Among the Deadest of Dead Malls: Lakeview Centre, Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Opened in 1968 as Mid-Cities Mall.

First enclosed shopping center in the Manitowoc-Two Rivers area.

Anchored by J. C. Penney and Montgomery Wards.  Other major stores included Woolworth's, Osco Drug, and A&P.

Adjacent mall, the Edgewater, constructed in 1979.

After completion of I-43 in early 1980s, the focus of commercial development shifted to Calumet Avenue, on Manitowoc's southwest side.

Montgomery Wards closed in mid-1980s.  The mall's interior closed in 2000.  Penney's remained in business until January 2011.
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Penney's facade.

Edgewater Mall, now with less than 50% occupancy, is in left-center background.

Green roof #1.

 

Yes, those are seagull feathers. 

Green roof #2.

Green roof #3.

Green roof #4.

Green roof #5.

The Hardees' experiment.

A Blue Heron Against the Blue Water of Lake Michigan

When Watching TV was a Formal Affair (1950)

The closest estimate I can find to a 1950 manufacturer's suggested retail price for the above set is $550.  For 2010, the inflation calculator pegs the 2010 cost at $4,926.

DuMont Laboratories

Beautiful new things were done to these 1950 CHRYSLERS

A total of 179,299 Chrysler cars were produced in 1950.

Oh, Denise, scooby-doo!

Denise became a popular baby name in the years immediately following World War II.  It spent 22 years (1952-1973) in the top 40 but has since fallen to #489.

"You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent"

This commercial deserves to be paired with this song.


Major news in the toothpaste wars: 1998.

The Park Lawn Neighborhood of Middleton Wisconsin

 

The Park Lawn neighborhood of Middleton, Wisconsin, is located north of University Avenue, west of the Middleton High School, south of Parisi Park, and mostly east of Mayflower Drive.   Its development took place in the years immediately following World War II.  The houses, primarily Cape Cod or ranch in style, were constructed prior to 1950, for the most part.

The majority of them have since been remodeled to one degree or another, but there remains a handful that, to my eye, look much the same as they might have more than 60 years ago.

Here are photographic samples taken during an early morning walk last week.

Then there's this abomination.  (The photo does the house way too much justice.)

And here's the best example of how a series of remodeling projects have transformed your basic post-WWI Cape Cod.

Today's Points of Interest Along Stricker Pond

A Faint Rainbow over Tiedeman Pond

Hey, Gus, break's over!

Silver Maple Gives Up Dead Branch