The old timers at the 59th Annual National Stationery
Show, which took place May 15-18 at the Javits Center, grouse that the show ain’t what it used to be, and that traffic wasn’t great even on the “busy” days. Stationery’s role in our high-speed, email-driven world has undoubtedly dwindled, and on top of that, the numerous gift shows around the country have stolen Stationery’s thunder. As it was, the array of “stationery” on exhibit included lots of gift wrap, refrigerator magnets, candles, and tchotchkes – not to mention edible pet greeting cards.
On the other hand, Abrams/STC’s Bill Wolfsthal claims the company wrote three times the orders on the first day as they did in all of 2003’s show. And Andrews McMeel’s Lynn McAdoo says her reps report an overall increase in calendar orders across the board. The show attracted 13,550 attendees, including 491 new companies and 1,474 total exhibitors, representing 24 countries.
Books were on display here and there, but if you were willing to be a book publisher with a selection of titles that are hardly books at all, success was assured. Workman was madly taking orders for Boys Are Stupid, Throw Rocks At Them, billed as a “South Park for girls,” which started life on a T-shirt and launched a multimillion dollar business, David & Goliath. Over at Klutz, a how-to knitting kit (yes, knitting is now “cool”) was wowing them, along with more irresistible teen stuff to decorate your locker and your T-shirts. Meanwhile, licensed properties were found in unexpected places, such as Snapple on a Peter Pauper mini book (Charming PetitesTM). The Unemployed Philosophers Guild, which is repped by Parson Weems, showed amusing products, such as Nietzsche’s Will to Power Bar and a little tin box adorned with the president’s picture and the product description, National Embarrassmints. Kits were everywhere: The “author” of Andrews McMeel’s Tooth Fairy Kit was gamely autographing the tiny box, while unsuspecting passersby were set upon by reps urging them to get their own signed edition.
Although it is said that the baby boomers out-populate the other demographics, it would be hard to tell by the plethora of miniature titles — with their miniature typefaces. Running Press (the granddaddy of the format), Peter Pauper Press (complete with gold- or silver-plated charms at the end of ribbon bookmarks — readers are encouraged to “wear it on a bracelet”), and Chronicle each had their share. The latter’s stand, which was handsomely designed and larger than the other publishers’, was also perennially packed.
All in all, the show had its share of fun new products. University Games was launching three puzzles based on locations cited in Workman’s phenomenal bestseller 1,000 Places To See Before You Die with photo montages making the 1000-piece puzzles hugely difficult to do. Our personal favorite last fall was Bloomsbury’s Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same, and it will appear as a luscious wall calendar next year, distributed by Andrews McMeel.
