The crowds were almost as numerous and diverse as the goods for sale. Brimfield Antique Shows photo.

Review & Onsite Photos by Z.G. Burnett

DEERFIELD, N.H. — The weekend of October 11-12 saw a population surge of more than 18,000 people in Deerfield, N.H., all headed to the town’s fairground where the booths of Brimfield North were full of wares and open for business. Created out of necessity during the time of pandemic restrictions, the upper New England iteration of Brimfield Antique Shows (BAS) drew buyers who otherwise would not — or could not — attend the market in its original location. License plates from neighboring states, as well as Canada, were abundant in the packed parking lot. Traffic directors did their best to avoid being run down while organizing cars and pedestrians at opening, all eager to access the field and its hidden treasures therein. “It was truly a WOW weekend,” wrote Klia Ververidis, CEO of and co-owner of BAS with her husband, Arthur Crisafulli. “We were expecting a big crowd but not [that many] people.”

Known as the “Brimfield Effect,” the rising attendance numbers in both this and the original Massachusetts location have been growing steadily in past years. Social media promotion from dealers, customers and BAS itself recruits new members into the antiques and vintage fold each season. Those with more focused shopping goals are recommended to attend the early buying hours, if anything to avoid pedestrian traffic jams and collapsible wagon-related incidents. Brimfield North showed a marked increase of young families and customers in the 18-40 age bracket, a number of whom were drawn by this year’s subtitle, “The Oddities, Curiosities and Haunted Antiques Show.” Free parking and admittance of children under the age of 17 were other business-savvy perks. The ever-growing popularity of Salem, Mass., as a Halloween season destination contributed to Brimfield North’s success; a good deal of travelers from outside New England were combining their market days with a visit to Witch City, located only an hour and a half south.

This vintage straitjacket, which is reportedly haunted, was from the Rockland State Hospital, Orangeburg, N.Y. Displayed by Are You Afraid of the Dark? Paranormal Events LLC.

Dealers and vendors alike enthusiastically catered to this theme. There was no set “oddities area,” so customers were encouraged to explore the entire market. Headlining the initiative was Black Rose Antiques & Oddities, owned and operated by Mason and Jennifer Graham. The Loudon, N.H., business’s presence was emphatically announced by the couple’s 1996 Buick Roadmaster Eureka hearse, along with signage pointing to their pavilion. Mason headed the shop’s booth, offering antique medical instruments, vintage taxidermy and osteological specimens, “ugly head” jars and other creepy-cool bits and bobs. Jennifer conducted “duck crafting” classes similar to those offered in their brick and mortar location, instructing attendees how to properly mount and dress real taxidermy ducklings.

Sharing Black Rose’s space was a collection of allegedly haunted objects and investigative equipment from Are You Afraid of the Dark? Paranormal Events LLC, for display and educational purposes but not for sale.

Seemingly tailor-made to suit BAS’s Halloween theme, New Hampshire dealer Creeps & Antiques brought a wide selection of vintage decorations, medical and mortuary artifacts, a large collection of uranium glass and more. One standout piece was an expertly framed headstone rubbing, done in 1979, from the marker of Moses Graves. His story is almost too on-the-nose to be true: son of Captain Moses and Experience Graves, young Moses died at age 16 from injuries sustained in a cart accident on October 31, 1794. That’s right, Moses Graves died on Halloween. His gravestone remains intact at Hillsboro Cemetery, Leverett, Mass., and the rubbing sold before noon on the first day.

Grave rubbing is currently illegal without official permission in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but this framed example from Creeps & Antiques, New Hampshire, was dated 1979.

Those in search of more traditional antiques had the rest of the field, the majority brought by nearby dealers who were happy to share their goods’ stories. Heidi MacPhee of A Storied Past, Guilford, N.H., presented a vintage pair of double-sided hanging signs from the 1930s that once belonged to Chatham Pines, a defunct New Hampshire campground, and were found at an estate sale in that town. MacPhee showed the heavy signs’ vibrant surfaces that seemed almost fresh compared to their faded reverse. Originally owned from about 1908 by Harry Bemis and his wife, Pearl Walker, the campground was sold to Foster and Elizabeth (Baker) Sturtevant in 1940 and operated until 1953. Today, it is survived by only memories, picture postcards and, most likely, these signs.

Another piece (or pieces) of New Hampshire history was found outside the milk bottle booth of Milford, N.H.’s, Jim George, but did not quite fit that bill. A tall, five-piece library cabinet faced the footpath with a sign that read, “Proceeds going to First Congregational Church, Milford.” It was represented by Janell George, church member and community administrator in that town. George explained that this cabinet was one of four that were formerly used in the Laconia Public Library, moved to the Belmont Historical Society when catalog cards became obsolete, then again to the Belknap City Hall’s extension office where they sat for more than 20 years. The cabinets were produced by the Globe-Wernicke Company, Cincinnati, known for its high quality stacking shelving units and even for patenting the “elastic bookcase.”

Contemporary readers may recognize this term better as barrister’s bookcases, which were included with all four cabinets. Its label indicated production in the early Twentieth Century, complete with catalog and finish numbers. A second cabinet of this collection is located in the New Hampshire Antique Co-op, also in Milford, also represented by George to benefit the church.

Represented by Milford, N.H., local Janell George, this was just one of four five-piece Globe-Wernicke cabinets available, with all proceeds to benefit the town’s First Congregational Church.

Andrew Gianattasio of Naples, Maine, brought an even more personal assembly of items to BAS. He presented a group of photographs and letters from Philip Breed, Lynn, Mass., that were found in a Harrison, Maine, estate. Breed wrote the letters to family and friends while on active duty during World War I, and the lot included his enlistment photograph in naval uniform. Later photographs show him with his own family and receiving honors in business. Online records only produce a single record of a Lynn-born Philip Munro Breed in 1895, but no date of death or descendants. Perhaps with this publication, any existing members of Breed’s family might find a treasure trove of their own history.

The newer iteration of BAS was overheard to be “how Brimfield used to be,” according to many market-goers, with fewer retail shop pop-ups and more non-dealers just selling their “stuff” and willing to engage in good, old-fashioned haggling. Operating on a single, large fairground instead of jumping around to individual fields may contribute to this sentiment, in addition to the variety of inventory and prices presented. It was a picker’s delight with more of a “flea market” energy that spurred visitors to dive deep for that one special something — or special somethings. Whether Brimfield North is actually such a departure from the current scene of its southern relative or not, there’s no question that the sheer number of visitors attests to the growing popularity attached to the Brimfield name. The keys, as with any market, are to buy a ticket online, arrive early, bring your own bags and go to the ATM before arriving, just in case the on-site ATM’s cash runs out. Or, come as you please. BAS is supposed to be fun, and it is.

BAS will return to Brimfield, Mass., on the Hertan’s field, when the Brimfield Antique Flea Markets open for the 2026 season, May 12-17. For information, 781-324-4400 or www.brimfieldliveonline.com.