Tommy Thompson and Charles “Butch” Berdan, exhibitors at the Greater York Antiques Show, were first in line and led the early buyers into the Historic East Berlin Antiques Show preview on Thursday evening, May 17, at the Community Center. There, 32 dealers were set up in the main hall and stage, as well as in three other rooms throughout the building.
“The show went very well. Most of the dealers I talked to were satisfied, and all said they would like to come back next year,” Gretchen Davis, show manager, said. Cancellations due to illness, graduation and other reasons brought about a change in lineup of the exhibitors, with 11 new faces joining the show. This event, now in its 15th year, has a definite lean towards the primitive and country look, with many early wooden and wrought iron accessories, as well as painted furniture. Some firearms were available, a nice selection of Staffordshire, colorful quilts, dolls and other toys were among the areas of collecting that rounded out the show.
The show cards note that this event is known for “Fair Prices and Friendly Dealers,” and “we find people stay at our show for long periods of time, talking to the exhibitors and asking questions,” Gretchen said. She mentioned that the preview was down by only about 25 people, but “Friday was our best day, with a larger gate than last year and many buyers.” In total, admissions were up for the three-day show.
“We share many visitors with those who come for the Greater York Antiques Show at the fairgrounds, and we do not open on Friday until 1 pm so that our dealers can get over to that show,” Gretchen said.
A long walnut mortised bench from Lancaster County, Penn., was at the front of the booth of Peter Diehl House Antiques, New Oxford, Penn., and a red-decorated child’s sled hung on the back wall. Among the several pieces of lighting in the booth was a single student lamp in brass.
An Eighteenth Century flip top table with three-board top, Bucks County, Penn., was sold from the booth of Hidden Treasures, East Waterford, Penn., and a selection of stoneware decorated jars was displayed in a cupboard.
Canfield, Ohio, exhibitor Early American Antiques designed a booth with two large wooden arches that framed the entrance to the booth. They came from an 1860s house porch in Ohio and were accented with large drops in the center. A carved stone tablet featured a weeping willow design, a piece that sold during the preview of the show, and a circa 1940 red-headed drake had a Michigan provenance.
The Lion and the Lamb, one of the local shops in the show, offered a flour chest made of walnut, pine and chestnut, with bin and paneled sides, from the Custer family of Selinsgrove, Penn., and an early sawbuck worktable with two-board top was in a blue painted surface. From New England was a cupboard, circa 1790‱810, probably Connecticut with the original pumpkin painted surface, two drawers over two doors, with wooden knobs. A small Pennsylvania chalk cat, circa 1850, was displayed in it.
A balanced scale trade piece, just over 3 feet tall, circa 1880s, in old blue paint, was shown by RSG Antiques of Hanover Township, Penn., along with a running horse weathervane in wood with traces of the original white paint showing, late Nineteenth to early Twentieth Century. Of interest was an early paint-decorated lid from a sea chest, circa 1860, with a decorative anchor shown between two pinwheel designs with a star in each center.
A tall narrow back settle was shown at the end of the booth of Blue Dog Antiques, Stafford Springs, Conn., along with a nice selection of wooden cutting boards and a hand drawn sign that read “Homemade Bread Today †35 cents.”
Carole Elicker and Linda Sterner of New Oxford, Penn., offered a varied inventory, including a mustard painted feed bin, a pair of tin shields decorated with stars and stripes, two horse pull-toys and a stenciled Victorian washstand.
Another New Oxford exhibitor, Hart’s Country Antiques, had a Nineteenth Century dry sink, grey with blue interior; an early cloth doll in red dress and painted face, ex-collection Richard Wright, and an early firkin in the original paint and signed by L.W. Fish.
A rare youth rope bed in old blue, York County origin, was in the display of The Passes, Mechanicsburg, Penn., leaning near a round slate pastry board dating from the Nineteenth Century and from eastern Pennsylvania.
Naomi Alexander Antiques, Venetia, Penn., showed two small chairs: a doll’s rocker with original painted surface, the other a child’s or doll’s side chair in black with yellow decoration. The tag noted it was ex-Raccoon Creek Antiques. An early crib quilt hung on the wall, red and blue baskets on a white ground, dating from the Nineteenth Century.
Groundhog Hollow Antiques, York County, Penn., showed a selection of pewter in an open top stepback cupboard in old red paint, and a nice collection of iron for the hearth. Wooden bowls were all turned upside down to show off the painted bottoms, including red, yellow, blue and grey examples.
New Oxford was again represented by Reilly & Jenks who offered a round, handled, tin server measuring 15 inches in diameter, a crib quilt with a dozen green and orange stars on a black ground, and a doll’s house with yellow paint, blue roof and large bay window.
An interesting and very primitive planter/spreader was of weathered wood with traces of gray/blue paint, New York State origin, in the booth of Margaret Schenck Antiques, Harrisburg, Penn. A large selection of Staffordshire figures was shown by Shaeffer’s Antiques, Glyndon, Md., including various cottages and spaniels. Lustre and canary were also displayed.
A sawbuck table with a three-board scrubbed top was offered by Linda Grier, Langhorne, Penn., along with a Nineteenth Century hanging pie safe with one door, porcelain knobs, and punched tin on all four sides. Stein’s Country Collection, Orwigsbury, Penn., had a slant top desk with hutch top and a corner cupboard with curved shelves in the top portion, one paneled door in the lower section, all in old red surface.
Keystone Antiques, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, had a one-door dry sink in old red, and against the back wall hung a large half-model of a ship, pine, Nineteenth Century, with the original paint decoration. It was of the Delmar-Morgan Experimental Steel Hull and was completely outlined with measurements, instructions and details of construction.
A collection of butter pats, cow, wheat, eagle and heart among the designs, was in the booth of Tex Johnson & Son, Adamstown, Penn. A green painted jelly cupboard, circa 1850, and seven baskets were displayed on its top flat surface.
This year, admission to the preview, which is prepared and manned by a crew of volunteers, was only $12, a real good buy, and general admission the following two days was $6 per person, another great buy. All proceeds support the East Berlin Historical Preservation Society which owns and maintains five historic buildings in town. For more information about the society, 717-259-0822 or http://ebhpspa.org .
