It’s a deal that’s hard to beat: The preview for the Historic East Berlin Antiques Show. For 12 bucks visitors are admitted to the Area Community Center, served wine and other beverages to wash down a tasty array of cheeses, dips, vegetables and hors d’oeuvres, and shop the booths of 26 exhibitors. It all began this year at 5:30 pm on Thursday, May 18, and ran for three hours with just under 200 visitors taking advantage of this bargain. The show then ran for two more days, coinciding with the dates of the two shows under one roof in nearby York.

Beverly Jadus, who manages the show with fellow East Berlin dealer Gretchen Davis, said, “The gate was up from last year, about 500 visitors in total, and we were very pleased with the show.” Most of the exhibitors were happy, and “we already have some of them asking for contracts for next year,” she said. The show is run by an all volunteer committee and it supports the historical society. “We have five buildings in town to maintain, and that is a lot for a community the size of East Berlin,” Beverly said. The show started as a tailgate to the events in York and it will continue to run during the same time period, and only in the spring.

The majority of the exhibitors were from Pennsylvania, but Ohio, Kentucky, New York, New Jersey and Maryland were also represented. Hailing from Gettysburg was J&J Murphy with a selection of country items including a nice grouping of early handled baskets displayed on a green-painted country bench, and an early Nineteenth Century two-sided trade sign in sheet metal for Franz Xaver Kulbinger, Schuhmacher, with a red boot pictured.

Beverly Jadus, East Berlin, Penn.

The largest and most interesting piece of stoneware in theshow was displayed in the booth of The Passes of Mechanicsburg,Penn. – a 12-gallon water cooler, probably from Ohio, decoratedwith a large freehand flower in cobalt blue and a spread eagle onthe lower portion over the spout. It was shown with a midNineteenth Century flour bin of Pennsylvania origin with theoriginal tiger graining intact.

From Millersville, Penn., Cortland Antiques offered an Amish grain painted clock shelf that came from Farmersville, Lancaster County, and three Lancaster County show towels, the earliest dated 1859.

Kathy Bonnes of Burton Country Village Antiques, Burton, Penn., showed a nice apothecary in red stain with 18 small drawers arranged over three drawers. The drawers retained the original labels and porcelain knobs. Of interest was a patent applied for model for wooden bedsprings that probably would support a young child, but might just land a hefty adult on the floor.

Among the local exhibitors was Lion and the Lamb with a large, early sawbuck table with three-board top, old painted surface, and a nice schoolmaster’s desk on tapered lags in the original old red surface. Also from East Berlin was Beverly Jadus with an assembled set of eight, one arm, birdcage Windsors, unpainted, and an American corner or roundabout chair. The wallet and papers belonging to Captain John Flagg, born in Portsmouth, N.H., 1764, dated from the 1790s and were displayed under a militia musket of Massachusetts origin.

Lion and the Lamb, East Berlin, Penn.

Three large wooden bowls, two with red paint and one withgreen, were hanging against the back wall of the booth of Bob Lutzand Ellen Katona, Greenwich, N.J. Within minutes of the previewopening, all three had been taken down and were inspected front andback by perspective buyers. A lollipop bench from the FriendsMeeting House in Woodstown, N.J., circa 1800, was shown under thebowls. Before the preview was over Bob Lutz said, “We are having avery good show” while writing up another sales slip at the sametime.

Marvin Eliot of Pottles and Pannikins, Windsor, Conn., said, “We have done this show in the past and are pleased to be back. It is a very nice show to do and we have a good audience here.” The booth was hung with iron and brass implements for the kitchen and hearth, including a selection of skimmers. One was brass, in oval form, with an iron handle, American and dating from the Nineteenth Century. Of New England origin, and in cast iron, was a rotating grill/broiler dating from the Nineteenth Century. Complimenting the exhibit of iron and brass was some early furniture including a six-board storage chest in blue/green paint with dovetail construction and the original snipe-form hinges. The lid was lettered “LMLD,” measured 221/2 by 121/2 by 11 inches, and dated circa 1820.

Shaeffer’s Antiques of Glyndon, Penn., showed a collection of 11 yellowware child’s cups, some with sayings, including, “The Good Child’s Reward,” along with several pairs of Staffordshire dogs. Copper luster was well represented, along with pearlware bowls and tankards.

One expected decoys in the booth of Don and Pat Clegg, another of the East Berlin dealers doing the show, and they were there. A pair of yellowleg decoys in the running position, split tail and in the original paint, shared space with a canvasback drake by James Currier of Havre de Grace, Md. This bird dated circa 1936 and retained the original paint. An early Nineteenth Century New England one-door storage cupboard, dovetailed with square nails, original gray paint, hinges and toggle closure, measured 473/4 by 42 by 19 inches. And for those who did not get to the East Berlin show it was possible to see more of the Clegg’s inventory at the show in York.

Pottles and Pannekins, Windsor, Conn.

A Nineteenth Century wooden plow or harrow, about one-thirdthe size of a regular working model, was shown in the booth ofAmerican Room Antiques of Chambersburg, Penn. “We think it iseither a salesman’s sample or a child’s toy of some sort,” GeorgeAdams said of the piece. Measuring 8 feet 10 inches tall was aPennsylvania cupboard, 1810-30, with four raised panels eachpainted to represent a different kind of wood – bird’s eye maple,tiger maple, satinwood and mahogany. The cupboard itself was ofchestnut and poplar and was 18 inches deep and 43 inches wide. Avery large room was needed to accommodate the piece.

“It is one of those booths where you can expect to find interesting and sometimes unusual things,” one preview patron said to her companion. She was standing in the booth of Country Corner Antiques of Bowie, Md., where tables were laden with butter stamps with all manner of design, including flowers and a swan, and nearby was a rack containing 11 wooden bread plates. Molds in both ironstone and copper were shown, polished sugar nippers were in several sizes, as were a couple sets of English carpet balls.

Carol Schulman of Chester Township, Ohio, had a bowl of stone vegetables including a potato and carrot, and a Shaker storage bin dated from the Nineteenth Century. It was in the original green paint and had a door that dropped open in the lower section. An early watercolor depicted the Hudson River flowing through a slightly populated area with several building and some animals and people.

This show is fun, relaxed, and one never knows what will show up. That is the reason many of the York dealers travel 12 miles west to attend, joining a loyal following of showgoers. As one man in line on opening night put it, “This is great fun and a fine way to start antiquing. I am here every year and head for York in the morning.”