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Sun and Fun: Wilton Outdoor 2002

by Susan Kleckner

"This show is so casual; easy to take down and put up. We look forward to it," said Jackie Radwin, an Americana dealer exhibiting at the 2002 Wilton (Connecticut) Outdoor Antiques Marketplace on June 22 and 23, voicing the good feelings and goodwill of every exhibitor and attendee at the show.

The antiques show, organized by Marilyn Gould of MCG Antiques Promotions to benefit the Wilton Kiwanis Club and the Wilton Y, had raised over $30,000 for the two groups by press time. Admission to the show was $9 per person ($8 for those with an ad) and $20 for those wanting first crack at the merchandise during the 8 to 10 a.m. early buying window. The till for refreshments sold at the concession stand, which also went to the show's fund-raising effort, still had not been counted by press time. According to Marilyn Gould, over 500 visitors came to early buying on Saturday morning, with an additional 4500 people making their way to "The Meadows" north of Wilton High School on Saturday and Sunday during regular show hours.

"The point of the show is to have a variety of things, so we had very good furniture and collectibles, some decorative items, and everything in between—and there were some major collectors there," Gould said after the show.

With over 180 dealers showing at Wilton, the range of material provided something for virtually every taste and was almost overwhelming. Not only was there a selection of 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century American formal and country furniture, but English and Continental furniture, decorations to enhance both, and ample material to choose from for the wall, whether paintings, prints, or hooked rugs. Silver, textiles, toys, and ceramics further fleshed out collecting opportunities, with offerings at every point on the buying scale, from novice to seasoned collector. A small group of jewelry dealers even provided buyers the means to adorn themselves once their homes were adequately outfitted.

Perhaps the three nouns that best summarize the offerings at this year's sunny and warm Wilton show are paint, gardens, and animals. Whether it was the lure of an outdoor country antiques bazaar or the harmonic convergence of dealers acknowledging the arrival of summer, every dealer appeared to have at least one (and usually more) great example of painted furniture; at least one (and usually more) festive planter, container, or garden sculpture; and at least one (and usually more) great form with an animal centrally featured.

"The furniture was a little soft, unless it was painted and country, but it's still nice to know that you can sell ten thousand or twenty thousand items out in a field in the summer," said Litchfield, Connecticut, dealer Jeffrey Tillou of his weekend at Wilton.

"I do Wilton four times a year. People down there seem to like to read, and they give a lot of books as gifts, so it's a show that works for me," said New Hampshire book dealer Rick Russack, the exception to the paint-garden-animal rule, who proved that dealers offering entirely different material were not a problem for hungry Wilton showgoers. "Wilton turned out fine for me. I had a really good Sunday, which isn't typical. I had a couple of very rare things that sold, and it turned out better for me than I thought. I think what made it for me this time was dealer business."

Jeffrey Tillou concurred, "I was most pleased about selling to dealers during early buying, which hasn't happened as much—it's a good indication that the market is stable. We had a good show. We did about fifteen or sixteen retail sales, a great amount of business during setup, and I bought well too, so on all three fronts I'm fairly pleased."

"Many people did very well, and I'm sure there were a number who did not do so well, but that's pretty much what's expected in this economy," Marilyn Gould commented.

Among the dealers whose booths were restocked at least once on Saturday morning was Hillsdale, New York, dealer John Sideli. At 8 a.m., two small painted forms, one a pull-toy elephant and the other a child's chair designed with two attendant marching zebras, were prominently placed front and center in Sideli's booth. By 11 a.m., they were gone. The zebra chair had been in a shoe store and still retained a decal on the back that read "Pied Piper Shoes."

"I ended up having a very good show," Sideli confirmed. "We had a good rush on Sunday afternoon, which was really a surprise."

The chance nature of sales seemed to be on many dealers' minds. Todd Lynch of Stephen Score, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, was pleasantly surprised at how well the material featured in Score's booth moved. "We did very well, and a lot of the sales were to non-dealers."

"Sometimes at an outdoor show, the more expensive things don't sell," John Sideli commented on the luck of the draw.

"You have one hundred eighty-three people out there at a show, and not everyone is going to do well," Jeffrey Tillou echoed.

"I sold well at setup and didn't sell well after," Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, dealer Thurston Nichols said, adding that this was the nature of the antiques show business. "Most of my selling was to dealers during early buying. I sold a very interesting carved Pembroke table and a couple wonderful hooked rugs. I've done Wilton for nine years; this was probably the lightest year traffic-wise."

Sales between exhibitors appeared to be brisk, with dealers moving from booth to booth as avidly as collectors during early buying—including dealers who weren't showing at Wilton. Material moved in and out steadily and easily, with the flow of goods and traffic providing an ambient hum to the day.

"I was very happy with the way the show set up," Marilyn Gould said about the logistics of putting on Wilton. "This is a difficult show to do. The tent arrangements, the equipment—it's like planning D-day practically—then bringing in all the exhibitors requires precise planning. Everyone moves in by a precise time, number, and color code. It takes about twenty Kiwanians to get everyone in. Probably this was the best move-in we've had. We had wider aisles, so that improved move-in. This was the best-looking show we've had. I think everyone was very happy to be there."

Birmingham, Michigan, folk art dealer Tim Hill concurred. "The show is going nicely, the weather is beautiful, it's been fun. It's a pretty terrific lineup of dealers and a wide range of things."

While the Wilton dealers were gearing up for the summer's next events, Marilyn Gould was back to work preparing for the next Wilton Antiques Marketplace. "September twenty-two is the next Wilton, and it will benefit the Daughters of the American Revolution."

Are there portents from this auspicious first event of summer for September's Wilton? In the words of Rick Russack, "Marilyn promised me it wouldn't rain, and it didn't."

For more information, call (203) 762-3525.