Visiting Phoenix, Arizona in 1958


While I was busy being born in Minneapolis in 1958 (in April, if you wanna get me a card), there was a lot going on in Phoenix. I've been looking through my collection of photos labelled 1958, and I thought that it would be fun to go take a visit there. I'll set the Way-Back Machine to 1958.

Let's start in Scottsdale, with the fashionable ladies at the top of this post. I don't know the first thing about ladies' fashion, but they definitely look 1950s to me. In fact, since it would only be two years until the sixties began, I'm inclined to think that maybe they really aren't so fashionable? The pic is from a magazine called Western Family.


Anyway, let's go over to West Plaza in 1958, at 35th Avenue and Bethany Home Road. Those were just ordinary cars there, but nowadays I'd spend a lot of time walking around that parking lot - I just love those '50s cars!


Of course 1958 is the year that Arizona State College became Arizona State University, so we need to get over to Tempe. That's the college president Grady Gammage there, holding the ASU pennant.


And while we're at it, let's go watch them build the Sun Devil stadium! Go Arizona State!


And here's an article in the paper about a new shopping center that they're going to build at 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, on part of Chris Harri's farm, Chris-Town.


And since it's 1958, the new Valley Bank "stop sign logo" sign is being installed on top of the VNB headquarters, which is in the Professional Building, on the southeast corner of Central Avenue and Monroe. It would be the largest rotating neon sign in the world.

Thank you for visiting Phoenix in 1958 with me!

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Comments

  1. Maryvale ManJuly 30, 2020 at 11:47 PM

    My comment to the picture of West Plaza is that it shows the early portion. Another whole wing was added. I lived on the far side of that Shopping Center for many years. I also worked in businesses that were located there.

    ReplyDelete

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