If anyone walked away hungry from the 90th anniversary celebration at Nathan Liverant and Son on Saturday, September 25, it was not the fault of the Liverants. In addition to a great fall day, a warm welcome was extended by the Liverant family and members of the staff as visitors passed through a tent set up at the front of the shop where food and a glass of champagne were offered.
A food table and raw bar, well stocked with oysters, clams and shrimp from Jon’s Fish Market, was an added attraction, while young ladies passed about the yard with trays of lobster treats and skewers of smoked salmon.
But it was really the celebration that people came for, a time to meet old friends, reminisce about treasures that came from the shop at 168 South Main Street, talk over the antiques business and what people collect, and extend congratulations to Arthur Liverant, his family and his staff.
“We had our first visitor just before 11 am, and at 3 pm the place was still crowded,” Arthur Liverant said. “As close as we can estimate, just under 400 people came and we are very happy and pleased,” he said on Monday. The Colchester Continentals Fife and Drum Corps entertained at 1 and 3 pm, gallery talks were enjoyed, and many took advantage of the “once only” 25 percent sale on the entire inventory in the shop.
It was a day for young and old, from a toddler in a stroller who someday might become a customer to a lady well into her nineties who has been a client since the early 1950s. And as one lady mentioned to Arthur after looking around, “There is a good feeling here, people are happy, and everyone is smiling.” “See what antiques can do for you,” is probably what Arthur was thinking at that moment.
⁒. Scudder Smith
