The first combined NAPA-AAPA auction went very smoothly. The work of eliciting bids from the audience was alternated between NAPA auctioneer Dave Warner and AAPA auctioneer Sky Shipley. Alice Brosey and Johanna Shipley assisted, while Kay Schrader, Bill Boys, and Ken Faig ably kept the records of bids and accounts payable. A great amount of historic journals, some of them in bound hard case covers, went up for bid, and some bidders got some real bargains. On the other hand, some bidders ended up paying dearly and against strong competing bids for the objects they were determined to have. A couple of typewriters were sold, a couple of miniature presses, a framed print of every printer's friend Benjamin Franklin, a hard bound copy of Mac McGrew's authoritative volume, American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century, a number of fine press books; they all added up to an interesting and successful auction.
After a photo session, in which the combined group stood for a portrait, then the NAPA group had their portrait, and finally the AAPA had their chance to be shot. By the time the photo shoot was finished, it was about time for the banquet to begin. Barry Schrader kicked off the banquet by calling on Bill Boys to give the outcome of the auction; and Bill announced that in excess of $1900 had been raised!
The food served at the banquet was outstanding, and the occupants of each of the tables seemed to be enjoying their conversation.
Starting the formal portion of the banquet, Barry Schrader noted that our speaker for the evening, Ray Gibson, had a strong interest in the Civil War era; and therefore Barry presented him with a page of the 1860s edition of the Chicago Tribune. The subject of Ray's talk was the practices of journalists: how they worked with each other, the changing customs and dress code throughout the years, and some examples of political shenanigans that have been exposed by investigative journalism.
Closing remarks were delivered by the presidents of both associations, Jack Visser and Mike O'Connor. Thus concluded the main part of another very successful convention. Hearty thanks are due Barry Schrader and his wife Kay, and Bill Boys and his wife Ruth. The hard work of them all have paid a bounteous dividend to everyone who attended this year's convention. The location of the 2011 convention has not been settled yet, so stay tuned to announcements from Pres. Mike O'Connor on that subject.
