Thinking back over the years, some of our favorite shows have been the small, one-day affairs that traditionally attracted overflow crowds and were overflowing with great merchandise. The old shows in Danbury at the Amber Room, and those events that used to be conducted at that old Highway Hotel in New Hampshire †they were brimming with Americana and there was a sense of excitement brewing from start to finish, especially during early buying.
While those shows are history, there are a couple survivors that continue to elicit the same sort of quality merchandise, the same sort of format and the same sort of large and excitable crowds. The annual Tolland Antiques Show is one of them.
For more than four decades the Tolland Antiques Show has been the primary benefiting activity of the Tolland Historical Society and over the decades it has grown in stature and respectability, most recently flourishing under the management of show director Kathy Bach.
Trusted dealers, terrific merchandise, and all of it packed into tight confines †just the sort of place that gets an antiques collector’s blood racing.
In somewhat cramped quarters, this show, February 7, is deceptively large. Packing 23 dealers into the small cafeteria and another 42 into the gymnasium, the diminutive booths and scraggly aisles lend a certain mystique to the show. Quality has become an important feature for the show, and collectors travel from near and far to shop it.
Buyers began showing up for the 8:30 early buyers opening at the Tolland Middle School prior to 7 am, although everyone waits in their cars until the very last possible minute before being forced out into the arctic air. The line actually begins forming when enough cars have filled the parking lot to make the order of arrival a confusing issue. The school doors, and the warm foyer beyond, do not open until 8 am, and with the 11 degree weather, early shoppers are reluctant to stand around in the school’s courtyard for too long.
By 8:30, the line had filled the foyer, and beyond, and the crowd rushed in, quickly filling the aisles of both rooms as Bach gave the marching orders to let in the crowd. Business seemed good for many of the dealers, and lots of buyers were seen scurrying about with packages †some making more than one trip to the car to unload and facilitate further shopping.
Americana is the main fare at this show and the display of New Hampshire dealer Tommy Thompson greets shoppers as they enter the cafeteria. A nice red painted tap table covered with a selection of early treen bowls and trenchers in blue paint, flanked by two thumb back Pennsylvania chairs in bright yellow paint, enticed shoppers. A sign for the booth identifying the dealer proved unnecessary; the sled hanging nearby emblazoned with “Tommy” across the top did a fine job on its own.
Merrimacport, Mass., dealer Colette Donovan was set up across the aisle, and her booth featured a nice two-door jelly cupboard in a well-worn old blue paint. A selection of woven rugs, folk art hooked rugs and quilts were also attracting attention.
Displaying its usual selection of stunning country smalls, Stephen-Douglas, Rockingham, Vt., offered a brightly colored Lehn ware lidded bucket, an oblong burl bowl with recessed handles, an assortment of cast iron banks in original paint and a nice creamware coffee pot with bright floral decoration.
The term “candlestand” was given new meaning in the booth of New Hampshire dealer Sharon Platt, which displayed an early cabriole three-legged stand that had been made with a cross stretcher across the top, with each arm drilled its length with holes about an inch apart. Its purpose? A stand for dipping candles. Other interesting items in the booth included an early bed in blue paint, a wooden canteen with brightly painted markings “U.S.,” along with numerous other smalls that ranged from early lighting devices to a treen keg.
Two stuffed animals, a bear and an elephant, were offered in the booth of Wenham Cross, Topsfield, Mass., with the pair displayed as if they were having a private and very serious conversation. It seemed to be a political statement, perhaps a poignant one at that; however, proprietor Irma Lampert denied any knowledge of such affairs. A neat early wooden serving tray in great yellow paint, a flower basket in green paint and a cutting board in the shape of a cat were also creating waves with customers.
A good selection of mocha, Leeds and Whieldon was displayed at Hanauer and Seidman, dealers who maintain a shop in nearby Colchester, Conn. The selection of mocha ranged from a brightly colored bowl with parrot’s-eye decoration to an assortment of pepper pots decorated with earthworm, seaweed and banded designs.
Dan and Karen Olson, Newburgh, N.Y. displayed a nice chair table with a scrubbed top at the forefront of their stand. A set of paint decorated thumb backs surrounded it. Other items included an attractive Queen Anne drop leaf table and a cupboard in a natural mellow finish that was filled with a good selection of country smalls ranging from stoneware to a selection of paint decorated tole.
Jane Wargo offered a nice hanging corner cupboard; across the aisle were numerous Elmer Crowell decorative bird carvings at Brian Cullity, and back across the aisle was a stellar selection of painted tin document boxes and brightly glazed redware at Lewis Scranton.
Ellington dealers Karen and Paul Wendhiser added an interesting twist to their Americana display †silver jewelry, mostly from the Taxco region. Modernist forms and traditional designs were among the offerings, something that the dealer promises more of in the future.
It is less than a year until the next Tolland Antiques Show takes place. For further information, 860-872-7716.
