Usually if you take an antiques show, change the management, replace one-third of the dealers and completely alter the overall physical presentation, you wind up with an antiques show that doesn't much resemble what you started out with.
Not so with Ohio's annual Zoar Antique Show, which despite salvos of change this year, came out looking remarkably similar to its previous 42 incarnations.
And that's a very good thing.
Because for lovers of American country antiques, Zoar has consistently been something of a grail - a yearly touchstone of unparalleled excellence. Since its beginning, the Zoar Antique Show has established a reputation for consolidating the best of what the market has to offer in terms of early furniture and related primitives in original paint and surface, with a special emphasis on Ohio and surrounding states.
Last year, when Jan and Dick Wilks of Keystone Antiques in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, announced their intention to retire after eight years at the show's helm, the Zoar Community Association went looking for new talent. It wanted to find someone who would not only continue to run the antiques show, but who would return it to the pinnacle of its game. The 43rd edition of the Zoar Annual Harvest Festival and Antique Show was held Aug. 6 and 7.
“They felt it had always been a nice show, an OK show, but they wanted to upgrade it,” said Steven Sherag, a young, up-and-coming show manager who ultimately got the nod for the job.
Sherag is the owner of Early American Antiques and Timeless Restorations in Canfield, Ohio. In addition, he is the manager of the long-running Hudson, Ohio Antique Show and the Okemo Antiques Show in Ludlow, Vt.
Coming in as manager, Sherag scrutinized the 57 exhibitors at the show and decided to not renew 19 of them for the 2016 edition – fully one-third. He replaced them with dealers he felt were outstanding in the field of early Americana and threw in a few other dealers having more vintage and eclectic merchandise, just for good measure.
One thing he immediately instituted was the addition of walls in the booths, something that had been largely lacking in the past. Sherag said he felt that by not incorporating walls, the venue looked more “flea-markety” instead of like a professional show. The walls this year enabled dealers to display quilts, coverlets, frakturs, samplers, paintings and many colorful smalls that instantly added more color, graphic appeal and general interest to the overall setting.
The new manager said he likes the size of the show as it is presently and will not seek to expand it beyond the huge tent that now houses it.
“It's one of the only shows in the United States that is set in an historical community,” said Sherag, adding, “That makes it a natural draw.” Where else, he asks, can a visitor go to a top-notch antiques show, tour the docent-staffed restored Zoar Village and visit a group of the nation's most noted craft artisans all for $9?
Something else Sherag resurrected from the show's earlier years was the inclusion of a designer booth - essentially a room setting filled with top-of-the-line merchandise he spots in dealers' booths as he roams the show. For many years, the show was noted for offering a designer booth when nationally known American country designer Nancy Kalin co-managed the event with Gus Knapp of Hudson.
Sherag noted that a $3,000 sampler sold from the designer booth in the opening 10 minutes of the show, followed a short time later by a $1,200 paint-decorated coffee box.
The new manager said that while Zoar has a very strong reputation as a country show, “You can't just have straight Americana. I want to take the show to a higher level, but I also want to start to diversify it a little bit,” he noted.
Sherag said he believes that opening the door to high quality vintage and repurposable historic items will help coax new collectors into the market.
By the time this year's show ended, Sherag said, he wanted its dealers already thinking about what special items they might bring to next year's edition.
“We want this to be a destination spot for people. That's the goal,” said Sherag.
Many of the dealers who talked to this writer said they were highly impressed with Sherag's efforts to recraft the show this year, and undoubtedly the most often heard phrase describing him was that he “works like a dog.”
By the time the door to the tent opened Saturday, the line for admission was impressively lengthy, wending its way across a parking lot toward the picturesque restored historic village beyond.
One longtime dealer estimated Saturday's gate at more than 1,600 but said Sunday's admissions typically total about one-third of that. As reported by Sherhag, 2,000-plus attended the two-day event.
Saturday's attendance was doubtlessly helped by a brief moderation in the month-long string of blazing temperatures that have seared the region. Dealers and visitors who usually swelter under the tent canvas enjoyed a bit cooler temperatures and even occasional hints of a breeze, helping put people in more of buying frame of mind.
To learn more, call Steve Sherhag at 330-207-2196 or email Sherhag@gmail.com.
For more information about the village of Zoar in Zoar, Ohio, visit www.historiczoarvillage.com.