Inside White Horse<\/a>, it appears the flames never reached the wall adjoining Marshall\u2019s store.<\/p>\nHis grandfather, Earl L. Marshall Sr., founded the business in 1916 as Utah Coin & Antique. Marshall moves easily through the narrow aisles of the current version of the family business, surrounded by shelves stacked high with books, magazines and odd little treasures. <\/p>\n
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Peter Marshall walks through his store, Utah Book and Magazine, on Main Street in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. The store was spared from a fire that destroyed numerous businesses next door.<\/p>\n
He isn\u2019t sure what the rarest item currently in the shop is, but he does recall what might have been the rarest ever: a crate of original 1830 editions of the Book of Mormon his grandfather once owned \u2014 and sold for just 50 cents each back in 1916.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had them today, $250,000, $300,000 each,\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cI counted 28 books in that box. Oh, my God.\u201d<\/p>\n
A box of different books his grandfather packed in 1916 is still tucked away in the store, he said. Back then, those sold for a nickel. Now, he said, they go for $40 to $50.<\/p>\n
Historic treasures line the shop\u2019s walls, like a carved mahogany humidor from the 1890s behind the checkout counter \u2014 now used to hold used books \u2014 and a cash register and adding machine from the 1930s, both of which he still uses daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually one of my new ones,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cMy grandfather had one, it was [from] 1880. Every time that we\u2019d open it up, the wheels wore out and the drawers would fall out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marshall\u2019s father, Earl Marshall Jr., worked for decades alongside his father, Marshall Sr., running shops at various locations throughout downtown. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had that name for many, many years,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was a big coin dealer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marshall began working in the family business at just 8 years old \u2014 and never looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was 17 and my first wife was 16, I opened up Utah Book & Magazine,\u201d he said, with help from his brothers. Not long after, the young couple bought their first house together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs that young?\u201d he asked with a shrug.<\/p>\n
Marshall said the first version of his shop opened at 211 S. State Street and it bounced around to different downtown locations over the years. Eventually, he said, the coin and antique shop merged with his bookstore.<\/p>\n
A maze of books and \u2018knickknacks\u2019<\/p>\n
While his father was the antique collector, Marshall has always focused on books \u2014 and today, he estimates his store holds around half a million of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to have a variety for everybody,\u201d he said, gesturing to shelves filled with everything from children\u2019s books and fiction to religion, sci-fi and horror. He laughs when people ask where the horror section is \u2014 then points to the ceiling, where Halloween decorations he\u2019s collected over the years mark the spot.<\/p>\n
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Decor on display at Utah Book and Magazine on Main Street in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. The store was spared from a fire that destroyed numerous businesses next door.<\/p>\n
Though not fond of technology, he admits he recently gave in \u2014 adding a computer and a credit card reader. But he\u2019s proud to still have a landline, a choice he made after too many people borrowed his phone and walked off with it.<\/p>\n
While Marshall doesn\u2019t have a website or a digital inventory, he has customers who have returned for decades. Judges, lawyers, flight attendants and pilots, tourists and loyal regulars who have been coming back for years.<\/p>\n
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Decor and items for sale at Utah Book and Magazine, on Main Street in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. The store was spared from a fire that destroyed numerous businesses next door.<\/p>\n
Every day, people visit his store to sell mostly books, but sometimes, he\u2019ll \u201cpick up a few knickknacks here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n
And while most people are still asleep, Marshall starts his day at the shop around 2 a.m., spending the early hours cleaning and organizing before opening at 7 a.m. He stays until the shop closes at 6 p.m., he said.<\/p>\n
His philosophy, \u201cif you retire, you die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though his 11-year-old grandson is already talking about taking over the store someday. <\/p>\n
Marshall cherishes his life\u2019s work in the store, and he feels for his neighbors who lost their businesses in the fire. They\u2019re like a \u201cfamily,\u201d he said, and as they look to rebuild and rejoin him on Main Street, \u201cwe all take care of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reporter Brock Marchant contributed to this story. <\/p>\n
Note to readers \u2022 This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As flames raced through Salt Lake City businesses Monday night, it approached an especially vulnerable target: The towering…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[64,63,457,56749,134,56745,56748,56750,56744,56743,56746,56747],"class_list":{"0":"post-72682","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-business-fire","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-london-belle","14":"tag-los-tapatios","15":"tag-salt-lake-business-fire","16":"tag-salt-lake-city-fire","17":"tag-slc-fire","18":"tag-whiskey-street","19":"tag-white-horse"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}