Jen Potter, Buchanan, N.Y.
Review and Photos by Tom O’Hara
STORMVILLE, N.Y. – With a steady and light rain, the Southern Dutchess Flea Market made its season opener Saturday, August 29, with a reduced number of exhibiting dealers and short attendance, but still with a very positive note for the resumption of this weekly event. For many years the market known as Stormville was conducted each weekend with many hundreds of vendors selling everything from Beanie Babies to Pilgrim-era furniture and antiques. It has been one of the wells for antiques lovers to draw from, finding the wonderful treasures for their collections.
As with all shows these past six months, it had been suspended until Saturday. Early that morning about 50 exhibitors were opening their trucks, vans and tents to show their merchandise, no Beanie Babies anymore, but great vintage materials, with perhaps an emphasis on the Industrial-style pieces in their not yet ready for prime-time state.
For example, a Middletown, Conn., exhibitor was offering a collection of industrial carts, with the idea that they might be taken away and reconditioned into something useful in a home or office.
Gail Nesbitt, was offering her collection of enamelware and glass and pottery from the first half of the Twentieth Century. Sales began for her early that morning as she was packing for a customer some pieces of kitchen service.
Gail Nesbitt, Middletown, Conn.
Early advertising is popular here as several dealers were showing that material, including an unmanned booth and Sal’s from Wallingford, Conn.
Sal’s also was offering a large selection of Nineteenth Century furniture and accessories. His furniture was in most cases ready to use. He also was selling early brass and wooden works clocks, primarily those made in Connecticut in the first half of the Nineteenth Century.
Bleeker Street Antiques, Mohegan Lake, N.Y., was offering mechanical antiques. One item was a typewriter manufactured by the Corona Typewriter Company, Inc., of Groton, N.Y., around 1923-25. The typewriter is a front-striking model with a three-row QWERTY keyboard. This dealer also had five different types of irons, ranging from a 200-year-old sad iron, a collar crimper and even a very early electric model.
R.J. Scheller brought a highly varied collection from home in nearby Mount Kisco, N.Y. There were 75-year-old games and some a little later, industrial salvage items, such as a collection of metal barrel hoops waiting for the creative decorator to repurpose them, some work tables and other décor.
Enamelware, some woodenware and vintage linens are the principal collections for Jen Potter. Coming to the show from nearby Buchanan, she had an attractive display of the hundred-year-old kitchen utensils and work pieces. The pieces in her collection are some everyday finds, but she also offered several rare forms of French coffeepots and tea pots. Even her lighting was enamel with several hanging fixtures. She said her list of sales for the day was “okay but surely affected by the rainy weather,” proving that customers are anxious to get out again.
Bleeker Street Antiques, Mohegan Lake, N.Y.
Trays filled with small things were shown at Window of Time Antiques from Catskill, N.Y. Inventory for this dealer was a collection of thimbles, campaign buttons, tintype photographs, corkscrews, cameos, compasses and coins. Sales began early for the dealer, as customers seemed to be ready at first entry that morning.
Costume and estate jewelry were the stock for Fox Fire Accessories from Woodbury, N.J. The Belkos were showing multiple trays of ladies jewelry – gold, silver and stones, with both semiprecious and precious pieces.
Remarkable Redesign, New City, N.Y., is in the business of finding old pieces and giving them a new life with changes in their design and finish. Their work included making a bench out of an old small bed frame; a bar or bookcase from an old whiskey barrel; another small sofa from a toy box and reinventing tables from several different older pieces.
Comments from many dealers were similar in that they believed the rain limited the potential attendance, but even so, those same dealers said they sold well enough to feel encouraged to book space for the season. With this Saturday as the first return of the show under the same owners but with a new name, it will continue as a one-day show every Saturday except September 12. The season will end with the November 7 gathering. Hours are 8 am to 4 pm; free admission and free parking with food service on the field; located at 428 Route 216. For information, 845-221-6561 or www.stormvilleairportfleamarket.com.
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