Lots of ground to cover today, so let’s get started. Promoter Gary Gipstein is to be congratulated for going where other promoters feared to tread, and taking the risks and undergoing the hoop-jumping necessary to stage 2021’s live, in-person version of Papermania. Yes, there were a few things left to be desired. At the Hartford […] More >>
Archives for August 2021
How Ya Dooin’?
So, how ya dooin’? Are you getting rich? Going stir crazy? Happier, in your isolation, than you’ve ever been? Lonely? Confused? I wish I had answers for you, but I don’t. All the dealers I’ve talked to, mostly old timers with relatively well-established businesses, seem to have come through this first year and a half […] More >>
The Evolution of the Virtual Book Fair
Okay, I was wrong to chastise promoters for being too lazy to risk producing live book fairs. When even the vaunted ABAA New York Book Fair falls victim to the unpredictable ravages of the pandemic, live book fairs seem more like romantic gestures than calculated risks. Anyway, this weekend’s virtual Ephemera Society show was on, […] More >>
Flattened Out, Dumbed Down
Traditionally, when I’m exhibiting at a “live” ephemera show, or even one of the provincial book fairs, I bring a lot of inexpensive odds and ends along with a few rare items. People like to poke through stuff and, by mid-afternoon, as I struggle to stay awake, the occasional inquiry or snatch of conversation provides […] More >>