East Expo Field Antiques Show scored a big success in selling small antiques for the week, August 17′2, along a quarter mile of Route 20. Owned and managed by Mark Peavey of nearby Verona, N.Y., the market had about 150 exhibitors in the large tented spaces or open 20-by-20-foot areas where the exhibitors erected their own tents.
Peavey and his exhibitors clearly enjoy the shared publicity of the giant Madison-Bouckville Antiques Show held nearby over the August 20′2 weekend, but their show does have an aura all its own †small antiques from early American times. It is in this segment of the antiques marketplace that the show excels and supports the exhibitors.
Dealers at the show were generally sharing the comments of Stephanie Chiappa, the owner of Sandbank Antiques, Flemington, N.J. “My sales were good selling mostly smalls, but no furniture. I sold some rag rugs, early children’s clothing, a basket and more, enough for a good show for me,” she said. Annette Coletti, Hand Picked of Stowe, Vt., was exhibiting in the same tent with similar results.
Mapleside Antiques, Titusville, Penn., was there with a big truck load of great smalls and furniture. Business partners Cid Paden and Tom Varney were resting on their laurels of the week’s sales, again most of them small things.
Early lighting and small wooden objects, such as a great painted wall box, with a glass front for a candle, several crickets or footstools were among the sales that Horsefeathers Antiques had. Coming from Delhi, N.Y., the proprietor, Tom Newcomer was pleased with his results for the week.
Antiques at 30B is one shop in Cambridge, N.Y., with four partners, Dave and Bonnie Ferris and Bob and Janet Sherwood. At shows they frequently have two booths and here in East Expo they were side by side with their individual collections. They reported good sales in small accessories and also some furniture.
Many dealers at the show close their shops while exhibiting here. Turnpike Antiques Shop, Madison, N.Y., is so close that owners Jack and Dirinda Houghton could practically walk to their East Expo exhibit. Sales were very good for them at the show, Dirinda said, they sold a good deal of furniture, including a pie safe, architectural elements, various kinds of bed covers and early blankets, some Eighteenth Century doors and a great early wall box.
Exhibitors in the large multidealer tents included Mike Gallant, Glenburn, Maine, selling smalls and early collectibles; Margaret Jones with her daughter Barbara Klim from Montrose, Penn., selling some early lighting, a collection of nutmeg graters and miniature paintings, and The Rush Light Collectors Club offering early rush lighting and similar devices.
Dan Freeburg was in his own tent with furniture he collected in his home area, Wilcox, Penn., and in his travels to other shows. His sales included some of that furniture but more of the smalls. Pat and Fred Heisler, Smithville Flats, N.Y., were cutting back on their show activity this year, doing only this show for the week, and Pat said she was pleased with the decision because she had good sales of her early country antique accessories.
East Expo is an annual affair, managed by Mark Peavey and his family. Look for them again next year in the third week of August in the same place.
