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| Author cards on display at Booksmith in 2007. | |
Thomas Gladysz, who worked at the Booksmith in San Francisco for more than 20 years--half of that time running the store's events program--has recounted on Medium the history of Booksmith author trading cards, issued in conjunction with store events. The series ran from 1993 to 2008 and included more than 1,000 cards.
"The idea for the cards was the brainchild of the store's original owner, Gary Frank," Gladysz wrote. "He loved baseball, and saw the cards as a way to draw attention to the store's events. Each month's cards were displayed near the cash register. Customers making a purchase might notice the cards, and were free to take one as a reminder or memento. Due to their novelty, they quickly caught on. Customers liked them. Authors loved them. And publishers were, let us say, amused."
Read more on Medium.