Joel Spivak

 http://joelspivak.com

New Book: Underground Philadelphia

Joel Spivak is described by Hidden City Philadelphia as follows:

• I found him. Joel “Space Man” Spivak is still tethered to Planet Earth. It’s been years since he manned his unique space toy store, Rocketships & Accessories, at 623-625 South Street. His obsession, however, is still going strong.
• From 1981 to 1989 Spivak built a career out of collecting Space Age toys–much of which was loaned to the Smithsonian for the “Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future” traveling exhibit in 1984. Although he’s parted with the bulk of his collection, he still owns more than your average number of rayguns, movie posters, space cadet uniforms, sweaters, and ephemera, all accompanied by countless anecdotes while orbiting South Street.

(See the full "What's Out There" article below)

Info

• 
  ROCKETSHIPS & ACCESSORIES

The Inside Story Of The Outer Space Toy Store

• Joel and Trolley
• What's Joel Doing? (scroll for the new book)
• Author interview on Philly Factor
• A Joel Article

In The News

• What's Out There? South Street's Beloved Space Station, Hidden City Philadelphia, December 23, 2014.
• One Activist’s Theory Of Historic Preservation: 'Do Shit And Make It Work', Hidden City Philadelphia, February 26, 2013.
• Historic Levis' Sign Being Relit For National Hot Dog Month, CBS-3, July 18, 2012.

Note from Joel, Feb 28, 2021

Hello -

Hope you're doing well. Like most people I haven't been doing so much in terms of public events over the past year. But here's a What's Joel Doing update anyway - this podcast (with images) took a look at some interesting aspects of my earlier life. http://joelspivak.com/doing.html

Also we freshened up the links on the homepage a little, including to the new page with the Levis 50-year club members on it http://joelspivak.com/Levis50.html

You can also click through from there to see some of my artworks or read about my community activities.

The South Street page is in process and we hope to have it mostly filled in by the end of March. Meanwhile, if you have South Street memories, share them in this survey -- we're collecting them. https://qluency.com/southstreet50/

Joel