More Books Downstairs

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Hyde Brothers Books on Wells Street in Fort Wayne is packed with books, floor to ceiling, in every available space in the building. The basement is just as full! Owner Sam Hyde can be seen behind the counter in the background, looking through a box of books that a customer wants to trade in. I stopped by today to look around, and shot this picture while I was there.

 

[christian.rudman]

Awesome! I love crowded (with books, not so much people) bookstores! I used to work at a Half Price Books, one of the most enchanting retail jobs I ever had. You feel uplifted just by being surrounded by so much paper and ink. Makes me wanna come check Ft Wayne out!

Great photo of a lovely subject.

 

[gb hill]

Chris I love this photo. I could spend all day in there.

 

[batterytypehah!]

Chris, I didn't know a thing about Ft. Wayne other than what you've shown us over the years, but that photo says "college town" to me like nothing else could. If you think that's crowded with books, you should see some of our Boston/Cambridge bookstores.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Chris, I didn't know a thing about Ft. Wayne other than what you've shown us over the years, but that photo says "college town" to me like nothing else could. If you think that's crowded with books, you should see some of our Boston/Cambridge bookstores.

Fort Wayne is a big city, with nearly 300,000 people. We have a big university campus that's shared by Indiana University and Purdue University, but relatively few people here go to school there or work there, just because the city is so large. Ft. Wayne's economy is mainly in manufacturing, which is why there's so much economic hardship here.

Hyde Brothers is the only really cool bookstore here. There have been others over the years, but none lasted long. Hyde's has been here more than 20 years!

 

[seakayaker1]

Great photograph Chris!

. . . . . books and film a constant erosion and die off in the digital age.

Lived in Boston, Dallas, and Seattle. Spent extended periods of time working in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Washington D.C., North & South Carolina, Rutland Vermont and San Francisco.

Best book store, bar none is Powell's Book Store in Portland. JMHO

http://www.powells.com/

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Great photograph Chris!

. . . . . books and film a constant erosion and die off in the digital age.

Lived in Boston, Dallas, and Seattle. Spent extended periods of time working in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Washington D.C., North & South Carolina, Rutland Vermont and San Francisco.

Best book store, bar none is Powell's Book Store in Portland. JMHO

http://www.powells.com/

I love books too. I have more than 2000 of them! I've never been to Portland, but I have a friend who moved there several years ago. I'll have to ask him if he's been to Powell's.

 

[christian.rudman]

I'd argue the Powell's "best store" point. Been to two of them in Portland, and they are lovely stores. Just always seem on the high end of used pricing. Try a HPB as mentioned above, they are all over (save for OR, Powell's is cornering the market there) and everything is at most half of retail value.

 

[tjh]

It's a great photo!!!

 

[seakayaker1]

I love books too. I have more than 2000 of them! I've never been to Portland, but I have a friend who moved there several years ago. I'll have to ask him if he's been to Powell's.

Nice collection, I have somewhere in the range of 1200+ with the vast majority of them being poetry.

I do not believe your friend could live in Portland without making a trip to the downtown Powell's.

If I ever pass through Fort Wayne I will have to drop in at Hyde Brothers Books it has some nice pictures of the store in the gallery section of their web site.

 

[semrich]

Chris, my wife and I are book lovers and I'm not letting that influence me about your photo. It's really excellent, the tones and the way the "more books downstairs" and "next best" font sizes lead the eye to the owner and his contemplative expression surrounded by book really works. Lots of details in it, one of your best.

 

[shadowfox]

I have always wanted to open a bookstore that looks like that. Old, crowded, cozy, a little eccentric, and a "don't care" attitude towards the latest and greatest trends, except ones that contribute to the appreciation and love for books.

HPB is one of the weekend gateway for my family. I started books very early with my daughter and she's now a certified bookworm (got a plaque to show) at the age of seven 🙂

 

[Vics]

Now that's a damn fine picture! For some reason, I love photos that look into two different places at the same time. It's why I bought my 35mm lens. Great work!

 

[batterytypehah!]

Refreshed my memory and realized that the Boston store I was thinking of first and foremost closed (in the real world) long ago! That would have been Avenue Victor Hugo on Newbury St. It was narrow and claustrophobic. Impossible to move through without literally bumping into other shoppers.

The Harvard Book Store (you guessed it, right across from Harvard) is still with us and their basement looks just like Chris's shot.

Loads of book shops and "barns" along Route 1 in Maine.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Two Barney the Purple Dinosaur dolls hold the American flag sit next to an unusual doll on top of a bookcase at Hyde Brothers Books on Fort Wayne's Wells Street. The store is full of quirky decorations, old toys, and antiques.

 

[healyzh]

I'd argue the Powell's "best store" point. Been to two of them in Portland, and they are lovely stores. Just always seem on the high end of used pricing. Try a HPB as mentioned above, they are all over (save for OR, Powell's is cornering the market there) and everything is at most half of retail value.

I've been going to Powell's for over 30 years. Powell's is just about the LARGEST bookstore in the world (last I heard the Portland Powells was one of the top 3). I firmly believe anyone visiting Portland should visit Powells. Though anyone on this site would probably be better off visiting Blue Moon Camera & Machine. 😀

Powell's is no where near as good as they used to be. Their prices are quite often outrageously high. However, they are a load of fun, and if you can't find something there that you want, then the odds are you don't like books. I've taken to haunting the classic photo gear section. I've found some *SERIOUS* gems while browsing the shelves at Powell's. I've gotten some really good deals at times, at other times I've been seriously ripped off (in other words paid a lot more than I should have).