The Greater York Antiques Show 2015

May 1st, 2015

York, Pennsylvania

A palindrome is a word or number that can be read forward or backward. May Day (5/1/15) was a palindromic date. It is the same read forward or backward. The Greater York Antiques Show that opened at Memorial Hall East at the York fairgrounds on May Day could be viewed forward or backward to good advantage. Begin at booth 1, Kelly Kinzle, and continue down the right aisle, or start at booth 84, Greg Kramer, and proceed down the left aisle and then go the other way. There were neat things to be discovered. This was the fifth York show for Bob Bockius at Memorial Hall East since his partnership, Mitchell Displays, Inc, bought this long-running show from the heirs of the legendary Jim Burk and breathed new life into it.

York, Pennsylvania, is a crossroads for antiquers. It is an easy drive from Philadelphia and New Jersey to the east, Pittsburgh to the west, and Virginia to the south, and all places in between. A few buyers came from the Midwest and New England. They arrived on Thursday to be at the head of the line on Friday morning, but the majority were Pennsylvanians or from Delaware, New Jersey, or New York. A good many exhibitors came from New England; a few from Maryland, and others were from Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri.

Dealers brought mostly middle-range 18th- and 19th-century country gear and some from the first half of the 20th century. There were some first-rate theorems, graphic hooked rugs, paint-grained cupboards, farm tables of all sizes, and some appealing carvings. A collection of 33 small wallpaper-covered boxes and a shelf to hold them was priced at $15,000 from Cheryl Mackley of Red Lion, Pennsylvania. One could put together a collection of iron tools, pots, and kettles for open hearth cooking from several stands. And where else could you find figural pen wipes on more than one stand?

A small train weathervane was a standout; it was $10,500 from Doug Ramsay of Hadley, Massachusetts. A fraktur with portraits of two priests along with a flock of yellow birds and red tulips was a rare one from Bucks County. It was $14,000 from Kelly Kinzle. Two redware banks—one of Washington, the other of Lincoln—were offered here by Greg Kramer, who had bought them at the Miller sale at Pook & Pook a week earlier. They are real rarities from the legendary Seamen’s Bank collection.

There was a long line of shoppers waiting for the doors to open, and many of them were dealers ready to shop. Word on the floor was that business had been good during setup, but there was plenty left to buy. Some dealers asked M.A.D. not to photograph their purchases. Pennsylvania dealer Skip Chalfant bought a tea table and a Bible box. Other Pennsylvania dealers, Amy Finkel, Diana Bittel, and Elle Shushan, and Michael Ogle of American Garage, Los Angeles, were all shopping carefully. So were collectors. One collector added a rare piece of English creamware and a rare Worcester porcelain saucer to his collection.

A carving signed by Edgar Tolson, 1920s (offered by Doug Ramsay), a cast-iron mailbox painted red, white, and blue (offered by the Garthoeffners of Lititz, Pennsylvania), and a crib quilt with an appliquéd blue eagle with embroidered arrows, olive branches, and blue flowers on a white ground (offered by Jewett-Berdan, Newcastle, Maine) were more art than money.

The crowd was large on Friday morning, and many stayed late. The weather was gorgeous on Saturday, making it difficult to spend indoors at an antiques show, but some serious buyers came, and business was done. And for those who did not return the second day, the program lists all the dealers, their location on the floor plan, and each dealer’s name, name of business, city, phone number, and e-mail, so they can be reached. It is a program worth keeping and copying into your address book.

Bob Bockius said his show is still a work in progress. “We had a bigger crowd this time—up about eight percent over last year,” he said on the phone a few days after the show. “We are ready to get rolling as soon as the housing market improves.”

There seems to be demand for four York shows each year. As one dealer said, “I used to do six!” A good many dealers said they sold well, but as usual some did not.

The next Mitchell Displays York show is scheduled for November 13 and 14 in the Utz Arena, across the parking lot from Memorial Hall. The Memorial Hall, long the home of this show, was booked for a reptile show. Bockius said he has big plans for an eye-catching floor plan in the arena.

For more information, contact Mitchell Displays at (856) 686-9000 or the website (www.mitchelldisplays.com).

Originally published in the August 2015 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2015 Maine Antique Digest