either a restaurant, cafeteria or market where you could buy something to eat too!

These stores were magical places, they were retailers and museums, and entertainment all at once.... I remember back in the late eighties, Wanamakers' had a special on all things Japanese, and the store went all out.. even the mannequins were Japanese in stature and position and coloring! Signs were posted in English and Japanese, for all displays and there were even some museum pieces displayed throughout the store, to teach about the culture! (I guess that was to have a greater appreciation for the Japanese themed stuff that was being sold. I thought it all was pretty cool...)

And the changing seasons were events in these stores too. One of my fondest memories is going to John Wanamakers' to see Santa Claus... the store had a light show for the kids that got us all hyped about Christmas, and presents, and seeing Santa. it was great! The main court at Wanamaker's reminded me of an old fashioned train station, it was (to a seven year old) huge! (it's still pretty big today... If you've seen the move "Mannequin" you've seen some of Wanamakers') And on one of the huge 5 story walls were lights and neon sign of toys of various shapes, and as the story was told, the accompanying lights would light up... it was great!

In Strawbridges', I believe, (memory's a little rusty here...) there was a little rocket roller coaster in the toy department! The toy department took up a whole floor of the store and the little rocket would make a circuit of the floor, with dips and turns, suspended from the ceiling!

Gimbles' had a theatre marquis in front and every year until they closed they had a magnificent tree on top of that marquis... it was made of wire covered in green tinsel and white light bulbs, with a lighted gold star on top and I thought it was one of the prettiest, most glittery things in town....

Don't get me wrong, malls are interesting too. It's convenient to have multiple stores wiithin walking distance from each other, and when the weather's bad, and you still want to go shopping, it's nice to walk in the mall And if you're really not into the weather, it's nice to go to the net, and look, but there's just a whole 'nother level when you can go to the store, and try on the clothes and then ask the sales person to ship it to your house or you carry that big paper bag, with the jute handles that make your fingers sore!