ON THE TRAIL News, New York, Nashville and more… With Tom O’Hara Howdy Folks! Nashville, Tenn.: Here we are in the Music City finishing up for the month on Valentine’s Day weekend with the Jenkins Management double header, Music Valley Antiques Show and Tailgate Antiques Show. Great fun, not bad selling and fantastic buying in the nearly week long event, but lets take the month in chronological order again. difficulty getting dates for the January show for the prior two years due to schedule conflicts and availability. This was the first time back after a brief absence, and so there were some dealers who had found an alternate venue. That was too bad for those absentees, but good for the fresh blood with their equally fresh inventories. Ellsworth Maine dealer Pioneer Folk, a firsttimer at the show, was selling their folk art and practical things at a good pace for the weekend. Soheil Oriental Rugs of NY, Christopher Evans, Waynesboro, Va., and many more were selling sufficient parts of their inventories to plan for a return next January. Additional shows in New York were the Winter Show at Park Avenue Armory which began with the preview Jan. 20. This is a 10-day affair for the finest antiques, at the finest prices and is also known as the East Side Settlement House Show. Stella produces Antiques at the Armory downtown at 26th Street and Lexington Avenue. TAAS, as it is called, was held the same weekend sponsored by The American Folk Art Museum. The real name is The American Antiques Show and it has more painted and folksy antiques than at just about any other show anywhere. The Big Apple You may recall we finished our last report with the Winter Show in Round Top, Tex. From there it was rush back for Americana Week in New York City, Jan. 20-24. This is the granddaddy of all the Antiques Weeks, with a half dozen shows featuring antiques and art, all with an emphasis on Americana. At the same time, the major auction houses hold their versions of Americana sales. This plethora of activity brings visitors to the big city for winter vacations to see the shows and sales and leave with fresh antiques for home, shop or even show inventories. At Stella’s Antiques at the Piers, Jan. 2324, Brenda Daniel of Athens, Ala. sold a very valuable hooked mat of a horse farm scene to a couple who had come to the show from New Bedford, Mass. There were two couples from Atlanta in New York for an extended weekend attending the antiques shows for additions to their homes and also doing the Broadway shows in the evenings. Their purchases included two tables and a set of chairs, which were shipped by the on-site shippers at the Pier. Stella Shows had been having some Melvin Arion welcomes retired dealers Jack Bryson and Ruth Bryson to the show in Raccoon Creek’s exhibition at the York Show. From New York to York After the weekend in New York, it was off to several errands along the east coast and Melvin Arion’s York Antiques Show, Jan. 29-31 at York Expo. The site still known to many of us as the York Fairgrounds had a new building added to the facility several years ago, which gives all the shows an excellent showcase for antiques. Combined with good parking and easy access to the major cities of the east, including Washington to New York, Arion’s show has been the leader in this small Pennsylvania city for many years. Ninety-six dealers were exhibiting in room settings with reports of great sales to support Arion’s comments that Friday’s attendance was among the highest in recent years of the show. Ohioan Greg Ellington is a dealer in early earthenware, including all the wares with colors in front of their names. Friday activities included 11 pieces to several collectors for “the highest one day sales I’ve ever had.” Ken and Sue Zipple, Bowie, Md. have been regulars at York for many years. During pack out Sunday evening, they were overwhelmed with the great success for the weekend. “Even with customers told by the weather reports to stay off the roads Saturday, we had a good day and an excellent weekend.” Their collection includes samplers, silhouettes, small paintings and hundreds of small objects such a cork screw collection, pie crimpers, and many other curiosities which they often find on their frequent trips to England and other parts of Europe. The show has been around for more than 75 years with a reputation for Americana as the primary offerings. This might be qualified to include things found in a home in America about 1800, allowing for a smattering of foreign The Olson’s, Newburg, N.Y. selling well at the York show with the rounded farm table finding a new home. Judith and James Milne are New York City shop owners who do a great many shows, including two during the Americana Week in New York. Wenham Cross, Topsfield, Mass. shows a collection of small antiques at the Piers. Page 32, Northeast Antiques, March 2010 Tom Delash is an Ohioan exhibiting at Music Valley Antiques show with a wonderful assortment of folk art. www.northeastantiques.com