A cookbook shop in Hudson Square sits in a small house surrounded by high-rises. The shop holds rare and out-of-print titles, including practical guides and family living books. Shelves feature subjects such as gardening and pickles, along with carefully chosen small, beautiful volumes. The owner bought the house in 1975 and transformed it from storage into a bookstore by sending a postcard to The New York Times to announce the opening. A photographer visited, and the owner continued adding details over time, including wallpaper and a window. The shop’s atmosphere is described as enchanted, with distinctive signs and personal collections. Buying books can be heartbreaking, but the owner finds comfort in knowing they go to good homes.
"Joanne Hendricks Cookbooks is a shop filled with rare and out-of-print titles. Simple directions for the laundress. Family living on $500 a year. Books about gardening, pickles and more all line the shelves. “Oh my gosh. And then the people who come in and buy them, it just makes me so touched,” Hendricks said."
"For years, the space was just storage. Hendricks said she bought the house in 1975 and watched it evolve over time. “I said, I have to do something with my life,” she said. Then she did something bold, sending a postcard to The New York Times announcing she was opening a cookbook shop. She said the response was exciting but terrifying. A photographer came, and Hendricks worried she didn't yet feel like a scholar."
"Over time, she added wallpaper and a window. Decades later, the shop has become a charming, enchanted world of its own, filled with books on nearly every subject imaginable. “Just special little things,” Hendricks said. “Baking and pastry section. This one is a teeny tiny book. How beautiful with the tiles and the pottery.”"
"Hendricks spent decades in the business, first working in a bookshop while she was in college. “I can't leave a book behind,” she said. “But I know I can leave other things behind.” She said it can be heartbreaking when customers buy entire selections from her shop, but she finds comfort knowing they are going to good homes."
Read at ABC7 Los Angeles
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