In New York City, I found my Disneyland – my own personal version of the happiest place on earth. After a long day of vending at the book fair, the Baron and I high-tailed it down to the east village to a place called Casey Rubber Stamps. While in SF, and before leaving for NYC, a couple postal-modern friends of mine assured me that Casey’s was where it was at. “It’s well worth your time,” one friend told me. “J.C. will set you up,” another enthused.
I thought I had a pretty good idea.
I had absolutely no idea.
Casey Rubber Stamps goes by different names, depending on who you talk to, and how long that person has lived in New York: “John’s place”, “J.C.’s”, and “that-rubber-stamp-place-in-the-village-that-has-really-weird-hours” were all terms I heard bandied about when discussing Casey’s with folks. But they all agreed: among mail artists, it’s legendary.
Herr Baron and I arrived with about a half an hour to spare – whew! Outside, a table was set up with a basket of rubber stamps and ink pads for trying out; I was caught up in a rubber stamp-induced swoon (it was their windows that did it — all that dusty old stuff!) so I completely overlooked the treasures outside. The shop, while small and narrow, is crammed with shelves and baskets and boxes of rubber stamps, still made onsite.
The two chaps behind the counter weren’t sure what to make of us at first: who was this rubber stamp obsessed groupie in their store? And what about that guy in a bowtie, toting a camera? Once we mentioned we were visiting from San Francisco and looking for a good place to eat, the stories and recommendations started flowing. Best Irish fiddle band in NYC? Covered. How about late night jazz? A decent omelette? Or the best view of the Hudson River?
Keat and Bill are your go-to guys — honestly.
I rummaged around, poking under stacks of newsprint, behind stamps on the shelves; new stamp-ish curiosities seemed to appear under every sheet of paper and in each cardboard box. I loved the fact that there were open inkpads available to try out certain stamps. I also loved that there was a bottle of Old Overholt on the counter. “These are my people,” I thought to myself.
In the end, I walked out of Casey’s considerably lighter wallet, but it was well worth it. These guys are keeping the old-school mail art aesthetic alive: their rubber stamp inventory consists of many victorian/art deco cuts, funny slogans, postal themes, and a fairly big selection of interesting letters and alphabets.
You’re not going to find any of those twee rubber stamps which haunt the aisles of scrapbooking stores, and that’s a-ok by me.
Leaving Casey’s with a huge smile on my face, I promised Keat and Bill that I would send them a postcard using all of my new rubber stamps. Here it is (surrounded by my Casey’s treasures):
Keat and Bill: you’re the best!
–JH
PS: stay tuned for “Big Apple part 3” — Katz’s Deli is involved and you’re not gonna wanna miss it!
PPS: all above photos taken by Von Span/Sartoriana
O………..M…………..G………………
Did you have to ask for a seat? Were you weak in the knees? Maybe it was good that you only had half an hour. I would’ve gone on overwhelm and it probably would’ve taken me hours to recover. Was it just the one, sweet encounter, or did you go back again for more….?
I spy the lovely sailors and anchor 😀
Lucky!
Miss G. —
Believe me, I was ready to MOVE RIGHT IN! I kept thinking to myself “oh I’ll be quiet as a little mouse, except for the occasional squeeks and exclamations when a new rubber stamp comes into my midst…” — and the guys were super swell. And yes, there was a rather knotty-cal theme going on for the last Co-op mailing… 🙂 (just wait ’til you see this month’s!)
–JH
I. Am. Insanely. Jealous.
Miss K. —
Do you ever make it over to NYC? If so, you should definitely check this place out — they’re you’re kinda people… 🙂
–JH
There is something beyond magical when we find stores that do not castor to the masses. To bad this one is on the other side of our small island. But always nice to have an excuse to go back.
Miss Rose —
I agree — these guys have been around for such a long time, selling rubber stamps to mail art folks; it was a treat to pick up a bunch of “art supplies” and feel like I was contributing to part of a mail art “timeline”. And discovering a place like Casey’s, well…of course I’m more than happy to go spend some of my hard earned (book fair) ducats with them!
As for an excuse to go back: good grief, who needs one? Plane tickets are so cheap right now, and a friend just emailed that they’ll be having an 11.11.11 anniversary dress-up party…so tempting!
–JH
I never heard of this place! My kids both lived in the East Village at different times, and we’ve visited NYC so many times, and now I’m so excited because we’ll be up there mid-Nov. I will So be at Casey’s. Thanks for posting this.
Mim —
A word of advice about Katz’s: don’t lose your green ticket (you have to take one at the door) — lose your ticket, and the doorguy will go all NYC on you!
And about Casey’s: call first to see if there’s someone at the shop — I’d hate to hear that you arrived at Casey’s only to be left outside mournfully, staring thru darkened store front windows due to the fact that they were closed…
Have a great time in NYC! Will you be doing any other postal-fun things?
–JH
Goodness gracious! We have a Katz’s here. In Houston. So far away from Katy it makes me sick.
LOL. With me it’s all about the deli, huh? LOL. Not really. And my feelings are hurt ’cause I couldn’t stow away.
Looking forward to the next installment!
Limner —
In some circles, deli aficionados would argue that it’s “all about the pickle”, when it comes to delis!…and now I’m curious: does your Katz’s look anything like the NYC Katz’s?
And next time, I should tuck a tiny action figure of you into my suitcase! 🙂
–JH
Thanks for sharing story & images, what an awesome store. I love any little shop that has PASSion for their goods like that. 🙂
Hanna —
Thanks so much for stopping by! I agree with you: the small stores are undiscovered gems, and I love to seek them out. 9 times out of 10, they have unusual items that can’t be found anywhere else, which I also love!
–JH
Being in the snowstorm on the east coast I have missed this post, until now. I am (of course) insanely jealous (you know how I am). I am going in March and this is definitely on my list! Katz’s I know quite well…and Juniors and Carnegie…well….what can I say. Loved the Katz’s photo by that cute guy in the bow-tie.
Miss P. —
You won’t wanna miss Casey’s when you head to NYC…perhaps you’ll even get to meet John himself! 🙂 And I’m absolutely certain there will be a few rubber stamps to tempt you — thank goodness they’re small and lightweight, right? On our way home, I (stupidly) put the rubber stamps into my checked baggage, and then worried the whole flight home that a rubber-obsessed TSA agent would pick through my luggage and scoop them up (“hey, these are pretty cool…”). How paranoid is that?!? Whaddya think the odds are of a TSA agent who’s into rubber stamps?
–JH
OOoo, all those stamps are fantastic! Even if you couldn’t buy every one in the store you sure picked some good ones! Oh how I wish I could experience that shop. I will keep it on my list of places to visit if I ever get back to NYC.
Miss Ana — the shop itself is a real treat! It’s definitely something that shouldn’t be missed when in NYC. I did a bit of nosing around, as far as rubber stamp stores were concerned, but they really hit the mark when it came to a certain aesthetic…the “itsy-poo” was kept to bare minimum… 🙂
–JH
I called about a routine rubber stamp and J.C. was prompt, responsive, informative and friendly on the phone and via e-mail. Just hope his artistic little niche is not displaced by one of those mega-retailers.
Robin — glad to hear that your experience with JC was excellent! And I’m with you: I hope JC Stamps is here to stay! I know I definitely helped pay the rent when I stopped by — it was pretty much an “open my wallet and dump all the cash on the counter” type of situation. I had to scrounge in my bag a bit for change, to hand over the proper change! 🙂
–JH
I am selling in NYC next weekend (Bust Craftacular, w00t!) and am going to have to figure out a way to wiggle some time in there between the days of the show… If we can’t manage it, it’s just a sign that Mr. craftgasm and I need to go on a leisure trip to NYC soon!
Melissa — my fingers are crossed for you: best of luck at the Craftacular! You’ll be posting pictures somewhere, right? 🙂 As far as JC Stamps is concerned, he’s open kinda late (and sometimes even later, I hear)…best thing to do is give a call and see if anyone’s around. We showed up at 7:15-ish, and they were open ’til 8pm.
Let me know how it goes — on all accounts!
–JH
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