Col. Bubbie's on The Strand in Galveston - Closed

[Chim Chim the Diminutive]

Col. Bubbie's in Galveston was a famous surplus store with a huge inventory of exotic militaria from all over the world. Unfortunately, the store has been closed for a decade, and the ending was rather tragic.  This post is really a memorial to a defunct store and a wonderful man.

 

Hurricane Ike slammed Bubbie's store and literally flushed much of the inventory onto The Strand. After the storm, Bubbie (I can't remember his real name), worked for weeks to clean up the mess. At some point, he was scratched and developed an antibiotic resistant infection which he fought for weeks. Bubbie passed away and his wife attempted to run the store for a few years before it closed.

 

Bubbie was a kind, knowledgeable man who, after about 20 visits to his store, became my friend. He was a local celebrity, and his store was a well-known landmark. Galveston is not the same without him.

[TexRdnec]

i went there one time when i was somewhere around 10yrs old, it was magical

[rosieres64]

Miss Col Bubbie's, it was my first stop each time I went to Galveston.

[TheCrustyBosun]

Col. Bubbie’s was my absolute favorite surplus store and is sorely missed. It was a stop I begged my parents to make anytime we went to Galveston and the very first destination after I received my driver’s license.  You could spend hours in that store and still not see everything. I remember an engine order telegraph with a sign on it that said, “Don’t even think about it.”