It began with the group meeting at the Microtel in Bath, NY. After checking in, we went as a group to a nearby diner and became acquainted since many had not met in person before. After dinner we went back to the Microtel for the first convention activities.George rented a suite and this was used for some presentations on Friday evening. Bill Gowen of Chicago spoke about how his collecting of Tom Swift began and some of the people he met along the way and how things are different today, both in terms of what can be found and prices, of course.
He described taking out ads in antique magazines to buy virtually any Tom Swift that came to hand. He also drove many miles to visit bookstores, book barns, and individuals' homes to find books. Early on it was very difficult to find Tom Swift Sr. books in jacket and few people had built sets before Yellowback Library became a major exchange medium.
Jim Towey from Connecticut showed examples of his efforts to reprint scarce series books and dust jackets. He described how he selected titles to publish, obtained rights, and some of the difficulties in getting them published in small quantities in an acceptable format. He showed the variety of bindings he has tried over the years, noting which ones were more successful than others.
On Saturday morning we had something of a show-and-tell session from the collectors who brought something interesting from home. Neil Morrison brought some scarce items, including the radio audition recording which contained two episodes of a Tom Swift radio show. Only episodes one and seven were recorded on a trial basis and placed on this disc. Neil told something of the story about how he was told about the item and obtained it. Aside from a similar disc that the Stratemeyer Syndicate had that is now at NYPL, this is the only known copy of a Tom Swift record. The scripts for these two episodes, along with summaries of the other installments are part of the Stratemeyer Syndicate Records Collection at NYPL.
Since most of us were traveling by plane, we could not bring anything especially large to show. We brought another apparently unique item. Neil and I each have pairs of "Tom Swift"-brand children's shoes. They are of a different design so there may be several types which were produced but few survive. It seems as if there should be others out there but thus far these two pair are the only ones of which I am aware. 
However, instead of bringing our pair (I thought Neil might bring his), I decided to bring a related find which probably is unique in terms of extant copies -- a Tom Swift Shoes-branded Brannock device for measuring children's feet. It has a red and silver metal plate riveted to it with the Tom Swift Shoes logo. 
Although Tom Swift Shoes appeared on the market in 1954 and for several years afterward, they do not seem to be connected with either series of books based on the shoe ads found in newspapers from the time.After our show-and-tell we ate lunch at a restaurant called Chat-a-Whyle in the downtown area. Since it is near Hammondsport and Keuka Lake (Shopton and Lake Carlopa for Tom Swift fans), there were several images on the walls and etched in the glass to commemorate some of his achievements on land, water, and in the air. It proved to be a very appropriate place for us to meet and eat.
We all enjoyed our meal and several of us wore Tom Swift shirts which Neil has offered from time to time over the years.
Our next stop for the day was the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum for a tour and our keynote presentation.
To be continued ....
Image Galleries for the 2009 Tom Swift Convention in Hammondsport, NY, may be seen at these links:
