The very first shopping mall built here on the Buckle of the Rust Belt was South Hills Village near Pittsburgh. That signaled the end of the downtown shopping frenzy, the end of the big stores (Gimble's, Horne's and Kaufmann's) decorating their display windows for Christmas and the end of trudging from store to store through the slush and snow of December.
Yes indeed, the future was now when that mall opened up back in 1965.
Mom and Pop, always ready willing and able to embrace the future, bundled up my brother (five years old) and me (a spritely eight year old) and off we went to investigate this modern wonderland of commerce.
We marveled at the indoor fountains. We gawked at the new, non-soot covered Christmas décor. We were awe struck at the food court offering a bill of fare unrivaled in our collective experience. And we were jostled by the flood of other curious Pittsburghers as everyone wanted to see and shop the new mall.
In the center of all this modernity stood a 15 foot tall Christmas tree. It was gloriously decorated with that touch of flare and panache that marked the mid 1960s. Look at those tiny lights! Look at those oversized ornaments! Look how tastefully the tree is adorned! And wait a minute! Did that tree just ask me a question?
I walked passed the tree as a helium balloon flew from the string tied to my wrist. Did that tree just ask me where I got that balloon? It did! I froze in my tracks wondering what stranger is asking me personal questions about my balloon! After checking out the situation, and seeing no one around me but that tree, my willing suspension of disbelief kicked in and I answered the Christmas tree. "I got it in Gimble's!" I answered.
"It's beautiful!" answered the tree. By now my face was flush for being deceived, but I was eight and willing to go along. "Thank you!" I said. "Merry Christmas!" said the tree. I wished the tree a Merry Christmas too and then I checked again for mirrors or trap doors or some other device that might impart the magical gift of speech to a Christmas tree. How was I to know that a mall employee hidden away among the decorations and equipped with a microphone was the real talking culprit at the new South Hills Village Mall?
That was fun, but as I grew older, I began to miss the 'normal' Christmas hustle and bustle of downtown shopping.
