BrandlandUSA

By Garland Pollard

MINNEAPOLIS - “Hazel Frederick was walking along Nicollet, coming from Dayton’s Department Store, when she saw something she’d never seen before: a pretty dark-haired young girl running out into the traffic in the middle of the street, taking off her hat, and tossing it up in the air.”

This is one of the great moments of television history, and for the first season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Minneapolis department store Donaldson’s (and Dayton’s) gained immortality for Mary Richard’s hat toss. Old School Minneapolis folks will tell you this: they miss Donaldson’s. Across Minnesota, this is a terribly missed department store, one of hundreds of downtown stores across the U.S. that disappeared at the end of the 20th Century.

Luckily, bloggers at www.mtmshow.com have marked and mapped the exact spot. They also recommended that Minneapolis build a statue there in the show’s honor. It happened. It is certainly one of the most remembered things about Minneapolis, and it is a good idea to build that statue, even though it might take some years before the store actually returns (you think we are kidding but anyone ever heard of Abercrombie and Fitch?)

Here is a map from their www.mtmshow.com website as to where the Mary Richards statue is located. The “M” is the spot!

Other BrandlandUSA stories:

• March 15, 2009 -- Goodbye To Postum and Derby Tamales
• July 22, 2007 -- Bring Back Morton Honey Buns
• July 20, 2007 -- BrandlandUSA’s 100 Dead Brands To Bring Back
• March 9, 2008 -- Kraft Fudgies Wanted
• August 24, 2008 -- BrandlandUSA Reader Wants a Carnation Breakfast Bar
• May 5, 2009 -- Kellogg’s Brings Mother’s Cookies Back To Life
• December 7, 2008 -- The Christmas List of Surviving U.S. Downtown Department Stores
• December 22, 2008 -- Chasing the Old Dutch Cleanser Girl
• October 27, 2008 -- Prairie Belt, Tasty Smoked Sausage
• December 17, 2008 -- Thinking Shiny Brite Ornaments