by David Hewett

"This was by far the best of all the shows we've had," Cheryl Scott, one of the directors of the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association (NHADA), said a few days after their 42nd annual show closed.

The show ran from August 12-14 at Manchester's Center of New Hampshire Holiday Inn and drew the largest attendance we've ever seen at any Granite State show. It's no accident the NHADA show draws those throngs.

"People don't realize how much planning and organizing goes into a show that they only see for three days at the most," Cheryl Scott said. "It's really the end result of the efforts of an incredibly devoted group of people. They all worked to make it happen, from Tommy Thompson, our president, to Carole Hayward, the vice president in charge of the show, to Linda Tate, Meryl Weiss, Karen Goldberger, and Don Piatt, the other vice presidents and our secretary and treasurer."

Carole Hayward confirmed our impression of a record crowd. She said, "The attendance was way up this year, some twenty-five percent over last year, and the sales appeared to be up also. Attendance was even up on Saturday, which isn't usually the case."

Unfortunately, at Thursday's opening Carole Hayward's main concern wasn't the show, it was her husband. Ted Hayward had to be taken out by paramedics three hours into the show. Hit by a blood infection that sent his temperature soaring, his arm swelled from the wrist to the elbow.

He was hospitalized and never made it back onto the show floor. When he returned home, he underwent surgery. He is recovering as this is being written. Exhibitors Bob Jessen and Jim Hohnwald packed out the Haywards' stock after closing, drove their truck home, and unloaded for them.

The dealers' show never ceases to amaze people. The crowds are always awesome, the material invariably fresh and exciting, and the level of selling is absolutely frenetic.

"I think that the booming economy helped us in ways you wouldn't think this year," Cheryl Scott said. "Regular business was so good that it didn't hurt to hide away some choice pieces for the show, whereas in other years, you had to agonize over whether to sell it then or save it for later.

"This was just an incredible show for everyone. We sold over sixty-five percent of our merchandise, and that includes restocking on all three days. We sold nine out of ten weathervanes we brought. We sold a highboy and a lot of other furniture. It really was an incredible show."

If there is a problem with the dealers' show, it may come from the fact that it has gotten too popular. The crowds that surge through the doors are serious buyers, and they spend time going through all the booths, leading to incredibly crowded aisles and booths. In the days after the show closed, there were stories that it was so crowded, one man had had a heart attack. (That was false. It was Ted Hayward's medical emergency and removal by paramedics that led to that story.)

We spoke with Tommy Thompson, president of NHADA, about the crowd problem. He admitted the show does get seriously crowded during opening day and said, "It would be better if someone built a new, big facility that we could use, like the one the Vermont dealers have over in Manchester at Hunter Park, but the bottom line is that that just isn't going to happen."

Tommy Thompson said he made, as he always does, the rounds of exhibitors at closing time to thank them for their participation. "I didn't hear a single dealer complain about this year's show," Thompson said. "In fact, many said it was their best ever. Lew Scranton said it was his best show in thirty-one years of dealing. I heard that from so many people, I can't even remember them all now."

Period furniture can be a slow seller at any show. Exhibitor Peter Eaton specializes in high-quality period furniture. "I sold the things I expected to sell, and didn't sell some pieces I'd hoped to," Eaton said. "When I talked with furniture dealers from the other shows, they all agreed that furniture sales were off this year. Our shipper reported he's shipped twenty-five percent fewer pieces of furniture this year than last."

The 42nd Annual New Hampshire Antiques Show in a nutshell: incredible, just incredible.