Click here to subscribe to M.A.D.

Woodbury, Connecticut

Woodbury Debuts an Antiques Fair

by Ed Pfeiffer

The antiques field has been a significant part of the local scene in Woodbury, Connecticut, for decades. According to local dealer Wayne Pratt, there probably were shops there as early as the 1890's. He is one of ten dealers located among the beautiful old structures along a one-mile stretch of Main Street, where there are also two art galleries. Another 35 dealers have shops on nearby streets and roads. The Woodbury Antiques Dealers Association promotes the town as Connecticut's antiques capital.

Woodbury has a wealth of American history. It was, for example, the birthplace of the Episcopal Church in America. In 1771, as was the practice at that time, the Rev. John Rutgers Marshall was given a glebe. A glebe is a portion of land assigned to a clergyman as part of his benefice. In Woodbury it was a house and surrounding fields he was expected to farm. Only weeks after American independence was secure, a group of Anglican clergy met in Rev. Marshall's house and decided to take part in building the new nation, while upholding their religious heritage. Today the property has been restored and preserved and is now the Glebe House Museum.

Somewhat surprisingly, despite its rich history and its role in the antiques field, there had not been an antiques show in Woodbury. That changed over the weekend of June 14 and 15 when the Glebe House Museum joined forces with show manager Frank Gaglio of Rhinebeck, New York, to stage a fair with 145 exhibitors under tents in the field of Three Rivers Park. Wayne Pratt, a board member of the Glebe House Museum, is credited with suggesting the idea of a fund-raising antiques fair and recommending his friend Gaglio as someone who could make it happen.

Dealers were obviously interested in participating. They came from 14 states, and one each made the journey from Canada and London, England. There were 50 Connecticut exhibitors, 30 of them from Woodbury. Thirty-six dealers came from other New England states, 46 from the Mid-Atlantic area, and ten from the Midwest. They displayed an impressive array of upper-end American furniture, decorative accessories, and collectibles.

Several dealers from the Midwest said they were venturing into the East Coast market for the first time. Katherine King, an art dealer from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was doing her initial eastern show. Dan and Kathy Roe of Springfield, Illinois, were also testing the New England area. They came for a week, and Dan was enthusiastic about Connecticut and its historic ambiance. He said they visited an early graveyard among other places. "You don't see any headstones with seventeen-hundreds dates in Illinois," he noted.

On Friday the 13th of June the Woodbury event got off to a difficult start as dealers arrived to check in and set up. Pouring rain turned the field into a muddy quagmire. Trucks, vans, and cars bogged down. Frank Gaglio said, "It was a promoter's nightmare. If ever I wanted to quit the antiques field, it was that day." But he added, "I felt an obligation to the dealers, so we went ahead."

As it turned out, Gaglio won strong compliments from the exhibitors. They felt he managed the situation extremely well, and many noted that he was cool under fire. Dealer Jim Murphy of Newtown, Connecticut, said, "Frank can't get high enough praise for the way he managed the problem." Exhibitors especially appreciated Gaglio's decision, late that Friday afternoon, to provide two school busses to take them to the local hotels and motels where they were staying overnight. That made it unnecessary for them to get their vehicles out through the mud, which would probably have caused additional damage to the soggy grounds. The busses were made available again next morning to bring the dealers back to the site in time for the show's opening. By then, a topping of straw had been put down in the aisles. By midmorning the sky brightened, and the field quickly dried out. The weather on Sunday improved for the better with full sunshine throughout the day.

Reporting on the paid admissions during the weekend, Frank Gaglio said there were 168 early buyers and an additional 2500 visitors during the rest of Saturday and on Sunday. He added that he and the Glebe House Museum were "really pleased" with those numbers.

Conversations during the show with a cross-section of exhibitors found them also generally satisfied with the show's outcome. They said traffic had been somewhat lighter than they hoped, a situation they blamed primarily on Saturday's threatening weather. Most felt that the big Farmington weekend show, held about 50 miles to the east, was far enough away to cause little competition. One dealer, who preferred not to be identified, did question whether having the Woodbury show on Father's Day may have hurt the gate. He felt many antiquers might have had conflicting family commitments that prevented them from coming to the Woodbury event.

As for sales, exhibitors said they had been soft, but most seemed comfortable with their results. They generally made allowance for the fact that it was the event's first appearance and will need time to gain recognition and build a following.

Dealer Jon Magoun of South Paris, Maine, said he had sold a set of six plank-seat chairs for $475, two Old Hickory tables for $900 the pair, a stuffed beaver for $650, a pair of oversize snowshoes for $700, a pair of terra-cotta urns for $1500, a pair of andirons for $275, and other smalls.

Marybeth Keene of Wayne Pratt & Company reported sales of a pair of 19th-century leather-covered armchairs at $2000, a Windsor armchair at $1200, silver flatware, and other smalls. She also noted that they had found a number of worthwhile things to buy from other dealers.

Sales for Jim Murphy of Newtown, Connecticut, included five snuffboxes and an early 19th-century two-board tap table with Hepplewhite base, priced in the $1200 to $1500 range.

Frank Gaglio's Barn Star Productions, Rhinebeck, New York, stages five major shows annually. For information, call (845) 876-0616 or visit the Web site (www.barnstar.com). The Glebe House Museum and its garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll have tour hours from April to November, weekends only in November. There is also an extensive schedule of activities, programs, and events. For details, call (203) 263-2855 or check the Web (www.theglebehouse.org).