The Black River High School gym was bursting at the seams for the 45th annual Ludlow Antiques Show. The show had to flow into the gym after school on Friday afternoon and flow out again on Saturday at 4 pm, a marvelous tide of antiques. By 7 pm on October 2, that hurried setup paid off as the long line of good-humored customers filed into the preview to find the rare, the beautiful, the old and the quirky. Many of the show’s dealers prefer not to do a lot of shows, meaning that you might just find something very special.
For example, one might find a beautiful brass bed warmer with a tooled design priced at $65 (blink and it is gone); a pair of round top, soft green wooden shutters at $265 (The Perfect Image, Brandon, Vt.); a circa 1930s‱940s black beaded and net shawl in out-of-the-box condition for $65 (Mary Ann Stickney and Linda Sgorbati, White Trillium, Sudbury, Vt.); or a gorgeous little circa 1850s still life of peaches at $295 (Blue Line Antiques, Port Leyden, N.Y.).
Co-show managers Ann Firkey and Carol Baranowski were pleased with the outcome of this year’s event. “It went wonderfully. We really had a great year. The dealers all seemed to be happy. The weather was bad and the numbers were great. In the two days †Friday night and Saturday †we had over 900 people,” they said. Dinner before the preview for the dealers and volunteers was a marvelous potluck buffet.
Joy MacIntyre, Tallow Hill Antiques, Middlebury, Vt. is a recent addition to the show. “I had a wonderful time. The people who put on the show are great,” he said. “I sold country furniture, country smalls †a sled, a step down Windsor rocker, a one-draw stand, a theorem, a white quilt, ironstone, brass stencils, a school bell, a Bennington jug †good general country antiques that were priced reasonably.”
An eclectic mix could be found at the booth of Rick Pirozzoli, Sport Hill Antiques, Woodbury, Conn. They brought Monarch skis with poles for $65, an iron table with a marble top for $295, a French wine tasting table that folds straight up, a machinist’s case of tools, hunter’s pack-out skids for deer and a vintage drafting table.
A large wooden vintner’s riddling rack for $295 could be found at the booth of Cathy Mortimer of Canandaigua, N.Y. Martha Perkins and Barrett Menson of Ashby, Mass., had two lovely hooked rugs displayed on the floor. Janet and Charles Taylor of Waverly, Penn., also had two wonderful hooked rugs †one was an elaborate farm scene and the other of horses.
Robin Stephens of Richmond, Mass., brought botanicals, vintage dresses, dolls and smalls. Deborah Smith of Blue Line Antiques, Port Leyden, N.Y., displayed skittle pins, stoneware, fishing nets, antique creels and art. Bayberry Antiques, Orleans, Mass., had a Federal mirror that came out of a collector’s home where it had been for 30″5 years. Also at the booth was a folk painting of a dignified, scowling cat that reminded one of a European nobleman with a white ruffled collar.
Frank Larned of Port Orange, Fla., used to stand in line as a customer. For the past ten years, he and his wife Ruth have taken a booth at Ludlow. A 1910 sterling jewel box with a key weighing 2½ pounds and made by Dominick & Haff was priced at $3,900. A 22-inch lathe-turned bread bowl with a new finish, a reticulated Imari umbrella stand, a copper bed warmer and a large crumb scraper were among their other offerings.
Doug Blanchard, Marcellus N.Y., loves the Ludlow Antiques Show. He was happy with his sales, reporting, “I was within a percent or two of last year. I sold three pieces of furniture and the other 100 items were smalls †bowls, coffee grinders, butter molds, Peter Rabbit plates. I take things there to sell and not show!”
Blanchard has been doing the show for a long, long time. “It started at Okemo with Marion and then later she moved it to Ludlow. It used to be on Sunday. When the Altar Society asked us if we wanted Sundays, we said no. From then on it was no more Sundays.” Blanchard helps makes sure the waiting list is full, recruiting dealers. “We try to keep people who know what they’re doing. It’s lots of fun,” he said.
For information, 802-226-7574 or 802-226-7842.
