McHuston Booksellers

Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: bookbinding (Page 7 of 99)

Turning the page on 2016.

December 26, 2016 /

A decade of books is just about in the books.

During that span of time, Broken Arrow’s Main Street has undergone significant changes, and – while they are less dramatic – the Rose District (as it is now called) is still evolving.

Some of the modifications are long-term, like the planters currently being constructed in the block between Dallas and El Paso. Others are designed to be short-term, like the installation of an ice skating rink at the Farmer’s Market Pavilion. Judging from the number of skaters I saw the other evening, it has been well received. Who’d have imagined ice skating in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma?

fathertime

Ten years ago, I would not have imagined serving lunches in the bookstore. It was a plan that grew out of the location change, and the popular acceptance of digital reading. Didn’t know what might become of the book business when people began reading on their tablets, but I believed soups and sandwiches might have a continuing appeal.

It’s been a journey getting from 2006 to 2016, and some of our shop-owning neighbors have moved on to other things while new folks have refurbished vacated spots and hung out their own shingle. (An old expression, dating back from when a lettered roof-tile indicated the business being conducted inside – I’m compelled to try to keep vintage sayings around.)

As we wrap up the year and anticipate the beginning of 2017, I’d like to thank each of you who might have popped in and bought a book in those first five years. You kept the shop going long enough to reach the second five years and the opening of the bistro kitchen.

Another heartfelt thanks goes out to those of you who stopped in and bought a book, or a soup and sandwich during these past five years, and particularly those of you who remember when I was serving soup solo.

We’re headed toward three years together – Dustin and I – serving up plates of food at lunchtime. Some of our guests remember times – early on – when they might have been at the only occupied table in the house.

We’ve lasted ten years on Main Street only because people have helped us pay the rent and utilities by buying something, whether it’s a book or a meal. Dustin and I know there are many – many – places to eat lunch in Broken Arrow, and we are grateful when you allow us prepare lunch for you.

We genuinely appreciate your business, and your friendship. From our family to yours – may the New Year be filled with happiness, discovered dreams, and lasting good fortune!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main Street, Broken Arrow OK!

Hold Your Burger Up.

October 21, 2016 /

The Internet. Where one thing always leads to another, and I found myself listening to Hold Your Head Up (Argent, 1972). Somebody had made a video to go with the song.

There weren’t official music videos back then, so whoever uploaded the music added pictures of people in bell-bottom jeans, peace symbols, and assorted old-timey stuff. A hamburger stand image popped up, and I thought – Hey!

It was one of the long-time ago memories, and I wasn’t even sure I was remembering correctly – but when I saw the name Sandy’s I immediately thought of Scottish plaid and a young woman in a kilt. Couldn’t figure out why those things would come to mind, so I had to look it up.

As I said, the Internet, where one thing always leads to another.

sandysburger

Even after the research, I can’t recall where it was. Maybe Stillwater. It was back in the early days of hamburger franchising, and I guess the Sandy’s folks were doing a McDonald’s (Scottish) knock-off. 15¢ hamburgers. Milkshakes. Speedy (and mostly counter-only) service.

And one thing leads to another.

I’m reading about Sandy’s and spot another burger joint picture. This one I know. The Burger Chef was in Tulsa, on 41st near the Skelly Drive on-ramp.

sandysburgerchef

That was during a time when I was impoverished bicycle mechanic (haven’t come too far since then, have I?) working at the Bike Mart on South Sheridan. We got paid weekly and the paycheck was an amount that didn’t make it past Friday. Since the checks were handed out after lunch, I could never afford to eat on Saturday.

Most of my money was already spent on car and rent payments, so there wasn’t much left for food. When I discovered that Burger Chef offered a build-your-own-burger bar, I realized it was cheaper than buying bread and bologna. They had the cheapo Puny-Burger that – after visiting the condiments station – became a Whopper filled with as much lettuce and pickles as I could balance between the buns.

My visits were so regular that when I stopped in on a flat-broke Saturday lunchtime with enough change for a Coke, the young clerk asked me why I wasn’t getting my burger. After explaining my financial embarrassment, she reached back and grabbed a burger and put it on a tray for me.

I was a lot thinner in those days, and would have been more so if not for her kindness – which carried me through to my first job in radio. Not a lot more money, but enough to pay for my own lunch on Saturday.

Speaking of lunch – Chef Dustin prepares it every day but Sunday. Serving 11am to 2pm, so…

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow, OK!

Comedy. Civil War Era Yuk-Yuks.

October 3, 2016 /

Hard to imagine rowing a boat from Greece to Ireland, but a fellow named Pytheas captained a ship that made the journey.

Back in 325 BC.

pytheasship

He was obviously an adventurous sort. And he was traveling back in the time when there were not a lot of visitors to northwestern Europe, much less tourists from the Mediterranean.

Pytheas and his men would have had to navigate that sea, sailing south around the boot of Italy after leaving the Sea of Crete. He’d edge past Spain and Portugal while passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic. Once they cleared Portugal, it would have been a fairly straight shot north to Ireland. About three-thousand miles.

If they could row at 10 knots (slightly more than 11 mph) the Greek sailors would have been at sea for nearly 12 days – if they knew exactly where they were going and never were drawn off course. That’s the whole exploring thing. They DIDN’T know where they were, or where they were going.

About a thousand years later, the Vikings paddled around the same area, but they managed about 2 mph – and the Norse ships were built for speed.

That’s why it’s hard for me to imagine Pytheas out at sea, an early tourist without a camera, a McDonald’s, or a roadside turnout. According to that bastion of facts, Wikipedia, Pytheas is the first known scientific visitor and reporter of the Arctic, polar ice, and the Germanic tribes.

And he called Ireland – Hibernia. It is thought to be a doubly-translated version of a Celtic word that meant “abundant land.”

The point of this whole history lesson?

Well, the caption on the Harper’s Weekly cartoon from 1867 uses the names Hibernians to describe the typical Irish drinking joke. (It was always so, apparently.)

hibernianpic

Since it may be difficult to read the nearly 150 year old printing, here is the transcription to accompany the image:

Young Hibernian. “Jolly day we had last week at O’Donohue’s Wedding. Capital Champagne he gave us, and faith it was justice we did it, I tell you.”

Ancient Hibernian (who prefers a drop of Whisky). “Widdings is well enough at yer time o’ life, but give me a good Ould Wake.”

And that’s how the knee-slappers went back in the Civil War era. Still, a lot of interesting items in a stack of 150 year old Harper’s Weekly pages that popped in the front door today.

Never know what you’ll find in your friendly neighborhood bookstore – except from eleven to two, when you know you’ll find some delicious lunches. Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!

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