Click here to subscribe to M.A.D.

Strong Attendance, Bustling Sales Spark Connecticut Spring Antiques Show

by David Hewett

In a dramatic turnaround from the fall show in Hartford, Linda Turner's 31st Connecticut Spring Antiques Show on March 13 and 14 saw a large number of visitors swarm the Expo Center and strong sales throughout its run. In some cases, the number of sales on opening morning were simply overwhelming.

"We've had the biggest show we've had anywhere just in the first hour and a half," said Salisbury, Connecticut, dealer Don Buckley. Indeed, in that period Buckley & Buckley sold a $65,000 William and Mary highboy with Plimoth Plantation provenance, a Connecticut ball-foot tall chest, a drop-leaf splayed leg butterfly table, and at least two chairs, besides the smalls that departed their booth.

The spacious aisles of the Expo Center that had been empty at 9:59 a.m. filled at 10 and stayed that way into the afternoon.

Others were also experiencing early sales. Thomaston, Maine, dealer David Morey sold a set of seven Spanish-foot Queen Anne chairs, six side and one arm. Newburgh, New York, exhibitors Daniel and Karen Olson sold a set of four fan-back Windsors, a square-top candlestand, and a chest. "We've had a great show already, and the doors have just opened," Daniel said. "Yes, we're quite happy."

Show manager Linda Turner said that there had also been good crowds and sales on Sunday. "Quite a few exhibitors did well," she said a week later. "The Hanebergs did well; Charles and Barbara Adams had a good show; Jeff Tillou's booth had very strong sales; the Kmetzes did very well with their art sales; Sam Herrup had a great show too."

Jeff Savage, who was handling the Tillou business while Jeffery Tillou was out of town, said they'd had a very good show indeed. "We sold a very good Queen Anne oval-top tea table, a full-length standing portrait by J. Davis, a good sack-back Windsor, and other material of that caliber," Savage said. "It's particularly rewarding coming on the heels of other shows where we've also seen good sales—the folk art show and Alexandria. It makes you feel better about Hartford."

First-time exhibitor David Evans of Cincinnati, Ohio, was also happy. "I had very good sales, as did several others who were in my area. We were visited by a couple who were buying to furnish a new home, and they made a number of purchases from several of us."

Sunday was a semi-dead day for most, Evans said, "although there were some decent interdealer sales that day. It's pretty much the rule at all the shows that if you don't make sales the first day of a two-day show, you're in trouble."

Evans revealed some interesting facts. "I did the [Frank] Gaglio show in Woodbury and now this one, and I've had my best sales ever at both these Connecticut shows. It looks like I have to come East to buy my early stock, take it back to Cincinnati, and return to Connecticut to sell it."

Whatever the reason for the larger gate, whether it be increased advertising, as some exhibitors suggested, or the fact that this year's show was ten days earlier than the past two years, or offering no early admission, which leveled the playing field for those who in the past stayed away under the impression that the early visitors had already snapped up all the good stuff, most exhibitors were happy with the results.

There are some who still feel the Expo Center is a far from ideal venue for a prestigious antiques show. The building was shared that weekend with a bustling all-day convocation of scrapbook builders. Scrapbooking is the phenomenon of 2004 (check it out on the Internet and TV shopping channels), and they were a noisy group, but the Expo Center is huge, and it appears there will always be something going on there while the show has its two-day stint.

If that's the price for strong sales, most are willing to pay it.

For more information, contact Linda Turner at (207) 767-3967; Web site (www.forbesandturner.com).