Show I 1 lobbies or what to do on ramy days n 4 V wa W ln zo r al v I 1 V Z AN jr 1 A 44 t 9 4 Q M PI A 9 d 0 0 ov e Q 11 0 ew 0 0 M w i X Z r tf ba aalt V jj I 1 E E paulsen looking over charles Br bragina bracins agins collection of left geraldine at the chicago hobby show upper gourd f med filled with the jaw bones of stain slain human enemies demonstrates war dime novels upper right warren E suck buck a of his 1000 pipes lower right gwen peet one from his african collection lower left pat salmon smoking with some of mrs K L brownes buttons by WILLIAM C UTLEY WILL SEND SE ND genuine ancient roman coln coin before A D for any commemorative emora tive halt half dollar before 1900 john T prescott ariz WILL TRADE franz hone hudson day bay trade beads blue two sir alfred fred east small oil paintings tor for bat what have you equal value marion L sequim sequil wash HESE are ads the like of which THESE tin you have seen for many years in the pulp magazines perhaps you have answered them or even placed them yourself they are the stamp of the hobbyist the collector the man or woman who is bugs about bugs or butterflies or doorknobs of first editions or old automobile horns all of us are familiar with the hobbyist even those of us who are wont to describe a neighbor with oh ashes a nut on antiques will ask the corner druggist if ile he can give us indian pennies in our change museums are hobbyists to be begin in with there are the bs historical museums yes they are hobbyists they collect everything from arrowheads to locomotives and a great many of the most priceless exhibits in such museums the field museum the metropolitan and others were made possible by the acquisition of collections by amateur hobbyists among the amateurs whose collecting in has become famous are ml might ht as well begin at the top franklin D roosevelt Koo sevelt who Is a nut on stamps historical prints ship models and autographs henry ford who collects almost anything historical for his museum in dearborn alch sirs mrs alt alf landon wife of the governor of kansas who nho collects luster pitchers and gov henry horner of illinois who loves to browse through dusty old files in search of gems for his lincoln collection among the collectors Is a spirit of operation cooperation co that makes them all brothers br and sisters under the skin many of them will acquire no end of curious things which will not fit into their own collections in the hope that they may trade them to other hobbyists for articles they really want for such as these the hobby bobby shows that tire are held in four of the principal cities at this time of every year are truly leccas these annual fanatic fairs take place in new york cleveland los angeles and chlea chicago 0 O at the one recently closed in chicago the avera average e dally daily attendance was about persons almost every one of them a collector of something covering an entire floor of the hotel sherman were more than exhibits most of them were the displays of curio shops and professional collee tors showing their wares in the hope hop e that some eager amateurs would pounce in wild eyed delight upon a chippen dale chair or a garter worn by the secret sweetheart of some far removed emperor to unwrap them to show them to friends that few of them are left this was one the royal fingers had evidently dealt with more tenderly the french american lady who presided over the exhibit explained that her shop was named after one in her native land which collected so much ancient and unclean clothing and furniture that it became jokingly known as the paris flea market she was forced to change the spelling to flee because so many window shoppers came in and wanted to see the trained fleas vastly more interesting to the casual observer were the exhibits by amateurs for her here e was visual evidence of many happy scours spent in patient painstaking work to satisfy whims that had evolved into precious ambitions whether they be for saving stamps prints vases or string one dear little haired lady saved buttons she is mrs K L browne of kansas city kan and her collection of buttons was such a lilt hit at church gatherings 1 and other social affairs in kansas city she was prevailed upon to bring brid it to the chicago chlo chio 0 o show in only three years she has saved more than buttons and she had carefully arranged them in the orderly neatness you cant help feelen Is characteristic of her probably n no two of them are alike although she refuses to admit this is absolutely true at any rate there are no duplications to the best of her knowledg knowledge e pitchers are her pride more dear to her heart though Is mrs brownes browner collection of pitchers she has more than 1200 of them and they are a dominating influence in the crowne browne home the house is a large and homey one a friendly landmark atop a green hill its shuttered win lows dows have sills about IS 18 inches deep it is on these and hanging from the sides of the window niches that her pitchers rest 75 to a window they are grouped according to colors one window will have all amber pitchers another all blue and so on the leftovers find their places on an empire el sideboard that Is dated another collector of buttons Is fred S ettinger ettenger Ettl nger 0 of chicago he lias has thousands b but ut the qua quaintest quain latest test of all are those in ills his charm string the charm string was a necklace of buttons worn by belles or of the GOS and SOs its charm was a touch button the sweet young youn 7 thing or of that period would I 1 invite friends to handle her necklace if their fingers fell on a certain predetermined button she would giggle prettily and say you have touched my touch button now you must give me one to replace it I 1 A pretty custom no doubt but tough on us bachelors who have to sew on our own mr pride and joy Is his collection of book ribbons ue ile Is a book dealer and in search of these quaint book marks of the latter half of the nineteenth century lie he has examined books book s to tell you the truth the figure Is nearer he says but I 1 would hardly expect you to believe that with some motto usually expressing devotion for the person to whom it was given book ribbons were much in favor as gifts and usually were of petit point needlepoint cross stitch or crochet work of the giver it was possible to convey all kinds hinds of messages in the most sly and subtle fashion with the fild aid of a book ribbon for instance there was the one consisting of an embroidered card with a stran string attached to each end mr ettinger Ettl nger explained that swains of the el eighties gave this gem to their lady loves in its immobile state it was merely a thought gift but when the lady spun it by means of the strings while her suitor looked over her shoulder it spelled out the invitation kiss me then he would brush her cheek reverently with his lips mr ettinger hastened to add equally facetious were calling cards of those days the ettinger collection reveals they were sissy stuff kind of and had gorgeously hued illustrations of flower baskets the baskets could be opened and inside were heartbeats heart beats like you are the flower of my heart or will you be my pretty violet and such sil silly ly talk one brazen scamp had a card with the message may I 1 C U home if not may 1 I set on the fence and C U go by ask ask I 1 pat salmon a tramp printer better say itinerant says lie he has a collection of 1000 pipes which I 1 is s possibly the most complete of its kind one pipe a german porcelain Is three feet long iong weighs 25 pounds holds five pounds of tobacco and takes a draft horse to pull it as pat says it sports an ambitious painting of the kaiser reviewing ills his cavalry on th the e bowl there aller are are tiny pipes used by chinese women great turkish water pipes which are as big alg 0 as old time parlor lamps and not unlike them and a comfortable curved briar that once belonged to mark twain I 1 pointed to a common corncob corn cob that seemed a little forlorn in this august assembly that doing here I 1 asked that sir replied pat salmon Is collects dime novels a fine meerschaum 1 I the father of charles bragin of brooklyn used to have a hubby hobby of thrashing the daylights out of charley for reading dime novels and now charleys hobby bobby Is collecting all those literary delights once forbidden him lie ile has more than different copies valued at 23 00 I 1 sought out the man who started these hobby bobby shows and found him to be a mr 0 C lightner editor of hobbles hobbies magazine the monthly bible of these collecting folk and a burn born organizer you might have taken him for a Y M C A secretary but for ills his necktie which was itself a collection of all the colors of the rainbow except the less brilliant ones A stickpin stick pin topped by a gold race horse kept it from getting entirely out of control I 1 thought it might be fun to find out what this master hobbyist C collected olle C ted himself I 1 asked him if he be had bad an exhibit in jis his show I 1 yes indeed lie he said turning his beaming smile upon me ht there on the wall is a collection that both aff afforded corded me ft a great deal of pleasure and required no end of stole stoic perse 1 verance 11 j 1 I looked it was a coll collection action of 1 speakeasy theasy pass cards 0 western newspaper union |