My Happy Place.

For me Friday night has always been a night to have fun - ever since I was a kid. Of course the fun has changed significantly over the years and depending on my age and situation, Friday night has meant lying on the floor watching TV, working late, going out to school dances or bar hopping. Lately it means just sitting back with a glass of my homemade wine and listening to some music. I love Friday night.

But I have to say the best fun, fun, fun on Friday night was when I was twelve years old. We had just moved to Fredericton and I had the whole town to explore - all four square blocks! It wasn't long before I discovered Morgan's Variety Store which was more than your average corner store - a lot more. Morgan's bought and sold used comic books. What more needs to be said? Plenty....

Morgan's store was on King Street about where the Tannery is now located. It was a run-down- shoe-string-Mom and Pop operation if there ever was one and I loved it. The Morgan family lived above the store and I came to know them well - daughter Frances and son Alison went to my school and sometimes minded the store. But the person usually found behind the counter was none other than Mr. Morgan himself.

Let me describe Mr. Morgan for you. The word "kindly" always comes to mind when I think of him. To my young eyes he might have been anywhere from 55 to 85 and he always wore a days worth of stubble, a thick sweater and a thin smile. He also wore an old cloth hat and he was the only person I ever met who actually tipped his hat in greeting and meant it. The store was always dimly lit and Mr. Morgan sat behind the counter along with his cat who slept in the penny candy display. They sold mostly bread, milk, pop and a slim selection of groceries and from this the Morgans made a meager but honest living.

But I am getting off topic - I came here to talk about comics. And Morgan's had comics! In the back of the store there were literally thousands of comic books - Archie, Donald Duck, Ritchie Rich, Batman, Spiderman, Little Dot and my personal favorite - Superman! They were stacked around the walls in piles three feet high - and you could peruse to your heart's delight. I loved it back there among those musty stacks of comics - I can still smell them!

Mom and Dad did not object to my comic book habit because I was in my room, quiet and out of trouble – in fact I think Dad was quite fond of Sad Sack so I always made sure to buy one now and then. The comics sold for 5 cents and the best part was that you could trade them back in for 3 cents. Talk about reduce, reuse and recycle - those comics were probably read a hundred times before they finally disintegrated. We never thought of them as valuable but they may well have been. When I think what they might be worth now I could weep. But I am not bitter - those nights spent under the covers reading comic books were worth a million bucks.

On a side note, Mr. Morgan had a brother who ran another store called, what else - Morgan's Store, just a few doors away on the same block and he was as crusty and mean as Mr. Morgan was kindly. We didn’t shop there and he didn’t want us to because he didn't sell comics and the rumour was that he sold home brewed beer. I was happy giving my business to his brother and I wish I could go back in time and buy up all his stock - especially the comic you see at the top of this page. It is Action Comics #1 and it recently sold for $1,000,000.00!

Just think of it - I could sell my copy and live on a sandy beach somewhere with servants to bring me exotic food and drinks - and comic books. Talk about a happy place!