Hoopla!

The first time I visited Hoopla I forgot to look up and I didn't see this sign. It's a trace, a vestige, of the old store on North Lake Avenue in Altadena. That store was Webster's Fine Stationers. Before that it was simply the Stationery part of Webster's, an Altadena institution, where you could buy padded envelopes, browse greeting cards, pick up some liquor and fill your prescriptions all in one trip. If memory serves, you could buy underwear and mail a package, too.

I just found out that it's pronounced Al-tadena, (as in the first name "Al"). All this time I've been pronouncing it All-tadena (as in "all this time").

At Hoopla you can be on a first-name basis with the owners, Altadena residents Scott and Lori Webster, who have made their store into THE place to purchase local crafts, foods, and books. (Scott Webster, who has lived in Altadena all his life, confirms the Al over All thing).

Today I was focused on the pottery. 

But you could focus on the foods. Or the handmade soaps. Or the toys. You can't believe how much eclectic stuff they cram into this small "emporium of good things." If you want to buy a gift, it's here. So is the card.

All this by way of telling you I was forced, forced, to go to Hoopla today to restock Camelot & Vine because they were sold out. How I suffer. They carry Act As If, too, as well as books by many other local authors.

While you're there book shopping, be sure to peek into every corner to find the weird, the wonderful, and the fine stationery, too. And don't forget to look up.