Ralph is an extraordinary collector, Director at large of the FOHBC, and good friend of pre-pro. It's always a pleasure to spend time catching up with him and hear about his latest finds, even if simply photos of a friend's rare bottle collection!
| I also connected with Ralph Van Brocklin who brought along a bevy of shots, many
of which you may have seen close without bidders on eBay a month or so back.
Ralph is an extraordinary collector, Director at large of the FOHBC, and good friend of pre-pro. It's always a pleasure to spend time catching up with him and hear about his latest finds, even if simply photos of a friend's rare bottle collection!
|
|
|
|
|
I also ran into Jack Sullivan, a regular contributor to Bottles and Extras and a serial collector, moving from jugs (he sold all but a few), to Hill Billy ceramics (donated to a Southern museum) and now paperweights. It was Jack who donated the directory copies that made the city databases possible.
And of course there was Bob Ford, show chair and arch rival for Baltimore shots on eBay under the guise of baltimorebuyer. Bob accepts all of my inane ribbing with patience and grace: if only everyone who comes under the Poobah's scrutiny were so accepting!
 |
| (Bob Ford, show chairman, caught at the 2005 show. Don't you love the natty yellow hat?!) |
Since I had been meaning to write a Baltimore show report for a couple of years now, I pressed Bob for answers to a couple of questions that have been troubling me for some time. The first was "why not move the show to a location with better lighting and room to accommodate the many vendors on the waiting list?"
The answer is simple economics. Rental costs for the Phys. Ed. center are very reasonable, meaning that the cost to the vendors is low and there is the added bonus that parking is free. Moving to the Baltimore convention center downtown (the only realistic alternative) would mean high rental rates, expensive parking and difficulty of access. As someone who has visited the convention center for scientific conferences many times in the past, I can confirm that the Phys. Ed. center is infinitely preferable.