Late afternoon, and "dog tired," I checked us in to Holiday Inn Express. A good nights' sleep, and per the Holiday Inn guarantee, I'll be a lot smarter the next day.
On Saturday, Jan. 27, we headed over to the exhibition hall, There I assisted my wife with directions on how to set up the tables (I took four tables). I wanted my N.P.D. Blue on every table, then the exhibits on top. Everything had its place. My Lady was extremely good, and she also was impressed with some historic pictures from the Emergency Unit. I had official pictures of THE COMMANDERS of the EMERGENCY BUREAU dating 1930 to 1955.
This year I had a couple new novelty items that I added to the display. These items focused on Dave Toma, the Newark Detective who inspired the ABC TV Series "TOMA" which starred Tony Musante and Susan Strasberg. I had an original TV News Photo, eight by ten, on the table along with a Serbian Movie Poster for the famous Newark sleuth. If nothing else the old picture of Susan Strasberg brought back fond memories.
At the end of Table One I placed an old Leather jacket. It's from the 1970's, and while it is no longer of use to the current man on the motor bike, it is in very nice condition. That is because my wife has these magical wipes just for leather. She has shown me several times how to use them, but I just keep forgeting. The jacket sure does look good, and that is a fact I won't forget for a long time.
Sliding down the tables I placed a variety of ancient pictures, iron claw, night sticks, lanterns, glass billy clubs, and badges.
Below are a couple of these items that my wife neatly placed on the tables. She put the old "Night Stick" out with all its' hooks holding: A Jail Cell Key, Whistles, and a Cumalong.
Some of the other guys there did some similar display work, which I managed to capture with my camera. At the bottom in the beautiful purple shirt is me. I am holding a 1927 picture of my Dad on "his horse" Ginger.
Of the badges that I bought to Titusville this year I am particularly pleased with the two below. The large case holds badges that come from those municipalities classified as a "City." I accumulated a large number of badges, over the years, including several duplicates, before I could obtain one badge from New Jersey's Top Ten Cities by population.
They last collection of badges is my treasure. I know some other collectors have a couple items that are better and more desirable, but this is what I have gathered regarding Newark Police History. It only has six badges, but to me they are everything.
On the top are two badges, side by side, that are from circa 1865. They are from Newark's Second Edition Badge. The middle row, and bottom row, are matching sets. The left side is a "Chanceman" badge, while the right side is a matching "Police Officer" badge.
Somewhere before three o'clock it became time to pack up and call it a day. For me there were a few new badges that I purchased, without my wife seeing. I packed them away real nice. There was also one more item to pack this year. It was a plaque proclaiming my exhibit as The Overall Best Display (2018). My heartfelt thanks to Steve Bridges for inviting me to his show and presenting this award.
Thank you, and al fine.
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