This is what malls used to look like in Toronto
This is what malls used to look like in Toronto
Before the 1950s, malls generally did not exist. The photos from this time depict downtown department stores that, while big, are well integrated with their immediate surroundings in some capacity.
The shift from what one might call the proto-malls of the 1940s and 1950s to those of the 1960s and beyond is the degree to which things move indoors. Rather than big plazas, shopping centres tend to become enclosed spaces where customers can presumably find everything under one roof.
Here are some of the best vintage photos of Toronto malls.
1920s
Yonge Street Arcade
Simpson's
The Eaton's Complex
1950s
Cloverdale Mall
Cloverdale Mall
Cloverdale Mall
Cloverdale Mall men's shop
Cloverdale Mall
1960s
Humbertown Mall
Humbertown Mall
Humbertown Mall
Humbertown Mall
Yorkdale (Simpsons)
Yorkdale
Yorkdale
Yorkdale
1970s
Yorkdale postcard
Fairview Mall postcard
Sherway Gardens grand opening (1972)
The Eaton Centre
1980s
The Eaton Centre
Don Mills Shopping Centre
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