NOVA-Antiques July Calendar Updates & Venues

The NOVA-Antiques Calendar has been updated and published for July 2012.  This antiques and collectibles calendar of events features shows in the Mid Atlantic region including the Raleigh Antiques Extravaganza, The Christmas in July Doll Show in Trenton, NJ, Art Hamptons, Steel City Con, and the Middleburg Summer Antiques Fair.  Additionally, the calendar contains a preview of an article to be published in our Newsletter this coming Friday.

NOVA-Antiques has also created and published a few more pages in the last few days for some flea markets and farmer’s markets in the area per the request of the owners/operators.  These include the AyaCommunity Market in Washington DC, which will provide a much needed resource for fresh produce in South East DC and the Dumfries Farmer’s Market in Prince William County Virginia.  The new flea market pages are for the Essex Flea Market in Essex, Maryland and the Re-Flea at the Frederick County Fairgrounds in Maryland.

We are always happy to hear from our reading audience and welcome the opportunity to add more pages to our website to get the word out about new antiques and collectibles events and venues.  However, please keep in mind the NOVA-Antiques in my hobby and as such I can only devote a certain amount of time to updating and creating new pages.  I will get to your requests, but it may take a little time.  Thanks for your readership.

Antique Shows & Event for June 8-10, 2012

In my last NOVA-Antiques Newsletter I wrote a little piece about desks as an antique and it really was more of as short history on desks and their design.  As I have come to find out in my everyday life, I can never have enough desk space. 

Seems everything I am working on lands on my desk, whether it is bills that I am paying, pictures I am scanning or my iPod when I downloading music.  The more I clean off my desk, the more junk lands on it.  If you are like me, and I suspect most people are, then you might need more desk space and what better value than to recycle a vintage or antique desk.

Some shows and events that you might find antique desks at this weekend include the June Festival of Antiques in Mullica Hill, New Jersey.  This show which will be held on Saturday June 9, 2012 attracts over fifty dealers and thousands of people.  The June Festival of Antiques features antique furniture, vintage glass, pottery, jewelry and artwork as well as antique lighting and vintage toys.

If you are in the Washington DC metro area, you might want to check out the Gaithersburg Antique &Collectibles Show at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.  This antique show has been around for a long time and hundreds of dealers selling ephemera, memorabilia, vintage collectibles and glass as well as antique furniture and décor.  This show will be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 9-10, 2012 and attracts thousands of visitors and is a nice way to get nostalgic.

This Weekends Antique & Collectibles Shows December 16, 2010

As the year dies down and we get closer to the Holidays, we have less antique and collectibles shows or flea markets to attend. Which is a shame because more people should be shopping at these markets for unique, inexpensive and long lasting gifts that cannot be found at Macy’s, Toys R Us, Walmart or any of the other retail stores. Antiques and collectibles in most cases also appreciate in value and help with our green effort by keeping things out of landfills.

So where do you go this weekend to get that gift for a special someone? There are a couple of places in the Mid Atlantic region. If you are in the Washington DC metro area, you might consider the Georgetown Flea Market or Eastern Market. Both have many dealers selling antique furniture, vintage pottery and art glass as well as linens, porcelain and china. The Georgetown Flea Market is open on Sundays in the parking lot of Hardy Middle School. Also on Sundays, the Eastern Market is held on 7th and C Streets in DC.

Other shows in the Mid Atlantic region include Renningers Antique Market in Adamstown Pennsylvania. This market is open on Sundays and averages about four hundred dealers. In Fletcher North Carolina, there is Smiley’s Flea Market which is open on Friday thru Saturday. This market and antique mall is a huge 100,000 square foot facility filled to capacity every weekend. For other antique flea markets and shows, please visit my monthly calendar.

A Brief History of Polish Pottery

Our friend Agnus does a very brisk business selling Polish Pottery at the local area antique and collectibles markets. We can’t help but marvel at her salesmanship as she explains to the throngs of collectors and potential customers who hang around her booth, what Polish Pottery is, where it comes from and best of all the different vibrant patterns it comes in.

Polish Pottery is high-fired in over 1250 degrees C, and is extremely durable and lasts for many many years. The first known pieces of this pottery date back to the 1500’s and were hand made and hand decorated. In the early days, the pottery was decorated using potatoes to create the designs, today the designs are created with sponges. The main colors used even to this day are cobalt blue, peacock blue as well as earth tones. Each piece was an individual piece of artwork. Most of the pottery comes from the City of Boleslawiec, called by some the “Home of Polish Pottery.”

While molds are used for some pieces, most of the pieces are still made on a pottery wheel. The decoration is applied after the pieces are fired in coal and gas ovens, then a glaze is applied to the piece. Today the pottery comes in hundreds of patterns. Because of the high temperatures, the Polish Pottery pieces are extremely resilient and can withstand use of the microwave oven, the fridge and or regular ovens. Polish Pottery is also very collectible; especially those pieces marked “Unikat” which stands for unique. These unique pieces are created by accomplished artisans who create their own work from start to finish.

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Archives – June 9, 2005 . . . .

Nostalgic Petroliana Collectors

With gas prices jumping through the roof and drivers in some areas driving around for hours trying to find a gas station that even has gas, it’s difficult to imagine that anyone would be nostalgic about the good ole gas station. Petroliana are those collectible items associated with gas stations including advertisements, maps, old gas pumps and globes as well as oil cans and bottles. In recent years, Petroliana has been one of the fastest growing segments of collecting in the United States, as baby boomers nostalgically remember those times that were far less complicated and a gallon of gas cost less than a dollar. Now, there are tens of thousands of collectors and they are not just the boomers but their X and echo boomer generation offspring as well.

The nice thing about Petroliana, like a lot of other segments of collectibles, is that it goes across other segments of collecting. For example, a person collecting ephemera may collect Petroliana in the form of old street and city maps or a person who collects advertising memorabilia might collect Petroliana in the forms of old Esso or Texaco signs. And because there were so many different gas stations around the country, there is an abundance of collectibles to be had for the avid collector. You can find many collectibles at auctions, flea markets and antique shows as well as at yard and garage sales. If you are decorating in Petroliana and you can’t find an original of something you want, there are many reproduction pieces out there as well.

There are many websites dedicated to Petroliana and can help you to determine pricing and identify collectibles. One that I particularly like because it helps with picture identification is Gas Pump Index.

Important Antiques & Collectibles Shows August 28 - August 31, 2008

Two important antiques and collectibles shows this weekend right in the heart of the Mid-Atlantic States this weekend make it the place to be. First, The Baltimore Summer Antiques Show, Maryland’s largest antiques event will take place at the Baltimore Convention Center. This show is in it’s 28th year and is attended by over one hundred dealers featuring antiques and collectibles of every kind imaginable as well as decorators, designer and tens of thousands of buyers. The show begins today, August 28, 2008 at 12 pm and goes through Sunday at 6 PM. Admission is $12 but is good for all days and there is plenty of parking and hotel rooms close by the convention center for out of town folks.

The 151st semi-annual York Antiques Show and Sale will take place at the York Fairgrounds and Convention Center in York, Pennsylvania. This show features ninety six dealers from around the country selling antiques and collectibles including 18th and 19th Century furniture, Silver, antique toys and 18th Century English Porcelain. The York Antiques Show and Sale will begin tomorrow at 10 am and will run until 5 pm on Sunday. General admission to the show is $10 but there is plenty of free parking, great food and it is held in an air conditioned building. This show also attracts hundreds of designers and decorators as well as thousands of visitors from the Mid-Atlantic States.

See the NOVA-Antiques Calendar for other shows coming up this weekend . . . .

Marche Aux Puces at Porte de Clignancourt

Some people will agree that this is, literally, the mother of all flea markets. Billed by some as the original flea market, it certainly is the Europe’s largest flea market. Located just outside of Paris, France, the one hundred acre Marche Aux Puces, has well over twenty five hundred dealers and vendors and attracts thousands of visitors every week. This Grande Dame of flea markets has been known to attract many celebrities as well; in fact it has been said that French President Jacques Chirac has been seen at this market.

According to Frommer’s, “First-timers always want to know two things: "Will I get any real bargains?" and "Will I get fleeced?" It's all relative. Obviously, dealers (who often have a pre-arrangement to have items held for them) have already skimmed the best buys. And it's true that the same merchandise displayed here will sell for less in the provinces. But for the visitor who has only a few days to spend in Paris -- and only half a day for shopping -- the flea market is worth the experience.”

NOVA-Antiques Newsletter Archives - June 15, 2006 . . . .

The Rose Bowl Flea Market

Last November my son and his fiancé were visiting from Los Angeles and we were discussing their wedding plans for this month. We discussed how I had never been in Los Angeles or California for that matter and kiddingly I said to them that if they were planning a wedding in Los Angeles the only thing I would ask would be that they planned it on a weekend where the Rose Bowl Flea Market would be taking place. A few months later, while talking to them on the phone, they mentioned that the Sunday after the wedding, we could visit the Rose Bowl Flea Market. I had completely forgotten about my comment on their previous visit, but was ecstatic that I would be able to go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

The largest flea market on the west coast, the Rose Bowl Flea Market is usually open on the second Sunday of every month. It features more than 2,500 dealers and thousands of visitors including the famed Kovels, Ralph & Terry as well as major Hollywood Stars and entertainers. The Rose Bowl Flea Market also features a little bit of everything and is one of those mega markets where if you cannot find what you are looking for here, you are never going to find it. In addition to antiques, collectibles of every kind, vintage clothing and garage sale items, the Rose Bowl has now added an indoor section dedicated to art and artisans.

The Rose Bowl Stadium where the flea market is held is a National Historic Landmark that was built in 1922. Many people are familiar with the stadium even if they haven’t been to sunny southern California because it is where UCLA plays and it hosts the Tournament of Roses college football game. Additionally, five Super Bowl football games have been played at the stadium by National Football League teams and the Men’s Soccer World Cup games were played there in 1994. Situated in the Aroyo Seco section of Pasadena, the stadium backdrop includes majestic mountain scenery and natural beauty that takes your breath away.

After having a grand but exhausting time at the wedding this past Saturday, I finally realized one of my dreams, and we all went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market. It was a beautiful day in Pasadena, California, sunny skies with the temperature in the mid-80’s. As we stepped through the gate, I couldn’t help but think that this is also one of those flea markets that we’d never be able to take in all in one day but I found that the Rose Bowl Flea Market was all that I expected it to be. The vendors that we talked to were customer friendly and willing to make a deal and the merchandise was amazing. We saw more beautiful Murano Glass than we have seen at any other flea market we have visited but what we ended up buying a Blenko Art Glass Amberina pitcher and a Fenton Art Glass Amberina bowl and we got a great deal on both. More importantly, the best deal we found was on a cedar chest that the newlyweds had been looking for and not found at other flea markets, which confirmed our thought that if you can’t find it here, you’re not going to find it.

My Country 'Tis of Thee Manuscript Found

It was reported on CNN today that a rare and original manuscript of the America (My Country ‘tis of Thee) was found by a flea market shopper in New York. The flea marketer purchased a framed picture for $10 and later found the original manuscript behind the picture.

America was written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831 and was first heard at a church in Newton, Massachusetts. Later, the song was sung by all school students, so much so, that as I was reading the article, the song became stuck in my head and I started to sing out loud. The flea market shopper sold the manuscript to Keya Morgan who is an art collector and handwriting expert.