The Houston Money Show is always a fun show, but not always well attended. I think the weather had a little something to do with it this time. A week before the show, I checked the weather forecast and it showed Houston being in the mid-70’s most of the week, so I basically packed for California weather – sandals, tank top, light jacket, etc. Yes, I should have checked it again a couple days before the show, since the forecast had changed dramatically – low 40’s, some rain and wind! Yikes! Overall, the show was a C for me, and for many dealers I spoke with. Most everyone had a decent Thursday with lots of business going both ways. But traffic was very light on Friday and Saturday, so business was generally slow. The show folks do their best every year to put on a good show, including billboard advertisements, radio announcements, and they even “seeded” a few 1914-D pennies around the city and had tv announcements letting people know to keep an eye out for them. Anyway, I arrived at the John Wayne airport early Wednesday, sailed through security thanks to TSA pre-check, had my customary pre-flight beverage, listened to a book on my iPhone, boarded my flight, and waited for take-off. While watching them load the bags onto the plane, once again I was very pleased to see my own bag gliding up the conveyer belt into the plane! The weather was a beautiful sunny 70 degrees and soon the plane began to take off. The planes out of John Wayne often take off headed west over the ocean then turn back around to head east. About 3 hours later, we were over Houston getting ready to land at Bush International Airport.
When I stepped outside, it was in the mid-70’s with quite a bit of humidity. I still had no idea that the weather was soon going to change so drastically. I grabbed a cab ($55 flat rate into the city) and headed to my hotel which was across the street from the convention center. In the lobby of the Hilton they had this wonderful chocolate aroma. I soon discovered why. There were these beautiful stunning live sized carvings of Santa and his elves all made out of chocolate!! I heard later that some company held their holiday party at the Hilton and one of the participants got a little tipsy and tried to take a bite out of Santa! I checked into my room, took a nap, then met my dealer friend Larry for a quick dinner at the hotel. The lobby of the hotel in front of the restaurant This is right in front of the hotel looking towards the convention center.
When I woke up the next morning, I was listening to the news – that’s when I heard the temperature was going to drop and stay into the 40’s starting that morning, with very cold rain on Friday! This year the show moved from section D of the convention center (which was directly across the street from the hotel) to section A (which was at the complete other end of the convention center – probably about 4 blocks away. Thank goodness they had a skywalk so we didn’t have to walk outdoors in the 40 degree weather! Set up began at 9am on Thursday. I had brought my “Penny Potpourri” exhibit to compete at this show, so after setting up my booth, I set up my exhibit in the exhibit area at the front of the bourse floor. One of the other exhibits This was a huge photo collage of Houston Coin Club/Show people (I am assuming) on a stand next to the exhibit area. The show opened to the public at 1pm and one of the first people to drop by my table was Al/HardTimes – with a bottle of red Texas cab! I opened it later that afternoon – it was really delicious, tasted a little more like a nice fruity zinfandel. While the show was busy and I did quite a bit of business on Thursday, the attendance was a little low.
Does that guy in the bottom right corner look familiar? Yep, that’s Feldini – now with Heritage! And he didn’t even give me “the hand” or one of his “funny” faces when I took his photo! Some of the Money Show hard working volunteers! This is Barbara Trout – she and her husband won this prestigious award for their dedicated service to numismatics After the show, my dealer friend Ron and I walked over to Vic & Anthony’s Steakhouse for dinner (it was only 3 blocks away, but it was a VERY COLD 3-block walk!! We didn’t have reservations but also didn’t think it would be that difficult for two people to get a table. We were very wrong! The restaurant was full until after 8:30pm, and the bar was even more packed! So we stood around in the bar and waited about half an hour for a place to sit. We were lucky we got one of the tables that had very cushy seats, so, even though it was very noisy, we decided to just have dinner there in the bar. They had a nice little band playing in the corner so it was a festive and fun atmosphere. Ron has excellent taste in wine, and chose this wonderful Napa Surh Luchtel cab. I had a lobster bisque along with the best ribeye steak I’ve ever had! These are some of the pre-bisque candidates ;-0
After dinner, I took a cab back to my hotel with the intention of grabbing a glass of port and heading up to the very cozy bed in my room to watch some tv. Well, the entire bar area at the Hilton was full of dealers from the show, many of whom I knew. So I soon found myself joining some of my dealer friends for that nightcap or two…. This is me and Greg Hannigan – a really great fellow copper lover! Here is Chris McCawley – THE early copper king – and one of his friends (can’t remember his name) The next morning (Friday), I took the skywalk over to the show. There were several pretty Christmas trees, along with Christmas music playing. Here are some shots of Houston from the skywalk. As I mentioned, the bourse was about 4 blocks away so it was a little bit of a walk. This is picture of the bourse from the skywalk before the public was let in.
When the show opened, the public began slowly meandering in. There didn’t seem to be the “show buzz” we usually hear during a show. Pretty much everyone said Friday was a very slow day for them. So when it’s a slow selling day, we turn to buying! Here are some of my newps. I also bought something very unusual for me. I always set up at this show right next to my friend Larry and his wife Shelley because Shelley is so wonderful and helps me when I need someone to watch my table. They buy/sell world notes. Last year at this same show, a lady walked up to Larry and showed him a set of 3 “short snorter” notes taped together on Japanese, Australian, and Phillipines notes that contained Jack Benny’s and Joey Brown’s signatures and belonged to her father from WWII. He showed them to me and asked what I thought they were worth. We really didn’t know so I looked up Jack Benny’s signature on the computer, did a little commiserating and made her an offer, but she said she wanted to think about it and since she didn’t return, we thought she probably sold them to someone else. For those who are unfamiliar with the history and background of the term “short snort” and “short snorters,” Wiki says a “short snort” was a slang expression for less than a full shot of liquor. Pouring short snorts guaranteed barkeepers a little extra profit in each bottle. Also, drinking only a short snort allowed the imbiber to honestly point to his moderation. Years before federal aviation regulations, pilots discovered that alcohol and airplanes do not mix, and fly-boys who drank heavily did not live long. Soon, pilots jokingly were calling each other “short snorter. According to Shortsnorter.org, a “short snorter” is a banknote that was signed by various persons traveling together or meeting up at different events and records who was met. The tradition was started by bush pilots in Alaska in the 1920's and subsequently spread through the growth of military and commercial aviation. If you signed a short snorter and that person could not produce it upon request, they owed you a dollar or a drink (a “short snort”, aviation and alcohol do not mix!). So fast forward a year later to this year’s show. Low and behold, the same lady and her husband showed up at my table again this year with the same short snorters. However, this time, she also had a set of 21 short snorter notes all taped together on various foreign notes, mostly Japanese and Australian, with a ton of various signatures. Well, guess what signature was on the last note (which was a scarce Australian note)??? Drum roll please….. JOHN WAYNE!!! Let me just say that I LOVE JOHN WAYNE! I even tried to buy some of his memorabilia from Heritage’s John Wayne auction last year, but was outbid on everything. So I did some quick research on the internet, commiserated some more with Larry, made her an offer, and she accepted. I told her I was considering taking them to Pawn Stars to see what they might offer, and if we got a much better price than what I paid her, I would send her some more money. We also asked her if she could possibly send me a photo of her father, along with any background information she might have on the notes. Anyway, as you can probably guess, this was the highlight of my show!! Later in the afternoon when I was out and about at the show, I took a few more photos. Here are the awesome PCGS folks One of my favorite dealer friends – Jim Bush/Shrub68 After the show on Friday, Larry and I were invited to join a private club poker tournament at an industrial complex in Houston. It is illegal to gamble in Houston, including playing Texas hold-um! However, I understand you can get a permit to play as long as certain conditions are met. They had a separate paid dealer with no rake. This game had two tables, and the buy-in was $60. However, we were at a bit of a disadvantage since most of the people play with each other 1-2 times a week and know each other and each other’s “tells” very well. So I played very patiently and soon became the second chip leader at my table. I finally went all in thinking I had the top hand with aces and eights, however, the other guy ended up drawing out with aces and jacks! I should have waited until I had the nuts, but oh well, it was a lot of fun. The “losers” started a cash game of hold-um alternating each round with Omaha hi low split – not my favorite game, but again, it was a lot of fun. After the game, we went back to the Hilton and once again, I stopped by the bar to grab a nightcap and ran into more dealer friends also enjoying a nightcap, or two!
Saturday morning was still very cold, but also very pretty so I took more photos of the city from the skywalk. I also ran into a bunch of cute young girls in the hall getting ready for a gymnastics competition At the show, Larry Shepherd stopped by to check out some of my proof Indian cents. He has put together one of the prettiest toned proof Indian collections I have ever seen. So I was very pleased when he ended up buying a few proofs from me. I ended up winning the exhibit competition and received a $100 prize along with a plaque which will be shipped to me later. When I told my Harley girlfriend I was going to Houston, she hooked me up with one of her very cute Harley cowgirl hats, so I had to put it on and at least take a picture of it! Don’t you think I fit right in as a Texas gal?! Soon it was time to pack it up and head to the airport. I had arranged to go to the airport with my friends Ron and Rob, so when we were loading my bags into their car, I happened to ask what airline they were going to so we would know whose bags to keep on top. They said there were on Southwest, and right then I said “uh oh” because I knew Southwest was out of Hobby airport, and I was on United out of Bush! Dang, now I would have to get a cab and pay that $55 plus tip fee again to the airport by myself! Luckily, I ran into another dealer outside who was also going to Bush, and they were more than gracious letting me ride with them. I so appreciate being able to go to the airport with others at the end of a show because I know that leaving a show is the most vulnerable time for any dealer. So I arrived safe and sound, and early, at the airport. I found Pappadeaux’s not far from my gate, so I stopped by to have a pre-flight beverage and a bite to eat. They also have very yummy lobster bisque! Since I had extra time to kill, I also indulged in a very belly warming shot of Patron! I was soon snuggled in my window seat on the plane waiting for take off. However, our pilot was delayed o another flight so we had to wait about half an hour before we could depart. But soon we were headed down the runway. United no longer requires us to turn off our “small” electronic equipment so I could take all the photos I wanted during take off and landing. I love The Big Bang Theory and it was playing on my tv monitor so that’s what I watched in between naps during the flight! As is our routine, as soon as I land, I phone my hubby who leaves the house right then, and usually arrives at the airport just as I walk outside with my bags. Soon I was home, got into my jammies and very cozy kitty slippers, and snuggled on the couch with my hubby in front of a warm crackling fire that he had made for my homecoming! Live couldn’t get much better!!! Next up: The Ontario (California) show this week, then a break until FUN!!!
Ya know Charmy? For all the grand eating and drinking you guys do I still don't know how you turn a profit. Most excellent report though........
I must say, when several short snorters are taped or hooked together they are called a "long snorter". Other than that great write up!
Guess it pays to build and maintain good contacts to other dealers. Long hotel room evening? Nah, join a friendly bunch after at the end of a show day. And congratulations on winning the prize! Christian
