Be charitable, it s the holidays, bear with me. Everyone starts off as a beginning collector, and some advance to collector extrodinaire. They get that way by spending time looking for the items they want and expanding into categories that just might have a related item in it. Every dealer files differently, they know their stock so tell them what you are looking for and they will be able to help you find what you are looking for. Don t be like the couple that went through fifteen albums of ephemera and then told the dealer they wanted Borden s which the dealer filed under cows not in the ephemera albums.
Some people have problems with the ephemera word.
As for the esoteric collector that can t be bothered to look and even worse, those who handle paper like they were paying their monthly bills, they are finding themselves unwelcome at many a show. Those who know what they want, are not afraid to ask where they might find an item, and don t mind looking seem to be finding dealers going out of their way to be helpful. As for Angels, most people are gratefully more concerned with their artistic execution than which church or temple they might hover over. Most of you that regularly read this column know that there must be a punch line here. Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, The Englishman and I want to wish a very happy holiday and end of 1999.