NEW HUGE LOCATION! 
725 West Second Street
Lansdale PA. 19446
(215) 361-7910

Map to location

USED & ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, POSTCARDS, PAPER COLLECTIBLES, RECORDS, COINS, ANTIQUES & MORE!! 
Bought & Sold


                        Dale Mechalas assisting a customer     Stocking shelves        WWII Newspaper                           

The ARCHIVE, one of the largest used book and paper collectible stores in the state, has a new home on West Second Street in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Map to location

The ARCHIVE is stocked full with books, magazines, paper collectibles, postcards, documents, book plates, catalogs, sheet music, prints, comics, photographs, ads, coins, local history and so much more.

Owner Dale Mechalas, above, moved his store from its Norristown location to one that was nicer and much larger at 725 W. Second Street. "it's my time right now," he said. "I have five storage unites and two locations in one building." That amounts to more than a half million paper and collectible items throughout the store. I'll have everything under one roof. It's an emphemera eden, a bibliophile's babylon.

You name it, and it's there. Animal books, old lit, poetry, classics, children's books, rows upon rows of books, stacks upon stacks of old magazines, books on religion, the occult, military, scouting, black history, local history, travel, and the list goes on and on!

Got a hankering for old TV guides like Frank Costanza? Want an old People issue? How about a Mad Magazine from the 1970's, or a Popular Sciece from 1958? The ARCHIVE has them. Need an old auction catalog? They're there too. You name it, it's likely there.

"I have over 3,000 issues of Life dating back to 1936. You can get a magaizine for the week that a person was born, or find that favorite Marilyn Monroe Cover you've been looking for."

Bettie Page, Rita Hayworth, Jean Harlow, Jayne Mansfield and so many more pin ups are housed at The ARCHIVE. Remember Wink, View, Gala, Jest or Frolic from the 1960s and 1970s? Those issues and others like them in any catagory you can think of are at The ARCHIVE.

Collectors of old paper products may appreciate a 1913 issue of Modern Priscilla, a 1946 Fantastic Adventures or 1932 Amazing Stories pulp, or old articles on The Beatles, Circus advertisements, Christmas decorations. Even old mumps quarantine signs.

Even old, rare gems like a 1709 mannual on preparing bodies for burial. For the Railroad mania buff- well, he has that too! Tons of emphmera and books on any subject matter or any author you can think of! How about General Winfield Scott Hancock's father's signature, or a Classic Gone With The Wind Book... If you are looking for it, odds are The ARCHIVE has it! Love new, modern novels? The ARCHIVE has them too. Stephen King to Tom Clancy - it's all at the ARCHIVE!

Dale Mechalas' love for everything paper began when a baby-sitter gave him a coin book at 12 years old. That led to stamps and envelopes. Dales father Gus Mechalas began taking him to auctions, where old paper items fascinated him. "I found that other people are interested in it too. I was not the only geek out there," he said. "People are passionate about paper collectibles. If you are passionate about something, there is something old and paper is associated with it."

If you are looking for something particular, Mechalas or one of his staff can tell you off the top of their head if they have it and where it is. If he doesn't have it he keeps names and interests on record so when he comes across it, he can let the buyer know.

Mechalas encourages people to come in and browse, sit back, relax and enjoy your stay. The ARCHIVE building has nearly 15,000 square feet of space that Mechalas has divide into five rooms and eventually he plans to include an Internet sales area, where the store will take items from people and sell them on eBay.

As a plus, vendors of the former Kulpsville Antiques have opened up shop in the back area of the store under the name 2nd Street Collectibles.

"People may remember something attributed to their childhood and as they grow older they want to hold on to the memories," he said as a reason for people to have interest in books and paper collectibles. '"I want to have something that not many people have ever done."

The ARCHIVE is a journey to the memories of things past, and the present ... come visit TODAY!

Read more about Dale Mechalas below...

 
           Click Images to read article

Customer, Lewis Jaffe writes:

On Friday I went to The Archive in Lansdale , Pa. http://www.thearchivebooksandpaper.com/
If you collect ephemera and plan to be near Philadelphia it is well worth a visit. I found among other things, a bookplate from the library of Ellen Doubleday. She ran the company after Nelson Doubleday's death.

In the early twentieth century light bulbs were cutting edge technology and worthy of recognition in bookplates. The ARCHIVE HAS IT ALL!
If you can't live without seeing more examples here is a link to a 2006 posting about them, or go to the ARCHIVE today! . http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com/2006/07/rats-gnats-and-light-bulbs.html

Another great ARCHIVE FIND: Henry Ottridge Reik, M.D.(1868-1938) was an author and Ophthalmologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital
 

 

Click On Image To Enlarge
Another customer writes:
 

Every time I turn around another bookseller has closed up shop because of  higher rents, competition from the Internet , not enough foot traffic to justify all the expenses, etc. It is always refreshing to hear about a bookseller who bucks the tide, and invests his hard earned money to buy a new building to better display all sorts of books and ephemera.  When I stopped by The Archive this morning , Dale Mechalas, the proprietor was busily emptying shelves and packing boxes so I immediately thought this was going to be another shop closing. Not so, Dale bought a large building in Lansdale, Pennsylvania and I look forward to visiting his new shop. Here is his website http://www.thearchivebooksandpaper.com/ While I was at the Archive I purchased the Philadelphia tax receipt shown above. If you examine it closely perhaps it will bring a smile to your face.

 

The ARCHIVE
Map to location
725 West 2nd Street. Lansdale PA.
(215) 361-7910 
www.TheArchiveBooksAndPaper.com
2009 All Rights Reserved.
Website design and development by Carol-Ann Sirchie /cfsbooks