I kicked off September with the Schaumburg, Illinois, show on September 1. We had a nice turn out that day. I was especially pleased to meet a father and son team from Indianapolis who picked up a nice pile of St. Louis Cardinals cards from 1911 through the 1960s. Thanks guys! Quite a few regulars like Chuck and Dave picked up some cards. Willie also bought a nice grouping to send out for signatures. I purchased a nice group of 1951 Bowman football that made my day. I also picked up a 1968 Topps Mickey Mantle.
The following week on September 8, I had a terrific show at Gonzaga Hall in Milwaukee. The show started out slow, however. I was a little worried but then I got busy once most of the other dealers packed up. I had one customer purchase a couple of T201s. My regulars like Jason, Jeff and Jim came through with some nice purchases. I picked up some 1957 Topps baseball stars like a Ted Williams, a Frank Robinson rookie, and the Mickey Mantle/Yogi Berra card.
Last weekend was absolutely crazy. I had Orland on Saturday which was kind of a bomb, except for a few nice sales to Bill, Rick, Chuck, Paul, Dave, and some other regulars. Promoter John Leary wasn't there. His son ran the show. I hope John is okay and back on his feet for the September 29th show. One of my regular customers Larry had surgery a couple of months ago and came out and told me he is recovering just fine. I hope Larry is back in full swing soon and continues his recovery. There were quite a few empty tables. I think there were a rash of no-shows. Also, quite a few regular customers were noticeably absent. I did manage to pick up a nice grouping of 1961 Post baseball.
The next day, I went to Serb Hall in Milwaukee where I had a really nice show. My day at Serb stomped my day at Orland. Slow days at Orland are hard to handle because the table fee is the highest of my regular shows. It was nice make more money at Serb while spending a lot less on the table fee. Bill purchased a whole bunch of my '58 stars. Thanks Bill! I'm also indebted to Bill for sending over a customer that purchased a large amount of '54s and '58s. Then there are my terrific regulars Jason, Jeff and Jim. Thanks guys!!
So, shortly after arriving home from Serb, I went to the Riot Fest in Chicago with my buddy Wade. Riot Fest is a three-day punk/alternative rock festival held annually in Chicago's Humboldt Park. According to the Chicago Tribune, about 35,000 people were in attendance on Sunday. I got to see Suicidal Tendencies, a band I listened to in high school some 30 years ago. I was impressed that these old guys could still rock. They were tremendous! Then we saw the Pixies, a band I listened to in college. The Pixies were fantastic. I haven't been to a concert in a long time but I can't ever remember seeing a band play as well as the Pixies played on Sunday. They were just awesome! Then we got to see the legendary Replacements. The band played well and I enjoyed their show. A couple of downers were the talkative crowd. I wanted to hear the band, not some dope talk about every nuance in each Replacement song. Me and Wade were also standing pretty far back from the stage, unlike the Pixies where we were up close. Wade is about 6'4", so he had a nice view. Me, I'm 5'6", I just saw some guy's back for most of the set. Overall, a really fun time. I didn't get home until 12:30 a.m. and didn't fall asleep until 1:30 a.m. I woke up at 6 a.m. for work.
Man, was I beat on Monday. It's now Tuesday and I still feel beat. Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have my energy back. This coming Sunday, September 22, 2013, I'm setting up at the Bloomingdale show. I should have my 1965 Topps baseball binder reloaded and ready to go. I also plan on working on 1979 Topps football. I already have some deals in the works for Sunday's show, so it is shaping up to be a good show. If everyone of my blog readers comes out to the show Sunday, it will be a great show. So, get your butt down to Bloomingdale on Sunday. For everyone who mentions this blog on Sunday, I'll buy you a hot dog at Portillo's after the show!!