'A walking billboard': The history of San Francisco's most recognizable bag
24 comments
·March 25, 2025red369
Slightly off-topic, but I recently discovered What’s In My Bag?
https://www.amoeba.com/whats-in-my-bag/
I was surprised how interesting I found the ones with artists I like - Santi’s in particular felt very personal, but in a heartwarming, not a tabloid way.
e40
The Bill Hader one is really good.
rwmj
I suppose the London 1990s equivalent would be the "Buy! Sell! Exchange!" Music and Video Exchange bag? https://www.twee.net/misc/bags/list.html#id91
gwbas1c
I just had to reach for my Ameoba bag that I store under my backpack, on top of a bag from Newbury Comics.
I used to make a pilgrimage every time I was in the Bay Area to Ameoba and In-N-Out Burger... Except the last time I went. Traveling with my whole family made it really impractical to make it to the Haight.
elif
I'm shocked 1500 people a day actually buy expensive nostalgia frisbees. The only remaining record stores in Atlanta are losing money scraping together t shirt and merch sales while a bunch of scratched detrius collects dust
criddell
Are you also surprised when you hear about somebody going into a bookstore and buying a book?
devnullbrain
Books don't give us cancer like records do.
Unfortunately, the PVC used will off-gas even when they're not being played[1], so this even applies to the 48%[2] of record buyers who never play them.
petesergeant
Yeah, pretty much.
(percentage of people who read) * (percentage of people who want a paper book) * (percentage of people who don't have a better discovery mechanism than browsing shelves) * (percentage of people who want to spend their valuable free-time in a retail area) * (percentage of people who don't have a library card) * (percentage of people who are willing to pay a premium above Amazon for all of the above) = pretty low, I reckon?
I assume people going to bookshops are looking for a nostalgia kick and willing to pay extra for it. I note in the UK that Daunt Books bags seem to be the same phenomenon as these bags.
cafard
Usually, I'm looking for a book, actually. I prefer to buy locally, with cash.
The beginning of the essay at https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-forums says something about browsing, and why I'd rather do it in person.
ddtaylor
Kind of yeah. The book clubs I know have avid readers that gather at a book store to discuss, but actively purchase the books online before hand because cost and availability
nukem222
I read ebooks, but it's not very difficult to determine why people like purpose-crafted goods. Especially when you pay about the same amount for an ebook. Vinyl at least has great arguments why digital copies are straight-up better. Ebooks still have a long way to go to get to that point.
I will however argue that textbooks are straight-up better in the apple books thing. Graphics and footnotes handle like crap in comparison on the kindle. I don't know why as it doesn't appear to be a technical limitation—maybe it's a format thing? Regardless, You'd get like 95% of the benefit with a pdf, though.
RandomBacon
I never known a book still in copyright to be cheaper as an eBook than a used, "Like New" or "Very Good" paperback copy from eBay (with free shipping).
elif
No because the book subscription services are terrible and expensive compared to the music subscription services
elif
$10 per month for all the songs you want to listen to or $10 for a book you can read in a day or two.
elif
Physical media music is 11% of the US market
Physical books are 80% or the US market
jmpz
I think for some, it's really fun to have a collection of something.. I'm a fan of stores like Amoeba, because they do tend have a really excellent selection of second hand records, and it can be fun to hunt for something. At any given time, I have a handful of records I'm searching for, and.. and it's a real thrill to find it cheaply.
brucelidl
I don't know how they are doing business wise, but Criminal Records in Little Five Points is a great record store in Atlanta. Was quite bustling the last time I was there, fwiw.
elif
That's exactly who I'm talking about. Wax n facts even more depressing
yapyap
if you get it you get it, if you don’t you don’t, it goes for many things and does for records as well
13_9_7_7_5_18
[dead]
pjdesno
It was a bowling alley across from the Cala Market when I lived there. Unfortunately the market didn't morph into something anywhere near as cool - it's a Whole Foods now :-(
When I visited San Francisco, I totally went to Amoeba Music. Loved that store. I've now made it my mission to go to local record stores whenever I visit a new city, as well as go to the ones in my city!
Also, I walked around the Golden Gate Park carrying my bag of records... and then someone tried to sell me shrooms.