About Us
My grandfather and I, circa 1973
In My Grandfather's Memory...
This store carries this unusual name because of who my grandfather was, not just what he said. My grandfather was a small-town doctor — the kind who still made house calls, and who often took a home-cooked meal or a handmade gift in place of payment from patients who couldn't afford it. He was also an artist: he played trumpet and organ publicly for decades, and he was a cartoonist who did public "Chalk Talks" — drawing and bantering through a story at an easel, then flipping the page to reveal it was something else entirely. More people in his community knew him for the music than almost anything else.
The name itself started as one of his jokes. I was seven, trying to set up a lemonade stand, and he suggested — not seriously — that I sell "Baked Bean Cookies" instead. I was seven. I thought it was a great idea. The joke stuck, and so did the name.
What you'll find here — illustrated, a little strange, built to make you smile before you think too hard about it — is closer to his Chalk Talks than it might look at first. Same instinct, different medium.