Reflections on 30 years of the Philly Show

[bh3443]

I first attended and set up at this legendary show in 1981 with my friend and veteran hobbyist Bob Thing. I loved the Friday night auctions and I always won a ton of items to bring back to my store in Framingham, Mass.
Bob and Ted were great hosts for this event. I even liked staying at the run-down George Washington Motor Lodge! the best dealers in the country were set up offering great material everytime. What a great time it was to be a hobbyist in those early Willow Grove days.
The day a guy was trying to peddle all those fake Pete Rose Rookies sticks out in my mind because he wanted to trade a bunch of them to me for a 1933 Goudey Lajoie card I had on consignment.
I remember the deal made by MVP plastic sheets of Ohio to sell massive amounts of sheets to my pal Bob.
Some of the best memories I have in the hobby center around the Willow Grove shows.
In my opinion it was the people that made this show so much fun. Everyone from the organizers, dealers to the collectors helped put this event on the map. It was an amazing show in so many ways.
I went to the other locations, but for me, the magic was gone.
I miss those days and in particular those shows.