While walkways were open, dealers’ booths on both sides were crowded with eager attendees on the first day of the show. And this was just the first room!
Review & Onsite Photos by Kiersten Busch
ALLENTOWN, PENN. — Once every six months, folks from the Tri-State area and beyond gather at the Allentown Fairgrounds Agri-Plex for the Allentown Paper Show: a two-day event presenting what its website says is “the finest in paper collectibles” throughout the country. For more than 50 years, the paper show has captivated attendees with unique offerings of rare books, antique postcards, advertising materials, movie and pop culture memorabilia, sports memorabilia, vintage photographs, comic books and more.
On the morning of October 5, hundreds of attendees lined up outside of the front doors of the Agri-Plex, where both the fall and spring iterations of the show take place. Enthusiasm was high as the doors opened at 9 am, when we witnessed attendees rush inside to begin their first day of shopping. Around 170 dealers from more than 25 states were spread throughout two main rooms in the Agri-Plex, which attendees could peruse at their leisure.
Antiques and The Arts Weekly caught up with Sean Klutinoty, Allentown marketing professional and the show’s manager, after the weekend concluded. Klutinoty was very pleased to inform us that it was “a great show. The attendance was more than 1,100 people. It is the highest attendance for the October show ever.”
The line grew steadily longer until seconds before attendees were allowed inside the Allentown Fairgrounds Agri-Plex, where the Allentown Paper Show takes place bi-annually.
As attendees poured through the front doors, many were captivated by the plethora of posters and piles of books gracing the first booth to their right, shared by Mike Shoemaker and Christopher Herbert. Shoemaker, who owns Shoemaker Booksellers in Gettysburg, Penn., specializes in, “Americana, all of it!” He was proudest of an early printing of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass he had acquired “somewhere in Ohio” and a third printing of Francis Scott Key’s The Star-Spangled Banner, which was published only nine years after the conclusion of the War of 1812.
Herbert, Shoemaker’s booth partner, owns The Rock Top Book Shop, Cashtown, Penn. While mainly a bookseller who “always has military stuff,” Herbert also brought with him a collection of large prints and posters from California, which he had displayed in large, metal print stands facing the front entrance to the show. “This has a lot more color than I usually have,” he said of a print of a New England lobster from San Francisco. One of his favorites was a “Bo-Peep’s Sheep” print by toy designer, author and California native Charleen Kinser (1934-2008), which advertised toy sheep that she designed for her own brand, Forever Toys.
Across the aisle from Shoemaker and Herbert was Dede Schaffer, whose booth was so packed, we had to speak to her across one of several countertops she was displaying various paper offerings on. The Lancaster, Penn., resident is the self-proclaimed “senior postcard dealer” of the show, which she has been attending for 30 to 40 years. Schaffer specializes in vintage Christmas and Valentine postcards, but also brought unique art pieces, like an illustrated children’s book block set from 1800s France; eight different scenes could be assembled with the blocks. “I also have the original box, lid and pictures showing what scenes you can make,” Schaffer followed, proudly showing us the original prints, which were in very good condition. She also shared that she had been very busy all morning, making sales and talking with loyal customers.
Dede Schaffer, Lancaster, Penn., shows off some original illuminated artwork, which she says the artist did “for self-gratification”; the hand-done illustrations have never been published in a book.
While Richard Mori, Mori Books, Nashua, N.H., specializes in children’s books and all things New Hampshire, his tightly packed shelves of antique fiction and nonfiction titles were full of surprises of a different kind. He proudly showed off several first editions he had acquired from “everywhere,” including My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass (1855), These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1943) and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850). Mori also offered a rare copy of A New Spirit, A New Commitment, A New America, the Inaugural Book of President Jimmy Carter, who had just celebrated his 100th birthday a few days prior to the show’s opening. The book was signed by both the former president and his vice president, Walter F. Mondale. “You don’t see these two signatures together very often,” said Mori, when asked about the rarity of the book.
“I like things that are neat, things that are interesting,” said Jason Phillips, Phillips & Phillips, Chester Springs, Penn., when asked what he enjoys collecting and selling. What has piqued his interest lately? A set of framed, original watercolors that were used in an illustrated version of Mark Twain’s The Prince and The Pauper, which he purchased at auction. Also, two antique hand-painted book covers from Florence, Italy. Phillips also offered antique mallets and cast iron tools, vintage advertisement and other historical paper material, among others.
Phillips & Phillips, Chester Springs, Penn.
Paul Bender, GAB Antique Shop, Southwest Reading, Penn., had an eclectic mix of historical objects, advertisements and pop culture items, including cardboard cutouts from the Star Trek franchise of William Shatner as Captain James Kirk and Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, which greeted attendees as they entered Bender’s booth. However, when asked what his favorite thing to collect was, he immediately answered, “I like things people have touched.” What he meant by this was small, highly personalized items like love tokens and hobo nickels, both of which he offered in neatly categorized binders at the front of his booth. To Bender, modified coins are interesting because “they’re not trying to pass off as real.” The most interesting one he’s seen? “A dime with the Lord’s prayer carved into it.”
This was the first time back after a few years for Pamela Apkarian-Russell, Castle Halloween, Altoona, Penn., who expressed her love for Antiques and The Arts Weekly as we entered her festive and colorful booth. “I’ve been subscribed for over 50 years,” she shared. As the name of her shop implies, Apkarian-Russell specializes in all things holiday-related, as well as “high-end and early stuff”; she was especially prepared for Halloween, with a selection of The Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise. Apkarian-Russell also offered an array of vintage advertisement posters. Some of her favorite pieces in the booth included two colorful posters encouraging travel to Egypt, with one reading “Egypt for Winter Sunshine.”
“I think I was a tree way back when; I love paper,” joked Paulette Krick of Zionsville, Penn., when we asked her what her specialty was. Krick owns Nana’s Nook & Cranny, and she has been coming to the show for more than 40 years. What has kept her coming back? “The excitement, socializing and getting out there and showing my things,” she answered. The “things” in question included vintage postcards, vintage books, paintings, vintage Christmas decorations and advertisements, among others. “Shirley Temple is my favorite,” she gushed, showing off a coloring book by Temple, titled This is My Crayon Book, originally published in 1935.
Nana’s Nook & Cranny, Zionsville, Penn.
Lynn Barrett of Doylestown, Penn., said that she “prefers books, but they’re getting heavier to transport as I’m getting older.” This did not stop her from still bringing some with her, including Moments by Sister Corita Kent, which discussed her “Moments” series, comprising of 13 screenprints, and completed in 1977. Barrett also offered antique toys and smalls, alongside vintage advertisements and maps. “I can only hope there is someone out there who would want my stuff!” she cheerily told us.
Filled with 70s and 80s “geekery” was the booth of Mike Cotter, Back in Time Books, Jacksonville, Fla., a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and the Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association (FABA). Cotter brought a mix of 70s and 80s TV and film paraphernalia and antique books, including a signed postcard from Billie Burke, who played Glinda the Good Witch in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz; “I’ve already sold several Wizard of Oz pieces today,” Cotter added happily. He also offered a 1930s quilt made of various pennants that the consignor collected on her honeymoon; “It’s the single rarest and special piece I have here,” Cotter said. The booth was also intermittently scattered with various merchandise from the Star Wars universe, a series which Cotter accredits as part of the reason why his business is so successful.
“It took me six hours to unload and set up,” said Doug Rice of Marietta, Penn., who has done the show a few times before in the past but came back a year ago after he had built his collection more. “It’s good to see familiar faces from last year,” he explained, speaking about both dealers and customers alike. His specialty is everything baseball — he is a huge Philadelphia Phillies fan — dealing in everything from cards to uniforms to signed balls, all of which Rice offered in his booth. Branching out from baseball, Rice also offered various photographs and pictures. “I just started a few years ago. They’re doing really well so far; I don’t want to be just sports.”
Doug Rice (right), Marietta, Penn., who won a fan of the century contest for the Philadelphia Phillies on their 100th anniversary, is pictured here speaking with another Major League Baseball (MLB) enthusiast.
Sammy Berk of New World Cartographic, Chicago, explained to us as we entered his booth that the business had “500 years’ worth of historical cartography.” While Berk’s favorite cartographic period is the westward expansion, he happily showed us a map of the Americas printed in 1676, during the Age of Discovery, in which California was drawn as an island. The map was printed from a hand-crafted copper engraving done in 1626. “What I like about older maps like this one is that there are a lot of cartographic errors and fables,” Berk said, gesturing to several different points on the map, including small, fantastical sea creatures littering the oceans, and a false lake in South America, which was labeled “El Dorado.” Berk explained that these errors came about from mapmakers hearing varying stories from different explorers, which eventually amalgamated into some interesting falsities: “it was like a game of telephone.” Another interesting cartographic error came from a map titled “The Middle States of America” by J. Russell (1794), which had Allentown, Penn., marked as “Allens Town.”
The last booth we stopped at for the day was that of Norman Showers, who owns Showers Antiquities, based in Selinsgrove, Penn. His booth was full to the brim with miscellaneous ephemera, advertising items, country store items and post cards and trade cards, which he had organized in binders and bins on a large table in the center of the booth. Showers’ favorite item that he brought to the show was a one-of-a-kind painting done during the World War II era, which was eventually made into a poster. The painting, done in bright blues and other bold colors, exclaimed “We Want More Scrap Metal,” and depicted planes, tanks and ships moving forward toward the viewer.
Feeling spooky? Look no further than the booth of Norman Showers, Showers Antiquities, Selinsgrove, Penn., which had a vast collection of vintage Halloween postcards to get you ready for the spooky season.
After the show, Klutinoty shared with us that patrons were very happy with the way things went: “I received a lot of feedback from patrons saying they love the show and look forward to each one. A new patron said they were amazed at the size of the show and the variety of items the dealers have available. Others said they have been coming for years and never miss a show.”
Things were very similar when it came to dealers, many of whom, according to Klutinoty, had a great show. A good number had already signed up to have a booth at the April 2025 iteration as well. “I have a fantastic group of dealers. They make the show,” Klutinoty expressed. “This show I had approximately 10 new dealers. I am adding new dealers each show.”
The Allentown Paper Show’s 2025 spring and fall shows will take place on April 26-27 and October 4-5, respectively. For information, 610-573-4969 or www.allentownpapershow.com.
