“When you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall”

“When you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall” (a pun on “seen them all”) is the classic mall joke. “When you’ve seen one downtown renovation you’ve seen a mall” was cited in the Amarillo (TX) Globe-Times in 1968. “You know those downtown shopping districts where they ban cars, put in benches, plant flowers and all that? Well, when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen a mall,” the Changing Times (The Kiplinger Magazine) published in 1974.
 
“If you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall” was published in The Oregonian (Portland, OR) in 1985.
 
Similar jokes include “If you’ve seen one bear attack, you’ve seen a maul,” “If you’ve seen one Santa, you’ve seen a mall” and “Once you’ve seen one rugby joke, you’ve seen a maul.”
 
 
18 April 1968, Amarillo (TX) Globe-Times, “Globe-Timers’ Notebook,” pg. 1, col. 8:
Says Robert Wylic, Amarillo College publications adviser: “When you’ve seen one downtown renovation you’ve seen a mall.”—MIKE PRICE
   
Google Books
February 1974, Changing Times (The Kiplinger Magazine), pg. 2, col. 2:
You know those downtown shopping districts where they ban cars, put in benches, plant flowers and all that? Well, when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen a mall.
 
6 February 1976, The Daily Standard (Sikeston, MO), pg. 2, col. 6:
You know those downtown shopping districts where they ban cars, put in benches, plant flowers and all that? Well, when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen a mall.
 
29 July 1985, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), “Putt-ering about” by Jonathan Nicholas, pg. B1, col. 1:
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “If you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall.”
   
Google Books
My Little Bit of Nonsense
By Charlie Walker
Wakefield: C. Walker
2000
Pg. 22:
When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.
 
13 March 2003, Salina (KS) Journal, “Cryptoquip,” pg. D6, col. 5:
Yesterday’s Cryptoquip: MIGHT I GUESS THAT ONCE YOU’VE SEEN ONE LARGE SHOPPING CENTER, YOU’VE SEEN A MALL?
 
Twitter
Chris McElroy
@chrismcelroyseo
When you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall.
3:47 PM - 17 Sep 2008
 
Google Books
The Laugh-a-Day Book of Bloopers, Quotes & Good Clean Jokes
By Jim Kraus
Grand Rapids, MI: Revell
2012
Pg. ?:
When you’ve seen one shopping center, you’ve seen a mall.
 
The Chattanoogan (Chattanooga, TN)
Roy Exum: A List For A Lexophile
Tuesday, January 6, 2015 - by Roy Exum
(...)
15. When you’ve seen one shopping center you’ve seen a mall.