louisville military show

Louisville Military Show - The 2020 Show of Shows was held at the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville. More than 750 vendors filled 1,965 tables.

The experience of the show is a very personal thing. Ask 100 people who attended the show and you'll get 100 different answers. If someone finds that special item they were looking for, "It was a GREAT show." A person who went with the intention of finding bargains but found none reports, "The tour was slow and the prices were high." Realizing that a personal reaction is a natural response to a question, I will try to answer, outside of my own experience, the question that many of you have: "How was the exhibition tour?"

Louisville Military Show

This was the Ohio Valley Military Society's 28th Annual Show of Shows (SOS). I visited the exhibition from the time it was held in St. Louis on the King's Road. So without dating, let's just agree that I've been going to SOS for a hell of a long time.

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The hall leading to the entrance is filled with photographs and the SOS statement "THEIR victory, THEIR souvenir" in an attempt to stop any public or media misinterpretation of why we are gathering for the event.

External factors have a lot to do with creating a good show experience, including location, accessibility and accessibility to hotels/restaurants. In this respect, the Show of Shows in Louisville scores really high. Even if you wait up to a week to find a room, you can find one somewhere in the Louisville area.

Easy access couldn't be easier! The Kentucky Expo Center is adjacent to a major highway and literally across the street from the major airport. Big points again for the approach!

But that's just logistics. No one who asks about the show is interested. Basically, they want to know if they missed something big?

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Even on a bad day, the Show of Shows is excellent. With over 750 vendors spread across 1,965 tables, if you couldn't find something to buy, the problem was

With a performance! This year I attended with very specific orders from my supervisor to "come back with money and no other stuff". That means I still spent over $1000 on items I could only find by walking back and forth to the restrooms from my desks at J15-16! Didn't find anything on Show of Shows? Well, you just weren't paying attention.

But what about my personal observations? These are based on my very limited look behind my desks over three days. With that, here they are:

*High-quality material came out of the closet. More retailers dug deep into their stashes to introduce a number of items that haven't seen the light of day in a long time. Sure, a lot of it had changed hands by noon Thursday, but there was plenty of new material. I believe that this trend will continue in the foreseeable future.

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*The price is falling across the board. Even I tagged the stuff that came out of the boxes from last year's show. Many sellers have practiced the "any cash flow is a good flow" strategy. They had to do. Good for buyers, a little less good for sellers.

*Many young (ie "under 40") buyers and sellers. While the vast majority of those in attendance had a lot of gray hair (if any) and bigger bellies than they let on, I noticed and interacted with a number of younger collectors. While I buck the national trend of aging collectors, I'll be honest that this group made up less than 10% of the entire SOS population. But still, 10% is better than 0!

* Less grip. As a "magazine editor," I often feel like I'm sitting in Lucy's mental booth (from the Charles Schultz cartoon "Peanuts." You older folks know the reference. The younger 10% of collectors probably don't). People like to stop by my desk to vent: Wait for salespeople, vent about pickups, vent about parking, vent about the magazine, vent about everything. I think I've only had TWO guys this year - and one of them is a good friend who ALWAYS has problems with subscriptions!

Although I left the show pretty hoarse each night, it was only the result of good-natured conversation with the collectors about their passions and ideas for the hobby. I came back to the motel every night with a really good attitude. It was a SOS FIRST for me!

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*Logistics. Ohio Valley Military Company (OVMS) is like my iPhone. It learns from the behavior of its users. This year's table compiled on Wednesday turned out fantastic (compared to previous years). This is due to serious changes in the business. All of this led to more vendors opening and opening on Thursday morning. Big credit to OVMS for aligning in this process.

Did I mention the table ran smoothly? Well, about 25 people were still doing it, while another 55 drifted off to the side for "other things" besides throwing tables into place!

Bill Combs of OVMS oversees the entire operation of the show, from setup to tear down. He has a fine mind - so important in the hall of collectors and dealers at a very high level!

The entrance to the show is still bulky and a little slow, but handled very well with few "angry incidents" observed. Both OVMS and people in line get very used to this process, and everyone knows, "You'll get into the show if you just stand in line and wait your turn." It might not seem like much, but if you have aggressive guests outside, it sets a bad tone for the show. That didn't happen this year.

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Notification was kept to a minimum. These PA messages are very disruptive to the merchant-customer interaction. SOS really managed to keep them relevant and to a minimum. There have been a few "Will dealer X please meet his party at the door" and hopefully people will learn that there are other ways to make a personal connection without forcing it on the whole show.

*Equipment. SOS provides an exhibition brochure with a map — very nice and used by many. Food service was available. There were reports of long lines, but I didn't see anyone pass out from hunger. The corridors were wide enough to move easily. Similarly, there was enough space behind the tables for the dealers to move around without bumping their asses too often.

*Additional incentive for participation. As in previous years, several well-known guests and authors spoke at SOS, who were able to meet the public. Strategically placed at the back of the show, people had to walk through the aisles to get to these dignitaries. Clever move, SOS! My grocery dad would be proud of you ("We put the hamburger in the back of the store because people grab buns, ketchup, and pickles on the way to the meat.")

Special guests included Art Beltrone (Vietnam Traveling Exhibit), Medal of Honor recipient Don Jenkins (center) and General Pershing's representative, Dane Kaufmann (right).

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This year, SOS even tried to schedule short lectures by some special guests. It probably didn't go as well as hoped due to the lack of a dedicated lecture area, but it's a step in the right direction to give the public more reasons to come to the show.

At least three original M1858 feed caps and variants that I saw at the show in just my short tutorials.

SOS is not a gun show, but there are quality military weapons (usually pre-1945).

My neighbor at the table, Steve Ackley. What a pleasure it was to share space with such a friendly and knowledgeable guy. He is a big medal dealer so I was drooling over some of the early British campaign medals he had.

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Another favorite medal dealer of mine is Jeff Floyd. You won't find a nicer guy at the show. And what he knows about medals would fill a lot. He is a quality businessman and a quality guy.

There is much from the First World War available on display. I looked at three different tank corps groupings for my own collection. That's a high number for any show!

I love military miniatures. When I win the lottery I will fill the room with these!

Many finely milled machine guns were on display. I know of an MG08 sled that found a new home - and the new owner was happy!

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To answer your question, "How was the exhibition tour?" From a personal point of view, I bought things for the collection, on Tuesday after the tour my feet stopped hurting and I came home with some money for my personal "command". So damn good show for me. I would venture that opinion was echoed by about 10,000 others.

We buy, sell and trade military war memorabilia from all countries and all eras. It is an honor and a privilege to present the history of past and present wars