The announcement on Connecticut’s CBS-affiliated television station pertaining to the closing of the Tolland Middle School for three days over the weekend that the 45th annual Tolland Antiques Show was going to take place there put a real scare into show manager Kathy Bach. Tolland’s public safety official closed the facility due to the unusually large accumulations of snow on the roof, perhaps in response to numerous buildings throughout the region collapsing under the tremendous strain.
A benefit for the Tolland Historical Society, the show has tremendous community support and the threat of a canceled show brought the troops out in force †in one instance, literally.
The “mad dash” that Bach utilized to get the building accessible included bringing in the National Guard to clear the roof of snow. Scheduled to open Sunday, February 6, the portion of the building that the show occupies was deemed safe on Friday, yet Bach still had quite a bit of work cut out for her. All of the snow that had been removed from the roof was now blocking the entrances and the loading area that the dealers use to pack in and out of the show.
One volunteer arrived with a skid-steer, another with a payloader, others with shovels, and the crew got the facility ready for the show. Bach’s son finished up the task applying de-icing agents at the entrances. “It was quite an adventure for me,” stated a winded Bach.
“The dealers were all pleasantly surprised,” commented the manager. “There was a real sense of excitement in the air. The line at the early buying opening was long, and although we were down attendance-wise from last year, there was a steady crowd all day long and we saw lots of people walking around with bags.”
A country-oriented show, Tolland rates high on the popularity poll for Americana shoppers. Pembroke, N.H., dealer Tommy Thompson had the booth that faced shoppers as they flooded onto the floor. The dealer reported a good show, with a hooked rug selling as soon as the doors to the show opened, as did a Shaker coat rack.
Just down the aisle at Stephen-Douglas Antiques, Rockingham, Vt., Steve Corrigan was busy writing sales slips, which included a wide variety of smalls and a tape loom in blue paint.
Marvin and Barbara Eliot reported a good show, with several sales as the show opened, including a nice dry sink. Barbara had been out on the show circuit solo recently due to Marvin being hospitalized. Marvin was back in his old form at Tolland, and the dealer commented that he was readying to mark his 80th birthday in the very near future.
Two nice apothecary chests in old paint were offered at the show, a gray-green example in the booth of Perkins and Menson, Ashby, Mass., and just around the corner at Hanauer and Seidman, Colchester, Conn., in a gray scraped surface.
Lancaster, Penn., dealer Steve Smoot offered a nice nested set of seven graduated Shaker finger boxes that ranged in size from 6 inches to about 18 inches wide. Spongeware pitchers, brightly painted tole and decorated stoneware were displayed in and around a boldly painted blanket chest in red and black faux painted grain and a corner cupboard in an old red finish.
Steve and Lorraine German, Granby, Conn., offered a great selection of stoneware, with three early ovoid pieces at the forefront of the booth. The two ovoid jugs and an ovoid jar with freestanding handles were decorated with incised and cobalt-filled floral motifs.
Wallingford, Conn., dealer Jane Wargo offered a nice sheet metal horse weathervane, a pair of banister back side chairs, early glass and an assortment of painted treen. Also attracting attention was a rare early basket that had been decorated and filled with felt fruit and flowers by Doris Stauble of Damariscotta, Maine.
It was off-to-the-races for Emily and Irma Lampert, Wenham Cross Antiques, Topsfield, Mass., as the rear wall of their stand was decorated with a rare and large hooked rug depicting a racing horse with sulky paced to win the race and positioned in front of the scoreboard. Bearing racing number 1, Irma commented that it was number 1 in her book, too. A nice, stylish tall and slender chimney cup in robin’s-egg blue paint was also offered, as was a large country kitchen work table in yellow paint.
Plenty to look at, plenty to buy, Tolland always ranks right up there as one of the favorite country shows in the Northeast. The show is tentatively scheduled for the first week in February for 2012. For further information, contact the Tolland Historical Society at 860-872-7716.
