The most informal of the shows to take place during Vermont Antiques Week is the one managed by Ann Firkey and Carol Baranowski that took place downtown at the Black River High School on October 1. Yet it is also one of the most exciting. Setup for this third event in the series of shows does not start until the school day ends on Friday afternoon; dealers briskly packed their way into the gymnasium once again for the 47th running of the Ludlow Antiques Show.
No walls, no lights, no frills †just antiques displayed on tabletops. Well, almost no frills †one of the attractions to the show is the home cooked and satisfying dinner that Firkey and Baranowski provide as part of the price of preview Friday evening.
The dealers that set up at Ludlow are not the sort that you will encounter with regularity on the circuit, and at least one dealer claims that this is the only show that he does all year long.
Opening for preview at 7 pm on Friday night, the crowd that blasts into this show is hungry and sales are racked up in record time. The adage “He who hesitates is lost” rings true on this show floor.
All of the dealers display their wares in the gymnasium and the accompanying stage, with the exception of Douglas Blanchard, Marcellus, N.Y., who occupies a slender parcel of real estate in a hallway adjacent to the cafeteria and the rest rooms. It is a great spot and a good percentage of the people that storm onto the floor at opening make a beeline for his booth. Five minutes into the show, the tiny booth resembles a mosh pit at a rock concert in more ways than one. Rewards of Merit cups and plates, early glass, toys, pantry boxes, Staffordshire, stoneware and silver were but a few of the things sold within the first few minutes.
Out on the main floor, John Smart, Mendon, Vt., displayed a large zinc garden figure of a lady in a flowing dress, a couple of Louis Vuitton suitcases and an early sign from the Locust House †sold complete with a 1974 auction review by R. Scudder Smith that had been clipped from the “antiques section” of The Newtown Bee .
Connecticut dealer Joe Collins was exhibiting at Ludlow for the first time and good sales were reported early on. Several early candlestands were offered alongside a ladder back chair with nicely scrolled arms, a couple of weathervanes and a large covered Shaker feather basket.
Blue Line Antiques, Port Leyden, N.Y., offered a good selection of Americana, with a display at the front including a whirligig wind toy, a sleeping black duck decoy with a tucked head, a nice blue decorated crock and a burl mortar and pestle.
Montpelier, Vt., dealer George Johnson had parked a rare pedal car in front of his booth. White in color, it was decorated with the markings of a New York City police car. The dealer also offered a seaman’s chest in red paint and a graduated stack of firkins and pantry boxes in paint.
Perkins & Menson Antiques, West Townsend, Mass., was among the handful of dealers set up on the stage. Lining one of its shelves was a stuffed cloth penguin with a humorous air about him, a handled firkin in bright red paint that was marked “sugar” and a nice early two-handled picnic basket.
Another dealer displaying on the stage was Lazeski Antiques, Lewiston, N.Y., where several carved wooden objects were offered, including a small carved wooden dog and a well-executed bust of a woman. The item attracting the most attention, however, was a large folk art model of the passenger ferry Idaho .
For further information, call 802-226-7574 or 802-226-7842.
