Homestead Book Company was a publisher and wholesale distributor of books, magazines, videos, games, and novelty items. Founded in 1972 and closed in 2017, the organization was located in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. They specialized in counter-cultural books and distributed over 3,000 titles to retailers as well as through their own

mail-order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

business.

History

Homestead Book Company was founded in 1972 by David Tatelman. They began as a distributor of underground comix for

Rip Off Press Rip Off Press Inc. is a comic book mail order retailer and distributor, better known as the former publisher of adult-themed series like '' The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'' and '' Rip Off Comix'', as well as many other seminal publications from ...

. Tatelman initially delivered comix to various accounts between Olympia and Bellingham in Washington. The company soon began distributing books with their first book being ''The Complete Guide to Growing Marijuana'' by David Fleming. Homestead Book Company was also one of the first distributors for '' High Times Magazine''.

Mushroom kits

During the Teononacatl Mushroom Conference in 1977, Tatelman met with author Bob Harris and they decided to start offering home grown

Psilocybe ''Psilocybe'' ( ) is a genus of gilled mushrooms, growing worldwide, in the family Hymenogastraceae. Many species contain the Psychedelic drug, psychedelic compounds psilocybin and psilocin. Taxonomy Taxonomic history A 2002 study of the ...

mushroom kits. The kits were introduced using growing methods that were outlined in Harris' book ''Growing Wild Mushrooms''. The first kits were introduced in 1978 and sold through advertisements in ''High Times Magazine''. The kits are still on the market and are now referred to by the name EZ-Gro Mushroom Kits.

Published books

Homestead Book Company also published many books over the years, including several associated with the growing and cultivating of Psilocybe Mushrooms. * Miller, Richard; and Tatelman, David. ''Magical Mushroom Handbook'', 1977. * Stamets, Paul. ''Psilocybe Mushrooms and Their Allies'', 1978. * Jackson, Michael; Cottone, Vince; and Chieger, Bob. ''Good Beer Guide: Breweries and Pubs of the Pacific Northwest'', 1986. * Chieger, Bob. ''Poor Man's Gourmet Guide to Seattle Restaurants'', 1986. * Flenniken, Shary. ''Seattle Laughs: Comic Stories About Seattle'', 1994.

Philanthropy

In Seattle, Homestead was a co-sponsor of the 4th of July fireworks and

Seattle Hempfest Seattle Hempfest was an annual event in the city of Seattle, Washington, United States, (and the world's largest annual gathering) advocating the legalization of cannabis. It was held every summer for 19 years, from 1991 to 2020, after which per ...

References

External links

official site
{{Coord, 47.67325, -122.385083, display=t Book publishing companies based in Seattle Bookstores of the United States Book selling websites Online retailers of the United States