Tube City Almanac

October 22, 2008

Horn-Tooting Dep't

Category: Shameless Horn-Tooting || By

Tony Sanfilippo, marketing and sales director at Penn State Press, has put together a short online video to promote the G.C. Murphy book:



Says one wiseacre (who'll I bet is an Almanac reader) at Penn State Press' website: "That's some amazing footage of the shootout during the hostile takeover by Ames. And when you hear over that the letter from the account executive to his wife who he'll probably never see again -- well, I had to wipe a few tears away."

Honestly, people. We can dress you up, but we can't take you anywhere.

By the way, the book will be shipped over Halloween weekend. Pretty scary, eh, kids? Maybe April Fool's Day would have been more appropriate.

No, I haven't even seen it yet. Yes, I am anxious. I always wanted to be a bookmaker, but I didn't think it would happen this way.

In fact, at one point, we thought we were going to be running these books off at Kinko's, but I understand Penn State has put a little bit more money into production than that.

Good thing, too, because I hate those plastic comb bindings.

If this book was really in the finest G.C. Murphy tradition, of course, it would have been typed on an IBM Selectric with headlines done in Letraset rub-off letters, but I guess Penn State did OK.






Your Comments are Welcome!

Good job putting together the facts and figures about the venerable 5 & 10 store headquartered in McKeesport. Many of us remember the Murphy’s office staff who paraded down Fifth Ave during lunch time. It was a great time for girl watching on Cox’s corner! Those times are missed by many of us who grew up in the Tube City ! Keep up the good work.
Donn Nemchick - October 24, 2008



Jason: Congrats on publication. I know what it’s like to be “with book”. You sometimes never know, even after reviewing the galley proofs, how things are actullly going to come off the press. I remember some old Murphy’s stores. I think there was one up in Highland Falls, NY at West Point, that we used to visit. My grandfather worked up there at the time, so we would visit during summer vacations. Those stores always had a unique odor about them—probably a mix of old cooking grease, bird feed, and whatever stuff they put on clothing to keep in looking fresh on the racks.
ebtnut - October 24, 2008



Jason — the first time you mentioned George Clinton Murphy, I was bleary-eyed and tired from too many hours in front of a monitor. For a millisecond, I scanned the text for the link to download the latest from Parliament Murphedelic. I slept well that night, and I expect you’re sleeping well since this labor of love is finally ready to debut.

There was a “five ‘n ten” a half a block from my elementary school, and the walk home usually included a stop at the toy counter to check out the latest AMT model car kit. The video leads me to think that For the Love of Murphy’s is as much a story about us as it is a chronicle of a retail goods company. Congratulations! I hope to see you on the book tour — maybe at B&N in the Waterfront.
Strisi (URL) - October 24, 2008



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