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A Sign of the Times?

by Lita Solis-Cohen

Antiques Week in New Hampshire is a grand conclave that does as much to nurture the collecting spirit as the great revival camp meetings did in the 19th century to keep the faith alive. There is good fellowship, some soul searching, pledging of funds, and preaching to believers.

This year, there was some apprehension before the week began—worry that the antiques market would sink deeper into recession and that the worldwide economic downturn is not yet on the upswing. There was the usual complaint that auction dollars have eaten into spending at shows. The weekend before the shows, Ronald Bourgeault's Northeast Auctions took in $7 million, and a lot of it was for folk art and country furniture, the mainstay of the Mid-Week in Manchester Antiques Show.

Nevertheless, when the week was over there was a feeling of some accomplishment. There is sport in the hunt, there were good things to be found, and significant sales were made.

The promoters promoted, and they marked off their turf and guarded it fiercely. The dealers put on some stunning displays, and those who marketed well and engaged the shoppers made some sales, often to other dealers, but also to collectors who went home with a treasure or two to remind them to return next year.

In addition to accommodating 34 dealers in the air-conditioned Wayfarer Inn convention center in Bedford, Frank Gaglio pitched his big tent with five peaks in the convention center parking lot and filled it with 77 more stands. The huge white tent, which could be seen from the highway and from the Macy's parking lot next door, must have lured a certain number of people curious to find out what was inside.

To point the way, Gaglio posted small red, white, and blue signs on Route 3 with his Barn Star corporate logo announcing his Mid-Week show. This year, John and Tina Bruno of Flamingo Promotions rented the Event Center at C.R. Sparks, across the street from the Wayfarer Inn, and moved their Start of Manchester Antiques Show from the skating rink in Manchester to air-conditioned comfort in Bedford. To point the way, they posted much larger yellow and red Start of Manchester signs on Route 3 right next to Barn Star's signs.

Gaglio said he thought their signs were confusing, especially those that said "Antiques Show" with an arrow pointing to C.R. Sparks on Kilton Road. On Wednesday morning one of the Start of Manchester dealers saw Frank Gaglio taking down two "Antiques Show" signs and told John Bruno about it. Bruno went over to see Gaglio, and the two show promoters exchanged angry words. At the height of the argument Bruno pulled out his cell phone and called the police. The police came and ordered Gaglio to put the signs back, and he did.

"I'm glad I did it," said Gaglio on Wednesday afternoon. "I'm an Italian stallion, and I got mad when Bruno put his finger in my face and said, `You're dead.' I don't like the way those people do business. They copy my ads. Better believe next year my signs will be bigger."

Gaglio was clearly annoyed that the Brunos had come onto his turf and rented an attractive air-conditioned space nearby. On Thursday morning at 11 o'clock, just before Mid-Week opened, aware of the need for some damage control, Gaglio announced on the loudspeaker that if the dealers heard he had been arrested it wasn't true. He told them he had taken down some signs because he was going to bat for them.

"The signs were down for less than thirty minutes. It could not have hurt Flamingo's business," said Gaglio. Print dealer Anne Hall, who was showing at Start of Manchester, said it did hurt business, and she left her booth and went across the street to Mid-Week to tell Gaglio that she thought his taking down the signs was mean-spirited. She said, "I told him what I thought of it in front of his staff, and Frank Gaglio got in his golf cart and rode away, saying that if I wanted to speak to him I should call him at his office."

The incident was the talk of the New Hampshire dealers' show on Thursday. "Frank tailgates us, and now he resents anyone tailgating him," said an old-time dealer, who, 11 years after the first Mid-Week show, still winces when anyone talks of the success and quality of Gaglio's two shows in Bedford that began the expansion of Antiques Week in New Hampshire. "Are all these shows satellites or parasites?" he asked.

Mid-Week in Manchester and the Bedford Pickers Market, in the tent and in the convention center at the Wayfarer Inn, have been successful, and they have become a big part of the tradition that brings antiquers to New Hampshire in August. This year, a group of 110 dealers at Mid-Week brought a full spectrum of country Americana and a few formal pieces for the show on August 11 and 12.

There were plenty of textiles, including schoolgirl needlework, quilts and coverlets, pockets and pincushions, hooked and braided rugs. There were not as many folk carvings and folk paintings as in years past, but there was an array of ceramics, including redware and mocha, two hot corners of the marketplace. There was no lack of painted furniture and some rustic furniture and tramp art. The stacks of pantry boxes and firkins have become a signature of the show. There was some American Indian material even though most of the specialist dealers were in Santa Fe. The weathervanes and shop signs were there, but only a few choice pieces of fraktur. All sorts of small accessories in iron, brass, copper, tin, wood, and paper were for sale.

There were some complaints that some top dealers hold back, saving their best things for the shows in the fall and in January. A few dealers found something at setup and during show hours. Others held back, and preshow selling was not brisk this year because dealers were waiting to see how the show would go. Nevertheless, Mid-Week was an active marketplace.

There was cautious buying in the early hours, some sales, and a lot of "be-backs." Some—but not a lot—of "be-backs" materialized. Few people are making snap decisions these days, and plenty of fine things were left behind. Nevertheless, a few big sales were made even at the last moments of the show. When it was all over, several dealers—James Glazer, David Schorsch, Colette Donovan, DebraElizabeth Schaffer, Clifford Wallach, Jackie Radwin, Samuel Forsythe, and David Good, among them—said they had very good shows, among their best for New Hampshire. Others said business was way off and it was not like the old days, that furniture was hard to move.

That was not the case for Jeffrey Tillou. He sold a Connecticut secretary, a fine example of regional design, and the price tag was $95,000. Others said that while middle-priced items sold, there was resistance to stretching for the major purchases. Very few major sales of folk art were reported. Others said that they were amazed that so much furniture went out of the tent. Some observed that hooked rugs were soft but game boards sold well. Most dealers said business was not as good this year, and profit margins were down.

Buyers came from California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Utah, as well as from all over the East Coast and the Midwest. Some took advantage of low airfares. Southwest Airlines offered $29 tickets from Philadelphia to Manchester. Still, many collectors were missed. Was it because there were too many shows and too many auctions? Some worried that the aging collecting community wouldn't continue to support this huge marketplace, but there seemed to be as many young mothers pushing strollers with toddlers in them as Medicare-approved motorized scooters moving up and down in the aisles.

The pictures and captions tell the rest of the story. For more information, call (845) 876-0616 or visit the Web site (www.barnstar.com).