Reflections on 30 years of the Philly Show

[oaks1912]

Ted....I know its hard to end a tradition, but as you & I have discussed many times , there have been many changes since we met at Willow Grove in the early 80's, and not all of them are positive...... As you recall I stopped coming East after the first Fort Washington show in the early 90's, when the first round of changes were happening..... I know that it wasn't the facility (GW Lodge), as I could write a book on my experiences with the facility , but something about the cramped conditions gave the place a sense of excitement, unless of course you were located on the aisle with Rich Altman & Lou Avon on either side of you... The Chilean miners are about the only ones who could relate to you in that case..... The roof of the place had 'old swiss cheese' shingles, and if you didn't have a leak over your table, the smell of musty, heavily trafficked carpet competed with the greasy, St Patrick's Day style (Green) hot dogs that stayed on the grill until they sold, or disintegrated, whichever came first..... Of course, if I could go to a show like those great ones ('82-'86) and pick up what I did buy in the day, the smell of moldy carpet, the teacup saucer mattresses, the mystery meat covered with lumpy gray gravy served at Martha's Restaurant (until the health department shut it down), the irregular hot water, or running water at all, nor the non insulated rooms without heat for the December and March show.... none of these.... would stand in my way from going back there again, although this time I'd be better prepared with a fully insulated haz-mat suit, and a box of granola bars to cover me for a few days..... Great to hear that you're doing the 'new' show, and don't be surprised if you see someone from 3000 miles away pop in...