Ernies swap shop,of Fargo

[Dr.J.]

Ernies swap shop,as originally called,was open in the spring of 1962,On main ave, in Fargo North Dakota,across from the train station. It was then, a second hand store,with such as old fans,and comics, cheap comics!I had known about the dell warner bros. and disney comics, from my optomitrests office,as well as supes, from the tv show, but in his store, I learned from such as superman annual 5,and superboy 95,of the superman family,& I was hooked! He had piles of the great star spangled war stories,with "the war that time forgot"For one dime,you could get three comics,un baged or boarded, for any title,any price, be it a 10,12 or 25 cent cover price. or two books traded for one,By years end, the city tore his building down, to this day,a parking lot is there. He moved around the corner, by a cigar shop,that carried pretty much every new comic out,which the kids would then trade in next door.I remember the day, I couldnt find any books to interest me, when Ernie opened up his side room,where lo,he had a pile of marvel comics! I helped myself to such as amazing fantasy 15, and the incredible hulk 1. I remember the 3rd of july,1967, when someone had just brought in a box or two,filled with a complete marvel collection,of everything from 1961 to then published and at least two other kids were going nuts going through them.As time passed, the prices rose, first, to 5 cents a book, then a dime,& eventualy,25 cents, but well into the 70s, bargins were to be had. My late grandpa worked with the guy,at an auto shop back in the 1930s. Ernie passed away,in July 1995,and after 2002,his widow closed the Dakota book exchange,after being open for at least 40 years. Any one who collects comics,in the fargo/morehead area, will tell you,when passing by this now empty store front, "THIS is where comics fandom was born,in this area!"In todays prices, I must have had 10 or 20 million bucks worth of comics pass through my hands.I still have some books I bought from him, but only a very small fraction of what I had.Any current or old fargo comic fans who know what Im talking about, feel free to drop me a line.

[Red Oak Kid]

That's a great memory, thanks for posting it.

It reminds me of something similar in my early comic collecting days. I had always gone along with my mom when she went to local antique stores and thrift shops. Around 1971 I got the comic book collecting fever and now one of those antique stores was high on my list of places to go. Right in the middle, toward the back was a table with several stacks of comic books. Each stack was about one and a half feet tall.

The lady who ran the shop got them at garage sales. The great thing about going thru those stacks was you never knew what you were going to find. The anticipation I had as each comic was lifted up to reveal the one beneath is impossible to explain. You never knew if it would be a mid 60s Marvel, a Charlton horror comic, or a recent DC in new condition. All these comics were in good shape with the covers intact. I don't think she ever bought any coverless comics or many Archies. They were mainly DC, Marvel and Charltons.

I don't remember the price but I think it was no more than 25 cents each. Comics with a 12 cent cover price may have been a bit higher, but still less than 50 cents.