When I was 12-13 years old, I started collecting business cards from wherever I could find them. Why? I have no idea. They have no value at all. Which is probably why when I enthusiastically showed my collection to my (then) girlfriend and (later) wife, organized neatly in a small cardboard box with the logo for Magic: The Gathering stenciled upon its lid below a scribbled out Star Trek logo (the box at one point had contained both types of cards,) she was politely embarrassed for me.
I only collected the cards for a few years. I was even given cards by friends and family because they knew I collected them. I only wonder what they must have thought of me at the time. Something along the lines of: “poor little guy.” Even so, I still have the whole stack. It’s nothing huge. There are hoarders out there who most definitely have several quadrillion more cards and cats than I. But I feel I can remember the story behind them and present them in an amusing enough way to make them somewhat entertaining. And in the age of FFFFOUND! and all that, what better time than now to put this crap on the internet.
So here’s the first one. This is for a nail salon in Longview, WA. You will soon discover that MANY of these cards come from Longview, WA or at least within a 50 mile radius. We didn’t travel much. It came in a stack I got from someone, probably my mom or my dad. They would pick them up wherever or from whomever just to boost my collection. I don’t know the story behind this place, but I can tell you one thing: it ain’t there any more.
That little strip mall has seen more different shops over the years than I can count. The liquor store, though, has been a mainstay.
