Madison-Bouckville Antiques Show Sets Attendance & Sales Records

BOUCKVILLE, N.Y.

:The 34th Annual Outdoor Madison-Bouckville Antiques Show is now history and a good history at that with nearly full capacity in dealers and great weather accommodating perhaps the largest crowds ever.

Madison-Bouckville Antiques show is now a three-day event with about a thousand exhibiting dealers, and this year, according to Jock Hengst founder and manager, nearly 20,000 visitors. The show setting is about 100 miles west of Albany, N.Y., and just 20 miles south of Utica. Being so situated, it is far enough west to attract many dealers from the Midwest and South as exhibitors as well as large numbers of visitors who cannot travel as far as New England for a weekend, while still being close enough for New Englanders and people from the East Coast to come. This location contributes to the continued success of this once a year event.

The date for the show has always been the third weekend of August, this year, August 19-21, with dealers setting up on Thursday, but not opening until 10 am on Friday morning. By keeping the antiques covered and boxes closed until that starting time, early buyers could get onto the field and be ready to pounce on their possible purchases at the first moment; it also raised the emotional levels so customers might act more quickly. Whatever the plan, according to Hengst and most dealers' comments after the show, it worked again this year.

Hengst considers the activities of his crew of porters as a gauge for the sales, and from Friday morning until late Sunday they had trouble keeping up with the demands to bring heavy or large pieces to the loading area. Countless dealers in post show interviews expressed their satisfaction at the sales from their inventories, enough so that one Texas dealer was concerned about how to get sufficient merchandise for the next two weekends of shows in the Northeast. His only salvation was having the cash to spend to refill the space in his trailer.

Jan and Ken Silveri, Hamburg, Penn., sold both small antiques and furniture. Jan said their dishes were selling all weekend and they brought many pieces of big furniture, which also found new homes. Shantiques is the business of Donna Shannon from Chapel Hill, N.C. Her merchandise is virtually all antique and vintage linen. In the front of her booth was an 8-foot table which, on Friday, in the course of five hours she changed from small sachet pillows to table linens and then to large bed pillows all because her sales kept depleting the display.

Decorative Pleasures deals in furniture primarily from the Nineteenth Century that was made in New York State. Since they are from Rochester, their searching is not too taxing and they came with a very large supply of Victorian and French furniture. Their sales included a sofa and chair set, rococo-style in off white, $2,950; and a French-made mahogany veneer sideboard from a Hepplewhite inspired design circa 1900 for $2,500. Chris Brady and his partner in this show, Regina Gonek, were sharing the double booth and Chris said they were pleased with their total sales of these items and more.

Dealers from afar included Michael Breddin from Brenham, Texas. Calling his business "Leftovers from Brenham" he sold many pieces of furniture which were in, as he called it, "early paint." That describes furniture that was customarily made by the user for their own special needs and often to their own design. One such piece was a flower bin with spice drawers in red buttermilk paint priced at $1,850 and also a very large salmon colored painted wardrobe. Another ensemble was a round table made from a cast iron pedestal with scrubbed top, $450; and four green chairs, pine plank seats in green for $395.

Small Black Forest bears were among the featured items offered by Sandra Butler from Sarasota, Fla. She had several that were tabletop models including a pair about 12 inches long, each priced at $3,800 and a standing bear for $1,500.

Other dealers who traveled far included Ron Broughman from Matamora, Mich., who came with a paint decorated dome top miniature blanket box from Newburyport, Mass. The price was only $450 and he sold it before 10:15 am Friday morning, no surprise. By late Friday afternoon his booth had many holes in it due to sales including another blanket box, a stand, a chest of drawers and many small antiques. Doug and Diane McElwain were there with their unique collection of antique sporting paraphernalia. In a post show telephone conversation, Doug said their sales were good, but during the show they were too busy to talk!

Chicagoan Rod Bartha was offering a Peter Hunt open hutch. Hunt was a paint decorator of furniture and also kitchens who lived in the first half of the Twentieth Century on Cape Cod plying his trade. Often his work involved paint decorating a client's home then painting several other pieces for the same household. The piece offered by Bartha would have been one of those paint decorated on an older body.

David and Karen Metcalf always come to the show with their collection for although they now live in South Carolina the area was their original home. This show allows them to shop their old sources and visit old friends.

Hengst was pleased to report good attendance and sales for the show this year and he said good weather helped. Dates for next year will be August 17-20 including set-up and early buying days.

For information, 315-824- 2462 or www.bouckvilleantiqueshows.com.