In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight, let those who worship evil's might, beware my power... Green Lantern's light!
Photograph, Catherine Stevenson
For over 35 years Bobbie's Bookshop was situated at 181 Dalry Road.
The shop sold scraps and paperbacks but the reason I visited it was that as far as I knew it sold the best range of DC Comics in the capital. I also liked that you could pick up comics that had come out years earlier too.
It was an Aladdin's Cave for my Batman and Robins; Green Lanterns; Green Arrows; Superman; and Justice League of America comics.
Occasionally my sister Anne might come along with me too as the shop also sold scraps.
Bobbie's had a highly unusual arrangement - if you returned books or comics then you would receive credit. Therefore during the summer holidays as long as I had my return bus fare from Oxgangs I could visit Bobbie's with no money at all, but instead trade comics. Now whilst you would leave with fewer comics than when you arrived at the shop you were still going home with different comics to read - oh the anticipation. And if you also had money with you then even better.
Back in the 1990s on a return visit to Edinburgh I looked out to Dalry Road for fun to see if the shop still existed - I couldn't believe my eyes - yes it did!
I ventured in and spoke to the owner for a wee while; he told me he was retiring soon, closing the shop down in a few weeks; for old times' sake I bought some DCs with the Bobbie's Bookshop imprint on them and thanked him for the wonderful service he'd provided to the community for decades.
On doing a little research I discovered the shop was also a newsagent and had been allegedly black-balled for a few years by the Sunday Mail and Daily Record for failing to open on New Year's Day 1967 to sell papers; evidently the locals supported his stance and switched their allegiance to other papers.
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