I always look forward to the last Saturday in January because Singerly Fire Company holds its annual paper americana show on that date. The Elkton organization has sponsored these shows, which bring over 30 paper, postcard, photograph, and advertising dealers from the tri-state region to Cecil County, for 20 years now. I’ve never missed one for it’s a great place to browse for items related to the region’s history. As the time for the show approaches, I start looking forward to seeing some of the outstanding Delaware and Maryland postcards brought to the show by Neil Boyle. From Neil and Jane this year, I purchased two Delaware whipping post postcards and a photo of the Easton jail. For over thirty years, I’ve added substantially to my collection thanks to Neil and the quality stock he carries. He always has the best collection of real photo cards of any dealer at this show. This year the folks from the Corbit-Calloway Memorial Library were there selling off excess inventory from their collections and items that were donated to them. They had a magnificent 1825 H.S. Tanner Map of the New Castle and Cecil counties, which I’ll get framed for my office. Saturday was a great day for purchasing materials to study the region’s history. (In the photo above, the Corbit-Calloway librarians work to get their booth ready for the show opening.)