A steady stream of shoppers entered the show beginning at 8:30 am. Society president Katherine Heminway estimated that about 500 came through before the show closed at 2 pm. There was a farmers market going on too, so Ellington’s Main Street was a busy place to navigate.

Review & Photos by W.A. Demers

ELLINGTON, CONN. — There are three essentials for a successful outdoor antiques show: good weather, support from the community and great vendors bringing interesting items. The May 4 Vintage & Antique Market, as the Ellington Historical Society styled it, had all three. The skies were halcyon with sun and a few puffy clouds. There was just enough of a cool breeze to make standing in the sun bearable. As soon as the show opened at 8 am, the more than 30 dealers arrayed around the farm-like property began doing a brisk business selling to a never-ending stream of shoppers who mainly came from Ellington itself and from nearby towns. There were not many New York and New Jersey license plates on cars parked on a grassy field to the right of the market and the society’s historic Nellie McKnight Museum.

“[The show] went pretty well overall,” said Katherine Heminway, the society’s president. “We had good attendance. Many people went through the museum. I think although we’ve never done it before, and we were a little panicky in the beginning at about 5:30 in the morning, people were coming in and we had to figure out the logistics for parking, I think it all went very well. And we’re really lucky because the community supports the Ellington Historical Society 100 percent!”

Heminway estimated that approximately 500 visitors came throughout the day between 8 am when the show opened and 2 pm when it closed.

“For the historical society it’s great,” continued Heminway. “We had done the shows in previous years and we tried to handle it all ourselves and it’s a little overwhelming. People would donate material and then we’d price it and put it all out. This year was the first time that we sold vendor spots and I think it was very successful for us. We did have three tables with donations, but it gave us more of a chance to interact with everybody and not worry about keeping track of sales.”

Built in 1812 and purchased by Nellie McKnight’s father in 1922, the Federalist-style house has eight rooms and originally had seven fireplaces. The McKnights occupied it until Nellie’s death in 1981 when it was bequeathed to the Ellington Historical Society to be used as a museum.

The three tables Heminway mentioned that were devoted to donations to the society were managed by Steve Beauks, an Ellington resident. A key sale for him was a dollhouse that was a replica of a historic house in Ellington to Marcel Aube and Jennifer Peyton who were seen loading it into the back of their car.
Allie Blair from Stratford, Conn., was one of the vendors set up on the expansive lawn at the rear of the museum. Collecting since she was 10, her business, Seed & Sewn, recycles gently used clothing and reclaims the seeds from fruits and vegetables gone bad.

First-time dealers included Ellington residents Nancy Emory and Kathy Whinnem. Sources for their merchandise included items they had acquired at Brimfield antiques markets and some from their parents’ attics. Anyone who spent $25 or more in their booth was given a free plant.

As one might expect from what is essentially a tabletop show, there was not much in the way of furniture, although Stafford, Conn., dealers Lisa Houlihan and Bill Desisto brought some sizeable furniture pieces that they acquired at shows or were part of their downsizing.

And one space was set up by Ellington residents Erik and Vern Badger showcasing handmade pieces with family history. A rocking cradle, for example, had been built for a daughter, now 39. She was one of three daughters, however, so additional cradles for her two sisters were needed. Their first time participating in a show, the Badgers were offering a prenuptial hutch that had been made before Vern had married his wife.

You never know what you’re going to find at Nicki Smith’s stand. The 75-year-old dealer works with the probate court and cleans out whole households to gather her material. The shelves these shoppers are perusing here hold items that came out of one house. Hartford, Conn., resident Smith, seen peeking through the end of the shelves, is very active, doing 27 shows a year.

Nicki Smith, the 75-year-old Hartford, Conn., dealer is all business. She works with the probate court and cleans out whole households to gather her material.

Even the town’s first selectman got in on the action. Republican Lori Spielman, who was elected to a 5th term last November, also had a landscaping business but is now selling her tools, “Things that we’re not using,” she explained.

Driving to Brimfield on Route 19 one is bound to see the 20-by-40-foot tent and the two 20-by-10-foot tents proclaiming “Antiques!” They are owned by Eileen and Mike Vaughn of Stafford Springs who also commanded a sizeable hunk of real estate at the Ellington show, offering baskets, Shaker smalls, cast iron banks, turned wooden bowls and much more.

Pickle-themed items with a special connection to Ellington were offered from a stand managed by Ann Harford, a town resident. The myth of the “Pickle Incident” stems from a Hartford Courant article in May 1948 detailing how vats of rancid pickles were ordered to be destroyed in Ellington. From that came the slogan “If it doesn’t bounce, it’s not good.”

“Guaranteed to pucker one’s cheeks, pickle-themed items have a special connection to Ellington,” says Ann Harford, a town resident. The myth of the “Pickle Incident” stems from a Hartford Courant article in May 1948 detailing how vats of rancid pickles were ordered destroyed in Ellington. From that came the slogan, “If it doesn’t bounce, it’s no good.”

Visitors would be remiss for not checking out all that the Ellington Historical Society has to offer. It’s mission is to collect, preserve and share the history of their rural agricultural community through collections, exhibitions and events.

The Nellie McKnight Museum itself is at 70 Main Street, which is the heart of the town’s historical district. Dating back to 1733, when it was established as a parish of the town of Windsor, Ellington split off and incorporated itself in May 1786.

Built in 1812 and purchased by Nellie McKnight’s father in 1922, the Federalist-style house has eight rooms and originally had seven fireplaces. The McKnights occupied it until Nellie’s death in 1981 when it was bequeathed to the Ellington Historical Society to be used as a museum.

Inside the historic museum was a self-guided tour. Of interest in the kitchen was original decorative wall stenciling dating from the 1830s, some of which had been recently restored, as well as a built-in pantry showing what family life was like in early Twentieth Century.

Society show managers Marie Bedor, treasurer, left, and Katherine Heminway, president, take a minute on the museum’s back porch to step away from the busy market. “It’s the third year of doing the show,” said Heminway. “The weather helps — and we get great support from the community.”

The museum provides vignettes of the area’s history through displays throughout its rooms. There is, for example, a display devoted to history of Crystal Lake in Ellington from the early 1800s through present time. Within the primarily German-Swiss immigrant community, the lake, once called “Little Coney Island,” attracted thousands of tourists and daytime visitors with its dance halls, beaches, boat races, recreation and more. Its darker history includes what is known as the “Crystal Lake Tragedy,” involving a family feud that turned deadly in 1896 between two men related by marriage.

There’s even a display that relates Ellington’s “pickle incident” based upon newspaper accounts of the two men who were arrested in 1948, accused of conspiring to sell pickles that were unfit for human consumption. Investigating officials from the state’s Food & Drugs Department spoke of it as the case of the “pickles that wouldn’t bounce.”

Artifacts, tools and antique equipment tell the story of the area’s agricultural past in the separate building containing the museum’s farm exhibit.

“It was a great experience,” concluded the society’s Heminway, speaking about the show, “and we’ll do it again next year.” No date has been set as yet. “We’ll be looking at next year’s calendar,” she said. For information, www.ellingtonhistsoc.org.