Cameron Village, Raleigh, N.C.
This week on Flashback Friday we’re making a quick stop in the wayback machine at Raleigh’s Cameron Village Shopping Center. “Shop as you please, with the greatest of ease, in the wonderful Cameron Village!â€
This week’s card was postmarked on October 15, 1963.
Raleigh, North Carolina Oct 15/63 Hello Roberta: We are away up at Raleigh to the North Carolina State Fair today. On our way back now, and of course we are tired. Some big fair this is. Of course the girls had a good time — on rides, etc. Sincerely Uncle Oscar
Gotta love the NC State Fair! Wonder if Uncle Oscar and ‘the girls’Â visited Cameron Village too?
There’s a quiz this week — how many readers know what occupies the site of the Sears store today?
Cameron Village — A Regional Landmark
Cameron Village was the brainchild of mid-century Raleigh developer J. Willie York, who hired Raleigh architect Leif Valand as his principal designer. The shopping center was Raleigh’s first, and the first built between Washington, DC and Atlanta. It opened in 1949 with three stores and one restaurant. Within a year the “town within a town,” comprised 65 stores, 112 business or professional offices, 566 apartment units, and 100 private homes.
Cameron Village has changed ownership and undergone renovations several times since its opening 66 years ago; but even so, today it remains one of Raleigh’s premier destination shopping venues.
You can read a detailed history of Cameron Village on the North Carolina History Project Encyclopedia website, a special project of the John Locke Foundation, a Raleigh non-profit, non-partisan think tank.
Our Flashback Friday ‘Lusterchrome’ postcard this week was published by the Raleigh News Agency, and was printed by Tichnor Brothers, Inc. of Boston, MA.
Tichnor Brothers, Inc. (1912-1987) Boston, MA A major publisher and printer of a wide variety of postcards types. Their view-cards were produced on a national level. Their photochomes went under the trade name Lusterchrome. They also produced an early Tichnor Gloss series in offset lithography that was so heavily retouched they floated somewhere between being artist drawn and being a photograph. The company was sold in 1987 to Paper Majic.
“Flashback Friday†is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week end treat!
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01/23/2015
The photo appears older than 63. The newest car in the shot is that 1959-ish white folded-fin one in the center. My first guess was a Chevy Belair but more likely a Chrysler.
01/23/2015
I remember shopping with my parents there back in the mid and late 60’s before Crabtree Mall opened another Sears, closer to our home. I haven’t been over that way in a while, but I believe it now houses a Harris Teeter Grocery Store.
01/23/2015
Michael, obviously if the postcard was sent in ’63, the photo would have been older.
The Sears space was later Thalhimer’s and now is Harris-Teeter on top and other things on the bottom.
01/23/2015
Cameron Village, the birthplace of “sprawl” in Raleigh!
01/23/2015
My favorite Cameron Village store was the Hobby Shop. I spent a lot of my money there.
01/23/2015
Re: Jack L
> Michael, obviously if the postcard was sent
> in ’63, the photo would have been older.
Agreed, I was simply trying to date the pic & have someone tell me if the white car picture center was a Chevy or Chrysler :)
01/24/2015
Ah…the hobby shop!
Fish and model airplanes near the front & trains in the back. What a great place!
01/24/2015
Michael: She’s a ’59 Chevrolet I believe…Impala I think.
I loved Rose’s at the Village. Six hotdogs for a dollar:)
01/25/2015
Car in the center is a 1959 or 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air. This body was only used for two years. You can learn more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Bel_Air#Third_generation_.281958.29
01/25/2015
The Hobby Shop was owned and operated by the Edwards family. Their kids, Carl and Ellen, went to Fred Olds Elementary, Martin Junior High, and Broughton High. I grew up with Ellen. I wish I could say when the Hobby Shop closed and what became of the Edwards family, but I haven’t seen any of them since early 1970’s.
01/26/2015
Re: Hobby Shop : I bought many Revell model kits there. Maybe even this one :-) : http://www.revell.com/product-images/85-4315-lg.jpg
And re: Carl Edwards: A year younger than me, knew him peripherally via a friend. He was a pretty decent magician.
01/27/2015
Rachael!
I now have the 1942 Hugh Morson Oak Leaf annual in my hands and can scan and send info to you. Please contact RaleighBoy (aka Karl Larson, our host here) and ask him to give you my email addy. I sent a Contact to GNR ok’ing it, but it would hurt if you also contacted him.
01/27/2015
So for our driver’s ed. final test, Mr. Bauer (a.k.a. Coach Bauer) took us to Cameron Village at the busiest time of the day and made us drive back and forth through the parking lots. It was pretty intense with all the cars backing out, turning in front of us. We also had to park and then unpark. Loads of fun. He pretended to sleep through it.
01/29/2015
In elementary school…fourth grade?…we had to go to the music store there…Stephenson’s?…and buy a plastic flute, a tonette, for a dollar, for introductory music class. I got a yellow one. I remember telling my father I had to have a Tonette for school. He told me my mother was in charge of my hair. (For you possibly clueless males, a Tonette was a popular home perm. For hair.)
02/02/2015
Welcome back hollywoodgirl. I thought we’d lost you! I remember the tonette in music class in fourth grade — hated it! Had no idea about the home perm thing.
Here’s a Flashback Friday post we did on Stephenson’s a few years ago. http://goodnightraleigh.com/2011/01/from-stephenson-music-company-to-the-price-is-right/
02/02/2015
I also, at Stephenson’s, bought my first grown-up 45. Ahab, the Arab. Yikes.
07/06/2017
I remember the old sears store remember the escalator had a rough feel my sister robyn and lynn turner ran down it. sure wish I could find out where she and joanne went we lived in worthdale also would like to talk to raleighboy buddy
05/07/2019
Does anyone remember “Table Supply”? It was located just on the right of the Hobby Shop and was there during the 1950’s and early 60’s. It was a gourmet food market, like a boutique supermarket.