“The Extravaganza at Kutztown is the place to Buy, Sell, Trade Antiques and Collectibles,” touts the management of Renningers, and they are words that ring true. The opening event of the 2009 season took place April 23′5, with a full field of sellers set up outdoors and huge crowds in attendance.
The show opened promptly at 10 on Thursday morning, and the crowds that had been milling about in the indoor markets, where 400 additional regular exhibitors are on hand, began lining up more than an hour prior to the drop of the gate. There were those that ran onto the field, those that walked briskly and those that just moved forward with a purposeful stride.
While the pace of the shoppers varied, as did their preferences toward merchandise, each seemed to be on a mission that would only be fulfilled with purchases. Deals were being cut at a brisk pace, with one dealer at Chamberlain’s Antiques doing business with at least three people at the same time. Architectural ornaments were being moved into piles by helpers, and the dealer exclaimed to one buyer, “Take a look around †all this stuff, it will all be gone by tomorrow. If you see something you want, buy it now.” While we did not get a chance to check back the following day to see if everything was in fact gone, the pace at which he was selling items indicated that at least the majority of the crowded booth would have disappeared.
The weather, although somewhat windy on what seemed to be the highest hilltop in Kutztown, was picture-perfect. Bright, sunny and cloudless skies made for excellent shopping weather. With spring coming a little earlier to the Pennsylvania region than it does to New England, the trees were in bloom, the grass was lush and green and flowers were springing up everywhere.
The merchandise around the fields also seemed to be lush. From the mocha pepper pot seen in the booth of Lancaster, Penn., dealer Steve Smoot to the tooled leather cowboy chaps and hat complete with period photos of a cowpoke wearing them at the booth of Bob Neipert, Stroudsburg, Penn., the show was filled with fresh and exciting goods.
New Lebanon, N.Y., dealers/auctioneers Delores and Keith Meissner had a good assortment of merchandise, ranging from an early woodworker’s bench to a country fair game wheel with reverse painted glass panels depicting horses taking part in a race. “It even has a unit on top that clicks away as the wheel moves round and the odds for the payoff changes,” said Keith Meissner of the rare and attractive wheel.
Several nice paint decorated blanket boxes were offered, with a good two-drawer example in red and black grained paint displayed at Evelyn Gordon’s stand, Lambertville, N.J. Across the aisle, a selection of country smalls and toys was offered at Dave and Sue Irons, Northampton, Penn., including redware, tools, lighting, tramp art, toys and Halloweeniana.
Collectibles were all over the place, but the guy looking to make record sales was Rich Kozlowski. Among the items offered was a huge wall display record by Bruce Springsteen.
Country furniture was seen in quite a few booths, including Carlisle, Penn., dealer Jamie Price, where a good selection of chairs included examples ranging from Chippendale side chairs to porch rockers. A nice Queen Anne table highlighted the booth of Still River, Mass., dealer Chip Neschke, flanked by a couple local Delaware County-style ladder backs. Treen, early baskets, wrought iron and Indian weavings were also offered.
An open-top red painted cupboard that was filled with redware and early decoys was displayed at Country Antiques Two, Mullica Hills, N.J. Also in the booth was a bucket bench in early paint with two upper shelves that were filled with numerous pieces of cobalt decorated stoneware.
A large selection of choice stoneware was displayed by George Browning, Swanzey, N.H., including examples with incised flowers, stamped fish and a rare jug with an embossed eagle applied to the front of it. Early forms included a Paul Cushman-signed crock, a large jug with crossed-birds decoration and a crock decorated with a snowflake with a floral design in the center.
Scituate, Mass., dealer Butch McGrath offered a wide variety of merchandise. including an unusual crock with several flowers across the front and the date 1838. A large pair of eye-glasses used as an optician’s trade sign were also displayed, as was a large bass parade drum emblazoned “Crescent City Negro Jazz Band, New Orleans.”
For stuff big or small, expensive or not, Renningers was a prime picking spot. The next Extravaganza market at Kutztown will be June 25′7. The indoors Antique Market there is open every Saturday. For further information, www.renningers.com or 570-385-0014.
