McHuston Booksellers

Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: Coweta (Page 10 of 108)

As Seen on Television…

December 30, 2016 /

Media Surprise Day! No advisory notice from Facebook or the 5-Things-4-Friday newspaper column, but we found out early in the day that we were on TV and featured in a magazine!

The early morning guests were just about as startled as I was.

“Saw you on TV this morning!” said the early-arriver, smiling.

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“You saw me?” I replied, thinking that if a camera crew had wandered in, I would have noticed. (Apparently, that isn’t the case, as proven by the next episode…)

“Sure did,” he answered. “This morning.”

We went through a mutual we-must-be-crazy moment, when I was pretty sure I couldn’t have been the one he had seen, and he was fairly certain I was. It was settled when he asked, “Do you have a first edition copy of a Charles Dickens book?”

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“I do,” I answered, and then remembered that the TV program Discover Oklahoma! had included a bit on the book when they interviewed Dustin and me last summer.

We’re a re-run, I guess. I missed it again. Fortunately, the OETA-produced program keeps its episodes on YouTube, so I was able to see the segment later. (You can watch it clicking here. Our segment starts at about the 9-minute mark.)

The TV Mystery had just been solved when a group of ladies arrived for lunch. Ms Judy whipped out a copy of TULSA PEOPLE magazine and opened it immediately to a page with a picture of cup of stew.

Familiar-looking.

“That looks just like our stew,” I said aloud, amazed at the incredible similarity.

It was a large photo and I could clearly see the finely-diced carrots, the potatoes, the thick brown gravy. Just. Like. Dustin’s. When I spotted flecks of basil, I thought – Wait a minute here. Looked at the text and our store name jumped out at me.

It wasn’t until later that I was able to read the short paragraph (we had to serve their lunch, after all…) and look again at the picture. No by-line or credit was given for the photograph or the text, but it is beautifully done (as far as stew can be a beautiful thing…), and presented in a very high quality publication. Nice slick pages and glossy photos.

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The ladies told me that they loved to go try out new places for lunch, and at having seen the cup of stew and the address, decided to give us a try.

I’m not certain the text is legible in the attached image, but the fine print after the headline reads:

“Dream of Dublin with a stop at Broken Arrow’s McHuston Booksellers and Irish Bistro. Nestled in the booming Rose District, the bookstore and café fills its tables for lunch, which features daily sandwiches and traditional Irish fare. Try the Everyday Special ($7), a cup of Irish stew – a menu staple – with a half sandwich for a hearty meal.”

They even included our internet address and store location.

Thanks right here and now to Dustin – it’s a grand-looking cup ‘o stew in the picture! A rousing Thank You to daughter (and Dustin’s sister) Kristen for helping in the front of the house today, and keeping the ladies happy.

And a Thanks! to the uncredited photographer who was wily enough to slip in and take pictures during our lunch rush – without me being any the wiser! (It has been extra-busy, of late, and I don’t seem to get any wiser…)

An official
McHuston Booksellers and Irish Bistro shout-out to TULSA PEOPLE publisher Jim Langdon, for allowing us to be included in the fine-looking and informative magazine!

Another year is upon us, and our wish to you is that your hand reaches out in friendship and never in need, so you may forget the troubles that pass away, and remember blessings that come each day.

Come visit!

McHuston

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

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?

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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!

When You Share a Famous Name…

December 8, 2016 /

Sometimes, it doesn’t pay to be honest. In this case, the unpaid amount of my truthfulness was $6.95 – a reasonable figure for a 103-year-old first edition. Just before mentioning the sales total to the lady on the other side of the counter, I gave the book a second look.

“You weren’t buying this as a work of Winston Churchill,” I asked. “The English politician?”

She replied that she was, and in short order I was canceling the transaction.

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We shouldn’t feel too bad – as a reading public – not knowing that there were two famous gentlemen named Winston Churchill. In fact, they knew each other. One was rich and famous; the other was prime minister of England. They were born within a few years of each other.

One in England.

The other in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

While the future English PM was resigning his commission with the British Army, the American Winston Churchill authored his second novel. The book – entitled Richard Carvel – was published in 1898 – and sold two million copies. At the time, there were only 70 million or so living in the US, which would equate to 10-11 million copies sold in this day and age.

Not Harry Potter numbers, to be sure, but not far from The Girl On the Train or The Fault in Our Stars – current books popular enough that they were recently produced as movies.

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There were plenty of similarities between our Winston and theirs. Brit-Winston began writing as a correspondent after leaving the army. US-Winston attended the Naval Academy and began writing after resigning from the Navy. Winston-UK wrote as a war reporter; Winston-US edited The Army and Navy Journal. While his counterpart across the water was being elected to Parliament, Winston US Churchill was serving in the New Hampshire state legislature.

In 1919, after authoring a dozen books, the American Winston decided to retire from the public eye, quit his writing, and took up painting and private life. And there is the place at which the future British Prime Minister Winston Churchill claimed the fame of the name.

Without appearances to promote his books or painting exhibitions, the American novelist Winston Churchill was gradually forgotten, and the increasing fame of his British counterpart sealed the fate of the US writer’s obscurity.

Just as it was at the sales counter and the century-old hardback book, the name has become attached to the WWII statesman rather than the American author of fiction.

It wasn’t the first time The Inside of the Cup has been returned to the shelf, the victim of mistaken identity and an honest bookseller.

One of these days… someone will come along and appreciate the nice old book for what it is and allow me bag it up for the $7 price. Until then, I’m doing my part to publicize our own (once) famous Winston Churchill.

The (literal) Inside of the Cup held coffee this chilly day, and we’ll be pouring it again tomorrow, serving up hot soup, stew, and sandwiches at lunchtime – come visit!

McHuston

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

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