TOD:
I had three bookstores I used to frequent in my early book-collecting days. They were all on Main Street in downtown Cincinnati, within a block of each other. One was actually an antique store, NEVILLE'S ANTIQUES, which always had a nice selection of books. Mr. and Mrs. Neville, an elderly couple, ran it and were delightful folk.
Right next to it was OHIO BOOKSTORE, the only one of the three that still exists. It still has five floors of books, and is run by the same two guys who were there when I going to it in my teens. One was an assistant manager who eventually bought the owner out and now owns the store. The other was a helper who wasn't much older than me at the time. It was an amazing bookstore...besides books, they sold magazines, comics, and old records...lots of 78's, of which I bought my share. They also had, and still have, a bindery in the basement. I still stop into the store every couple of months and check out the stock.
The last store, a block up the street, was Bertrand Smith's ACRES OF BOOKS. Again, a store that had about four or five floors of books, all used. And, along with the others, it was here I started my collection which now runs to five or six thousand books. Years later, imagine my surprise to find a Bertrand Smith's Acres of Books in Long Beach, California. Apparently, Bert had sold the original Acres in Cincy to someone else and moved out to Long Beach where he started a similar used bookstore. It was an equally great and messy store, chock full of hidden delights. I think it finally bit the dust a few years ago...but it was a terrific store.
The first book I bought myself was probably either a Hardy boys mystery or a Tarzan book.
