THE ANA CONVENTION THAT WASN'T: 1918

The Convention That Wasn't, and a Rare Photograph

Imagine you arrived at the ANA convention and everyone else had gone home or stayed there to begin with. This is precisely what happened in Philadelphia in October 1918. Cancelled at the last minute, a number of attendees arrived in a city shut down by the Spanish flu. The best account is given by Philadelphia dealer and convention chairman S. H. Chapman, who reported in the November 1918 Numismatist that the convention, scheduled for October 5-9, was cancelled by the city on October 3. Chapman did his best to notify attendees, who might have numbered around a hundred. Some could not be reached in time, and a small group arrived in Philadelphia expecting a convention.

Attendees made the best of a bad thing, and Chapman reported small social gatherings at the convention hotel. The tradition of a convention photograph was continued. Included in the photo were the Chapman brothers of Philadelphia, Mr. and Mrs. Howard R. Newcomb, and a handful of others, about a dozen total. A few of the attendees likely attended S. H. Chapman's sale of the H. O. Granberg collection, which took place as scheduled, despite the Board of Health warning against "public assemblages." Presumably many of the bids had already been received by mail.

The Rochester Numismatic Association minutes for October 15, 1918 reported "[ANA] President H. H. Yawger then told the members about his recent trip to Philadelphia, he having visited that city at the time that had been set for the American Numismatic Convention but which was called off on account of the influenza epidemic. Mr. Yawger had a most delightful time visiting with the Philadelphia Numismatists, and while there, also met with a number of A.N.A. members from different cities, who had not been notified of the postponement of the Convention until after they had started on their journey, and they all met at the Hotel Stenton and had a good talk on numismatic matters, the meeting ending up by their having their photographs taken in a group...Yawger was most enthusiastic in his account of the delightful time he spent at the homes of Mr. Henry Chapman and Mr. S. H. Chapman..."

The convention photograph was not published in The Numismatist, and the only example we could find appeared in the George Kolbe #91 sale, 6/2003, lot 670, there described as "sepia photograph; approximately 10 x 15.5cm." Taking ANA convention photographs usually required a wide-angle lens, but the photographer's job was considerably simplified in 1918. Can an E-Sylum reader provide an image?

Link to The Numismatist on the ANA site:
https://www.money.org/subscriber-all-access
Link to The Numismatist on Newman Portal: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/publisherdetail/510969
Link to the Rochester Numismatic Association minutes on NNP: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/511995

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