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The Sign of the Mermaid (Detroit and Grosse Pointe)

John King Books, like most reputable book stores, has free book racks in the atrium of their colossal warehouse. After I purchased my ephemera I partook of the offer to take as many free books as I wished. Within the books The King's Minion by Rafael Sabatini (1930) and Treading the Winepress by Ralph Connor (1925) was the book trade label "The Sign of the Mermaid". Intrigued, I did some research. It traces to a bookshop at 1014 E. Jefferson Avenue of Detroit. The book store by that same name opened around October 23, 1925 and was operated by Doris McMillan Pittman (later Hoover), granddaughter of Senator James McMillan, in the converted home of her late father William C. McMillan. The Yale Alumni Weekly , October 23, 1925 Her initial business partners were E. Byrne Hackett, Phelps Newberry and Edwin K. Hoover (later her third husband). Newly graduated Yale alumnus Clayton Morse, Jr. was the manager. An article in The Yale Alumni Weekly from October 23, 1925 stated th...

Psycho Research Club

Reader's Exchange (Westland)

The Reader's Exchange bookstore at 160 S. Merriman in Westland must have been in one of those shops right next to where the Kroger is located at Merriman and Cherry Hill. According to the newspaper clippings below it's 3rd anniversary was around June 13, 1985 so it must have opened in 1982. It relocated to Warren and Merriman in September of 1986. They sold new hardcover books at 75-80% of the retail price. It was owned by Gary Reed (d. 2016 ) and managed by Chet Jacques, pictured down in the article section chatting with Adam West. Reed owned several comic book stores and was a publisher of graphic novels as well. Canton Observer , June 13, 1985 The stamp was found in a copy The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart that was picked up at an estate sale in Westland and previously owned by Peg Harbeck. The date written under her name is 1984. I also have a second one from Rinehart's book The Confession and Sight Unseen , also dated 1984. Detroit News , November 1, 19...

Detroit Area Books and Bookstores

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