The 55th Michigan Antiquarian Book and Paper Show
was a great success!Part of my job is to help organize
and run this, the Midwest's largest show.
I don't have official confirmation,
but I believe it to be the second largest
show in the country, just behind the big show in NYC.
We're more than double the size of the antiquarian show
in Chicago. We're nearing our thirtieth anniversary,
and do two shows a year here in Lansing. Thankfully,
we have show preparations down to a science, now.
Once again, I came down with a nasty chest cold
two days before the show. When this happened last
autumn I had to stay in bed while the show went on
without me. It must, you know.
This time, I managed to make it out of bed and into
a nice enough outfit. The medicine I took kept me
slightly loopy, giggly and wiggly, but I strutted around
in my lovely "book show heels" well enough to fool
the guests and vendors. My favorite part, by far,
was taking photos of some of the book sellers during
the afternoon lull. If you're not a fan of books or paper,
you'd still get your money's worth if you came to the
show to people watch. They come from as far away
as Quebec and Texas (though not California,
as the LSJ suggested in
their show write-up).
Sean and I splurged a bit, and bought a truly jaw-dropping
collection of four "propaganda" prints from 1931.
 |
| This one's my favorite! |
They were printed in Lansing and distributed by the
Michigan Tuberculosis Association.
They feature the most gorgeous nature illustrations
by wildlife artist
Charles Livingston Bull. They compliment
the WWI and WWII propaganda posters we've bought
at past shows. Now, I need to put my framing tools
to good use and build some quarter-sawn oak fames!
It seemed to be a pretty good show.
We had about a dozen new dealers exhibiting,
and our porter team was stellar. Many thanks
to Leighanna, Alicia, Russ and Sean. And Keith.
We're not quite done unpacking at Curious,
but we're off to a good start. Mark suspects that
we've come back with more sports and movie stuff
than we took with us, but that isn't much of a surprise.
I'm pretty sure Ray sneaks things into the shop
we're not looking. The trick is finding a place to keep it all.
I used the book show as my Grand Unveiling.
Ray, Susan and Ruth approved my paper flowers,
and I bedecked the Archvies booth with them.
Those who noticed were impressed, and I may even
wind up selling a few of them in
my Etsy shop.
We'll see.
I have about a dozen Phalaenopsis stems left, and a
few dozen little button flowers.
I've already moved on to other crafting projects,
so those will be the only flowers for a while.
I met some very nice girls at the show, and I think we might
start a blasphemous book club, where instead of reading
we rip books apart and turn them into art.
The few photos that were taken of me at the show are
hilariously embarrassing
and can be found on the
Curious Facebook page.
There is so much more to say about my chaotic, exhausting
weekend. I'll be cleaning up the wreckage-strewn house
for the rest of the evening. I must also try to beat this
cold before we head down to Harrison Township this weekend.
Must. Get. Well.
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