A huge bulk of my childhood was spent staying up as long as I could watching those Labor Day telethons.
my parents have told me the story repeatedly of me being two weeks old, unwilling to sleep, so they stayed up in the middle of the night watching the telethon.
I miss TOYS R US, for sure. It was freaking awesome. In my area, there was a toy store about a mile away that was built on top of a (admittedly small) hill. "Hill" may even be an exaggeration - a small rise? Regardless, it set the store above the local roads, kind of looking down on them. And if memory serves, it was even painted to look vaguely castle-like. So you had this "castle" up on a hill, that you couldn't help but spot, and it was a toy store that was roughly the size of a Toys-R-Us. The place was great. I am pretty sure that is where I first saw the HE-MAN action figures. It's where I bought one of the ZOIDS -- the Tyrannosaurus I think, but maybe the Stegosaurus. I know I bought a number of the "Tom Swift Jr" books there. I don't recall when it closed, but that was a sad day. The place has changed owners several times - not sure what's there now (kitchen cabinets I think?) but every time I drive by there, can't help but think back on how cool that place was. Sorry for my technical ineptitude, but here is a VERY 1980's commercial for the place (apparently there were two other locations as well but I don't think I knew that at the time). But Toys-R-Us? Yeah. Awesome.
The Holyoke Mall in Springfield MA. Used to go here as a kid. It was huge. 3 levels. The bottom pit was the food court, an arcade, and indoor mini golf course. They also had huge fountains...which needs to come back in style. They also had a Wendy's and it was the only one in the area at the time.