Allentown, Pennsylvania

There's Life in the Old Show Yet

by Dick Friz

The early morning selling at setup may not be as frenetic these days, and the blocks-long lines of zealous attendees that once stampeded the gate at the 9 a.m. opening now amble in as if on a casual stroll.

Still, of all the shows on the toy circuit inundating the calendar—Atlantique City, Chicago, Macungie, Rochester, and York, to name a few—the venerable Allentown (Pennsylvania) Antique Toy Show & Sale remains the best barometer of the highs, the lows, and the cyclical trends that grip this volatile, multifaceted hobby. Held at Agricultural Hall at the Allentown Fairgrounds, the show benefits the Good Shepherd Home and Rehabilitation Center.

On November 3, 2000, Allentown again displayed amazing resilience and vitality despite increasing encroachment from toy auctions, the Internet, overlapping shows, and not enough great merchandise to go around, not to mention the incursion of Beanie Babies, PEZ containers, and action figures.

In cruising the cavernous exhibition area with its maze of aisles lined with over 500 tables and 400 dealers showcasing their wares, it's possible to have overlooked a few trophy pieces among the magpie mix of toys in all price ranges. The following, in addition to the pictorial recap on this page, rate as best-of-show nominees deserving of a place on any collector's wish list.

• An 1880's Althof Bergmann painted and stenciled tin four-piece train set shown by Bob and Marianne Schneider of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
  
• A What's Wrong comic car by Johann Distler ($1400) and a Bing tinplate clockwork seaplane ($3500) in the booth of Don and Sally Kaufman of West Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
  
• A Hubley cast-iron America airplane with two pilots ($4500) at the booth of Tom Sage of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
  
• A keywind tinplate 1919 Orkin Nevada battleship at $1700 from Richard Claus of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. (Japanese bombers at Pearl Harbor sank the real ship over 20 years later.)
  
• One of the classic comic celluloid toys of the 1930's, a boxed Henry on Trapeze windup by an unknown Japanese maker, priced at $1500 by Jeff Landes of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.
  
• A pale blue Coast-to-Coast Keystone pressed steel ride 'em bus, restored, with a $5600 price tag, shown by William Schall Jr. of Grove City, Pennsylvania.
  
• A pair of oversized hook-and-ladder and hose-reel horse-drawn fire rigs in the scarce bronze finish, priced at $6500 the pair in the booth of Jay Lowe of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Allentown again proved an ideal venue for auctioneers, including Sotheby's, Glenn Ralston, and Randy Inman, to showcase their recent and upcoming sales. Although Bill Bertoia was still recuperating from a recent operation and missed Allentown for the first time within memory, his brother Richard was in the Bertoia booth, briskly selling past catalogs.

Although October's unprecedented windfall at auctions generated a total of over $5 million, more than a few dealers reported that at five recent toy auctions—Julia's, Ralston's, Barrett's, Inman's, and Bertoia's—they had been able to bid successfully, securing real bargains intermingled with the blockbusters, enabling them to restock and prime the pump.

Judging by the variety and quality of the November event, Allentown's dealers and collectors alike happily discovered that the well has not run dry.

For more information, call (610) 821-0111.