An historic place to me!

[Illoman]

I found this photo today while cleaning up my studio. It was taken circa 1978-79. I was taking a photography class in college and we had to do an "environmental piece", showing someone in their environment. The bookstore to the left in this photo is where I got the majority of my Famous Monsters and Castle of Frankensteins fresh off the news stand. It was located in a strip mall in north Dayton, right in front of the apartment complex where my Grandma lived. We would drive across town to see her, and it was my one shot at getting a monster mag. For whatever reason the drug stores where we lived didn't carry monster mags. So it was a good thing to go see Grandma. I enjoyed seeing her and enjoyed getting a new issue of FM. I had to have a bag when I purchased anything because if my folks saw it they would inevitably find it and throw it away. I rescued a few issues from the trash.

The shop itself was one of those stores just *crammed* to the walls with newspapers, paperbacks, magazines, maps, etc. There wasn't room for many customers all at once at any given time. Luckily whenever I went there they weren't busy. That store was very important to this monster kid, and I'm glad I took the photo when I did!

[Unknown Primate]

Oh man, Mike - that is so cool!  The place I went to in the 60's & early 70's for my monster mag fix was called Bob's Store.  It sounds exactly like the place you're talking about, except this was a seperate stone-wall building that sat by itself.  A Mom & Pop shop!  Has been long torn down since those days.

[general gruesome]

wow that is awesome!

[Scatter]

Cool Mike! I bought my stuff at Mayos Drugs....and it's still there!

[Street Worm]

Nice! Man I wish I took more pictures.....................

I got all my comics, monster mags, Munster cards, little Rat Finks, Topps Flying Things....
you name it, at Jakes in New Britain, Ct.

This is how it looks now- 

[Count_Zirock]

The first place I bought monster mags at was Weisbrod's Pharmacy on the corner of Sanford & So. Orange Avenues in Newark. They carried the Warren mags, but not CoF. There was a deli two blocks closer to my house that carried The Monster Times. And there was a newsstand in Irvington that carried CoF that I only got to every so often, so my CoF collection was rather small. When Heroes World Comics Shop opened in Livingston Mall in the early '70s, I could get all my mags and comics from them! We used to go up there about twice a month, and they had a reserve service. That's when I started also getting Cinefantastique, Starlog, and Fangoria. Heroes World eventually moved out of the mall and nearer to Seton Hall University in So. Orange. They had to change their name during the whole Marvel/Diamond/Heroes World distribution debacle in the '90s.
I wish I had pix of some of those places, now.

[Illoman]

The first place I bought monster mags at was Weisbrod's Pharmacy on the corner of Sanford & So. Orange Avenues in Newark. They carried the Warren mags, but not CoF. There was a deli two blocks closer to my house that carried The Monster Times.

Count, you just jogged a memory for me: I also bought my Monster Times at that bookstore! I had forgotten until you brought it up. Man, I miss those days and those kinds of bookstores.

[Count_Zirock]

Yeah, all the newsstands and such down here in NC sell nothing but porn anymore! In my town, the only place that has a decent magazine selection is Books-A-Million. The local comics shop closed a few years ago, and the local toy & hobby shop that carried Finescale Modeler closed in January.

[Hepcat]

I enjoyed seeing her and enjoyed getting a new issue of FM. I had to have a bag when I purchased anything because if my folks saw it they would inevitably find it and throw it away. I rescued a few issues from the trash.

And all too frequent scenario in those days! Evry so often our parents need to be reminded of just how much cold, hard cash they threw away. Not that it's about the money of course. It's just necessary to use a frame of reference they can understand.

That store was very important to this monster kid, and I'm glad I took the photo when I did!

And so are we!

Most of the variety stores and newstands I patronized in the mid sixties carried the Warren magazines. I still distinctly remember the day though that I bought Creepy 1 with that great Jack Davis cover at the News Depot on Dundas Street near Wellington Street in downtown London.

[Count_Zirock]

And all too frequent scenario in those days! Evry so often our parents need to be reminded of just how much cold, hard cash they threw away. Not that it's about the money of course. It's just necessary to use a frame of reference they can understand.

Fortunately, I didn't have that problem. We had a finished basement and, after my half-brother moved out, his room became my playroom. So, I had a place to store my mags, build and display my kits, etc.
Unfortunately, several basement floods and an infestation of mice in the late '80s meant that a lot of those mags and comics were ruined. The mice also chewed and knocked over a lot of my kits. After they ruined a Salem Witch kit that I paid $25 for in '87, I turned my attention to gleefully murdering the little S.O.B.'s with glue-traps! (Couldn't put down regular traps or poisons, because of our dog and cat.)

[Scatter]

Nice! Man I wish I took more pictures.....................

I got all my comics, monster mags, Munster cards, little Rat Finks, Topps Flying Things....
you name it, at Jakes in New Britain, Ct.

This is how it looks now- 

Ugh...........that's like a punch in the gut brother.

[Scatter]

Fortunately, I didn't have that problem. We had a finished basement and, after my half-brother moved out, his room became my playroom. So, I had a place to store my mags, build and display my kits, etc.
Unfortunately, several basement floods and an infestation of mice in the late '80s meant that a lot of those mags and comics were ruined. The mice also chewed and knocked over a lot of my kits. After they ruined a Salem Witch kit that I paid $25 for in '87, I turned my attention to gleefully murdering the little S.O.B.'s with glue-traps! (Couldn't put down regular traps or poisons, because of our dog and cat.)

Revenge is a dish best served sticky.

[Illoman]

And all too frequent scenario in those days! Evry so often our parents need to be reminded of just how much cold, hard cash they threw away. Not that it's about the money of course. It's just necessary to use a frame of reference they can understand.

All I know is my folks had no malicious intent. They really thought they were protecting me somehow by limiting my exposure to horror themed stuff. They supported my monster habit as I got older. I remember one time I had bought Harry Nilsson's album Nilsson Schmilsson. It had that cool cover with Harry in his Dracula cape from his film Son of Dracula. I almost had a heart attack as I was blasting the album and his song "You're Breaking My Heart" came on! LOL!!! I knew if my mom didn't like me reading monster mags she certainly was not going to like me listening to that song! 

[Count_Zirock]

This is how it looks now- 

Awful. Just before we left Newark, the deli where I used to get TMT at had been vacant since the mid-'80s. In the mid-'90s it reopened as a hair salon. Yeah, Newark really needed another one of those.
As far as I know, Weisbrod's is still around.

[Illoman]

The 7-11 that I used to ride my bike to to get comics and Marvel Slurpee cups shut down a while back, and reopened as a Hostess outlet store. Now it's an abandoned building. Sigh...