Papermania Plus Returns to Hartford on August 25
Hartford, CT—Advertising and paper lovers, rejoice! Papermania Plus, the Northeast’s largest vintage advertising and ephemera show, returns to the XL Center Saturday, August 25, 2018 for the 74th time. The show has been running continuously in Hartford since 1975 and is one of the top shows for advertising, paper and memorabilia collectors in the country.
Papermania Plus offers serious collectors and the merely curious a treasure trove of vintage items, including postcards, movie posters, photographs, rare books, fine art prints, baseball cards, maps, sheet music, autographs, and much more. Even items such as old stock certificates from long-bankrupt companies — valuable for their design, not the company they represent — can be found. Then there’s the “Plus” part: pins, tin-types, vintage bottles, metal and wooden sign, and advertising samples of all kinds.
“[Papermania Plus] showcases the importance of printed material before the Internet,” says show promoter Gary Gipstein. “The breadth and depth of material on display here is staggering. I can’t believe some of the things that our vendors bring in. Just the availability of old postcards alone is amazing; tens of thousands of postcards with historic scenes of places around the world. It’s amazing. And that’s just a start.”
The show is one of the largest on the circuit. Dozens of vendors from across the country will bring items to sell, share, and display. The public is encouraged to bring in their own treasures for an appraisal from 11 am to 2 pm. Among the appraisers this year is Gary Sohmers, famous for his appearances on the 7-time Emmy nominated PBS-TV program “Antiques Roadshow.” “We are extremely fortunate to have Mr. Sohmers at Papermania Plus again this year,” Gipstein said.
"A show of this sort is an invitation to an old-fashioned swap session," Gipstein said. “You know, the kind where you have a chance to pick up a rare Topps Baseball Card you’ve been looking for, or a backstage pass and poster from that Grateful Dead concert you were at. You can also search for a mint copy of the first Batman comic book, Stephen King’s Castle Rock newsletters, rare Civil War pictures or WWII insignias and combat ribbons, and even rare LP’s. There are stereo view cards, stock certificates and many kinds of eccentricities of interest to everyone.”
Papermania Plus at the XL Center in Hartford runs from 9 am - 5 pm Saturday, August 25, 2018. Tickets are $9. Seniors and students with a valid ID card can get half-price admission.
Complete information can be found at www.papermaniaplus.com, or by joining the PaperMania Plus community on Facebook. You can follow @PapermaniaPlus on Twitter and Instagram.
