We are excited to invite you to participate in the 3rd iteration of Old, Weird, Houston, a one-of-a-kind local history fair celebrating the people, places, stories, and archives that make Houston so Houston.
The event will take place at The Orange Show Headquarters, 2334 Gulf Terminal, on Saturday, March 21, from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The afternoon will feature engaging lectures, live music, food, and a steady flow of history-hungry visitors from across the city.
We are currently accepting tabling participants from museums, archives, historical organizations, collectors, researchers, artists, and anyone working to preserve and share Houston’s past. We also need volunteers for our welcome booth, oral history station, and more. Please fill out our participation form if you are able to table and/or volunteer at the event
Table Information:
Members of the Archivists of the Houston Area (AHA!) may reserve a table free of charge
Non members: $50 for one 8 ft table
All proceeds directly support scholarships for the Archivists of the Houston Area and ongoing preservation efforts at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art.
If you are interested in participating or would like additional details, we would love to hear from you. Space is limited, and tables are reserved on a first come basis.Thank you for helping us keep Houston’s history vibrant and alive!
Exclusive Sticker for Old, Weird Houston 2024. The stickers features a magnolia flower, steam train engine with orange slices for wheels, symbols of Houston’s history.
We have another exclusive sticker for this year’s Old, Weird Houston event. Visit us at the Houston Archives Bazaar at the annual Old, Weird Houston at The Orange Show on Saturday, March 30th 10am – 6pm. Grab your 2024 exclusive Old, Weird Houston sticker while supplies last!
The archives bazaar represents some of the many diverse repositories and collections around the city. Archivists will be there to showcase their collections. Come and get to know the local area archives and the history they preserve for Houstonians and researchers all over the world.
Get to know the Magnolia City sticker
The Magnolia City sticker features historical symbols from Houston’s past and gives a shout out to The Orange Show, our hosts for the Houston Archives Bazaar for the past two years.
Get to know the Magnolia City sticker – (1) You can get the exclusive sticker at the 2024 Old, Weird Houston event on 3/30 at The Orange Show. (2) Learn more about Archivists of the Houston Area and the event at our website. (3) Magnolia Flower. Forests of wild magnolia trees flourished on the east side of town. (4) Magnolia City is Houston’s earliest nicknames. (5) Locomotive symbolizes progress and forward thinking. It has been featured on the city’s seal since 1840. (6) Orange slices honor The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art and the “Artist in Everyone”. (7) Mossy Green Background resembles the color of the bayous as well as the pollen that covers the city every Spring, and most especially it represents the majestic live oaks that grow throughout the city.
Magnolia Flower for the “Magnolia City”
Houston has acquired many nicknames throughout it’s illustrious 188 years of existence. Bayou City, Space City, Clutch City, and H-Town to name a few. Magnolia City was one of the earliest monikers. It harkens back to a growing, bustling town in Southeast Texas where wild magnolia trees flourished on the east side of town, near Harrisburg.
Locomotive
The steam locomotive has been featured on the Seal of the City of Houston since it’s initial adoption in 1840. It symbolizes progress as well as aspirations for the future. From the humble beginnings at the confluence of the White Oak and Buffalo Bayous, Houston became the hub of industry in the Southwest by the end of the 19th century thanks to the railroads. At its peak, Houston was a distributing point for as many as ten railroad companies.
Map of Houston, The Magnolia City, May 21, 1898. A printed engraving from the “Texas World” newspaper depicting Houston as the hub of manufacturing and distributing for Texas. [University of Houston Libraries Digital Collections, https://id.lib.uh.edu/ark:/84475/do06149p703 ]
Orange Slices
The wheels of orange slices on the locomotive honor The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art and The Orange Show Monument that they preserve as a celebration for the “Artist in Everyone.” Nothing captures the unique, creative, artistic spirit of Houston and Southeast Texas than The Orange Show. The events and folk art installations that they preserve will inspire Houstonians for generations.
Mossy Green Background
The mossy green background resembles the color of the bayous as well as the pollen that covers the city every Spring, and most especially it represents the majestic live oaks that grow throughout the city. Did you know that live oaks are the most populous tree in Hermann Park? You can find almost 1,800 of them within the 445-acre park. While we can’t say for certain that the live oak is the most populous tree is the Houston metropolitan area, they are definitely ubiquitous and one of the most picturesque features around town.
The annual Old, Weird Houston at The Orange Show is on March 30th. The event flyer is available to download.
Download.
Print.
Post around town.
Tell everyone about the event.
This event features an archives bazaar, a day-long schedule of speakers and panels, along with food trucks and vendors. Find all links and details at here on the AHA! website or at on The Orange Show website.
Sign-up to exhibit your repository at the annual Old, Weird Houston at The Orange Show on March 30th. The deadline is March 15th. Please share this with anyone who might be interested in participating at the event!
We would like the archives bazaar to represent all of the diverse repositories and collections around the city, so we encourage y’all to sign up to be an exhibitor. You can bring anything from your repository that is interesting or relevant to the history of Houston, as well as any printed materials or swag items from your institution/organization. The main goal is to get folks interested in archives and to become familiar with local area repositories. Each exhibitor will get a “booth” provided by the Orange Show to showcase their materials. More details about exhibiting and signing up is included in the sign-up form.
This event features an archives bazaar, a day-long schedule of speakers and panels, along with food trucks and vendors.
You can read more details about the event on the Orange Show’s website, and check out some videos of the speakers who participated at last year’s event.
It’s that time of year again! We are teaming up with the Orange Show for the annual Old, Weird Houston event on March 30th. This event features an archives bazaar, a day-long schedule of speakers and panels, along with food trucks and vendors.
We would like the archives bazaar to represent all of the diverse repositories and collections around the city, so we encourage y’all to sign up to be an exhibitor. You can bring anything from your repository that is interesting or relevant to the history of Houston, as well as any printed materials or swag items from your institution/organization. The main goal is to get folks interested in archives and to become familiar with local area repositories. Each exhibitor will get a “booth” provided by the Orange Show to showcase their materials.
More details about exhibiting and signing up can be found here.
Save the date! Saturday, March 30, 2024, 10am-6pm. Old, Weird Houston at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art. 2334 Gulf Terminal Drive. Houston, TX 77023.
The deadline to sign up is March 15, 2024. Please share this with anyone who might be interested in participating!
We also will need some volunteers to help with the event. You can sign up to volunteer here.
You can read more details about the event on the Orange Show’s website, and check out some videos of the speakers who participated at last year’s event.
Archival repositories are encouraged to participate in various ways – we’re offering repositories a table in the main hall to promote their collections and engage visitors in a hands-on archival experience. Repositories are also welcome to jump onstage to wow the crowd with their repository’s “elevator pitch.” Even repositories who are not able to attend the event are encouraged to provide informational materials for the visitor’s HAB goodie bags.
A number of repositories have already committed, but we want to ensure the widest possible participation for the Bazaar. Even if we haven’t seen or heard from you in a while, we’d love to have your organization represented at the event! Know of someone else we should invite? We’d love to hear that, too. And if you aren’t sure whether your repository has already committed, feel free to check with Matt Richardson [rmrichardson@uh.edu]] or Emily Vinson [evinson@uh.edu].
If your repository would like to participate in the event, please fill out the Google Form below. Once we receive your submission we will be in touch with additional information. [Note: the description you provide of your archive will be used for promotion in social media and elsewhere.]
Also, if you represent a non-repository organization, your involvement is welcome, too. Go ahead and fill out the form, and we’ll follow up to discuss whether a table, and/or some other form of participation is the best fit.
If you have questions about how your organization can best participate in this archival community-building event, please feel free to get in touch with Matt Richardson [rmrichardson@uh.edu] or Emily Vinson [evinson@uh.edu].We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.
![Map of Houston, The Magnolia City, May 21, 1898. A printed engraving from the "Texas World" newspaper depicting Houston as the hub of manufacturing and distributing for Texas. [University of Houston Libraries Digital Collections, https://id.lib.uh.edu/ark:/84475/do06149p703]](https://houstonarchivists.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/3f462594w_files_38a8bf33-9478-42e9-b8fd-81243c19eaa4.jpg)
