Review and Photos by R. Scudder Smith
INDIAN LAKE, N.Y. – A young man pulled out his phone, dialed rapidly, and spoke in an excited voice, telling someone that “I am off to a great start, two beaver mounts and six nice canoe paddles, three with original paint decoration.” That young man could only be one place, shopping the Indian Lake Antiques Show on Wednesday, September 13, the official first day of this annual event.
He was not the only one seeking a treasure. A couple of stands away a lady was admiring an early tea kettle, held aloft by a vendor who saw a potential sale. Apparently the price asked was out of the shopper’s range, so the dealer was trying to close the deal by saying, “It’s a great buy, can’t go any lower, and I am making just $5 over what I paid for it.” It appeared that more bargaining was coming, so we moved along.
It is taking great liberty when mentioning a dealer’s stand, as it is not even close. Vendors rent the front lawn of a home on Route 28, sometimes with privy rights, and set up tents; others join friends who happen to lave a large garage, and a few just open the doors of their vehicles and spread things on the ground.
A longtime vendor at Indian Lake, formerly showing at the Adirondack Antiques Show at the Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, is Jon Magoun, officially known as the Magoun Bros. Actually, Jon should be known as The Ringmaster, as his site grows larger each year. This year the two largest tents, and much of the surrounding open space, was filled with Adirondack material belonging to Jon and Robert Ross. Fourteen other dealers, all under tents, joined The Ringmaster this year, creating a mini flea market that attracted a steady flow of visitors from Sunday to Sunday. “We came early this year, setting up three days before the actual start of the Indian Lake Antiques Show, and took our tents down a week later,” Jon said. He also mentioned that “We saw more people this year than in the past, and business was good”.
It is fun, and often very rewarding, to stroll the sidewalks of Indian Lake at show time. Lots of people are doing it, more this year than in years past, making new friends, and being exposed to a great variety of Adirondack and material that runs the gamut from old and genuine to some things that just pretend to be old.
The dates of next year’s show have not been announced. Stay tuned.
