Friday afternoon's joint session began with a report from Tom Parson regarding the status of the Graham-Wesson collection. There is quite a history of how The Fossils came to be in possession of that collection; the late Stan Oliner, of Denver, Colorado had received it, and had begun to analyze the extent of the collection. It included the Wessons' bound volumes of amateur journals, and also the four boxes of 3x5 index cards from the late Victor Moitoret, and his father Tony Moitoret before him. Upon Oliner's death, Tom Parson offered to continue organizing the collection, since he also lives in Denver. There are quite a few unresolved issues, which Tom is having to figure out with what little information he has. Tom has inherited a massive task, and is hard at work cataloguing everything in such a way that information will be available by journal, publisher, organization (NAPA, AAPA, UAPAA, etc.), by city and state where published, etc. If members have questions regarding specific journals, Tom is willing to try to find answers; questions may be addressed to librarian@amateurpress.org. Please understand that the work of organization is just beginning, and it may be some time before some information is available.
Tom's report was an appropriate lead-in to the next subject of discussion: how AAPA and NAPA can coöperate in the promotion of amateur journalism. Tom's ongoing work in cataloguing the vast collection of AJ, supported by AAPA, NAPA, and The Fossils, is an outstanding example of intergroup coöperation. NAPA President Alice Brosey led the group discussion. Some of the ideas brought up included the integration of online blogs as part of ajay endeavors, since blogs are the present-day manifestation of the amateur journals published--often by young people--during the 20th century. The fact was raised that one advantage of publishing a blog online is that it eliminates the need to turn out 200 or 300 copies of a journal, which can be a formidable task on a hand press. This led to mention that some publishers in the past have used limited mailings; they privately mailed their journals to other members whose journals they had received, thus not having to produce a lot of copies to members who are not evidencing much interest in the hobby; but then hope was expressed that the work involved in privately mailing journals might lead to the conclusion that maybe the bundles are the easiest way, after all. Another point brought up was the possibility that writing, printing, and publishing could tend to be a lone effort. Instead of a lot of lone publishers sending something for the bundle, this should be a community of likeminded individuals together pursuing a common hobby. Communication with those whose efforts appear in the bundle, and attending conventions and local gatherings could foster a spirit of togetherness and stimulate a deeper interest in participating.
No final conclusion was reached, and the assembly was dismissed amid thanks to Tom Parson for the work he is doing with the Graham-Wesson collection.
The auction was scheduled for 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.; actual start and end times were a few minutes after what was scheduled. Auctioneer George Hamilton went through several tables full of items that had been donated. Member Stan Pekala had printed bags stating that "I bought all this wonderful stuff at the AAPA/NAPA Auction Friday, July 27, 2012 - Dayton, O.," and each bid winner was given a bag (or bags) in which to carry off the loot. Some items generated vigorous competition among bidders; however a great number of journals were purchased at super-bargain prices, partly because the volume of them precluded extracting what they should be worth. Also on the auction block were books, type cases, cuts (including a beautiful wood engraving for which Austin Jones won the bid--but he had to pay dearly for it) and a few other miscellaneous items.
Following the close of the auction, a number of members retreated to the hospitality suite, where West Virginia member Mark McComas was sketching caricatures of anyone who wanted one, for a donation to be split between AAPA and NAPA.
Tomorrow's agenda include a visit to the U. S. Air Force Museum, a demonstration of the "LetterMPress," an iPad application that allows near-letterpress printing on an iPad; then group photos and a buffet style banquet in the evening. Stay tuned.
