There were two antiques shows at the York (Pennsylvania) Fairgrounds on May 9 and 10. Jim Burk's Greater York Antiques Show and Sale, moved up from its customary Memorial Day weekend dates, filled Memorial Hall with 115 dealers, and Barry Cohen's new York County Classic Antiques Show had 75 dealers set up in the Old Main Building across the parking lot.

Those attending had good things to say about both shows, and some business was done, both dealer-to-dealer preshow selling as well as buying by showgoers.

The talk at both shows was about new plans for the fall when Burk will move his show to the new York Expo arena, now under construction on the fairgrounds, and when Barn Star Productions "in cooperation with Jim Burk Antiques Shows" debuts The Pennsylvania Antiques Show, October 31-November 2. "Two Great Shows Under One Roof" is printed on an advertising card.

"We will go side by side," said Frank Gaglio, who was handing out cards picturing a mule team pulling a plow in front of a Pennsylvania barn. "I stayed up all night cutting up the cards," said Gaglio as he solicited dealers from Burk's and Cohen's shows. "Dealers can set up at Jim's show and at my show if they have enough stock and someone to man both booths at all times," said Gaglio. "There will be one admission to both shows."

Gaglio said that since he decided not to run his fall Philadelphia show, which had trouble attracting an audience, he hoped that all the dealers who did that show will come to York. "I am talking to all the big boys too. I will invite Keno, Pratt, Bradley, Prickett. I want this show to be upscale and have a broad range—something for everyone."

Jim Burk, however, seemed a bit anxious about the developments and is not certain he wants one admission to both shows. "We haven't worked that out yet," he said.

Burk said that he can team up with Gaglio but is not happy that Barry Cohen is moving his fall tailgate from the motel to Memorial Hall. "When I said it was all right if he tailgated my May show, Cohen told me he would go back to the motel in the fall, and he lied. When he learned that Memorial Hall was available, he rented it. I am not happy about it, and you can print that. And what's more, there is a rumor that Goodrich is going to move to the fairgrounds too and hold a craft and antiques show there at the same time. Now five hundred dealers in four shows are too much for this market to absorb."

(The rumor about Goodrich moving its dates is not true. Kerry Varner said that Goodrich, Inc. will hold its 20-year-old antiques show at York on November 21, 22, and 23 in Memorial Hall West, while its craft show, with 120 artists who work in the early American traditions, will fill Memorial Hall East.)

Barry Cohen said that he never promised Burk he would return to the motel. "I called and talked to Jim Burk before scheduling the May show at the fairgrounds, but we never talked about the fall. I had no idea that Gaglio was opening a show at the fairgrounds or that Memorial Hall would be available. I just knew that Old Main West had already been rented for another event. I will launch my second decade in York in Memorial Hall on the fairgrounds, and I will stick with the York County Classic name. I am happy to cooperate with everyone to make it successful. I hope to continue cooperating with Burk in placing local advertising."

Gaglio said that Cohen did a smart thing. "Given the choice of a motel or a place to set up booths with walls, I'd have chosen Memorial Hall," he said. Dealers would rather set up in a hall than in a motel room, and the majority of Barry Cohen's dealers said that they would stick with him in the fall.

"Barry is a good show manager," said Brian Cullity. "I have been asked to do Burk's show, but I've stuck with Barry's tailgate, and I would not defect to the Barn Star show now."

Lucinda Seward, who has done Cohen's tailgate for ten years and also shows at Gaglio's Mid-Week in Manchester, said she and her husband, Michael, would stick by Cohen in York.

Dealers say that they expect booth rent will be considerably less at Cohen's show than at the shows at the new Expo arena, where there is room for larger stands and a more spacious floor plan.

The competition is fierce. Using the loudspeaker before Cohen's show opened at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 9, Burk asked his dealers to boycott the show across the parking lot.

They didn't.

Many of Burk's dealers were in line when York County Classic opened. When Burk's show opened at noon, "you could have rolled a bowling ball down the aisles and not hit a single shopper, so a bunch of us who had our booths covered went over to Burk's show and shopped too," said English pottery dealer Margaret Johnson Sutor.

When Cohen's show closed at 6 p.m. on Friday, those who could not leave their booths earlier in the day headed for Memorial Hall. Burk's show stayed open until 8 p.m. There was a lot of dealer-to-dealer business, and it made the show for many exhibitors.

Cohen is bound to lose a few dealers to the big arena, but he has a waiting list. "Our business is almost entirely dealer business, and we need to be where we have access to the most dealers," said Don Moylan, a partner in Oakland Art & Antiques, West Bloomfield, Michigan, "but we haven't made up our minds."

Tramp art dealer Clifford Wallach of Brooklyn, New York, said that this was the second time he had done one of Cohen's shows, and even though he sold eight pieces on Friday, he feels no loyalty to Cohen and would go with Gaglio.

Joyce Hanes of Hanes & Ruskin, Old Lyme, Connecticut, is a Cohen fan. "We have done just fine at Barry's shows. He is a gentleman, booth rents are reasonable, he has a great staff, he does his advertising. What else can you ask for? Having all these shows in one place puts York on a national level," she declared. "More shows will bring in more shoppers from everywhere."

Others are not so sure multiple shows will be so great. "For three shows to be successful in York, the promoters are going to have to double the gate," observed James Kilvington, a Dover, Delaware, dealer who shows with Burk.

Frank Gaglio said that doubling the gate is his mission. "I think we can make York a destination like Manchester is a destination in August and Philadelphia is a destination in April. That is what I will set out to do, and I will put all my energy into making it happen in York."

If the promoters can cooperate with each other, stagger the times of opening, and put out a brochure like they do in Manchester, it just may work.

But Burk, who has been a show promoter for more than 30 years, is not happy. He said that he can work with Frank Gaglio, but, if he could, he would bar other shows from the fairgrounds. "There's just not enough money around to support more than three hundred dealers in York on one weekend," Burk said. "A lot of dealers will not do well."

The dealers are an optimistic bunch and believe there will be enough Americana dealers hungry enough to fill three shows at the York Fairgrounds on Halloween weekend 2003. For shoppers to be able to see three shows and not have to move their cars is unprecedented.