Brisk Business In Brimfield

BRIMFIELD, MASS.

:Weather can be a problem at Brimfield, the world-famous weeklong flea market held three times each year in this otherwise quiet New England village, but not usually in July. This year, however, was different as there were alternating days of blazing summer sun and rain that impacted the weary and muddied shoppers by week's end.

Visitors on Tuesday's opening were the luckiest as the skies were sunny and blue but Wednesday morning was rain from the start, heavy at times for the opening of New England Motel at 6 am and light rain at the opening of Heart-O-The-Mart. Hertan's was the lucky one that day with rain subsiding by its noon opening and then holding off until Friday morning after the opening of J&J's.

But for the visitors in town, rain was not really a deterrent until Friday afternoon; Saturday morning's partly cloudy skies quickly revived spirits.

The week got off to a brisk start on Tuesday with great antiques and some collectables on display in all the opening shows. Customers and dealers were anxiously shopping and selling at first light in the "open" fields for furniture and accessories. In the Vermont Tent at Green Acres where Greg Hamilton and friends offered their collections, business was reported as good. Mr. Hamilton had as usual several room settings of furniture including a Sheraton stand and accessories. David Thompson, Middlebury, offered an early porcelain sink, and Mike Seward was there with small antiques from his Pittsfield shop.

The Meadows has a large tent about halfway back the center aisle with several dealers sharing the space. Don Schweikert, Watertown, Ohio, brought a pair of architectural lions, about three feet long, that were priced at $950. Larry Baum is from Sumpter, S.C., and he seems to find the unusual for their shared space. His contribution this time was an early painted tall cupboard with doors on the front and back. Mr Baum said it was found in the South and its construction was typical of early Nineteenth Century but there was no provenance to explain its unusual construction.

Dealer's Choice is one of the fields with an admission fee and it opened at its usual 11 am with a good July crowd on hand to pick the field. About 400 exhibiting dealers, not the maximum capacity of the field but typical for this summer session, offered a diverse assortment of wares. Exhibits included The Maggs of Conway, Mass., with an unusual Jacobean box that Mr Maggs said was made from an early bible box, in oak circa 1720 and priced at $350. Bill Gittes had a collection of hog scraper candlesticks, about a dozen, which he explained showed their individual ages based upon how they were constructed.

North River Auction Gallery, Saugerties, N.Y., is Dan Seldin's and Chris Bouchard's business but they also still do some of the shows. Here they offered a great looking early garden bench for less than $400 and some wicker porch furniture for $2,400. David Horst came in from Lebanon, Penn., with a collection of mocha ware. Joining him was Carol Lewis, Frederick, Md., with a very well-made sampler in excellent condition for $4,800.

Across the street, Brimfield Acres North opened at 1 pm with the temperature rapidly on the rise. Perhaps due to the usual sweltering July heat there were numerous open spaces on the field but customers still came in large numbers to search out the great stuff. This field seems to have the widest mix with auctioneer Dave Straight at the entry offering early country-style furniture and some old signs. More furniture was available from Ohioan Matt Ehresman with a cream painted step back cupboard from New York State for $2,400 and a Sheraton Stand from Baker's Antiques, Georgetown, Mass., was $450.

There was a large tent in the back of this field with dealers offering antique objects that are nicknamed "smalls" Among them was Robert Bauver who offered two very small Pima Indian baskets, one with cover at $150 and the other for $265.

Ken and Jan Silveri are dealers from Hamburg, Penn., who set up shop at several fields during most Brimfield Weeks, first here then on Wednesday at Hertan's.

Wednesday morning saw torrents of rain as New England Motel prepared for its opening. Despite the downpour, shoppers made their way into the field in droves and seemingly concentrated their buying efforts within the three large pavilions. As the morning wore on, the rains subsided gradually and more and more stuff attracted the attention of shoppers at the Motel.

The rain was reduced to merely a drizzle by the time Heart-O-The-Mart was ready to open at 9 am and a large crowd of anxious shoppers awaited the opening under a canopy of umbrellas. As Pam Moriarity prepared to open the gates, umbrellas were packed away and the crowd was ready for action. Shoppers rushed the field and it was brisk business as usual across the field.

And then about 11:30 am the aisles started filling at Jean Hertan's with the anticipation of opening at noon. When the starting bell finally sounded the early morning rains had stopped and the atmosphere was festive with fast spending.

Jim Biondi from Maine was missing his hired porter so he put out everything he could handle alone in just minutes. At about 12:10 he was so out of breath he could hardly speak but he got out the prices on his goods and was selling rapidly. A Pembroke table, English, oak went in moments, a Georgian period child's rocker, some signs and more furniture, all went fast and furious. The Renschens from Middletown, Conn., were too busy to look up and there were more. It seemed the customers had saved their energy during the early rain for this noon opening.

Early Thursday morning is a time for customers to arrive and shop the so called "free fields" close to the village. Bill Kelly recently returned to Limington, Maine, to be closer to the source of the antiques he collects and trades and was selling at Central Park. Shelton's, Sturtevant's and Mahogany Ridge are the eastern-most fields and buyers were visiting prior to the day's big opening, Mays Antique Market at 9 am. When Mays opens, do not stand in the way for the customers will come in running as if to get ahead of the stampeding buffalo.

They came to Bill Gittes who held out some items from earlier in the week including a train weathervane to show it first at Mays. Chatworth Auctions, Mamaroneck, N.Y., offered a 1950s bar, back bar and stools for $1,750. Stephen-Douglas, Rockingham, Vt., had a set of paint decorated chairs for $1,900 and Robert Perry offered a blue milk painted step back cupboard to a New Jersey dealer at a discount from the $3,500 price tag but the prospect declined.

The last of the fields to open for the week is always J&J, the original Brimfield Antiques Flea market actually tracing its roots to auctioneer Gordon Reed, the father of Jill Lukash and Judy Maythieu who are also known as The Sisters. J&J is the largest of all the fields and this July was no exception even with rain forecast, the 6 am opening on Friday morning had good crowds running about to find that special item for their collection or inventory.

Wendy Cornwall, Orange, Mass., had a three-drawer chest for $250, The Rouillards from Plainfield, Conn., were offering a tilt top table for $860 and Rhode Island dealer Daniel Romani had a step back cupboard for $1,999, and a mule chest with original strap hinges for $895, both from the Eighteenth Century. Pete Lukash, husband to Jill, is a dealer in his own right and he sold a pair of New Hampshire Chippendale chairs that were "probably made by the same guy but there are some minor differences."

Later in the morning the rains became very heavy with dealers hunkering down inside their tents and customers going back to their hotels. Saturday, however, offered good weather again and all seemed to get back to the work at hand - trading antiques.

"The weather was certainly a factor this time but the crowds seemed to hang in there for the week," according to Tim May, who also runs Brimfield Exchange, the information site on the street for the week and on the web.

September 6-11 is the next gathering of the faithful for antiques, some collectables and decorator things and it will be in the same place - that wide spot in the road about 90 miles from Boston and 200 miles from New York City. If you like the hunt this is the place to visit.