: "The weather is so great, it almost doesn't matter if I find
another treasure of not," one visitor to Antiques in a Cow
Pasture said on Saturday, September 11, at the flea market in
Salisbury. While everyone on the former Russell Carrell field
agreed on the weather, warm sunshine and cloudless skies, few
wanted to go home empty-handed and were busy sorting through the
merchandise presented by the 77 exhibitors.
Early buying started at 8 am and at 7:30 show manager Frank
Gaglio was ready to rethink the show. "We had only a handful of
people at that hour and I thought it was going to be a disaster,"
he said, but in the end 155 people showed up to shop the show
before the regular 10 am opening. "We were down only 13 people
from last year, so we plan to have early buying again in 2005,"
he said. He is also planning on admitting the dealers to the
field at 6 am and setup will take place over the next two hours
so that all will be ready when the early buyers come onto the
field.
People kept coming all day, the gate was good, and some visitors
arrived as late as 3:45 pm, leaving only a few minutes to shop as
the show closed at 4 pm.
"We are considering staying open until 5 pm next year, as
there is so much going on in Salisbury and the surrounding towns
that people can not work it all in during the time allowed," Frank
said. This year, in addition to the flea market, there was a house
tour in town, a wine festival nearby, stores conducting special
sales, and tag sales dotting the sides of the road.
Close to 1,200 people attended the show in the course of the day,
and many of the exhibitors reported good sales. And as with most
antiques events, the booths varied from country to formal, mixed
with some Victorian, lots of paint and old surfaces. There did
not seem to be as much garden and architectural elements, but
then again the season is drawing to a close.
A look at a number of the booths, and some of the objects
including a soapbox racer and a beautiful rowing canoe, is
presented here. And pictured with Frank Gaglio is another
antiques show manager, Sanford "Sandy" Smith, who has bought a
home near Great Barrington, Mass., and traveled over the hills to
enjoy the cow pasture.
