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THE 2018 NATIONAL

By Carlton Hendricks

he 39th annual 2018 National Sports Collectors Convention took place August 1st -5th at the International Exhibition Center in Cleveland Ohio. It was one of the sparsest Nationals for antique sports items I've attended...Although the Lord blessed me and I still did real good. The number of dealers who deal in the antique stuff has dropped to the point I'm concerned for future National's. John Kanuit was there shopping but didn't set up...That right there is concerning as anyone who has read my National coverage's knows what a power house he's been of the many years he's set up. National mainstay John Ross has also retired...Sadly Sam Majors from Atlanta passed away. That's a loss for the National as he dealt in a wide variety of the antique. The three Bill's contingent is also wearing down as we'll see later in this feature. So there were basically just a handful of antique dealers left...I'm reluctant to try to name them off out of concern I'll forget someone...but Corey Leiby and Keith Javic were the rock stars of the show as both brought a teeming truck load ammunition. As late as three years ago Keith was considered the new kid on the block...but at this point he's fully vested as one of the major dealers of our kind'a stuff...

Concern and Solution

Were the decision makers of the National to seek out dealers and collectors who specialize in 19th-early 20th century memorabilia and persuade them to set up...I'm speaking of the kinds of things Corey Leiby, Kevin Bronson, Glen Mechanick, and Keith Javic bring...that would greatly improve the show. Perhaps they could woo them with incentives...so there is more vintage/antique material. The cost of airfare and hotels to attend the National can be significant. Should the current slide continue it could become harder to make the commitment to come.

Unfortunately we who actively collect antique pre 1930 sports memorabilia are a minority compared to collectors of contemporary and post WWII sports memorabilia...Most of the revenue generated for the national likely comes from them...Hopefully the gate keepers of the National will nevertheless appreciate the value and character antique memorabilia brings to the show's environment, and take note of this slide. Hopefully they are proactive and study the situation to see how it can be reversed to keep the show well rounded...Admittedly being a promoter of any kind of antiques show isn't easy. One of the ingredients that make a great show is you have to have the right dealers to get the right buyers to come and keep coming...and you have to have the right buyers to get the right dealers to come and keep coming...it's a balancing act...

A Few Side Trips

Aside from the National there were three diversions I shot photos of and made into sub-features here...The Three Bill's Room party on Tuesday night, the eve before the National opened...Then on Wednesday evening, after the first day of the National, prolific collector Paul Montesano gave a party at his home in the Cleveland suburb of Hudson...... Then by coincidence the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors (FOHBC) happened to hold their yearly 2018 national convention in downtown Cleveland August 2nd-5th at the Huntington Convention Center...So I went and shot a ton of photos to share...

Carlton's Personal Journey

I came away a winner nevertheless. Been a heck of a year for finds so my budget for the show was a little tighter than usual...However...I rolled out a secret weapon...About a year ago I scored a Spalding Trophy at the Alameda Point Antiques Fair...It was the fielder...which I already had an example of...The one I got at Alameda was in better condition...so I had a loose plan to find someone with the baseman who would trade for my old one...but never found such a trade. So the National rolled around and I still had it...If you're gonna sell a Spalding there's no better place than the National...So I packed it up carefully and got it thru the airline trip safely. It was gone practically the first night I got to my hotel...I ended up trading it for my power pick up of the show...before I even got to the National. Here's what happened...

The Three Bills were staying in the same hotel I was...I actually stayed there just to be close to them...So when I first got in I went over to their room and there was memorabilia all over the place...considerably higher quality than they normally bring as they are starting to thin the herd...and leaning against the fireplace was a large c1910 tri-fold advertising display for Fatima Cigarettes featuring an illustration of a college rush. It was mounted on a 64" wide X 42" tall wood backing. Rushes were a college tradition from about the mid 19th century to the early 20th century. Essentially they were brawls...good natured ones presumably...typically between sophomores and freshmen. The subject would have to be one of the most rare and unusual ever used on an advertising sign...and it was so me...that thing had carlton written all over it!!!...

Originally these tri-fold signs were displayed standing up with the two side panels folded out. Typically over time the two side panels start to separate from the center panel...but are an easy fix to reinforce from the back. This one though, had separated and been mounted flat onto a wood backing. Bill Kopperud of The Three Bill's fame was selling it...He had it displayed in his real estate office for years, but replaced it with some Winchester Panels about the same size. So down it came...and to the National it went!...I took a good long look at it then went on looking at all the other stuff they brought...It was a mini National...tons of great stuff...But my mind kept going back to the Fatima sign...So I asked Kopperud...what are you getting on the Fatima?...$2500.00 he said...Now mind you when you're in this kind of target rich theater it's a little hard to think straight as your mind is racing...So after some contemplation I thought about selling the Spalding to pay for it and not use my National money...then it occurred to me maybe Bill would be interested in a trade...I told him about the Spalding...and that it was back in my room...and he was interested...latter we went to my room to take a look at it...Both of us were interested in possibly trading so we agreed to sleep on it over night...The next day we sat down at one of the food court tables at the National and sealed the deal...he would get the Spalding and I would get that incredibly rare sign!!!!...I had never seen the complete sign but a friend John Buonaguidi (Bone-a-gwidi) had a trimmed partial center panel he sold twelve years prior at the 2006 National in Anaheim...I had been keeping an eye out for the complete sign ever since!

Carlton's second best pick-up of 2018 National

C1928, 12" TALL x 11" WIDE FOOTBALL TROPHY, MADE BY DERBY SILVER

My second best find for the show was a c1920's silver plate figural football trophy...I found it within 15 minutes of walking into the National on the first day. It was in Keith Javic's booth priced at $1,500.00...Now mind you I really didn't want to just walk in and drop $1,500.00 quite that fast...Normally I like to look around a bit before taking a big bite and eating up a big chunk of what I had to spend for the show...But it was a very good example of that horizontal style trophy and I knew it wouldn't be there long...I could almost tell it was made by Derby just looking at it...Sure enough I took it apart later and saw the Derby makers mark...Derby trophies are always a cut above in style and presentation...So it was decision time...crunch decision time...buy it or loose it...I know the terrain pretty well and knew it was doubtful I'd see a better football trophy at the show...I hit up Keith for his best price and he said 15 was it...He knew he could get that...so I somewhat hesitantly pulled the trigger...done...I asked him to put it aside and kept on roll'n...

27" tall c1890 statue of John L. Sullivan

Booth of veteran dealer Kevin Bronson

So all was fine...I jetted here and there around the floor...then disaster struck!!!..Within an hour I spotted a c1890 27" tall white metal statue of John L. Sullivan in the booth of Kevin Bronson. It was painted...or polychrome to use the artistic term...which is very unusual for that type statue...It was white metal, cast in France, priced at $3,000.00...I vaguely recalled seeing it in a Leland's auction...where it was impressive...but seeing it in person really drove it home...and there it was...languishing...waiting to be picked off...and I'd already shot half my bank on Keith's football trophy...Had I held off I could have nailed the Sullivan...And so there I was...and I kept roll'n but the Sullivan had me...I wandered aimlessly from booth to booth but really wasn't seeing what I was looking at...as much as I tried...that darn statue!...You have to understand...when you're at a National you're on overload from all the stuff...It's so exciting when you first get in it's a kind of hard to think straight...so you have to get a hold of yourself....you gotta focus if you're gonna pull the trigger...meaning I had to evaluate how great the Sullivan was in relation to eating beans the next couple months...My evaluation said it's about as good as it gets for boxing statues...I concluded I'm mr. figural and it belonged in my collection out of duty if nothing else...What about $2500.00 I said to Kevin...Sorry he said can't do it...29 if it will help...I needed more courage so took a walk...I ran into Bill Kopperud and we sat down at one of the food court tables to talk about the Spalding/Fatima trade...after we made the deal I bounced the Sullivan statue off him for an opinion...I pretty much talked myself into it and waked back to Kevin's booth about 1/32" of an inch from going for it...and boom...SOLD sign...After about five minutes the shock wore off and I felt I got my life back...no tuna sandwiches next couple months!!!...Hated to see it go but you can't get'um all!!!!...After the bang-up year I've had I'll live...I learned who got it and ran into him at breakfast one morning...Hey congrats I said...I should thank you...Now I can enjoy the rest of my trip...After that I focused mainly on gathering photos the rest of my time there...I found a few other knick knacks you can see in my "Carlton's Pick-Ups" pages...$50 here $100 there...just the way I like to roll...

A buddy John Gennantonio asked me to call him if I saw anything up his alley as he couldn't get away from his dental practice...Right next door to Corey Lieby was the booth of Jack Landerson. Last year I bought that c1930 Spanish cigarette papers advertising sign with the bull fighters from him...So that right there tells you he deals in the eclectic and no telling what he'll have. I spotted a terrific large cabinet photo of Amos Alonzo Stagg in one of his cases...Seemed to have John Gennantonio written all over it...I texted John a photo and he and Jack worked out a deal...Buy exotic sports memorabilia at the National from the comfort of your dental office...yes sir that's how we roll!!...Far as I know it's an unknown un-cataloged photo...It would be very interesting to learn who the person standing next to Stagg is...Neither John, Jack, nor I knew...Researching is the fun of it all...Then as I was flipping thru a box of paper in Jack's booth I came across an unusual metal...sign?...tag? advertising Herbert Hoover for president that I bought...actually I'm not sure what it is...it's metal and has a hole on each side, no doubt for mounting...Why would I buy a metal Herbert Hoover metal tag at the National Sports Collectors Convention you ask...How is that sports related you ask...Well it was a companion piece...the story is that a little less than a year ago...back in September 2017...I bought what was most likely the greatest cache of 19th century Stanford football memorabilia ever found...and that will probably ever be found...I found it essentially among a bunch of junk in a low end auction...READ THE SHOCKING TRUTH HERE...and in the cache was a huge photo of the 1894 Stanford football team...and in the photo is very young Herbert Hoover, who was the manager of the team...So the tag goes perfect with the photo seeing he would later become president of the United States...and as a bonus...as my friend Pat Nester pointed out...who I texted a photo to at the National for an opinion...(he said get it)...it's football shaped!