Article by Bruce A. Austin | All Photos by A. Sue Weisler
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It was like a holiday parade without the department store sponsorship: several Santas animated by live two-leggers walked by, four-foot plastic candles in the form of floor sculpture were carted out under arms, and ornaments suitable for hanging on trees or mantels spilled out of festively decorated bag.
There must be a substantial contingent of good people in Syracuse, N.Y. (and, plainly, an absence of naughty ones), as evidenced by the volume of objects that exited from the Center of Progress Building at the New York State Fairgrounds for Allman Promotions’ annual Thanksgiving antiques show, November 26-27.
A glass shade table lamp left separately from what would have been a nicely matched mission-style side table with a replaced top and that had been priced under $100; a pair of white painted porch columns maneuvered carefully past other customers who were carrying railroad lanterns, an Art Deco floor lamp and a pair of wooden skis likewise cruised through the crowd and out the exit doors.
There was a gaggle of footstools clutched by one customer, a stoneware jug and a glass vessel filled each hand of another, several sleds found their way from the sales floor to awaiting vehicles and, presumably, snowy hills not too far in the future. Also marching by was a one-drawer stand, a very large painted tin advertising sign, and a wall-hung display shelf with mirrored back suitable for hosting the collection of fossils another customer had purchased.
And then there were all the unidentified objects, carefully wrapped or bagged, that anonymously traipsed by as I not-so-patiently waited (a whole 15 minutes) for the Collector’s photographer to meet me near the show entrance.
Still on the sales floor was a wide breadth of merchandise awaiting new ownership. Vintage Christmas linens decorated (and were for sale) the booth hosted by Cherie Stooks of Parrish Antiques (Parrish, N.Y.). Also on view in the same booth was a slender, petit and unusual oak Larkin dropfront desk over two glass bookcase doors, very reasonably priced at $265.
A selection of turned and painted wooden mortar and pestles were $265 each, a pair of carved wooden penguins with nice old surface was $350 and a trade sign painted for the Conrad Realty Co. was tagged $295, all from Horsefeathers Antiques (Tom and Jan Newcomer, Delhi, N.Y.). On view at Amoss & Freeman (Vickie Freeman and Glenn Freeman, Bel Air, Maryland) was enamel jewelry, sculptures of dogs and sewing accessories in wood, ivory and metal.
Vintage cameras accompanied a selection of sterling silver spoons in Ernie Kionke’s booth (The Dropped Shop, Orchard Park, N.Y.) along with Roycroft hammered copper desk set items, a flint glass whale oil lamp ($98) and a sandwich glass oil lamp ($55). Frances Clopman-Fine of R and S Antiques (Rochester, N.Y.) exhibited gold and precious stone jewelry, beaded purses and a nice selection of Wedgwood.
A frequent exhibitor at Syracuse shows, Richard Mori of Mori Books (Milford, N.H.) has carefully curated his selection of rare, used and collectible titles for the market. In addition, he offered Scouting memorabilia including badges, pins patches and buttons. Ron Kaplewicz of Oswego, N.Y. specializes in currency; not necessarily being up-to-date (though he doubtless is), rather coins and paper money along with vintage watches.
Hunter’s Treasures (W. Monroe, N.Y.) offered a Bausch & Lomb microscope in its wooden case and, for $275 a pay phone with lighted shelf. While I cannot remember precisely the last time I saw a pay phone, I remember clearly the fact that I didn’t have enough change on me to pay for the call.
Margaret Heyboer of The Linden House showed purses, art glass and small-scale turned wooden objects. Perched on an easel was an oil painting of a winter scene by Lamont Warner ($1995). Warner was designer for Gustav Stickley’s (of Syracuse) Craftsman Workshops, predating Harvey Ellis, and significantly influenced the shape and form taken by American Arts & Crafts furniture.
Customers parked, chin in hand, at the postcard dealer’s tables, thumbing through vignettes intended to memorialize trips, vacation spots and historically significant occurrences and locations. Celebrity look-alikes I noticed among the show’s customers included Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks and Minnie Pearl.
The Allman Thanksgiving show is sandwiched between two important dates in retailing. The day after Thanksgiving, as everyone with a credit card (does that leave anyone out?) knows, is called “Black Friday.” On that day, retailers expect, and typically receive, record setting sales from consumers eager to stock up for end-of-year holidays. Black Friday is followed by Small Business Saturday. And almost certainly most antiques dealers qualify for the “Small Business” label. Some are occasional or weekend dealers, others are full-time but without a bricks and mortar presence, and still others host a physical shop where they keep traditional business hours. Add into the mix “Cyber Monday”: the day on which workers return to work, refuse to do any work, and use their high-speed, work-based computers and internet connections to hasten their online purchases.
The first snowstorm of the 2016-17 winter dumped six inches of heavy, wet stuff across central and western New York a few days before Thanksgiving; by show time, most of it had melted away. At the Fairgrounds, regional consumers and collectors were offered buying opportunities from some 200 dealers spread out across the spacious Center of Progress Building, just outside Syracuse and directly off I-690.
Show admission was $7 (or $8 for a weekend pass), parking was free and food concessions and their menus had been improved. Allman Promotions presents antiques shows in Massachusetts and Florida; in New York, in addition to Syracuse shows, Allman promotes the “Big Field” show at Madison-Bouckville (NY) to be held August 18-20, 2017. For more information on other Allman Promotion shows visit their website (allmanpromotions.com) or call 315-686-5789. Read Bruce Austin’s Blog, posted every Monday morning: http://www.rit.edu/cla/wild/blog/ Contact him at 585-387-9820 or BAAGLL@RIT.EDU.
