A couple years ago someone in a Conway Facebook group posted a picture of a concert poster that was going up for sale at auction. As I've been known to do on more than one occasion when it comes to Conway, I went into full detective mode. In the photo I could just barely make out the name of the auction house, and a Google search told me it was in Pennsylvania. It was a silent auction held the first Saturday of each month, with bidders writing down their bid on a tag placed at each item. I called and was told that proxy bids could be placed by anyone who couldn't be present the day of the auction, but items had to be picked up in person. They don't ship anything.
In the HUGE state of Pennsylvania, what are the chances I would know someone who lives nearby? I could only think of one person I know in the state *period*, a fellow Conway collector in fact, and as luck would have it he told me he drives past this particular town frequently on the weekends.
I placed my bid by phone, won the auction, and soon the poster was in my possession. Time was on my side because this was late February 2020 and within a couple weeks the world would shut down.
It took a fair amount of sleuthing to get the poster, and then I had another mystery on my hands when I attempted to date it. The photo used is from Conway's Silver Anniversary photo shoot in 1990. An internet search told me there was no Saturday, September 4th in 1990, 1991, or 1992. The first time after 1990 that September 4th fell on a Saturday was 1993. Conway passed away on June 5th of that year, so I believe this is for a concert that never took place.
Making this even more meaningful for me is the fact that I planned to see Conway in concert for the very first time on Sunday, September 5th, 1993 at the Vermont State Fair. I cannot find a list of his summer 1993 dates that were planned but never took place, but it only makes sense that he could've been scheduled for PA on Saturday and VT on Sunday of the same weekend. I discovered from another poster I've seen that on Friday, September 3rd he was supposed to be at the Shenandoah County Fair in Virginia, so the whole itinerary fits.
Another thing I'm not certain of is if this poster is the real thing or a reproduction. I have a number of other posters of his from the 1970s and the cardboard consistency and lettering matches. It doesn't matter to me either way because I love it, but it would be nice to know for sure.
Can anyone help me solve these mysteries? Does anyone have a list of Conway's summer/early fall 1993 concert dates? Does anyone know if posters like this were still being made as late as the early 1990s?
If anyone has
any insight they can share please leave a comment or email me at
conwaycrazy@outlook.com.
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