Stallholders and collectors share some of the history behind items at the Tasmanian Antique Fair

Mark Howard, of Hobart's Lauder and Howard antique dealership, said a particular favourite of his on display was a lithographic reproduction of an Absinthe advertising poster from 1894.

"It [Absinthe] was very popular at the turn of the century," he said.

"But it was often sold in extremely alcoholic form so lots of people simply drank too much, so it was a source of scandal."

Mr Howard said the poster really spoke to the historical notion of people thinking something is good for them when it's actually the opposite.

"It's like a tonic, except it's alcohol, and these days nobody sells alcohol as a tonic," he said.

Mr Howard noted the finer details of the poster, including its fold marks for when it was put away.

"It's been laid onto linen to strengthen it, paper at this time was ephemeral it wasn't meant to last," he said.

"They would use wood pulp which is acidic and breaks down."

Another item Mr Howard said was particularly interesting was a box crafted for the nephew of Napoleon - Napoleon III.

"It's made from kingwood from the West Indies," he said.

"It's made by a firm in Paris who made furniture for Napoleon III in the 1860s."

Bruce Archer, of Richmond, said his standout items were first edition collections of Dombey and Son and Our Mutual Friend, written by the legendary Charles Dickens.

Mr Archer said he got the books in Sydney and they were naturally hard to get as first editions.

Collector Chris Flood's 1915 photocell camera was a centrepiece to his display.

"It's the great grandfather of the digital camera basically so it takes about one megapixel," he said.

"If you get 40,000 [photos] together and stack them up you'll get a photo that's up today's standard.

"It was really advanced for its age, it's an amazing thing."