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York, Pennsylvania

Jim Burk's Spring Greater York Show

by Lita Solis-Cohen

Jim Burk's Greater York (Pennsylvania) Antiques Show & Sale, held May 24-26, had its last Memorial Day weekend outing at the York Fairgrounds. Next May it will be a week or two, or maybe three weeks earlier. All those who complained about holiday traffic and conflicts with family events will have nothing to complain about again.

Burk said the fairgrounds officials have not confirmed the new dates in writing, but if they fall on Mother's Day weekend, it will be a two-day show, Friday and Saturday, no Sunday. Those dealers who thought the show was too long, from Wednesday's setup to Sunday's pack out, will greet the shorter show enthusiastically. Those who count on Sunday business will miss the extra day.

Still, some worry the dates will be too close to the Philadelphia shows and up against the shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts. They wish it would be a week later to kick off the summer season.

Jim Burk, who has completed 32 years as manager of this show, said he had been trying to change the date for 20 years, but the fairgrounds is a busy place. The show setup will begin on the Wednesday before the show. That two-day leisurely unpacking, the so-called Great Dealers' Swap Meet, is said to be the place where more dealer-to-dealer business is done than anywhere else. The dealers love it!

"I don't like change, but I think the new dates are a good thing," said Robesonia, Pennsylvania, dealer Greg Kramer, who has a booth up front near the entrance. Some said they were glad the show will no longer go head-to-head with the Rhinebeck (New York) Antiques Fair, which it did this year.

Not everyone was overjoyed at the news of the date change. One collector who came from Ann Arbor, Michigan, said he looks forward to York on Memorial Day weekend because he can do three Pennsylvania shows: on Friday the small East Berlin show at 8 a.m. and York at noon, and on Saturday he heads to the Brandywine River Museum Antiques Show at Chadds Ford, about two hours away. "I never used to come to the Philadelphia [Antiques] Show until there were three shows in Philadelphia in April; now I wouldn't miss it. The cluster of shows in New Hampshire is what makes that week so great."

Jim Burk and his dealers think the Greater York show is powerful enough to stand alone. It is certainly big, and a new floor plan this May made room for four additional dealers. The total number of exhibitors was 125, not counting a couple of booths that dealers shared. The fire marshal insisted that each exit door had to be clearly seen from every aisle, so Burk had to reconfigure his plan from four aisles front to back to ten aisles side to side, with booths against the walls as they had always been. Everyone said they got lost; if you wanted something, you had better buy it quickly because you might not find your way back to reconsider.

Burk did not give out maps, nor did the aisles have numbers. Although the booth number is on the name signs and on the little blue handout list with names of dealers and their towns, showgoers needed directions to find people. Burk said next year he would have aisle markers to indicate which booth numbers are on each aisle. Perhaps he will also list phone numbers to make callbacks easy, but that might be too much to expect.

Other than the new booth configuration, York was the usual York. A good crowd of locals, people from Maryland and Philadelphia, and a few stalwarts from the Midwest make this trip a collector's mecca. Burk said the first four hours had the biggest crowd ever, but the show never seemed crowded on a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. The midwestern crowd did not materialize; apparently they were saving their money for the upcoming four-day Clark and Mary Garrett collection sale, scheduled to start on June 4. New Yorkers went to Rhinebeck, and dealers said a lot of big buyers were missing.

There was, as usual, a good selection of country gear, furniture, tall-case clocks, redware, and lots of stoneware this year, as well as spatterware, Gaudy Dutch, and other English ceramics for the American market. Collectors said there was a selection of very good mocha, and some of the finest pieces sold. There were some good weathervanes, frakturs, and American Indian material, lots of hooked rugs, quilts, coverlets, and wallpapered boxes of all sizes, and some American glass and pewter, iron, and Christmas decorations, including candy containers. Figural napkin rings, sewing paraphernalia, and some tools and fishing gear are among the categories for specialized collecting. Some folk sculpture, game wheels, advertising signs, watercolors, and oil paintings were also seen. A few 20th-century decorative items creep in, but Greater York is predominantly a country show. Dealers said midrange smalls sold well, while furniture was a little soft.

Some of the dealers bring very good things that they didn't sell at previous shows, and at York these items were priced to sell. The collectors who know this come to buy from dealers willing to deal. The younger dealers bring the best they can muster, and that keeps the quality high.

Although dealers said business this year was a little slow, they said pre-show selling was great, and overall most were happy. Those who did not sell very well said they bought very well, and there is always the hope that better economic times are around the corner. The fact that good things have been selling even in these cautious times keeps spirits up. Traditionally, the May York show is slower than the November event, but Burk said he shipped furniture and decorations to San Francisco, Arizona, and New Mexico.

The Greater York show is a tradition, and traditions must change or they become merely customs. So look for some new traditions at York next spring. The fall show and tailgate will take place as usual on the first weekend in November. "Who knows, there might be a spring tailgate," said Burk.

For more information, contact Jim Burk at (717) 397-7209.