Hal Lutsky’s Glendale Vintage Paper Fair, slated for February 13th and 14th, is the first show at the Glendale Civic Auditorium to ever offer free parking; it is usually $6. The Glendale Show will now feature free parking and admission. This is part of Lutsky’s plan to draw in more customers. Starting in 2010, he will be offering free admission to all of his shows. “We’ve been slowly moving towards this for a while,” he said. “The San Francisco show has always been free, and the Glendale and Concord shows have had free admission on Sunday for several years now.” According to Lutsky, this is his way of adjusting to the economy and being customer friendly. People still like to shop, and this is evidenced by all of the demand for Hal Lutsky’s newest show, The Golden Gate Park Book Fair, which is tentatively scheduled for October 24th at the Hall of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Admission will also be free to this show. Lutsky only has two Bay Area book show competitors. His main rival is Walter Larsen, who used to run the Hillsborough Show. His old Berkeley Book Show hasn’t been held in several years. ”A lot of people, including me, missed the old Berkeley Show and I felt there was a need for another book show,” said Lutsky, who started out with one Paper Fair a year in Golden Gate Park. ”The response was so great, I’ve moved two of my Concord shows to San Francisco and am now doing three Paper Fairs a year there all of which are sold out with a waiting list. I then realized that the dealers and the public like the hall and location so much, it was the perfect place for a Book Fair.” Lutsky’s next show will be his San Francisco Vintage Paper Fair on January 9th and 10th. Dealers of shoppers who want more information on any of these shows, can contact Lutsky at (415) 668-1636.
Category Archives: Post Cards
Johnson's second Hillsborough Show
With nothing but praise for her first one, show director Nancy Johnson looks forward to the next Hillsborough Show slated for February 12th-14th at the San Mateo County Event Center. ”We are going to have a full house again in February with some new dealers filling the spots of those who flew south to Florida for the winter,” said Johnson, adding that she has been adding dealers from the November waiting list. According to Johnson, the reviews of the November Show were so positive that it attracted a major dealer who had given the show up several years ago. The Sonoma-based dealer, who had been a Hillsborough dealer since the show’s founding, re-committed herself to the full annual schedule of the show based on the changes made in November. The changing of he guard at November’s Hillsborough Show was such an important event in the antique world that some of the most trusted and long-time promoters came to check it out. One of the familiar faces was Walter Larsen, who managed the Hillsborough Show after Lou Lengfeld and before Bob Taylor. Walter Larsen is still a show promoter and has several shows coming up next year including the famous at Paso Robles, which is slated for January 16th and 17th. He led the Antiquarian book fair movement, but it is now dominated by Hal Lutsky. Larsen started producing the San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print, & Paper Fair since 1994 and the next one is being held in February. Prior to becoming a show promoter, he was an eminent psychologist. ”I was one of the few who didn’t get arrested,” said Larsen. He was teaching Psychology in the 1960s when someone offered him an 11′ x 11′ room of antiques for $900. ”for someone from the midwest [North Dakota] who knew nothing about antiques that was a lot of money,” he admitted. “But it was a wonderful education.” According to Larsen, between small antique shops who were willing to share information, and the Antique Trader, which was his bible. he became educated and immersed in the world of antiques. He was really bitten by the bug when his crash course in antiques paid off. He had learned a little about American pottery. He saw an advertisement for four “Rockwood” vases. He went to check them out and discovered that they were as he suspected “Rookwood” vases. He paid $200 for all four of them. ”And that was the beginning of my long affair with Rookwood pottery,” he said. Larsen is one of two former psychologists at the Hillsborough Show, who gave up their lucrative careers to delve into the world of antiques. Rick Kersey is co-owner of Sekula’s in Sacramento. He, and his wife, Michelle Sekula, are two of 65 dealers located inside of 57th Street Antique Plaza. ”There isn’t anything I’d rather do in the whole world than sell antiques,” said Kersey, who admits he has been a collector his entire life. His former career helps him analyze people, and prevents him from making snap judgements. At the show, he offered a mid-1800s magic lantern that he fitted with a light bulb (rather than a candle) because it makes it much more functional and safer today. He hoped the lantern would glow for $1,400. The Hillsborough Show features more than 300 dealers. There will also be on-site glass repair, porcelain restoration, reference books, and shipping services. Doors open to all buyers at 11:00 am. on Friday. Admission is $10 with return privileges all weekend. Call (303) 595-0812 for more information.
Glendale College Show celebrates Milestone
The Glendale Community College Swap Meet is Southern California’s largest swap meet west of Pasadena, with 70,000 square feet and hundreds of dealers. Held the third Sunday of every month, the parking lot event is celebrating its loyal shoppers on Novembers 15th, which is “Customer Appreciation Day.” The Swap Meet is directly across the street from the Glendale Civic Auditorium which is the home to several outstanding shows, including Keith Kinkade’s Glendale Monthly, the upcoming All-American Collector’s Show, and Hal Lutsky’s Paper Fair, and the just-presented Golden California Show. The Glendale Community College is located just off of the Glendale 2 Freeway at the Mountain exit. Hours are 8-3. Admission is free and preferred parking is $2. Dealer spaces are $40 in advance and $50 on site. Call Jon Harris at (818) 240-1000, ext. 5805 for more information.
Rumors of Cancellation jeopardize Show
Despite the show’s on again-off again status, the Alameda Point Show did take place on Sunday, October 1st. The Collector Network was and still is buzzing with all kinds of rumors about the fate of the show. The most popular one: the show was dead. Talk of why the October 1st edition, in particular, might have been in jeopardy made a certain amount of sense, since the Bay Bridge had been closed and its re-opening in time for the flea market was uncertain. At a certain point, a few days before the show, the show’s website said that the partners dissolved the show. The announcement was captured on the Collector Network, and shortly thereafter, the announcement of the show’s demise was deleted from their website. It was not only the website that was confirming the demise of the show. Employee, Soco, confirmed that the partners had been feuding and the show had been canceled. The next day, however, San Diego dealer Richard Strell, quoting Vintage Paper Fair promoter Hal Lutsky, said that he had spoken to one of the owners, Allen Michaan. He had said that the show was very much alive and would be taking place on October 1st as scheduled and that his show partners were now facing some serious trouble. At around the same time all of this Alameda Fair drama was taking place, a new Marin County Show was on the verge of exploding onto the Bay Area scene. Even though it appears that Alameda Point is continuing on, the fact that there was this incident of instability is forcing many dealers to consider other show options. Michaan is accusing the show’s producers and company co-owners Betsy and Jerry Goldman of trying to scuttle the Alameda Show, and has announced that there is a lawsuit coming. ”It’s deplorable that the Goldmans think so little of the hundreds of dealers that depend on this show that they would try to destroy it,” he said to a reporter from the Oakland Tribune. Michaan said he created the concept for the Antiques by the Bay Fair at Alameda Point in 1998. He wrote its business plan, obtained the permits to set it up and paid all its bills in the early years when the show wasn’t making any money. He said he brought the Goldmans in to manage and operate the show and offered them a partnership position. They own half of Antiques by the Bay, and he and his ex-wife, Sandra, own the other half. Whatever happens, Michaan says the show will go on. ”We will not let the show die,” he said.
Lutsky's new show slated for October 25th
Hal Lutsky, promoter of California’s Vintage Paper Fair, announced a new vintage book fair, which will take place Sunday, October 25th in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. The show will be held in the Hall of Flowers at 9th Avenue in Lincoln. It will feature a huge assortment of used, vintage and rare books and ephemera, including photographs, postcards and posters. Like many Bay Area dealers, Lutsky missed the old Berkeley Book Show, which folded several years ago. He considered putting on a show in Berkeley, but couldn’t find a suitable venue. After several very successful Vintage Paper Fairs in Golden Gate Park, he decided to try a book fair on for size. ”There’s such an enthusiastic response from dealers and the public for the Hall of Flowers show,” said Lutsky. “I’ve produced shows in many venues, but I have never had so many people tell me how much they love the place. People look for an excuse to come here.” The hall is adjacent to the Botanical Gardens, near the Japanese Tea Garden and only about two blocks away from the new aquarium, which is across the plaza from the new museum. As with his paper shows, the book fair will have free admission. Lutsky believes this helps encourage attendance. At his paper shows, 25% of the shoppers are people who walk in off the street. Admittedly, some are just lookers, but others make large purchases or become regulars. For more information, call (415) 668-1636.
Lutsky's Golden Gate Park Book Fair
Hal Lutsky, promoter of California’s Vintage Paper Fairs, is starting a new show focusing on a different branch of ephemera-books. The new event, entitled “The Golden Gate Park Book Fair,” will be held on Sunday, October 25th, at the Hall of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Admission will be free. Lutsky has produced about 50 Vintage Paper Fairs since becoming a promoter, including several in this very hall. As part of the County Fair complex in Golden Gate Park, the Hall of Flowers is adjacent to the Botanical Gardens, and a short walk from the new De Young Museum, Japanese Tea Garden and the brand new aquarium. Lutsky only has two Bay Area book show competitors. His main rival is Walter Larsen, who used to run the Hillsborough Show. His old Berkeley Book Show hasn’t been held in several years. ”A lot of people, including me, missed the old Berkeley Show and I felt there was a need for another book show,” said Lutsky, who started out with one Paper Fair a year in Golden Gate Park. ”The response was so great, I’ve moved two of my Concord shows to San Francisco and am now doing three Paper Fairs a year there all of which are sold out with a waiting list. I then realized that the dealers and the public like the hall and location so much, it was the perfect place for a Book Fair.” Dealers of shoppers who want more information, contact Lutsky at (415) 668-1636.
pin-up Queen dead at 85
Bettie Page, the iconic Pin-up Queen died last month at the age of 85 from complications relating to pneumonia. The tragic news is hitting fans and collectors hard. At Hal Lutsky’s Vintage Paper Fair dealers including Margo Essman and Richard Strell brought out their best Bettie Page comics, photographs and calendar images.”It will be very interesting to see what happens at Comic-Con this year,” said Essman, adding that Bettie Page fans often flock of the giant San Diego area comic book convention, now in its 40th year. At Lutsky’s Show, Essman offered several “Betty Pages” comics from the 1980s for $35 each. One features a cartoon Bettie on a rocket, and the other depicts her on a motorcycle. According to long-time friend and business agent Mark Roesler, on December 6, 2008, Bettie Page was hospitalized in critical condition. Roesler was quoted by the Associated Press as saying Page had suffered a heart attack and by Los Angeles television station KNBC as claiming Page was suffering from pneumonia. A family friend said Page was in a coma, a claim not denied by Roesler. Her family eventually decided to discontinue life support, and she died on December 11th at the age of 85. On December 31st, her cremated remains were laid to rest in Westwood Memorial Cemetary. Page was a ubiquitous sight during the 1950s, propelled to stardom when she posed for Playboy as Miss January 1955. Soon her image was gracing playing cards, record albums and bedroom posters across the country. She stopped modeling in 1957, retreated from the public spotlight and turned to religion. She enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in the 1980s, as a new generation of fans became obsessed with her legacy. With her dark bangs, alluring blue-gray eyes and wide smile, Page cultivated an innocent girl-next-door persona. The one-time school teacher was nice, but clearly also naughty. Some of her photos featured spanking and bondage. ”Bettie Page embodied the stereotypical wholesomeness of the Fifties and the hidden sexuality straining beneath the surface,” authors Karen Essex and James L. Swanson wrote in their 1996 book “Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-Up Legend.” Page professed to be mystified by all the attention, saying she never felt particularly attractive and had to wear a lot of makeup to cover up her large pores. After she found God, she was initially ashamed of having posed nude. ”But now most of the money I’ve got is because I posed in the nude,” she told Playboy last year. “So I’m not ashamed of it now, but I still don’t understand it.” Bettie Mae Page was born on April 22, 1923, in Nashville, one of six children. She and two sisters were sent to an orphanage after her father went to jail and her mother could not cope on her own. Page later described her father as “a sex fiend” who started sexually molesting her when she was 13. Page, armed with an arts degree from Peabody College in Nashville, did her first modeling work in the 1940s after moving to San Francisco with the first of her three husbands. After they divorced in 1947, she pursued modeling in New York. Photos from a shoot with Miami photographer Bunny Yeager ended up in the pages of Playboy. The layout featured Page winking at the camera wearing only a Santa hat as she decorated a Christmas tree. Playboy founder Hugh Hefner described it as “a milestone in the history of the magazine,” which he had founded less than two years earlier. Later in life, Page was furious that Yeager made a fortune from the photos and never compensated her. Some American lawmakers were not as impressed with her modeling abilities. Page was served with a subpoena to appear before U.S. Senate investigators trying to discover a link between juvenile delinquency and pornography. Page never appeared. Soon after, she completely disappeared from the scene. After two other brief marriages failed, Page battled acute schizophrenia beginning in the early 1970s. Her comeback gathered momentum with the 1991 movie “The Rocketeer,” based on a comic book where the hero’s girlfriend was Page. Fan clubs and websites proliferated, and Page made a good living signing memorabilia at conventions. On the rare occasions that she gave interviews, she insisted that she not be photographed.
Star wars stand-ups
Jeff Martin, known for his super-sized and figural postcards, outdid himself at Hal Lutsky’s Paper Fair in January. Behind his boxes of postcards and towering over the shoppers were several vintage 1984 Star Wars cardboard stand-ups. ”These would have been distributed by the movie studios to be set up in front of the movie theaters,” explained Martin, who found the figures last month at a Los Angeles movie studio. The original Star Wars came out in 1977, so these were part of the early 1980s Star Wars revival. His figures included Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and Han Solo. He had them priced at $25 each.
family passion for photographs
With a few unique bends of her own, Mara Lutsky is following the ephemeral path of her father, Hal Lutsky, promoter of the Vintage Paper Faire. The 23-year-old has always been artistic and expresses her individuality with a number of tattooes, not only in the typical discreet places
wedding bells
Hal Lutsky and his longtime girlfriend Michelle Scotland, producers of the Vintage Paper Fair, finally got married. After dating for years, they wed in April. This may seem like old news, but the collecting community had not been able to join in the celebration until recently. We didn’t have a show until late last year,” explained Michelle Scotland-Lutsky. All of their loyal paper dealer surprised them with a cake and lots of congratulations at the Concord (San Francisco area) Vintage Paper Faire in November. The couple was encouraged to finally tie the knot by Hal’s 23-year-old daughter, Mara. Upon her urging, they decided to have an actual wedding (they had already decided to elope in Tahoe). ”I thought it would be nice if they had a big celebration,” she said. Mara acted as the photographer who took snapshots of the whole wedding without any film in the camera. ”I didn’t find that out until a week later,” she said. Fortunately, she wasn’t the only photographer, so there is a photographic record of the event. The couple went to France for their honeymoon. The highlight of their trip was standing in the illuminated Eiffel Tower at midnight. Although the excursion was extraordinary, it only rated a 5, according to Michelle, because they have taken so many amazing trips together. Hal and Michelle Lutsky’s next Vintage Paper Fair is scheduled in San Francisco on May 23rd and 24th. For more information, call (415) 668-1636 for more information.
