by Lynn The ABC started in 1972 after Mitch Crossfield and Sam Boltansky, who knew each other from Baltimore, came to Amsterdam in 1971 and saw the lines of English-speaking tourists outside Madame Tussaud's on the Kalverstraat, then one of the busiest shopping streets in Europe. They went to the jewelry [...]
by Lynn The wish to celebrate Thanksgiving with booklovers, staff and people homesick for that Thanksgiving experience springs from a homey image of people from sea to shining sea, from prison canteens to five-star hotels, all eating the same menu at the same time. There’s always room at the table [...]
To mark our 50th anniversary, we’re going back through the archives to share some of our more memorable stories. “1997: ABC at the Moscow International Book Fair” by Lynn After watching Dutch media magnate and Moscow Times founder Derk Sauer’s recent interview on the Dutch Summer Nights TV [...]
by Lynn Open Mic Nights were initiated by Molly Ackerman, the first manager of the ABC Treehouse, in 2000. Artist Molly had come to the Thanksgiving Day dinner and marveled at the space in the ABC Treehouse. She had lots of paintings under her bed and wanted a [...]
To mark our 50th anniversary, we’re going back through the archives to share some of our more memorable stories. “Shoes” by Lynn In 1972, co-founder Mitch Crossfield decided to have the attic at Kalverstraat 158 converted into an apartment so that he could live above the store. Via [...]
by Lynn ABC’s co-founder Mitch Crossfield and most of our male staff in the early years were gay. That’s because Amsterdam was open, as opposed to Belgium and Spain, where homosexuality was still forbidden, so Mitch was able to hire gay booksellers from Amsterdam’s teeming population. Bookseller Harry displayed several titles [...]
We recently celebrated our 50th anniversary with ABC on a lovely sunny Saturday. It was a day filled with an extra 10% discount on all stock, hidden Golden bookmarks to win amazing prizes, live music, seventies-inspired cake, and not to forget a lot of champagne. The festivities don't end here, though! [...]
