It began as an antiques event in a town filled with antiques shops to increase the business in Jock Hengst’s restaurant, the Landmark Tavern. The first year, 1971, it was just a nice weekend in the back field for about 40 exhibitors, but the word got out and it grew like a weed in the corn patch to nearly 1,000 dealers in just a few years. The size has leveled off at about 750 for many years now, but the show over time has spawned many other open air markets, about 20 all told.
Madison-Bouckville Outdoor Antiques Show was conducted August 15‱7 with more than 750 exhibiting dealers who came from virtually all the states east of the Mississippi River and some from farther west. Located about 100 miles west of Albany, N.Y., Bouckville is a small hamlet where antiques are a very big pastime and where the businesses cater to the shoppers most of the year, fostering a great deal of activity and just plain fun in the buying and selling of antiques. The environment has been making antiques shoppers and sellers feel comfortable spending the August week searching out the best additions to their collections and inventories. In essence, visitors consider it “The Well,” where fresh antiques come to market for the first time.
Opening for setup and early buying on Friday, August 15, there were hundreds waiting at the gates for the early release, with the best weather the show has had in several years. Hengst had the same five giant tents as in years past, plus two more for 22 exhibitors in each to show their collections. These spaces are very popular for they are large enough for big exhibits, while staying out of the sun’s heat and rain. It also gives the show a more closely knit area for the shoppers.
Don and Marta Orwig, Corunna, Ind., were offering their collection of early Americana, folk art and old advertising materials. Additionally, Don Orwig had recently started to find a market in old industrial objects. Among their first sales of the long weekend were some circular springlike objects that had been used in the harvesting and storage of grain in big Midwestern silos. He sold all of the devices, which were about 3 feet in diameter and a foot wide, at the show’s opening.
Also from Indiana, Tom and Rose Cheap of Period Antiques, Scottsburg, were selling early painted furniture and household objects.
Madison-Bouckville has a reputation as a source for early folk art and primitives, and this year the show lived up to its past standards. Loudonville Folk Art had a tent filled with its collection of American-made objects, which were first useful, but also made to please the eye. There was a charming polychrome birdhouse, resembling some of the most elaborate Victorian-era homes, and a blanket chest painted to resemble Hepplewhite inlays, but in very strong colors over a green body.
Doug and Lisa Baldwin found a rare bird, a period Chippendale chest of drawers in original paint with provenance from a sea captain’s home on Cape Cod. They added it to the inventory of their business, Rarebird Antiques of Oswego, N.Y., for $1,225.
Surrounding the big tents were rows of exhibiting dealers in their own smaller tents and pop-ups. Among them was Fred Heisler, taking a break after unloading and organizing all his and his wife Pat’s collection for the show. The Heislers have been at Madison-Bouckville for many years, coming from Smithville Flats, N.Y., not too far away, where they collect early painted pieces and primitive American-made household accessories.
Rare and unusual early iron tools and household objects were a focus for Pricia Samascott’s collection. This Rock City Falls, N.Y., dealer was showing an assortment of early American-made pieces, including a tommy lamp or sticking tommy; an iron band, about 6 inches long, curved like a paper clip, with a sharp pointed end to force into a fireplace mantel, and in the curve, a cup for holding a candle. The price for this 200-year-old antique was $125.
Fine early hardwood furniture was available from Ponzi’s, antiques dealers from Trumansburg, N.Y. Exhibiting at the show for many years, they traded in fine solid and veneer pieces from the Eighteenth Century. An American New England desk with tambour top and flip top writing surface, in mahogany and some other inlays, and a painted chest of drawers were typical of the pieces in their collection.
Sporting antiques and sports memorabilia are the stock for Doug and Diane McElwain of Goldsboro, N.C. For this year’s show, there were college pennants, a cheerleader’s megaphone, sports equipment for many American and English games, and even an assortment of fishing gear, including the necessary boat.
Ken and Jan Silveri trade in that special early furniture they find near their Pennsylvania home in Hamburg; they also presented a selection of early quilts and bed coverlets and early transfer ware dishes. Splendor in the Glass, Harrison, N.Y., offered glass from the last 50 to 200 years in its portion of one of the big tents. Waverly, N.Y., dealer Hank Laman was offering his inventory in very early brass and copper, including Queen Anne period candlesticks and copper pots and pans.
Early English ironstone dishes are still popular, even though this material has been in everyday use for the past 175 years, according to Jim and May Ker. Through their business, Cavern View Antiques of Howe’s Cavern, N.Y, they collect and sell only this, and for the show their sales were “good; including lots of ironstone pitchers,” Jim Ker said.
Linens primarily for the dining table are the principal inventory for Donna Shannon. She and her mother exhibited together at this show, offering stacks of the early tablecloths, napkins and accessories, as well as a collection of early ephemera, consisting mainly of children’s books. Shannon, from Chapel Hill, N.C., reported, “Sales were good, very good, with more than 100 transactions during the three days.”
Fine art was there, too, with several dealers exhibiting. Bill Union is the proprietor of Art & Antiques Gallery in Worcester, Mass. His offerings here were fine art from the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, including several landscapes and nautical paintings from listed artists.
Peter Moses collects small antiques and some furniture, usually smaller pieces as well. For Madison-Bouckville, this North Syracuse, N.Y., dealer was selling paint decorated objects, including several school boxes.
Dennis Christenson, Unadilla, N.Y., was pleased to have sold a large quantity of industrial antiques, including a collection of chairs made of a nonferrous metal alloy. Gale Zelnick, Mount Dora, Fla., was selling early oil and candle lighting. Mary Ann and Frank Brandt, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, sold early country furniture, including a primitive walnut harvest table with one leaf and a collection of early earthenware.
Popular at the show were collections of early containers of patent products for home use. These containers are considered early advertising and now have become decorative accessories to modern homes. Paul Hotchkiss, Erieville, N.Y., was offering a collection of these pieces as well as other small country decorating accessories.
Edgewood Antiques, Greenville S.C., was selling early stoneware in good quantity. The owners, David and Karen Metcalf, are originally from the area, so this becomes a trip back to visit, but their sales, according to Dave Metcalf, were well worth the trip.
Madison-Bouckville is only once a year, but for all these 37 years there have been many who make the trip for good antiques and good sales, according to Hengst. It will happen again August 14‱6, 2009. There are several other shows in the area throughout the year with details for visitors and exhibiting dealers available. For information, www.bouckvilleantiqueshows.com or 315-824-2462.
Show Spawns Many Satellite Happenings
Madison and Bouckville are two hamlets in central New York, too small to get a listing in the Rand McNally Atlas index, but they are spots on the map. That may be because during one week each summer, they explode with crowds of people shopping for early Americana, folk art and antique home furnishings.
It all began more than 40 years ago when the area became known for the antiques found in area shops. Locals claim that there were about 100 such businesses along a 20-mile stretch of US Route 20. These were complemented with the Madison-Bouckville Outdoor Antiques Show started by Jock Hengst in 1971 with about 40 dealers. In a couple of years, the show grew to its current size, ranging each year from 750 dealers to as many as 950, and conducted in the week ending with the third Saturday of August.
That show has spawned several others. This year, during the week of August 11‱7, there were several large gatherings of antiques and collectibles dealers and many smaller gatherings. Quaker Acres West, East Expo and Bono’s are among the largest and best-known of these satellite shows, but the road between the two hamlets is lined with tents covering the antiques and the dealers who are selling them.
Quaker Acres West
Quaker Acres West was started by Jim Antinore about 1990. He had been exhibiting at the Adams Family’s Quaker Acres Antiques Show in Brimfield, Mass., for about 15 years before and, in fact, had been managing the show for the family. At Bouckville, he was looking for some immediate recognition for his new event, so the name was appropriated from the established show for his new activity. Co-managing it was his brother, Dave Antinore.
Several years ago, Jim Antinore’s sons, Jim and Steve, took over and continue to manage it even though each has an unrelated business that he runs the rest of the year.
The field, located on the north side of Route 20, is among the first when approaching from the east, large and imposing with many large tents hosting more than 150 dealers. The exhibitors’ collections range from the earliest American home furnishings to late collectibles, such as Mattel and Tonka Toys.
Tony Ferro’s Antiques is on a street facing a space filled with furniture collected from the region. His offerings included a pair of bentwood rocking chairs in a dark finish, circa 1900, and priced at $750. There was also a collection of architectural remnants, including store cupboards, painted columns and modillions, which are large brackets decorating the overhang of a roof. A large harvest table and benches were available for $2,000.
Early advertising in the form of containers that were paint and print decorated are among the most prominent pieces in the Country Lady Antiques’ collection. From Saratoga Springs, N.Y., the owners, Barbara and Jim Lesniewski, have been doing this show for many years.
Kathy Broer and Barbara Freeman brought their collections, including early blown glass Christmas tree ornaments, to the show. There was a large collection of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century engineering instruments and an ivory mah jong set in its original box offered in the exhibit from Fay and Ted Palen of Tunkhannock, Penn.
The Antinore brothers work together organizing the annual event, with sales on site from Monday through Sunday of Madison-Bouckville show week. Steve takes care of the on-field arrangements while Jim, an attorney practicing in North Carolina, takes calls and works with exhibitors. For information, 252-329-9111.
East Expo Antiques Show
Mark Peavey started East Expo with his brother and another partner about 15 years ago; for the last ten years he has managed it alone with more than 100 dealers. The street row comprises dealers in their own tents, trailers or even, in some cases, open space. Behind that is a row of large tents for many more exhibitors.
Inventories are dominated by country and early American furnishings, but many exhibitors have mixed inventories. Greg Hall from Cortland, N.Y., was offering vintage fishing tackle and tools.
Flying Cat Antiques from Otisco N.Y., was selling items with great color. There were paint decorated chairs from Pennsylvania, a red table, a blue pie safe, a red cupboard and various boxes, firkins and butter boxes in an assortment of colors. Another dealer in early woodenware was Ron Stayer, Lowman, N.Y. His collection included several painted items, such as a charming early server in red milk paint with cut design to the backsplash and decorative cutouts at the side for the feet.
In a tent filled to overflowing was Mapleside Antiques, Titusville, Penn. Cid Paden and Tom Varney were selling small antiques, including early dishes, stoneware, decorative pieces and even some furniture.
From Stowe, Vt., Hand Picked Antiques was offering a collection of early painted items, such as firkins and pantry boxes, but the collection also included early hooked rugs. There was one with a wandering bear and another with a pattern of circles.
Peavey said his dealers were “generally happy with the week, sales seemed as strong as last year. This show has a good following and my dealers generally told me it was a strong selling venue for them.” Open from Monday through Saturday, with some staying for Sunday, the show returns next summer in June, as well as during the Madison-Bouckville week. For information, 315-363-5262.
Bono’s Antiques Show at Cider House Antiques
Cider House Antiques is one of the many older shops on the Madison-Bouckville Road. It was begun by Joe and Ann Bono in 1982, and as the big show developed just across the street, the Bonos began to spread into the backyard. Nephew Steve Bono bought the business in 1994 and has been building it into the 200 dealers it now contains, while keeping the shop open all year as well.
Tents on this field are the big, long ones for many dealers with center aisles, allowing easy access for customers. Eileen Lape came to the show from Lebanon, Penn., with an assortment of furniture, including several large cupboards and chests in original painted surfaces.
There were collections of dishes in many styles from early earthenware to some midcentury styles. Early furniture from primitive styles to Larkin oak was available in these tents.
Bono keeps the shop open all year with early small antiques in most of the displays. The show is just the one week of August. For information, 315-893-7483.
For a central source of information about shows in the area, contact Jim Walter, executive director of Madison County Tourism Inc, at 800-684-7320, or visit www.madisontourism.com.
