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Wilton, Connecticut

Wilton Outdoor Antiques Show: Smaller Crowd and Softer Sales

by Ed Pfeiffer

Uncooperative weather and competition from other events seem to have combined to hurt the Wilton outdoor antiques show, held June 17 and 18 and benefiting the Wilton (Connecticut) Kiwanis Club. There were 116 exhibitors in tents at Allen's Meadows, a spacious open area made up mostly of soccer fields. It provided wide aisles and plenty of room for parking. But drizzling rain during the first three hours on Saturday and oppressive heat on both days made it uncomfortable for visitors and exhibitors.

Show manager Marilyn Gould said total attendance was down about 25% from the 3000 or so reported for the show in recent years. She felt that reflected general slowness in the antiques field, affecting all shows. But she also suggested that the Wilton outdoor show had competition from three sources not directly related to antiques.

The second day of the show coincided with Father's Day, and many people may have had family commitments that took priority over going to an antiques show. Schools in the Wilton area also had graduation ceremonies over the weekend, which may have been the source of scheduling conflicts for some local residents. Then, the U.S. Open golf tournament in nearby Mamaroneck, New York, a major national sports event that had filled local hotels, also may have siphoned off some potential showgoers.

Conversations with some 30 exhibitors found three or four who said they had disappointing sales. Most reported satisfactory but not strong results. Several benefited from active buying.

Edward and Sheila Hylan of Southbury, Connecticut, had customers for a farm table, $950; a Pennsylvania blanket chest, $600; a Mennonite bench, $600; and a wooden bowl, $400. Items sold by Doug Taylor of Praiseworthy, New York City and Guilford, New York, included a 7' high flashing electric sign, $5100; an oil on canvas painting of a woman with a cat, $1200; three gun models (steel, wood, and aluminum), twice actual size, $72 each; and many smalls.

Rick MacLennan of Period Investments of Savannah, Savannah, Georgia, and Haddam, Connecticut, sold a fireworks sign, $3000; an oak church pew, $600; and a papier-mâché Magic Chef statue, $400. Among the items finding buyers for Henry and Nancy Fender of Glen Cove, New York, were a 24" x 18" silver-plate on copper memorial shield priced at just under $1000, and an English Regency convex mirror priced at just over $2000.

This spring, the Wilton Historical Society, of which Marilyn Gould is the executive director, had an exhibition, The Stars and Stripes: Fabric of the American Spirit, which presented J. Richard Pierce's massive collection of vintage handmade or printed parade flags. Tying in to that event, the show offered visitors free flag appraisals by Pierce, an author and collector, and Jeff Bridgman of York County, Pennsylvania, a dealer who specializes in flags. Pierce and J. Kenneth Kohn had been scheduled to do the appraisals, but Kohn was unable to attend, and Bridgman filled in for him.

Pierce said on the first day the appraisals generally were in the lower ranges, topping out at about $3000 to $5000, but two Civil War era flags drew higher figures-one was appraised at $15,000. Asked what creates value for a flag, he cited specific supporting documentation as a major influence. If there is, for example, authoritative information about the flag's owners, its association with a particular military unit, and whether it had flown in combat, the value increases.

Several appraisals stood out among the flags brought in for review on Sunday. A Confederate flag with stars and bars was given a value in the $15,000 to $25,000 range, while a collection of 30 flags that included one hand painted on muslin was rated as worth $20,000 to $30,000.

For information about future antiques shows staged by Marilyn Gould, call (203) 762-3525.