A Day at the Fair! (Book Fair, that is...)

Gateway to the "Tickerin" Book Fair!

Every year, there is an Antiquarian Book Fair in our city. And every year, pre-stroke, Bob and I went to it. And I, especially, always looked forward to it, as I love 19th century poetry books and have a small collection of them at home in a bookcase.

We missed the last two years...

Two years ago, my mother offered to hire a caregiver to watch Bob so that I could go on my own.

But it didn't feel right. Going alone.


And it seemed too difficult to take Bob...

And then there is the money. I mean hard to spend money on frivolous things when Bob needs so much for his medical care. And we are living social security check to social security check....

Then this year, I saw the advertisements and thought.... what the heck.

Let's give it a go. I deserve a little break, right? And a bit of fun. And maybe a new/old book to add to my little collection.

 Though this decision was not without a lot of trepidation. I mean, what could go wrong with an incontinent guy in a wheelchair that I have to push through a crowded auditorium filled with expensive merchandise? ha!

This book was priced at $35.00.
I managed to get it for $20.
It's from 1882.

As this is not an ordinary book fair. This is an "Antiquarian Book Fair" filled with antique, rare, collectible books and it's the kind of place you go if you want to, say, drop $200,000 on a first edition, signed copy of The Great Gatsby.... or $950.00 for a "nice" early Yeats with fraying edges... I kid you not.

Yes, a bit out of our league.  Though, in the past, I usually managed to find something in the $20 range. And it's great fun, I think, looking at books which are worth more than our house!

A collection of love poems.
From 1881.
It was marked at $30, I got it for $24.

So yesterday, we went. You should have heard Bob trying to say the word "antiquarian"-- it kept coming out like "tickerin".  Ha! Heck, "antiquarian" is a hard word for even me to say right. And I sort of like that: The Tickerin Book Fair. Has a nice ring to it.

The place was packed. There were over 100 dealers from all over the country. And many of the booths were difficult to get the wheelchair into--some I could not get him in at all, and I had to leave Bob sitting in the aisle. And people were continually backing into us. Or blocking our path.

And the auditorium is old and the floors uneven and a few times the wheelchair started rolling away from me---once headed straight into a glass bookcase filled with "fore edge" books priced around $3000 each!

I tell you, I did some fancy foot-work with that wheelchair. It took a long time to get through the place, in fact, we missed the last entire aisle because our transport was due to arrive...

But by the end of the afternoon, I had spent $44.00 and procured two very nice 19th century poetry volumes...

It was the first time since 2010 that I have spent that much money so frivolously! And it sure felt good.

When we got home, we were both utterly and completely exhausted. Bob immediately fell asleep. My legs were killing me.

But we were both happy, very happy, to have gone out and done something "normal".