[Astaldo711]

I used to have a nice collection of comics, around 5,000 or so. I'd take a big stack, hunker down on the couch and read all day. While I LOVE the books I can read on my computer - I have Marvels big DVD collections of FF, Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man, Captain America, & Hulk, and I am so happy I found all these great old GA books I miss holding them in my hands. The feel of the pages, the musty smell of an old book. Especially these older books. I see them as pieces of history. I'd hold my old copy of Major Victory comics and wonder about previous owners. Was it some kid dreaming of being a hero? A serviceman stationed overseas, feeling lonely and scared. Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic about it...but that's just me.

[darkmark]

Not really.  One of the things I miss about old comics is their smell.  Paper soaks up odors, and a lot of comics I had seemed to retain the smell of old drugstores, the kind with paperback racks and soda fountains.  It was a good smell, and I miss it all the more.

[misappear]

There was this store on E 106th Street in Chicago back in the 1960's--Shield's Newsstand.  I'd ride my bike up there in the summer.  They had a coke cooler that you had to lift the lid on after you put your money in.  You'd wiggle one of the bottles loose.  They had Kayo, this chocolate milk drink that I don't think I've seen since.  Old man Shield would let you browse through the comics while you drank your pop (a brave soul) He stood behind the counter calmly studying the horse race sheets. 

The place wasn't air-conditioned, so the heat and humidity would heat those magazines up.  Even when he propped the door open and turned on his bag fan, you'd still walk in a smell roasted comic book.

Man. I miss that.

[Astaldo711]

I can remember days of going to a local store - The Carousel. A small place with a counter and maybe one table. They had one of those wooden screen doors on old squeaky springs. They'd hold it open with a fan in the summer. They had one of those tall racks that you'd spin around. I can still smell the burgers, fries, & the ink on the comics. Where's that Way-Back machine when you need one?

[moondood]

I'd hold my old copy of Major Victory comics and wonder about previous owners...

=======================================================

I had to laugh--only because I do it, too.  And heaven forbid if a name is written somewhere. I wonder who that person is/was--if they're still alive and if they were the first owners or a second-hand owner.  What state did they live in--how old were they?  Or a stain--I sit and wonder just what the heck that stain is--1948 Coca-Cola--or 1950 Yoo-Hoo?  I'll never know the answers, of course, but my mind does wander (not wonder--well, that, too) at the possibilities.

Moondood

[Astaldo711]

Okay, now I don't feel so bad. I'm in good company!

[narfstar]

like company anyway  oh what the heck mght as well proclaim t this is the best of company. I have hopes of a Dragon Con meeting of the GAC in the near future. Atlanta is not geographically center but one of the most overall convenient.

[Astaldo711]

Man, I'd love that but I don't think it'd happen for me. Atlanta is about a 20 hour drive from me. Can't you just have it at my house?

[narfstar]

Where would that be? I am in TN so Atlanta is best but I have made it to Heroes Con in Charlotte. Met Powder Solvang there and helped to get him started here. From comic book groups I have places to drop in and stay all over the US and even Europe. Most of the regulars here would be welcome to drop by if they do not mind the couch we do not have a guest room.

[Astaldo711]

I'm in the boondocks of NJ. We actually have trees here!
With all the troubles at work - cut in pay and hours - my vacation next month will be spent home. At least I'll have plenty to read!!

[narfstar]

Well isn't NJ called the garden state? Plants should be plentiful Did my basic at Ft Dix. Never got to see the surroundings. I would say a conservative in NJ would have a hard time but I have found that the more rural areas of most states are conservative. What is it about putting so many people together makes them abandon logic.

[Astaldo711]

I only mention the trees because so many people view NJ as one big paved on ramp to NY. I live in Susssex County and it's a different world from the rest of NJ. We have deer, bears, foxes, etc. It's beautiful but the winters are horrible. It's sparsely populated. Lot's of farmers and hunters. It's one of 2 "Red" counties in NJ.

[John C]

Speaking as a lifelong New Yorker, I'm obligated to suggest that the "garden" refer to all the power and chemical plants you pass n your way out of the city and a good part of the way down the Turnpike--the only parts of Jersey most New Yorkers see.

But yeah, as you drift north (say...Saddle River on up?), it's actually really nice.  And probably barely any illegal organ trafficking at all, to boot!

As to the smell of the books, I actually use rolls of old teletype paper when I take notes.  It's a very similar smell, and I occasionally do find myself sitting a roll next to me when I read something on the screen.

[Astaldo711]

That's why I always mention how nice it is by me. The perception of Jersey is as you describe so I try to educate when I can. I live far north of Saddle River. I'm about 10 minutes from Warwick, NY.
Oh, and another thing! I've live in NJ for 39 years and I have never, and I mean NEVER called it New JOISEY!
The only organ rustling I see is when a bear attacks someone and tries to get some liver! 

[John C]

Oh, and another thing! I've live in NJ for 39 years and I have never, and I mean NEVER called it New JOISEY!

You'll find it (or, rather I did growing up visiting relatives) in the Little Ferry area, where almost the entire populaton hails from Brooklyn or the Bronx of the 1940s, and they really and honestly do speak just like Doiby Dickles.

[Astaldo711]

So THEY'RE to blame for that! 

[Yoc]

I spoke on the phone one time with a guy in Brooklyn.
I have to admit I really thought he was joking but it was his real accent.
And then I was told that 'I' sounded odd to him as well.
A nice enough guy though and we got along fine one we got used to the other's accent.

[John C]

Yep.  And before that, you can blame the Dutch (for the vowels) and the Jews (for the Yiddish consonants).  As a side note, I only recently learned that Dutch was still commonly spoken in Brooklyn until nearly the twentieth century!

The "Guys and Dolls" accent is exceedingly rare in Brooklyn today, though, and I'm surprised you found one, Yoc.  Throughout the city (except for the newly-Slavic areas), people are more likely to sound like...Rosie Perez is probably the most obvious sample, or Tony Danza without the flamboyance.

I'm out on Long Island, where I think I may have watched the demise of the "pawk the Fawd Tawrus awn the lawn" accent in most neighborhoods.  Barely a trace of those horrible shifting Gs, too.

[Astaldo711]

My sister moved to Texas many years ago and it was funny how when we spoke on the phone she'd tell me how I was getting an accent. Meanwhile, every other word was "Ya'll"!
I'm a customer service supervisor at my company and we have customers from all over the world so I hear all kinds of accents. I very rarely hear that stereotypical "New Yawk" accent.

[DOC]

There was this store on E 106th Street in Chicago back in the 1960's--Shield's Newsstand.  I'd ride my bike up there in the summer.  They had a coke cooler that you had to lift the lid on after you put your money in.  You'd wiggle one of the bottles loose.  They had Kayo, this chocolate milk drink that I don't think I've seen since.  Old man Shield would let you browse through the comics while you drank your pop (a brave soul) He stood behind the counter calmly studying the horse race sheets. 

The place wasn't air-conditioned, so the heat and humidity would heat those magazines up.  Even when he propped the door open and turned on his bag fan, you'd still walk in a smell roasted comic book.

Man. I miss that.

Hmm you have any more old Chicago stories? Speaking of which you might enjoy this section of the IF site which involves memories of my friend Joe Sarno, co-creator of the Original Chicago Comic Con:

http://www.inter-fan.org/history/captainsveranda.htm