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Maine Antique Digest, March 2015 29-C
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Augusta Armory New Year’s Antiques Show, Augusta, Maine
The Annual Augusta New Year’s Day Show
by Clayton Pennington
T
he
annual
Augusta
Armory
New Year’s
Antiques Show, held at the
armory on Western Avenue in
Augusta, Maine, on January 1,
is a bargain for shoppers, who
pay only $3 admission and get
to see approximately 45 exhib-
iting dealers. “That’s less than a
dime a dealer,” promoter James
Montell joked before the show
opened. It’s also a bargain for
dealers, who pay $100 for a
long-running, well-established
one-day show that runs for only
five hours, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“When we opened, we had
140 people in line,” Montell
said. “That’s one thing that
encourages promoters: to look
out into the lobby and you see a
line. That’s a good feeling, and
most of them come every year.”
This is the 24th year Montell
has produced the New Year’s
Day show, and you won’t find a
more affable show promoter in the business. When Mon-
tell sits at the admission table selling tickets, everyone
gets a smile, a heartfelt “thank you,” and usually a little
joke or an anecdote. He frequently calls his customers by
name and knows what they collect.
“I thought it was an interesting show. We know it was not
the most gorgeous show—it’s not the Ellsworth show—
but it was most interesting. It had a myriad of things that
were offered for sale,” said Montell. “I was happy with the
crowd—and you always hope a large crowd means good
buying.” The gate was almost a 50% increase over the year
before.
Montell thinks the New Year’s Day date is good for
shoppers who are weary of the holidays. “One: they have
the time. And two: they have some money as a result
of gifts. I think they finally want to buy something for
themselves.”
It’s a home-grown show. “The crowd—to my knowl-
edge—were all Mainers. The dealers were all Mainers,”
he said. “I depend on people coming from a radius of fifty
to sixty miles.... I was missing some regulars because of
illnesses and family reunions, but I was fortunate to get
some replacements.”
Montell is an old hand at promoting shows in Augusta.
“I’ve had over a hundred shows in that building,” Montell
said. “I know that building like my own house. If stuff
goes wrong, I know how to fix it.”
Some dealers did very well, according to Montell.
“Some did well. Some did as usual. It depends on the
stock, and it depends on the people that walk in the door.
I was pleased with the turnout. I was pleased with the
diversity of things. What more can you say? I’m blessed.”
Montell’s next show at the Armory will be on April 26.
For more information, call (207) 582-2849.
The painted lead bank featuring Santa headed
down the chimney was originally a giveaway
from the Citizens Savings Bank, “The Friendly
Bank,” at Fourth and Walnut in Martins Ferry,
Ohio. Doug Carnrick of Odds ’N Sodds, Water-
ville, Maine, asked $490.
What says New England more than the bitter-tast-
ing soft drink Moxie, invented by a Maine man?
The sheet music for the “Moxie Song,” copyright
1921, was $12 from Doug Carnrick.
Jim Montell’s New Year’s Day show at the armory in Augusta,
Maine, has become a Maine tradition.
Blue-and-white stone-
ware umbrella stand,
unmarked, $325 from
Howard Hanson of
Halfway
Antiques,
Arundel, Maine.
Preliminary drawing of the
Mystic Whaler
, a 78' long schooner
designed in 1963 by V.B. Crockett in Camden, Maine. It was $50
from dealer Dana McKinney of Rockland, Maine.
The sign from the early 1940s was for the Society for the Preser-
vation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in
America. It was $150 from Pete Pardoe of Alna, Maine.
The tin chocolate mold of a boy and a dogcatcher by French
maker Létang Fils was $120 from Pete Pardoe.
“I was pleased with the
turnout. I was pleased with
the diversity of things.”
L’atelier de réparation
(The Repair Shop),
a colored print by
French artist Gaston Hoffman (1883-?), was $95 from Vance
Stuart of Norway, Maine.
Here’s a rare piece of Maine ephemera that
was only $100. Gary Elwell of Augusta,
Maine, offered the No. 1 edition of the
Youth’s
Cabinet and Little Joker
, published in Dexter,
Maine, in April 1857. The June 1857 edition
outlined the publication’s mission: “The
Youth’s Cabinet & Little Joker is a first class
Juvenile Paper, devoted to pure and elegant
literature, presented in a form adapted to the
tastes and capacities of youth. Each number
will contain a carefully selected and tastefully
arranged Melange of Tales, Sketches, Poetry,
Essays, Enigmas, Puzzles, Editorials, &c. &c.
And as ‘A little nonsense now and then,/ Is
relished by the best of men,’ we conclude it
will not be repugnant to the literary palates
of our young friends, we shall, therefore,
devote a portion of the paper to Anecdotes,
Wit, Humor, &c.”
Youth’s Cabinet
ceased
publishing by 1859.
☞