Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: Rose District (Page 104 of 104)

Scribner. Another Tulsa ghost.

Before the American Civil War, in 1850, Isaac Baker died. His business partner paid off the estate and repainted the sign out front to read – Charles Scribner Company.

He published books.

After the war, the company began publishing a magazine, and then another – in that grand age of monthly editions. Later, his sons joined the firm, and at the father’s death the company was renamed Charles Scribner’s Sons. Over time, it became simply – Scribner.

When an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel was published, it bore the Scribner imprint. Same with Hemingway. Scribner managed to corral a number of influential writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Wolfe, and Edith Wharton. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings won a Pulitzer for The Yearling, published by Scribner.

Stephen King didn’t win any Putlitzers, but won over a legion of readers during his contract years with Scribner with works like Dreamcatcher and Under the Dome, the latter soon-to-be-released as a film adaptation.

The name Scribner survives, in a fashion. The imprint is now owned by former rival Simon & Schuster, which was in turn acquired by CBS Corporation. During its heyday, Scribner operated a chain of bookstores anchored by its flagship location on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

The store was a marvel to behold, evoking a grandeur reflecting the lofty position held by books and authors at the time. 597 Fifth Avenue was built expressly for the housing of Scribner’s Bookstore. A glass front stopped passersby, who peered through to take in the two story interior complete with a mezzanine, an architectural masterpiece done up in a Beaux Arts style exterior. There was a vaulted ceiling and sunlight filtered in through clerestory windows.

At its demise in 1988, the New York Times treated the news as an obituary: SCRIBNER BOOK STORE, 75, TO CLOSE NEXT MONTH. A descendent of the founder lamented the occasion, but by then his paycheck was backed by Macmillan publishing which acquired Scribner four years earlier.

”A chapter of history is about to close,” said Charles Scribner 3rd at the time. No longer strictly Scribner, Charles the Third served as a vice president at Macmillan.

The Scribner stores were eventually acquired by Barnes and Noble following the breakup of the Scribner publishing and retail divisions. The Utica Square Scribners book store in Tulsa lingered past the millennium, but I could find no obit in the Tulsa World archives. A book signing was hosted there in 2001 – the final mention I found – although relics exist, like the bookmark tucked into a recent acquisition.

A bit like viewing gravestones, they underscore the often-fleeting nature of success. Makes me appreciate even more the opportunity I have to serve as a proprietor in a similar establishment – even if we’re on the economic endangered species list.

Twilight on Main.

It is pretty rare to have open parking spaces in front of the shop in the early evening. It is the week following Thanksgiving, and it could be that people are at home recovering from Black Friday, Cyber Monday (with Small Business Saturday wedged in between), and those dollars spent on turkey and the fixin’s.

Not just the Rose District on Wednesday evening, either. Fab reported her first slow day in years in Midtown with only a slight increase in hungry-traffic from breakfast to lunch.

I took the opportunity to take some pictures – strolling outside just after dusk. A cool evening, the breeze having died down. Not cold, but comfortable for this late in November. Delicious is drifting by, no doubt something on the grill at the Main Street Tavern. Click on the image to join me on the street corner…

In the darkness of the twilight, it is a little easier to see inside the shop. The window tinting makes for a greatly reduced electric bill, but makes it tough to peer in during the day. And it’s clear that I need some outside lettering on the windows to replace the hard to read computer printed sign taped up on the inside. (That’s been in the plans all along, but all things have their time and place on the priority list.)

The awning stands right out though.

There is news in the Tulsa World this morning about imminent announcements regarding the Rose District, including further restaurant plans. There have been rumors along Main Street for a time, and it is exciting that the details will shortly be shared.

I’m happy to be a part of the new Rose District, and there are changes and new announcements being readied for McHuston Booksellers and Irish Bistro as well.

Stop in and see us, or at least – keep in touch!

Following up the Tea-Off…

I have Jorge to thank for the accompanying image. He courageously crossed the river of folks that streamed through the store for most of Thursday evening, people out for the Broken Arrow Main Street Tea-Off. I don’t know the history of the naming of the event. Maybe someone was serving tea. I get the tee-off reference, getting things started for the holiday season.

In the past, I’ve been critical of the idea of putting up decorations before Thanksgiving has even arrived, but here I am, looking across at a lighted Christmas tree. In the front window are garlands and lights. Halloween barely gone.

Down the street, in all the years I kept shop at the Oak Crest Center, there was little activity with the Tea-Off. The trolley came rolling around, but no one seemed to get out of it to investigate the stores. I imagine it was partly due to the fact that I was the only shopkeeper still open after seven. The carpet and flooring business stuck it out with me until she shut down her operation. After that year, I just locked the door at my regular closing time.

This year, I was advised to be ready.

Toward that end, I plated up about 100 cookies, decided against the hot chocolate, and waited. It was about ten minutes between the opening of the first package and watching the first cookie being consumed – well before the six o’clock scheduled start time. Needless to say, the cookie stash did not last long.

The lines, however, were extremely long.

Jorge’s photo doesn’t show the true number of guests milling around and making their way down the aisles. It was what comedian Robin Williams would have described as the “human carwash.” In fact, if he had taken the picture earlier, you’d have seen nothing but the back of someone’s shirt. He’s not as tall as the photographer needed to be to catch the setting in pictures.

Looking back on it, I should have anticipated a couple of things. Moving the many chairs out of the way, so people could wind their way through the aisles, for one. Perhaps I should have allowed myself a later start in the morning. Next year I hope to remember what a long day it turned out to be – but I’m not complaining! As it turned out, I sold some books (I didn’t really expect to during the open house event), and just a few moments ago, a guest from last night returned to buy a set of children’s books that she saw as she walked through. (She didn’t want to buy them in front of her daughter since she intends them as a gift.)

Things are a bit different down at this end of Main Street, and with the plans in the works for the pedestrian friendly changes and my own long-range plans involving the bistro, I have a great feeling about the future.

If you haven’t been to the Rose District or McHuston Booksellers in a while, I hope you’ll come round soon!

By the way, that isn’t my round brown head in the picture. I’m strategically placed behind the countertop display that features a head-sized Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookie…

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