Mon 22 Jul 2013
ADVENTURES IN COLLECTING: Pulpfest 2013, by Walker Martin.
Posted by Steve under Collecting , Conventions , Pulp Fiction[18] Comments
PULPFEST 2013
by Walker Martin
Readers and Collectors! We are down to the final minutes now. It’s time to separate the non-collectors from the collectors. Yes, it’s that time of year again. Pulpfest begins this Thursday, July 25 and continues through Sunday, July 28 in Columbus, Ohio. The complete details are at pulpfest.com.
Will you be one of the millions of poor souls that do NOT attend PulpFest? Or will you be among the elite of old magazine collectors, those that DO attend? I’m talking about the 400 or so pulp, digest, paperback, book and original art collectors who will be swarming to the pulp collecting center of the universe. In April it was Chicago for Windy City and now in July, it is Columbus, Ohio.
I’ve heard all the reasons for not attending this pulp convention and there is no acceptable excuse! Illness? Hell, I knew a collector who attended knowing he had a terminal illness and would be dead in a few months. I once attended with a busted back, wrapped up like a mummy, not able to sit down for the entire convention. Every 40 minutes I had to stop the car and get out to stretch and walk around. For awhile I was almost positive that I wasn’t going to make it and I started stopping near hotels in case I had to give up and just lay in a bed for a couple weeks.
But the thought of my collection kept me going. The visions of more SF magazines, more detective and adventure pulps, more westerns. The artwork, the original cover paintings, the interior illustrations. The stacks of digest magazines, the vintage paperbacks. The friends and old pals that I enjoyed talking to and seeing once again. Some of the best friendships in my life are now stretching beyond the 40 year mark. I just had lunch with a collector that I’ve know since 1970 and we talked about books for 3 hours straight. How could I not attend the pulp convention? When I returned home, I took 4 weeks off from work to recuperate from my back problems. Let’s face it, our collections are more important than some job that just pays the bills.
Speaking of money, I’ve heard the excuse about not having the cash to attend the convention. I never let this stop me. Sometimes I borrowed the money from the bank or the credit union. I even borrowed money from my wife. You know you have to be desperate to ask for help from a non-collector! I’ve used my credit cards, pension money, money set aside for bills. I mean we are talking about a serious addiction here!
To be a serious book or old magazine collector, is a calling of the highest order. You are not just some wage slave like the other millions of non-collectors. No, you are a Collector with a capital C. You don’t just eat, work, watch TV, and sleep. And then repeat it day after day like most poor bastards. YOU READ! You Collect valuable and rare artifacts.
In this era of electronic gadgets, you actually collect non-electronic books and pulps. I mean how cool is that? No computer geek can stand up to that. E-books look pitiful next to a beautiful real, hard copy book. You can’t collect E-books like pulps. A stack of pulps is a thing of beauty. The smell, the look, the feel. And they are worth money!
I’ve tried many addictions and they can’t compare to collecting books and pulps. Drugs, alcohol, gambling, all can destroy your health and finances. I won’t even get into sex. Sexual habits can ruin you just like any addiction or at the very least, you will find yourself married to a non-collector!
So there is still time to say to hell with your job and personal responsibilities. Your family can do without you for a few days. Your book addiction needs to be fed. Your Collection must be extended and made larger. You need more books!
PulpFest awaits…
July 22nd, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Uuuuhm…. Walker, would you say, collecting is a HOBBY for you ?
Or is it more in the realm of abuse of controlled substances ?
Anyway, good hunting, good meeting, and fun to all who attend !
The Doc
July 22nd, 2013 at 12:31 pm
Attaboy, Walker!
July 22nd, 2013 at 1:48 pm
Randy Cox has been attending pulp conventions since the early 1970’s. I know he knows all about the collecting business!
The Doc would love the dealer’s room. Over a hundred tables, all loaded and stuffed with thousands of books and pulps. The smell is heavenly!
July 22nd, 2013 at 2:41 pm
I wish I could be there, but I really can’t. Walker’s absolutely right. The sight of all those books and magazines is overwhelming, and the aromas? Unmistakable, breathtaking and terrific!
July 22nd, 2013 at 3:38 pm
Yeah, but flying over the pond is a bit much for just some days.
Although, the treasures that one only reads about as a normal non-collecting mortal, there, in the flesh……
Hope you bring a truck, Walker !
The Doc
July 22nd, 2013 at 5:38 pm
Slow and steady wins the race, Walker. I can only imagine the heat and humidity in Columbus Ohio in late July! I’m sure the hotel is air conditioned, but you have to go out sometimes! My regret is that there is nothing of this sort in the northwest part of the country, not in Washington or Oregon. If there were, I’d be there!
July 23rd, 2013 at 12:28 am
Richard, this hotel and convention center is enormous. Last year I got lost a couple times. There is a big food court and dozens of restaurants within walking distance and a breakfast buffet is right across the street. So hopefully the heat will not be problem.
There is a big bar on the second floor called for some odd reason, THE BIG BAR ON 2. The bad thing about trying to drink a beer and talk about books, are all the non-collectors that seem to swarm all over the bar’s area. These are just about all young people in the 20’s and they sometimes glance at the elderly bookworms and wonder, “who the hell are these relics?”
Last year a couple of them objected to my pulp t-shirt(a Thrilling Mystery cover) and caught me by surprise. This year I’m prepared with a roll of nickels only I seem to have hurt my shoulder again lifting boxes of pulps. Kind of hard slugging someone when your shoulder doesn’t work right. Maybe I can kick them and then drop books on them.
July 23rd, 2013 at 2:37 am
Walker, try a gun, or at least a good leather sap !
The Doc
July 23rd, 2013 at 4:20 am
Looking forward to seeing you there!
As far as weather goes in Columbus, we had 3 weeks of solid rain, followed by a week of high heat & humidity, followed by torrential downpours–but this weekend looks to be rather nice!
July 23rd, 2013 at 12:44 pm
Plenty of my friends have attended PULPFEST over the years. I’d be in Big Trouble if I showed up and saw all those treasures!
July 23rd, 2013 at 3:19 pm
George: As Steve says in #4 above, the sight of all those books and magazines is simply “overwhelming”. At first the sight freezes you and you can’t move but then you start checking out the tables and before you know it you are hooked. It’s the most pleasurable addiction I know of and it won’t harm your health. Well maybe if you spent all your money and starved to death…
July 23rd, 2013 at 3:55 pm
I have been in Columbus and was treated with real grace.
July 23rd, 2013 at 3:58 pm
I was at Pulpcon #1 in St. Louis and drove down from Minnesota. I remember one dealer as I came into the room, a woman, who had a table loaded with issues of Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine. I bought as many as I could afford and somehow managed to buy other magazines from other dealers as well. I drove home with 35 cents in my pocket and a gasoline credit card (the only credit card I had ever had at the time). Somehow I didn’t starve to death on the way home. When I arrived home I called the woman and bought the rest of the issues she still had.
July 24th, 2013 at 6:17 pm
Randy, what I remember most about Pulpcon #1 in 1972 was the fact that Nils Hardin and his pulps dominated the dealer’s room. It was hard to even approach his tables because he had so many stacks of pulps on the floor. If it wasn’t for Nils, there would have been only a few dealers with a far smaller amount of pulps. He had bought an enormous collection of pulps in Festus, Missouri.
It seems that a collector by the name of Fred Fitzgerald had bought thousands of pulps off the newsstands over the decades and often his name was scribbled on the covers. For some reason he also circled words in many of the issues. Nils bought thousands of these pulps from Fred’s widow for only pennies each.
I bought so many pulps that I couldn’t fit them and my wife into the car. She wasn’t open to being left behind, so I had to have Nils ship me 10 boxes back to NJ.
I’m wearing my Pulpcon #1 badge to this Pulpfest in honor of Nils and Ed Kessell, the organizer.
July 24th, 2013 at 11:27 pm
Why, Walker- your wife did’nt want to be left behind for the pulps ?
Seems she was, at least at that time, NOT collecting !
The Doc
July 28th, 2013 at 6:54 pm
Having attended this year’s PulpFest (my fifth one), I can say that it’s everything that Walker says it is (and more!) Great line-up of vendors, great “supplemental activities” (panel discussions, presentations, etc.), great atmosphere and above all, GREAT people!
And you can’t beat the location. The Hyatt, where PulpFest is held, is super-nice, clean, modern, efficient, and affordable (only $130 a night including taxes). It’s within walking distance — or a quick cab ride — of dozens of nice restaurants, pubs, cafes (all very upscale), too, so there’s no shortage of options if you feel the need to “get away” for a few hours, or the evening.
My only complaint about PulpFest is that we have to wait a whole 12 months for the next one!
July 29th, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Now I am really sorry I couldn’t attend this year. As for the affordable hotel, I guess that’s correct in this economy, but I can remember when $35 a night for a hotel off Central Park in New York was considered expensive! I guess I’m showing my age. (I can also remember when gas was 35 cents a gallon!)
August 1st, 2013 at 8:45 pm
It was great to see you, Walker, and a whole bunch of other pulpsters savoring the heavenly smell of pulps. PulpFest is also all about the longtime friendships of people who truly understand each other.
Before I forget, I highly recommend Ed Hulse’s expanded “Guide to the Pulps.” For $29.95, it’s a great read! I’ve been collecting pulps for more than four decades, and I learned a lot in this tour de force.
PulpFest and The Windy shows are among the most fun anyone could imagine. If you love this stuff and you aren’t here, you’re missing more than you can imagine.
With grateful thanks to the Convention Committee for another fine job!