38th Annual Tolland Antiques Show

TOLLAND CONN.

: The Tolland Antiques Show, a popular one-day antiques show presented by the Tolland Historical Society, opened to a large and enthusiastic crowd on Sunday, February 22.

Tolland, now in its 38th year, is a treasure of a show that every collector of early American antiques that does not already know about it, should know about. The show, reminiscent of an event from days gone by, packs all of the excitement of a major country Americana event into a one-day small town New England show.

The show features 70 Americana specialists from eight states and both the dealers and management go all out for this event, insisting on a quality offering displayed within formal fully walled and papered booths.

Weather can be a major factor for this rural show, as many of the dealers will attest. "Surprisingly there was no snow, which is unusual for Tolland," commented dealer Dale Bland. While there was no snow for the actual day of the show, a combination of ice and snow blanketed the area the night before; however, clear skies and dry roads prevailed for the morning trek to Tolland. Lewis Scranton was also pleased with the clear roads, "This show is predicated on the weather, if it snows," stated the dealer, "no one comes, if it is clear, the people come out of the woodwork and we do great."

Braving the brisk presunrise air, a crowd began forming at the entrance to the show by 6 am. By opening at 8:30, the doors to the foyer had been opened and the majority of the crowd had been allowed to form a long snaky line inside the building. As the early buyers burst onto the floor, sold tags began to appear. Many of the dealers reported strong sales right from the start while others reported steady activity throughout the day. Show manager Kathy Bach related that several buyers had to finally be asked to leave the show late in the afternoon, well after it had closed and dealers were attempting to pack out.

"It is hard telling someone that they have to leave the show, especially when some dealers are still in the process of writing up sales slips for these customers, but for security reasons we had to do it," stated Bach.

David and Dale Bland of Horace Porter Antiques, South Windsor, Conn., had a "really good show" moving several large pieces of furniture. Dale Bland commented, "Tolland is a wonderful little show, it is well put together and the society does a great job for the dealers." The Blands reported a Boston Queen Anne highboy, circa 1770, with shell carved drawer selling early in the show, along with a tavern table, chair, and also a slant front desk that sold in the days after the show to a customer that had admired it on the floor.

Penny and Ron Dionne reported a "flurry of activity" that started as soon as the gate opened and lasted till the show closed. "We made sales right up to closing," stated the dealer, citing a large hooked rug with diamond patterns in a rich salmon color selling moments prior to the show closing at 4 pm. "People really like Tolland because it is such a fun show," she said, "They come because they believe they can find good things at fair prices. There just aren't many little shows like Tolland anymore."

The dealer pointed to a full range of merchandise being sold around the floor ranging from iron and decorative smalls to painted and refinished furniture. "We sold a Gonic redware jar, a Windsor armchair in red paint, a landscape painting, a candlestand and a decorated tole box and bread tray" from the more than a dozen sales they recorded.

Don Buckley of Buckley and Buckley Antiques, Salisbury, Conn., was a first-time exhibitor at the show and he stated, "It was wonderful. Tolland has always been one of the nicest country shows that we have ever seen and we wanted to be a part of it." Buckley explained that they have been shopping the show for years, so when a booth became available they grabbed it.

"We see a lot of old friends there," stated Buckley, and the amiable dealers surely made many more. The dealer reported eight sales for the day including a Middletown chest with scalloped apron in old red paint. The Buckleys also reported selling numerous smalls including several pieces of pottery and pewter.

A ten-year veteran of the show is Lewis Scranton and he serves up exactly the type of merchandise Tolland shoppers are looking for. "I had 26 sales," commented the dealer, "I was busy all day long and it was refreshingly nice." As with most of the dealers we spoke with, Scranton reported smalls selling extremely well, although contrary to what many others said, he did not do much in the way of furniture sales. "I sold a bunch of redware, several baskets, andirons and fireplace equipment," he proclaimed.

Pam and Martha Boynton also "did very well," with sales recorded on all different levels. "Tolland is one of our favorite shows; not only do we sell well there but we also buy well there. This year we found a bunch of stuff for ourselves." According to Pam, the dealers "sold spongeware, sconces, braided rugs, a mirror, a hanging wall shelf, two baskets, a two-drawer blanket chest and a Windsor arm chair."

Dan and Karen Olson, also ten-plus-year veterans of the show, reported numerous sales throughout the day. "In the first hour after early buying we had only sold one pair of watercolors and I began to think that maybe it wasn't going to happen this year," stated Karen Olson. "But as the regular crowd came in our sales accelerated to the point that we couldn't keep up at times."

The long list of items to move from their booth included a set of six bottle green country chairs decorated with strawberries and flowers, a small cupboard, a primitive painting of a young girl in a peach dress, a couple of Windsors, a Hudson River Valley painting, stoneware and pewter.