Thursday, October 13, 2011

Humble Pie


If there ever was a cool head shop in town it was Humble Pie.  The newspaper ads, lifted straight from the pages of our favorite underground comix, were a clue in itself

Humble Pie was located at 102 Roanoke Street across from the National Bank in what they called the "ugly green building", and was above Burt's Photo shop.  The building today is red, in case you were wondering.

Personally I was hooked on R. Crumb, the artist, and his twisted tales that appeared in Zap Comix, the Furry Freak Brothers (and Fat Freddy's Cat), Yellow Dog, and many more.  Whenever I needed a comic fix I trucked on down to Humble Pie.

They also advertised contemporary gifts, posters, blacklites, headgear, incense, inflatable furniture, wall things, candy, empathy cards "and a smile".

I really truly miss shops like this.  Please come back, Humble Pie!

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12 comments:

  1. Tom K. MasonOctober 21, 2011 at 1:57 AM

    After they left the second floor, I thought Humble Pie moved to the Barrel Mall (the old Kroger building downtown that became After Sundown and is now the Tech Bookstore).

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  2. DennisOctober 21, 2011 at 8:10 AM

    That very well could be. I'd like to stumble on a list of shops that were at the Barrel Mall. Thanks for posting.

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  3. Tom K. MasonOctober 21, 2011 at 2:54 PM

    Here were some: Grady's Antiques, Eastcoasters, Tech Calculator, Humble Pie, The Merry Magpie, Appalachian Outfitters. I'm sure there were a couple of others.

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  4. DennisOctober 21, 2011 at 4:54 PM

    ...and Frog Hollow?

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  5. Tom K. MasonOctober 22, 2011 at 12:10 AM

    And Frog Hollow! I'd forgotten that one.

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  6. AnonymousOctober 30, 2011 at 3:26 PM

    ... The Water Closet?

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  7. DennisOctober 31, 2011 at 6:41 PM

    The Water Closet was on College Ave near Little Docs. I hope to do a special posting on that shop soon.

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  8. Tom K. MasonNovember 1, 2011 at 3:32 AM

    There was also a small, windowless storage room on the outside of the Barrel Mall that was rented to a plant store. I don't remember the name of the store, but the owner was a woman named Lyndeve (I'm spelling phonetically, so I'm sure that's wrong).

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  9. Red DogMarch 23, 2013 at 12:14 PM

    "A-E-I-O-U, sir. Look...I have hands!!! I must be guiding this ship! Excelsior!!"
    (Excerpt from a Furry Freak Brothers comic)

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  10. DennisMarch 30, 2013 at 8:31 AM

    We could probably trade quotes all day. I had a friend that had a clone of Fat Freddy's cat.

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  11. Martha WilliamsNovember 22, 2013 at 4:08 PM

    The Water Closet was my favorite shop. I still have a book of matches from there.

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  12. NickdownunderNovember 26, 2013 at 7:31 PM

    We always had a few Zap comics sitting around the apartment. I still have a couple packed away somewhere.

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