33:4 8 2002
EXHIBITING
You
have some favorite stamps and covers and friends are encouraging
you to exhibit them. This is a great idea, but you worry about
what it will cost. Exhibiting is only for the wealthy collector.
Wrong! It is also for you and me.
First of all, make sure that you have enough material on hand
to show your friends and exhibit attendees. How much is enough?
The minimum exhibit is one frame, but what is a frame? The frame
is supplied by the stamp show organizers and looks like a window
and sash on a tripod. A frame holds 16 standard 81/2 x 11 inch
pages. So, the minimum exhibit consists of 16 pages. Of course,
you can exhibit more; no one wants to hold you back.
So we start with a standard page. On it you mount the first of
your stamps or covers. If you are computer oriented, go with it.
The show judges love this kind of exhibit, as you can do wonders
with a computer in arrangement and printing. So we have identified
the first cost, the price of the paper pages to mount the material.
Standard medium weight for exhibiting, no 3-ring type, suitable
for your computer printer will run about $0.15 per page. Add to
this the cost of stamp hinges, mounts, and jumbo corner mounts
for covers.
After you have finished with the pages, what next? Guard your
new treasures with great care and insert each page into a Mylar
sleeve, an exhibition page protector. Each sleeve will cost about
$1.00. They are a must and will protect the finished page from
dirt and damage. The total cost of each page, for the material
alone, will be about $1.25. Therefore, the cost of a single frame
will be about $20.00. If you exhibit more than one frame, multiply
the number by $20.00 to get to the total cost of material. One
reason for the higher cost is that all must be archival-suitable.
Before putting each
page in its Mylar sleeve, mark your name and position of that
page in the exhibit on the back. For example, frame one, page
one; frame one, page two; etc. This makes it easy for the person
mounting the pages in a frame if that person is not you.
In the first frame, page one is the title page and it lists your
exhibit material in historical or chronological order. Its purpose
is to guide the viewer through your exhibit. Page two is the synopsis
page and lists the highlights or good points about your material
that the viewer might not know about. So, frame one will have
two written pages and 14 pages of material. Frame two could have
16 pages of material.
The next step is getting your feet wet and actually exhibiting.
Start small, or slowly. If your local stamps club has a stamp
show and bourse, this would be where you begin. Get an application,
fill it out, pay your fee – usually $5 per frame –
and send it in. Early on the first day of the show, take your
exhibit to it and put it in the designated frame or frames. Show
personnel are universally helpful, so you will have no problem.
On the last day of the show, take your frame down, collect your
prize and take the accolade that you’ve earned with your
exhibit.
Now, wasn’t that easy?
[Mr. Jensen
also sent along several clippings. One was from the American
Philatelist titled ‘Exhibiting’ by Anthony
S. Wawrukiewicz, who discussed in greater detail the format and
contents of the title and synopsis pages. This author referenced
The Philatelic Exhibitor’s Handbook, Second Edition
(The Traditions Press, Shawnee-Mission, KS, 1995) by Randy L.
Neil. In the other clippings, Publisher John F. Dunn discussed
the value and importance of exhibiting in his ‘From the
Publisher’s Desk’ columns in the April 20, 2001 and
May 4, 2001 editions of Meekel’s &
Stamps Magazine. Ed.]
Robert
B. Jensen
Used with
permission from the Editor
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