THE FIRST COMIC BOOK SHOP

There is much speculation as to which was the first comic book shop that opened in the country, and the rest of the world for that matter. Evidence is sparse and assigning exact dates is challenging.

First, I'm not going to get deep in the weeds with defining what a "comic shop" truly is. I'll leave that to late author and uber-comic fan, Bill Schelly, who also happened to write EMPIRE OF MONSTERS, the biography of James Warren and his publishing company:

“Comic shop” is a term that has almost no meaning before the beginning of direct market sales in the 1970s. Before that, old/used comics had been sold in used book and magazine stores as a subset of magazines. As families disposed of old magazines, there were also comic books that went along with them, and those that survived the World War II paper drives went into such used book stores. So it’s impossible to know the first book store that began carrying some old comic books for sale.

Comic books alone have rarely if ever been the sole stock of ANY store at ANY time. (There have always been posters, calendars, Big Little Books, and other ancillary products.) So, for me, the only meaningful starting point for a “true comic shop” has to be when stores carried direct comics at the same time as newsstands. I don’t think that could ever be whittled down to the “first” one — do you?

Now, it’s like anything else, such as arguing when the Golden Age ended, or the Silver Age ended, it’s really just an excuse for a bull session over a few beers with friends. Nothing wrong with that. But there’s no ultimate answer! There’s no way to empirically bestow the title “the first comics shop.” Or so I believe."

So, with that in mind, and after doing some investigating, I came across several possibilities:

• Around 1939, a fellow by the name of Pop Hollinger opened up a used bookstore in Concordia, Kansas where he also sold used comics. A "comic shop"? No.
• Victory Thrift Shop in Queens, New York was opened around 1960 by Robert Bell. Bell sold used comics, as well as paperbacks and other goods. A "comic shop"? While Bell did own a brick and mortar store, it was a mixed bag, so no.
• Seven Sons Comic Shop, San Jose, CA opened in 1968. One of the owners said: "I staunchly maintain nobody beats Seven Sons Comic Shop, opening March 1, 1968, for comics and nothing but comics, Until I see proof otherwise, I think that's it." This is probably the earliest of what can be characterized as a "comic shop", with the exception that they didn't sell new comics. The answer? Could be.
• San Francisco Comic Book Company, San Francisco, CA opened in 1968 and was owned by EC comic fanatic Gary Arlington. He had a storefront and sold both new and used comics. A "comic shop"? Closer than any of the above, and generally speaking, yes.

At this point, we need to remember that all the above were operating long before direct sales and independent distribution.

That said, I'm throwing one more possibility into ring, and I think it qualifies as the closest thing to a comic shop as any of the others, including Seven Sons and Arlington's shop, which both opened later than this one.

I'm casting my vote for a place called Cherokee Book Shop. While there are tangential exceptions to the myriad criteria, I think this bookstore/"comic shop" fits the bill as well as--if not better--than the rest of them.

From what I found, the book shop opened around 1949 and the comic book "division" a decade or so later, around 1960. It was owned by Jack Blum and located at 6607 Hollywood Blvd. between N. Cherokee Ave. and Whitley Ave., across the street from Frederick's of Hollywood, about a block from the famous Musso & Frank Grill and a couple of blocks in the opposite direction to the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Jack and his son, Gene, ran the bookstore and Jack's brother Burt ran--yes, I'll say it--the comic shop, which was at the top of a rickety flight of wooden stairs. The reason I know this is because I visited it numerous times in the early 70's. As soon as my buddy (and fellow comic book junkie) and I got our driver's licenses, we would tool into Hollywood from the San Fernando Valley and spend a good part of the day hanging out there. A few years later, I would drive up on my own from points further south on my day off from work (that's day not days!). Invariably, I would start off by chowing down at Love's Pit Barbecue. The BBQ short ribs were my favorite and they baked a mean pot of beans. All the locations have since closed, but you can still buy a bottle of their really good sauce HERE.

Love's menu from 1974, about the time I was eating there.

A fabulous baby back rib plate!

One of the annoying things that cropped up while I was writing this is that I can't remember for the life of me if I bought any comics at Cherokee. Even then the prices were a little rich for my blood. However, I do know that I started actually "collecting" comics at early San Diego Comic Cons and with the enthusiastic urging of Terry Stroud and Carl Macek at American Comic Book Company on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks.

Burt's client list steadily grew to include individuals who were serious collectors and would pay top dollar for valuable books One customer was said to have owned 24 copies of ACTION #1 in mint condition!

One of the key points here is that it operated separately from the bookshop and as a result, in essence it was its own entity. It was known to have one time the largest inventory of second-hand comics in the world. Not only that, other sources claim it was also the first store in the world to sell old comics to collectors.

[Above] "COMIC BOOK HEAVEN-Rick Durell, El Segundo, left, a Standard Oil (Chevron) worker and Burt Blum, manager of Cherokee Book Shop, 6607 Hollywood Blvd., look over comic books in store, largest center for them in the country. Publication: Los Angeles Times, Publication date: June 7, 1965. (Image from the UCLA Photo Library). Note the use of plastic bags on some of the comics. I wonder if they were acid free.

Cherokee Book Shop had the great fortune of being covered frequently in local papers. Here's one from the LOS ANGELES TIMES from 1986:

Under Cover : In the Heart of Hollywood, a Book Lover’s Paradise

By Robin Tucker | Aug. 3, 1986 |LATimes.com

‘I offered this one to a gentleman I’ve sold some old Bibles to,” Gene Blum says, bringing out from behind the counter a 14th-Century prayer book, handwritten in medieval Dutch. “It’s my rarest book. He told me that he’d have to confer with someone before deciding, and at first I thought he meant a broker or an attorney. But he meant the Lord. He must not have gotten an affirmative answer, because I haven’t heard back from him.” Blum, owner of the 37-year-old Cherokee Book Shop, says he sees all kinds, especially at his location--6607 Hollywood Blvd., right across the street from Frederick’s of Hollywood. A transient wanders in to check out the comfortable, incongruous shop with its Oriental rugs and old oak cabinets; Blum gently steers him out again. But most browsers are book lovers like Paul Carroll, who came in to buy the suede-covered copy of “Friendship,” by Henry David Thoreau, that he had discovered there the day before. “I’ve been thinking about it all night,” he said. “I had to have it.”

Most sales are made to savvy collectors looking for particular items. One of Blum’s best customers is singer Michael Jackson, who favors rare, beautifully illustrated fairy tales and children’s books. The singer never visits the shop; when Blum gets a book that he thinks Jackson will like, he takes it over to the house, or one of Jackson’s aides picks it up.

The first rare book that Blum ever sold would have interested the rock star. An English professor came in with a copy of “Peter Pan” illustrated by Arthur Rackham, best known for his illustrations of children’s books such as “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” It was Rackham’s book, signed by him, with 16 pages of original sketches. The man wanted $600. Blum’s father--who started the shop but never ventured into rare books--wouldn’t consider it.

“Are you out of your mind?” he said. “I begged and argued until he finally conceded,” Blum remembers. “About two weeks later, I sold it to a dealer in Chicago for $1,350. It’d be worth $15,000 to $20,000 today.”

Between customers, Blum tells stories--of the woman who spent $6,000 on occult books, of supplying books for the set of “Rosemary’s Baby.”

But the rare-book business, he says, isn’t what it once was. “We used to see four or five complete libraries a week; now we’re pleased if it’s one or two annually.” To compensate, book dealers help one another. “If I don’t have something when someone calls, I’ll refer them. My colleagues reciprocate.”

The telephone rings, and Blum is off again, this time to search for a rare copy of “Treasure Island.”

Cherokee also sold their comics through a mail-order business. Shown here is a cover of their catalog from 1970. It was sold for $228 in 2018 at Heritage Auctions, Dallas. TX.

Image source: Heritage Auctions.

I believe that Cherokee Book Shop closed their brick and mortar location around 2002. They briefly ran an internet site selling Hollywood memorabilia and auctioned off the rest of their remaining inventory in 2008.

So, there you go -- my bid for the first "official" comic book shop.

You're welcome to comment with your thoughts, aka opinions.

[NOTE: A portion of this information was found at dangearino.com.]

EXTRAS!

The world-famous Musso & Frank Grill:

The early Musso & Franks Grill, 1930.

Early Musso & Frank menu (it's a little blurry).

Musso & Franks Grill menu 1954.

More recent photos of Musso & Frank Grill.

And a world-famous pop culture landmark of another kind, Frederick's of Hollywood, home of the famous Lingerie Museum:

Frederick Mellinger, founder of Frederick's of Hollywood.

Vintage Frederick's of Hollywood catalog cover (April 1969) and magazine ads:

Frederick's of Hollywood 1999 Holiday Catalog:

The flowers adorning the Art Deco building on 6608 Hollywood Boulevard first bloomed during the Great Depression. The S.H. Kress company built the four-story temple of thrift as a five and dime in 1934 but it’s best remembered today as the longtime headquarters of Frederick’s of Hollywood. The lingerie store’s bawdy catalogs, outlandish window displays, and screaming pink paint job made it a destination from 1960 until it relocated in 2005. 

Today, Marilyn’s bustier from How To Marry A Millionaire is at The Hollywood Museum, a few items are displayed at the Beverly Hills headquarters of current owner Authentic Brands Group, and a black bustier worn by Madonna was sold at auction for $75,000. Sources say music producer Dr. Luke is planning a new project in the shuttered space which was most recently Kress nightclub. No word yet on a dress code.

[SOURCE: L.A. Magazine.]