The Eighth Annual June Festival Of Antiques In Mullica Hill, N.J.

July 17, 2014

The eighth annual June Festival of Antiques at the Gloucester County Fairgrounds held on June 14 in Mullica Hill, N.J., was once again hosted by The Yellow Garage Antiques. Benefiting the Harrison Township Historical Society, the indoor/outdoor show is held on the second Saturday in June every year. This year’s show featured 62 dealers set-up under the four open-air pavilions, plus 14 additional dealers were outside on the lawn. Showgoers at the 9:00 a.m. opening were greeted with sunny skies, mild temperatures, and a gentle breeze.
Attendees were treated to a wide variety of goods from dealers who drove in from as far as Indiana, New York state and Virginia. The show had a good percentage of country Americana, including a vast selection of furniture, fraktur, stoneware, needlework samplers, early lighting, quilts, baskets, woodenware, folk art and the like. But there was also formal furniture, great costume and estate jewelry, fine art, glass, porcelain, and just a mind-boggling amount of quality antiques in general.
As the gates opened, patrons rushed to check the wares offered along the road from the line-up of perennial outside June Festival dealers including Pat Murray of Brick, N.J.; Susanne Cooke of Royal Port Antiques of Salem, N.J.; Todd Kibler of Country Antiques Two of Mullica Hill, N.J.; Gring's Antiques of Ocean City, N.J.; and Joan and Larry Frankel of Margate, N.J. Good sales were reported early on from all. A little further down the road was Nancy Holleny of Granthum 1763 Antiques in Denton, Md. Nancy stated she had a good show, selling from her inventory of folk art, furniture, wallpaper boxes, stoneware and signs.
Dealers from Oley, Pa., were well-represented at this year’s event. Taking time off from their preparation of their "Antiques in the Valley" show, which was going to open on the following Friday, were dealers George Allen and Gordon Wycoff of Raccoon Creek Antiques, Gene Bertolet and Chris Mabry, and Mark and Kelli Saylor of Bertolet House Antiques. George and Gordon sold a seven foot sawbuck table and an early Steiff teddy bear, among other items. Mark had a painted blanket chest with a "sold" sign on it. All morning it garnered lots of attention as "the one that got away." Gene and Chris sold from their inventory of great country smalls including items of pottery, tin and wood.
The first pavilion had its share of great merchandise as well. Yellow Garage Antiques dealers Tom and Brenda Boytim had a beautiful display of Americana, including samplers, fraktur, blue decorated stoneware, a tall-case clock, and two wonderful slipware loaf pans. Brooklyn, N.Y., dealer Paula Cohen returned with a good variety of smalls. "I do sell more than just white ironstone," she proclaimed as she was writing a sales slip for a chalkware cat. And Don Osburn of Easton, Md., who has done every June Festival since the start, sold a collection of 19th-century corkscrews.
Pavilion Two was overflowing with quality antiques. George Hawriluk boasted two desks: a magnificent Herter Brothers desk and a period walnut drop front desk with New Jersey provenance. Chadds Ford, Pa., dealer Richard Worth said he sold a Windsor bench and a Queen Anne drop leaf table. Steve and Carol Redler of Hightstown, N.J., sold a primitive pine schoolmaster's desk in the original red paint late in the day. And Langhorne, Pa., dealer Linda Grier held down her usual spot with her well-chosen primitive antiques. Linda has a winning formula of reasonably priced, honest merchandise paired with a positive attitude that translates into good sales.
Pavilion Three was another antiques shoppers' paradise. Hugh Alan Luck sold a large coffee mill and a seldom seen set of five graduated blue decorated stoneware measures early in the day. Marianne Kuzmenchuk sold a very nice 19th-century paint decorated storage box, probably from Normandy. And Olivia Garay had a stunning display of fine quality jewelry and stated she had sold well.
The Wallace Warren Pavilion was built a few years back and made a nice space for an additional 12 dealers with undercover space. Sue and Kent Theurich of Old Bridge, N.J., had their usual display cases stocked full of all kinds of mainstream antiques and collectibles. Nancy Zickgraf of Could be Kindling, New Castle, Del., had a good selection of primitive wooden items and pottery. And show promoter Bob Lutz held down his usual spot, selling an array of country furniture and pottery early in the show.
And still there was more. Dublin, Pa., dealer Jim Emele had a show within a show. He emptied the contents of a long straight truck and filled a large section of the lawn area with great quality country furniture, sterling silver, folk art, toys, redware and stoneware. The show rambled on past Jim with many more dealers on the lawn. The June Festival for 2014 lived up to its reputation for being a large, diverse show with great quality. And the fact that the weather was perfect didn't hurt!
For more information, visit www.yellowgarageantiques.com.



 

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