Here's a segment from an edition of Sorting It Out on WMAQ Channel 5, hosted by Bob Smith, with "social phenomenon editor" Abra Anderson (a columnist for the Chicago Daily News with her then-husband Jon Anderson (no, not the guy from Yes) - and co-founder with him of a '70's revival of The Chicagoan magazine; she is known today as philanthropist Abra Prentice Wilkin).
Includes:
Recording coming in midway just as Bob begins to introduce Abra... (no Shelley Long as co-host?)
...who sets up the piece, about the phenomenon of shopping malls, and in particular the Woodfield Shopping Center a.k.a. Woodfield Mall (shown on a graphic as Woodfield Shopping Plaza) located at Route 53 and Golf Road in Schaumburg, northwest of O'Hare Airport...
...leading to a film piece (voiceover by Bob) showing the place, first outside (with space to park 10,000 cars), with a look at how it got developed (thanks to population shift to the suburbs), and how such malls serve as "community centers" for people to network with each other; the mall (about three city blocks long, with three levels) was built and first opened in 1971, with (as of this segment) almost 200 retail stores situated therein, the idea being people could get a lot accomplished in one trip and how, in practice, it evolved from that simple concept; and a prediction that more shopping malls will spring forth in the future to meet such needs (including psychological counseling, medical care, churches and reference libraries)
Next is a look inside, where on a typical Saturday nearly 200,000 visit the mall - and tend to stay and stay (though the footage was filmed on a Friday); first seen going up an escalator looking from the down side, then a view from the second level where a Sears is in the background, inside an in-store babysitting service where children of shoppers stay for the duration ($1.25 per hour), and one scene where children in the on-site child development/day care center (ages 2 ½-6; $35 for a 40-hour week) were being creative with foam shaving cream; in another, children slide through a "do-it-yourself escalator"; other amenities include a fish pond for people to walk under, a public ice-skating rink, two movie theatres and 20 restaurants; each of the four courts have distinctive pieces of sculpture, as well as actual flowers and trees; also on site is a Greek amphitheatre for style shows, beauty pageants, and exhibits of new model cars; 249 audio speakers are on the grounds to pipe the latest Muzak heard in the background (different types according to the time of day); besides Sears, other establishments seen within the grounds include such establishments as Marshall Field's, Singer, Kinney Shoes, Rothschilds, Dr. Scholl Footcare, and JCPenney
(Note: some of the music during this had to be partially muted to prevent blocking - namely, Deodato's "Non Stop To Brazil" which can be heard in its entirety here: • Eumir Deodato - Non St... )
Back in the studio, Bob tells Abra he had no idea what those malls had become, she envisions herself as one of the kids; it had been been filmed 4-5 weeks in advance, after which more stores opened up; she notes that this country is late to the game, with such places situated in cities like Montreal, Quebec, for years, and notes her preference for going there over coming to "the Loop"
With that, Bob ends this segment and teases the next about a "de-bugging operation" (what could this have been? de-bugging as in computer programming? Or insect abatement?) after a break
"If nothing else, this is a spacious, well-lit indoor park where someone could wander for several hours just to see some other human beings who will not harm them."
This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, January 20th 1974 within the 9:30pm to 10:00pm timeframe.
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