Adirondack Museum Antiques Show

Betty Flood | September 25th, 2012

Tom Baker and Barbara Boardman Johnson had a "Fresh Seafood" sign that sold; an early tin gold-mining pan for $45; and green-painted fish decoys for $395.

Jane Langol had an assortment of Weller, Roseville, and Robinson Clay Products pottery. The umbrella stand was $390; a green vase with a flower, $435; a pink vase with two handles, $125; a blue vase with two roses, $670; and a solid pink vase, $145.

Trish and Bill Huestis of Mountain Thistle Antiques, Waynesboro, Virginia, had quite an array of shell art ranging in price from $125 to $275.

Paul McCobb's hanging and table lamps included one from the Pine Needle River Studio for $1650.

Blue Mountain Lake, New York

by Betty Flood

The long-famed Adirondack Museum Antiques Show & Sale in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, held this year August 11 and 12, is getting smaller and smaller, but the buyers are still coming.

Show promoter Rod Lich of Georgetown, Indiana, said the drop in the number of dealers from 46 to 42 was caused by poor health and one death. "We are trying to keep with the seventeenth- and eighteenth- [century] merchandise, but it is very difficult to do."

Lich said the aging of dealers and customers is a problem. "Young people look at 1960, 1970, and 1980 merchandise, which we don't want in this type of show. Coming from the Midwest at eighteen hundred miles [with the high cost of gasoline] is not easy."

Kate Moore, marketing manager for the museum, said the early buying from 8 to 10 a.m. brought in 90 people who paid $30 each. Moore said the show would be held again in August in 2013 despite a request from several dealers to have the show moved back to September, as it was for several years. It is also becoming a problem for dealers to find reasonable lodging in August because of the competition with generations of families who have been visiting the Adirondacks for centuries and make their reservations one year ahead and stay at least two weeks.

Jeff Cherry of Damariscotta, Maine, said, "I did as well as we ever do. We sold some furniture, canoe paddles, and paintings." Although the traffic was less than normal, Cherry, who has a wonderful following, said he had no complaints.

Tom Baker of Soquel, California, said he did well with fishing decoys, duck decoys, twig stands, and baskets. He also sold an Adirondack painting but was surprised that no one bought his pan used for gold-mining in California. "Guess there is no gold in the Adirondacks," he said.

Linda Davidson of Landrum, South Carolina, said she took a single booth this year because her husband was not up to carrying a lot of furniture. They had already done two other shows, the Scott Antique Markets in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Cashiers Benefit Antiques Show in Cashiers, North Carolina. Davidson sold several smalls, including a folk art cabin complete with Christmas tree, and some Adirondack chairs with pullout ottomans.

The Sholls of Norwood, New York, did not sell a table they brought but did sell a raft of frames, particularly folk art and tramp art styles.

Betsy Barkocy of Warwick, New York, was a first-timer at the show and did extremely well, selling a German chafing dish for $3500. The Joseph Heinrichs piece had three rabbits holding the dish as part of the base, and it was indeed a rare find. Barkocy said she sold to quite a few Canadian buyers. "It was a mix of everything," including glass, an Arts and Crafts Mission chair, and some bronzes.

Jane Langol of Medina, Ohio, sold a Windsor chair, a painted Chinese chair, a set of mauve mixing bowls, an Oriental rug, a Persian rug, a Mexican mirror, a santos figure, a large umbrella stand, and several smaller pieces of pottery. She was delighted.

Ed Pierce of Pastime Antiques & Collectibles, Central Square, New York, praised the show but said he wished it were back in September. "It was very good for us. We sold hotel memorabilia, photo postcards, iron dogs, iron deer, an iron bear, an iron beaver, and a wonderful standing statue of an Indian."

The folks from Loose Moose Antiques, Nineveh, Indiana, sold a wonderful Indian war club with a carved face, a Hudson Bay blanket, a hickory table, a huge yellowware bowl, and a beautiful carved deer made out of hickory for $1200.

For more information, contact Rod Lich at (812) 951-3454 or see the Web site (www.adkmuseum.org).

John Provo was proud of this big twig frame with a print of a fly fisherman, 1930's, priced at $2500.

Comstock Books & Antiques had a full-size guideboat, Willard's Whimsy, dated 1945, made by Willard Hanmer, for $8500.

Linda Davidson of Landrum, South Carolina, offered a great folk art log cabin with pine tree attached for $475. It sat atop a small hooked rug priced at $225.

David Drummond of Lititz, Pennsylvania, showed a chandelier with four lights, $600; a large painted table, $800; a pewter bowl, $65; four chairs out of a set of 24, $75 each; a whirligig, $485; and a shelf of Indian mugs, $48 to $65.

D.J. Light of Antiques on the Square, Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania, had a pair of eagle quilts priced at $450; a table, $175; a painting, $295; a lamp with reverse painting, $250; and funky willow decorations, $20 each.