Paper Crazy at the Allentown Paper Show

There's nothing quite like spending the day around a huge group of people who not only understand, but also share, my tremendous love for "all things paper".  At the Allentown Paper Show, two huge rooms are filled with postcards, photographs, movie posters, postage stamps, comic books, trading cards, official documents, letters, wrappers, paper dolls, greeting cards, matchbooks, brochures, cigarette cards...and that's just the beginning of the list! 

I spent three hours in the car, five hours in the exhibition hall, and way too much money, but I have some amazing additions to my ephemera stash, and can hear my art room calling me to new projects as I sit here and write this.

First, here are a few views of the show itself:

The postcards are clearly a big attraction, and many people pretty much park themselves in front of the boxes searching through their favorite categories and price points.

I didn't get quite as excited about postcards this time around, but spent lots of time flipping through boxes of photographs, especially those labeled "snapshots," and generally costing a quarter or two apiece. 

There are all kinds of collectibles that I have no interest in purchasing, but enjoy taking pictures of, such as:

vintage magazines and comic books:

boxes, bottles, and tins for soaps, salves, and medications:

Calendars and advertisements:

Photo albums, autograph books, and scrapbooks:

Matchbooks (I saw a LOT more of these this year than last time):

Magazines, pamphlets, and playbills:

Collectibles that are kind of cute:

And collectibles that are definitely creepy:

And every other sort of collectible you can imagine in between:

There weren't too many 50 cent tables, I can tell you that!  (And I can tell you that most of what is on this table are calendars that have been pulled apart to sell the pages separately!)

I quickly remembered a couple of things that I realized in October 2013, when I last attended the show:  First, I already have a LOT of ephemera, so it's tough to lay out a lot of money for postage stamps, for example, when I still have boxes of them for use at home. 

And, second, many (maybe even most) of the vendors are priced WAY outside my range, and the prices seem to be rising.  More than once, I overheard customers paying HUNDREDS of dollars for a single movie poster, historic document, or photograph.  And even things like $12 or $15 for a single photograph are above my pay grade. 

But that's not to say that I couldn't find plenty of fairly reasonable ways to spend my money! 

Because this post has proven to be so photo-heavy, I am going to share photos of my purchases in my next post.  Stay tuned!

In the meantime, for more Allentown Paper Show eye candy, check out my posts from April 2013 and October 2013.