Picture of the Enid square around 1954 judging by the newest cars.
The mix of car brands (at least in this small sample!) fits my theory of Okie oddballs. Oklahoma was settled by nonconformists, so nonconformists remained common. Nine cars visible. Two Chrysler products, one Ford, three GM, one Hudson, two Studebakers. If you selected nine cars from the “national average” they’d be 4 GM, 3 Ford, 2 Chrysler, no independents. (Each independent had less than 10 percent of the market.)
The mix of store brands leads to a more general question. Penneys, Wards, First National, Sears. You could cash a check at the bank and shop in all three big stores with just a few steps. A few more steps took you to local specialty stores like Bell Jewelry or CR Anthony, then to Downs Pharmacy for coffee and donut.
Malls needed vastly more steps than the Square. A typical mall had only one ‘anchor’. If it had both Sears and Penneys, they were at opposite ends.
Malls succeeded because they had free and ample parking, not because they minimized steps. Even the mall parking lot required far more steps than downtown parking, IF you could find a place downtown.
Now the motherfucking urbanists are campaigning AGAINST parking near individual stores. They don’t want local stores to be convenient. They don’t want to make life easier for walkers, they want to make life richer for Bezos.
Cities controlled by urbanists turn into Potterville.
Rampant crime, grinding poverty, stores like prisons.
Polistra's Mill 