Canfield, Ohio
What makes a great antiques show? Ask ten different people, and you’ll get ten different answers, but Steve Sherhag, who manages the Hudson Antique Show, held at the Canfield Fairgrounds event center in Canfield, Ohio, had a surefire response when asked that question.
“Who knows,” Sherhag said with a smile. “That’s the thing. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. No one can predict what will sell and what will sit. What I do know is this Hudson show had its largest gate this year—just shy of 900 patrons—and I really did not have a single dealer complain. Usually dealers who had fantastic sales and those who did not are the people that tell me about it.”
Great pieces were in sight no matter which way one turned in the dealer space of Nancy and Gene Pratt of Victor, New York. Among their offerings were a decorated Pennsylvania cupboard in walnut and poplar with a gallery top ($2150); a folk-art lion painting ($1750); a Hudson Valley wall box with a drawer, in original condition and with old paint, circa 1810 ($1350); redware, including a handled pot with a lid ($475); a wrigglework coffeepot with a tulip design, Pennsylvania, circa 1840 ($1395); and a four-door cupboard, New York state, circa 1850 ($2150).
Fifty dealers from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan as well as New Hampshire, Missouri, Vermont, Maine, Maryland, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Iowa were on hand at the 2024 edition of the show, held March 9 and 10.
Sherhag did say it was a typical show. “Some people did really, really well, lots were middle of the road, and others did not have their best weekend. I was one of those who did not sell what I would have liked, but that’s the business.” Yes, Sherhag puts together a booth at the Hudson show, though you will rarely find him in it.
When walking the halls of this event, I heard one thing time and again: “This is the best-looking Hudson show I’ve ever seen.” Dealers and buyers alike were in agreement, as was Sherhag.
“I have to commend the dealers for pulling out all the stops,” Sherhag noted. “I don’t know what it was, but the dealers brought really great things, and this year’s Hudson looked, and was, wonderful.”
What left the event center during this two-day show? “Smalls always do well here, but there were also pieces of furniture being bought up,” Sherhag explained. “Nothing huge, but smaller jelly cupboards, pie safes, several apothecaries, and a great Ohio trunk sold on Sunday when the ‘be-backs,’ well, came back.”
Michael Gallant of Hometown Antiques, Bangor, Maine, likes hooked rugs, early tin items, vintage marbles (sulphides especially), face jugs (priced from $375 to $695), firkins ($300 to $595), and pantry boxes ($125 to $1200). Variety was the keyword for this dealer’s space.
About be-backs: it is a commonly held theory that Ohio shoppers of a two-day event shop the first day and will tell dealers, “I’ll be back. I need to think on this,” when deciding if they want to purchase an item. So those who do come back on Sunday and buy are charmingly referred to as “be-backs,” as they actually do come back and buy the next day. “It is a phenomenon I really only experience in Ohio,” one dealer stated. “Buyers everywhere else—if they want an item, they buy it right then. Ohio shoppers like to think about it for a bit.”
Another shopping aspect Sherhag spoke about was the response from his doing four Facebook Live videos Saturday afternoon. There is always that large crowd waiting at 10 a.m. to be first through the door to shop on day one of a show. But by the afternoon, floor traffic slows, and that’s when Sherhag breaks out the cell phone and goes live.
“There are people that cannot make it to the show, so it is my hope I can bring some of the show to them by going live on Facebook and walking into dealer booths, showing what is for sale, and it works,” Sherhag stated. “I know about $10,000 worth of merchandise sold off of those videos.”
Maybe what makes a great antiques show is kind of like the recent total solar eclipse. All things were perfectly aligned for an impressive display—a large, newer venue, stellar dealers, fabulous merchandise, plenty of shoppers, and a show manager who not only has put in the work so dealers and patrons have the best experience possible, but who also never sits still until the place is cleared out and the door closes behind him when it’s all said and done.
It’s easy to see why the Hudson Antique Show continues to be a favorite, and no NASA-approved protective eyewear is required.
For more information, visit the website (www.hudsonantiqueshow.com).
Pot and pan scrapers offered by Leisa Kirtley of The Western Reserve Antique Shop included a Mt. Penn Stove Works scraper with a three-leaf clover graphic and a King Midas Flour scraper priced at $95 each. The American Maid Bread example was $100.
The decoration on the lid of the box.
Beaded bags, beaded moccasins, and beaded fruit: all could be found at the show. But a beaded fern? Yep. Sandra Rutan of Warren, Ohio, always fills her dealer space with beautiful beaded flower displays. This year she also had a beaded fern frond that easily surpassed the foot-long mark. It was priced at $78.
Jackie Spiegel of Lyons, New York, will do antiques shows from time to time, but her main interest now is her estate sales services organization. Spiegel is seen sitting in one of two vintage (circa 1970) leather Stickley wingback chairs, one with an ottoman, priced at $1050 for all. The group was to be in an upcoming estate sale Spiegel was doing, but first they made a showing at Hudson. Also in Spiegel’s booth was an early cherry drop-leaf table (between the chairs) with a stretcher base, priced at $345. The Ken Harris lamp on the table with a magnum decoy was $175. The 19th-century 26" diameter chestnut bowl was tagged $950. The Jersey Coffee box with a hinged lid ($1375) is in excellent condition and came with a neat history. “It originally came out of a general store in Mendon, New York,” Spiegel said. “But it came to me out of an attic in Newark.”
Smalls in the booth of John Kolar Fine Americana, Hershey, Pennsylvania, included several stellar pieces of mocha. The large 9½" tall pitcher (left) with five colors, decorated with the desirable earthworm design, was priced at $3250. The other pitcher, 8¼" tall, also with five colors and with earthworm and cat’s-eye design elements, was tagged $2425; and an unusual mocha tobacco leaf teapot, 11½" tall, ex-Clark Garrett, was offered for $6500. Other interesting items included a spindled room divider house element from a home in Marietta, Ohio ($625); a reverse painting on glass of Lafayette ($1275); and a diminutive stoneware jug with a cobalt tulip by Remmey of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ($2150).
The dealer space of Dan Freeburg Antiques Co., Wilcox, Pennsylvania, was packed with good things. The apothecary at far left had already found a new home. The pictorial hooked rug ($395) hanging beside the apothecary features a dog, a cat, a fireplace, and a clock. Advertising Sunbeam Bread, the pair of circa 1920 screened store doors could be had for $1800, while the circa 1880 barber pole was $1450. The early 1800s milk cupboard (to the right of the barber pole) features a single six-panel door and an early green-painted surface. The circa 1820 New York state cupboard, 55" tall x 37" wide, was priced at $2400.
Found in Lancaster, Ohio, this early apothecary was priced at $9500 by Swala’s Antiques, Washington, Pennsylvania.
Early American Antiques, Canfield, Ohio, had some interesting stoneware, including this stoneware still priced at $9600. The single flower was incised with hash marks to give texture to the leaves and then accented with cobalt blue. The stoneware still sits on top of a smoke-decorated washstand with a shelf and drawer. The stand was tagged $1450, and the game board behind the still was $975.
Mike Christy of Comet Lake Antiques, Clinton, Ohio, is drawn to folk art. His favorites this day were the three carvings sitting on top of a partially shown Pennsylvania smoke-decorated tilt-top table that was $2400. Christy had picked up the carvings at the Nashville Show the week before. He was offering the carved bull and the carved red-tailed hawk for $1295 each. The carved folk-art frog, retaining some green paint, was priced at $325.
Sitting in front of the dealer space of Eagle Creek Designs was this pair of boots measuring about 30" tall x 30" long. It was believed that these were just a decorative element and had no real purpose other than to maybe start up a conversation. They were working their magic in that department at the show. It was hard for anyone to walk past the boots and not stop for a closer look. Carved from a single piece of sandstone, the boots were offered for $3850.
This is just one section of the multi-dealer space that housed the inventory of Greg K. Kramer and Co. The carved wooden eagle with a 4'-plus wingspan was $8500. The child’s quilt under the eagle was $2250. The large oil on artist’s board of a girl holding a cat (on the far right wall) was priced at $1495.
These storage boxes crafted to look like books enjoyed a great deal of attention in the dealer space of Stephen-Douglas Antiques. The large box on the bottom was priced at $1100. The others ranged in price from $200 to $750.
This carved wooden pull toy of crows on corn was priced at $395 by Ziebarth’s Antiques & Auctions.
Ziebarth’s Antiques & Auctions, Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, offered this enormous cherry burl bowl for $9500. Its two mismatched handles just add to its charm.
This circa 1838 peddler doll with fantastically detailed accessories was priced at $3900 (firm) by Hannah Humes.
This 19th-century hooked rug featuring a black horse was priced at $4200 by Newsom & Berdan Antiques & Folk Art, Abbottstown, Pennsylvania.
The early straw bee skeps were $750 apiece while the one-door kitchen cupboard in an older putty-gray paint was $1050 from Matt Ehresman Antiques, Wadsworth, Ohio.
Originally published in the June 2024 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2024 Maine Antique Digest
