culture
Yorkdale’s Turning 50
As the shopping mall marks its half-century, we look back at an earlier, groovier anniversary celebration.
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- <b>Source: the <i>Telegram</i>, February 25, 1969.</b><br><br /> <br /> The showcase attraction of the mall’s fifth anniversary was a 34-car display courtesy of Chrysler Canada. Given a push were the automaker’s Newport, New Yorker, and Town and Country lines. <br />
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- <b>Source: the <i>Toronto Star</i>, February 25, 1969.</b><br><br /> <br /> The fifth anniversary saw the introduction of shopping carts to ferry children around the mall. Yorkdale’s previous effort to provide strollers ended when many left the premises—sightings were reported at Expo ’67 in Montreal. The mall's Dominion supermarket was forced to “lock in” its carts due to accidents and theft. The new carts were available for 50 cents plus safety deposit. <br />
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- <b>Source: the <i>Toronto Star</i>, February 25, 1969.</b><br><br /> <br /> Speaking of Dominion, it used Yorkdale’s anniversary to launch its Baker’s Oven line of bread and desserts. Located at the south end of the mall, the Dominion site is currently occupied by Holt Renfrew. <br />
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- <b>Source: the <i>Telegram</i>, February 25, 1969.</b><br><br /> <br /> Besides celebrating Yorkdale’s anniversary, Eaton’s <a href="http://torontoist.com/2012/01/vintage-toronto-ads-a-very-special-birthday-party/">marked its centennial in 1969</a>. Eaton’s played a crucial role in the mall’s construction, refusing to commit unless Metro Toronto sped up approval of the neighbouring Spadina Expressway (now Allen Road). Over the past decade, the former Eaton’s space has been carved up into numerous spaces, including a food court opened in 2012.<br />
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- <b>Source: the <i>Telegram,</i> February 25, 1969.</b><br><br /> <br /> Opened in 1966, the community branch of the North York Public Library at Yorkdale provided the mall’s intellectual component. “Tiny tots are invited to bring along their mothers to special story time programs,” an advertorial noted, “and students are encouraged to research school projects in the reference department. There’s a fine assortment of novels for the busy homemaker, not to mention a wide selection of current magazines and newspapers.” We certainly agree with the advertorial’s assessment of libraries: “We don’t know of a better bargain…anywhere.”<br />
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- <b>Source: the <i>Toronto Star</i>, February 25, 1969.</b><br><br /> <br /> Given the mall’s upscale ambitions these days, it’s hard to imagine Yorkdale once housed a traditional five-and-dime like <a href="http://www.thegridto.com/city/places/retro-t-o-dining-at-the-coxwell-kresge/">Kresge’s</a>. Shoppers headed to the forerunner of K-Mart, and the mall’s other stores were guaranteed that the interior temperature would always be a comfortable 72 degrees Fahrenheit, that the snow would always be cleared from the parking lot during winter, and that if traffic into the shopping centre was heavy, “Toronto’s men in blue are always on hand to guide and direct you in and out of Yorkdale.”<br />
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- <b>Source: the <i>Telegram</i>, February 25, 1969.</b><br><br /> <br /> The mall’s fashion coordinator, Norma Wildgoose, was given space in the <i>Star</i> to review the season’s fashion trends. “Eeenie-meenie-minie-moe—the choice of a conglomeration of fashion looks—the 1969 woman never had such a diversified decision for spring. Whatever she decides is her look—she will be pretty, feminine, with fit, flare, and flattery,” Wildgoose declared. She saw navy, red, and white as the season’s favoured colour combination for women, followed by pastels. For the “sideburns and moustache department,” Wildgoose proclaimed the death of the Nehru jacket in favour of avant-garde designs. She also wondered if couples would embrace the “his and her” pairing of flowery jackets and plaid trousers.<br />
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Today marks Yorkdale Shopping Centre’s 50th anniversary. Opened on February 26, 1964, Yorkdale inspired generations of malls to come through its size, architecture, and carefully selected mix of tenants. By the time it turned five in 1969, the mall had lived up to its original promise of bringing downtown shopping to Toronto’s growing suburbs through familiar retailers like Eaton’s and Simpsons.
“Everything at Yorkdale is planned for you, the customer,” observed an advertorial in the Telegram. “And we like to think, after five years of service, we’ve proven a point: people do like to shop at Yorkdale…and for many good reasons.” Among those reasons were store concepts that wouldn’t be found in today’s Yorkdale (five-and-dimes like Kresge’s, general hardware stores like Aikenhead’s), and community services such as a branch of the North York Public Library.
The Star and the Telegram published special advertising sections on the eve of the mall’s anniversary: their pages were filled with ads, advice for navigating the mall, fashion tips, and plugs for a commemorative Chrysler auto show. Scroll through our gallery to see excerpts from those sections, and learn about stroller heists, five-and-dimes, and what was in fashion for the “sideburns and moustache department” in 1969.