Howdy Folks!

It is hard to believe that a month has passed since we last got together on these pages of Northeast Journal but the editor is saying where is it, that monthly monologue about the activities of antiques lovers since the last full moon. So here we go again, a report of what we have seen, heard, and done in the recent past.

We finished the last report with time spent on the eastern end of Long Island where there were two shows on the same weekend. Jean Sinenberg had her important upscale show in the Bridgehampton Community Center on the weekend of August 24-26, with a preview on Thursday evening August 23. This show has been a standard in the Hamptons for over 20 years now. Some dealers have been there for most of that time offering antiques from everywhere in the world, with some articles going back into some other dynasty in China. And there was also Scott Estepp with Mid-Century décor, and our reports were that sales were good.

Other show promoters have discovered the Hamptons over the past few years so Jean has faced some serious competition but the central core of dealers and customers are still at her shows for they seem to know what to expect. Bridgehampton has also placed new restrictions on her use of the grounds at the Community Center which limits how many dealers she can accommodate, but the show looked great. She expects to be there for her group of shows again next summer.

On the North Fork of Long Island there are still farms and vineyards and an economy which has not yet hit the stratosphere. This allows for shows with lower expenses for the dealers and affordable collections for the customers. To that marketplace Sheila Pekale brought her loyal following of dealers, about 60 all told, to the Old Steeple Community Church in Aquebogue for a one-day affair in the yard. Simply stated, the show created a traffic jam all day with big crowds and good sales.

Home to the study for a day than it was get ready for the toughest weekend of the year, Labor Day weekend. This year it included needing the housekeeper three times in about ten days just to keep up with all the guests as each bedroom was in use for both Labor Day and the following weekend, and during the week we all stayed in Sturbridge. But let's discuss this in the proper sequence.

Thursday August 30 the guests were arriving, some driving and others flying into Bradley so off to pick them up. Now Bradley, as many of you dear readers know, is very near Farmington Polo Grounds, the site of our weekend activity. So, what better opportunity to bring our first load there for the weekend show. Friday was the first day for the show with dealers arriving from as far south as Florida and west from Illinois. This show, as with many, is not as big as it was ten years ago but clearly for this most recent gathering it is showing that it has a strong market: faithful buyers still coming to the show for the real stuff. Over 220 exhibiting dealers were selling well, as one from North Carolina said "not the best ever, but still we did well. See you in June!" (2008, the next meeting for Farmington.)

Farmington Antiques Weekend used to be a very high stress set-up with great difficulty getting onto the field and a lot of yelling from the prior show manager. Under the ownership of the Jenkins Family the show is now great fun, with a casual but well coordinated plan for dealer entry. Jenkins for about five years owned the land, but between the two shows this summer they finally got out of the horse farm business so they can concentrate on the antiques show.

Under the sales agreement, the landowner has control of the food service so there were some problems with that. The food stand concessionaire was cooking coffee in a 10 cup pot! Duh! There were 500 dealers there looking for a cup of coffee. What were they thinking? Steve Jenkins was very peeved for he said "customers need good food served fast to remain on the field while they think about their possible purchases. Bad food or slow service is a big distraction which hurts sales. We will not let that happen again." He added that the food seemed to be good, but the concessionaire just did not know what to expect.

Look for Farmington to return to its past glory next year as the Jenkins are now more determined than ever to make the show grow back to the 350 to 400 dealer event that market deserves.

Monday, September 3 was Labor Day, a holiday for some but for antiques dealers and collectors it was the beginning of Brimfield Week. Even before Brimfield was the Vintage Fashion and Antique Textile Show in Sturbridge, Massachusetts at the Host Hotel and Conference Center. For show promoter Linda Zukas it was the fiftieth show covering a span of 17 years and in all those years it has been sold out every time. Now that is a remarkable achievement, for the show is big at about 150 dealers each May and September, slightly smaller in July.

Zukas will be producing a New York version of the Vintage Textiles Show [shortened title is the popular name used in conversation] in Rye Town Hilton Hotel on Saturday, November 24, 2007 in Rye Brook, N.Y. with 80 booth spaces. She has been working on this for some time now; in July she almost announced it but had a problem with the dates and facility. There was also some confusion created when New York was believed to be actually in New York City which was never her intention. As this show is smaller than her summer shows, expect a sold-out affair on Thanksgiving weekend.

BRIMFIELD, Brimfield, Brimfield....what a place. As a reporter, when telling people about it, it would seem they don't believe what it is. In fact there was a middle-aged fellow from Ashville, North Carolina who was in Bill Puchstein's tent at the front of Heart of the Mart. Engaging him in conversation, he said "this is my first time here, and I can't believe it. I read about it, I think in your paper [Northeast Journal] but I couldn't believe it. Now I'm here and it IS unbelievable."

Boy, what if he comes in May!

May is the biggest according to Tim May of Mays and Judy Mathieu of J&J, both for numbers of dealers exhibiting and numbers of daily visitors, but September is not far behind. Many fields for this September 4-10 edition were at 95% capacity or more and for this kind of show, 5% is a no-show factor. Colleen James of Brimfield Acres North, and Lori Faxon of Dealers Choice were both claiming they had filled all the available spaces they could find on their Tuesday fields. Martha May had not yet counted spaces sold but she estimated over 600 sold or rented for the Thursday opening.

Specifically Brimfield for this past September was about 3,000 dealers based upon the estimate of permits issued. That permit is for the dealer for the week, so if setting up at more than one field the dealer takes the permit from field to field. May's parking lot is another measure and it was full at some point Tuesday through Friday and heavy Saturday and Sunday.

The collectors, decorators and homeowners were buying in good strength but what they were buying was more of the valuable personal objects. The small things, rather than the big furniture, is what was making the shows profitable for the visitors and dealers. Mia Hudson of Lexington, Kentucky, a new dealer to Brimfield, sold some of her collection of small antiques found on her buying trips to England.

On the other hand show promoter Steve Jenkins had a pretty good time with sales of antique furniture he offered at Mays. Among his sales were a set of Dutch painted dining chairs from the nineteenth century which are on their way to Marshal, Virginia and a store display case, a very big thing which went to a dealer. Steve was a dealer for many years before owning and managing shows so it was fun for him to get into the selling again.

As usual we visited all the fields in Brimfield and spent more than we should have, but they were such gooooood deals we couldn't resist. And we will probably do the same thing next year. The dates for 2008 are May 13-18, July 8-13 and September 2-7. For details go to www.BrimfieldExchange.com where there is a complete list of shows, dates, and contacts for the promoters.

The website for Northeast Journal has been undergoing a reinventing so for a little while longer we do not have it on line for you to read. Staff members are working on it and expect to have it up and running shortly. We will be sure to let you know when it is up and running again.

The week of September 2 would not be complete without a report on the Cow Pasture. Now no jokes about watching your step please, as there haven't been any cows there in many years, but we have had a very nice antiques show for the last seven. Barnstar Promotions restarted the original Russell Carrell show in 2001 and it has been good ever since. This year was not the best as there was a forecast for rain which held down the visitors and even dealers for the Sunday, September 9 affair. In fact it did rain early but by late morning the weather cleared. Unfortunately it hurt the show's attendance enough that dealers were not doing as well as they felt they might have in good weather.

There was a lot of conversation about returning to Saturday, the original day for next year, and as a dealer this reporter would favor that. The area has a very large population of weekenders, people from New York City who come up on the weekend, but return to the city on Sunday afternoon. Their time for this show is Saturday. Further, when Frank Gaglio of Barnstar moved it to Sunday he felt the Saturday house tour in the area was a conflict. The house tour was originally a piggyback event to the antiques show many years ago. Dealers and the show's sponsor, Habitat for Humanity, felt the tour and show should work together as a joint promotion building up both events.

Antiques in a Cow Pasture is a fun show, with in my case a full house the night before for supper, sorry you didn't make but join in next year. My home in Sharon is just ten minutes to the Cow Pasture field.

It was planned that we would attend the Springfield (Ohio) Extravaganza for the weekend of September 13-16 but a family thing came up so we had to withdraw. Speaking with show promoter Steve Jenkins on Friday, I was sorry I was not there for the fun, as he said all the inside spaces were full and the outside looked like a record, "if it isn't the biggest ever, it looks like the biggest September with over 2000(exhibitors)." He was very happy.

Well it is getting to the point where we wrap up this once a month report with a brief review of what is coming next. There will be the Country Living Show in Morrow, Ohio sponsored by Country Living Magazine and managed by Stella Show Promotions September 28-30. Race home after that for Vermont Antiques Week where we will be at the Riley Rink Show October 7 for the first time ever. I will probably have a weekend off then get on down the road to Nashville for the Jenkins Show Promotions Tailgate Antiques Show at Fiddlers Inn. This is simultaneous with their Music Valley Antiques Market during the week of October 23.

November will be a lot of miles: New Hampshire for Alice Peck Day November 4, Scott Show in Atlanta if all goes well; Richmond Spectacular which still has space for the November 17-18 gathering and Williamsburg for Thanksgiving weekend. Did I say England for December? Well that is the plan anyway; Newark and Swinderby along with a lot more touring for good shops.

It seems the Kramer's have decided these two Jenkins shows do not help their Heart of Country Antiques Show twice a year so they have invoked their exclusive right clause with Gaylord (owners of Opryland and also the Radisson) even though they were not given dates for a fall show anymore. This exclusive means they could force Gaylord to deny any other antiques show during Kramer's dates, so out goes Music Valley. No problem though for it was in tents many times before and Jenkins is not afraid to spend the money for a great tent show. The February show will have papered walls, floors, heat, and great lighting for about 140 dealers. Who needs a hotel? The exhibiting dealers and visitors can bunk in at a variety of less expensive hotels just down the block. We will have the names and phone numbers in an upcoming issue of Northeast or go to www.jenkinsshows.con where they will also have the information shortly.

Madison Bouckville is for sale but not yet sold. Owner Jock Hengst is in no hurry to sell the August show in the little hamlet of Bouckville, about 20 miles south of Utica, New York. He feels the time is right for him and his wife to retire soon while they still have their good health and the show posts good numbers. The results of this summer's event were very good with about 700 exhibits and 10,000 or more visitors. The eventual sale will include the two other show he produces, fall and winter in the same area and the land on which Madison Bouckville is held.

Well this about covers the most recent activities for antiques, the dealers and collectors so it is the right place to wrap it up for now. Keep reading and I'll keep writing with the hope of seeing you at a show, auction, or even a museum real soon. Until then,

Happy trails,

T.O'H.