Maine Antique Digest, December 2016

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36-B Maine Antique Digest, December 2016
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36-B
“It’s supposed to be
something for everybody.”
Springfield Extravaganza, Springfield, Ohio
A Bit of Everything
by Don Johnson
A pparently, Elvis had left the building.
Late on the first day of the Springfield Extravaganza,
held September 16-18 at the Clark County Fairgrounds
in central Ohio, The King was gone. His image had been there
Friday morning at the start of the show—the rock-and-roll leg-
end on black velvet. But nine hours later that piece of schlock art
had disappeared, no doubt tucked into a used plastic shopping
bag and sent to a new home. It was that kind of day.
It wasn’t surprising that Elvis could be found at the
Extravaganza. A broad range of antiques and collectibles are
always available at the Springfield Antique Show & Flea
Market, held monthly on the fairgrounds. Normally a Saturday
and Sunday show, the event blossoms to a third day during
the Extravaganza twice a year—May and September. In the
process, the dealer count jumps significantly.
For September, promoter Jon Jenkins placed the number
of sellers somewhere between 2000 and 2100, an increase
of 85 to 100 compared to the previous September. As usual,
Extravaganza buyers turned out in droves. While the offerings
are primarily antiques and collectibles, from painted furniture
to art glass, there’s also a mix of flea market material. In the
election battleground state of Ohio, that material included
Donald Trump yard signs at ten bucks a pop. There were
also buckeyes priced at ten for a dollar, wind chimes made of
kitchen utensils, and a selection of peaches and apples.
If variety is the spice of life, then the Extravaganza is a
simmering pot of goulash, ready to be sampled.
Jenkins has a favorite story about the mix of merchandise.
Years ago, a bonnet-top highboy in tiger maple turned up,
priced at $8000 when similar pieces were bringing about
$30,000, he noted. It sold at the show, then sold again before
it had been moved from the original spot. The adjacent booth
was selling gourmet mustard. Spice of life, indeed.
“That’s the whole point of this place,” said Jenkins. “It’s
supposed to be something for everybody.”
That an Elvis collector might snag a piece of black-velvet art
is just part of a normal day at the Extravaganza.
The first day of the September show was one for big sales
of inexpensive items. Among the merchandise that was clearly
moving were chicken feeders, primarily the long, rectangular
metal type. Shortly before noon, Lanette Roberts of Three
Rivers, Michigan, had already gone through a considerable
stack. “It’s amazing,” she said. “I’ve sold over sixty of them.”
She was getting $15 apiece. Other sales of chicken feeders
across the fairgrounds were notable, from a porter pulling a
cart loaded with dozens of the objects, to two couples grabbing
rectangular and cylindrical examples in back-to-back sales
from the same dealer.
Roberts said buyers are likely using the rectangular feeders
on kitchen tables, possibly to hold votive candles or seasonal
decorations. While not the sort of objects that might be found
at higher-end antiques shows, the feeders clearly represented a
design trend that Extravaganza shoppers were glad to follow.
There was no mistaking that many sales across the grounds
were of a decorative nature. Nowhere was that more obvious
than at the center of the show, where 110 dealers set up as
part of the Vintage Marketplace, which leans heavily toward
repurposed material.
For buyers wanting traditional antiques, the Extravaganza
generally doesn’t disappoint. Interested in painted furniture?
Steve Jenkins of Shelbyville, Indiana, offered a mule chest
in blue priced at $2200. Like early toys? Gene Raab of
Thornville, Ohio, offered a Hubley steam roller tagged $495.
Want glassware or lighting? Brandon Riggans of Byesville,
Ohio, had a Pittsburgh owl lamp from the 1880’s, electrified,
at $1050. How about music? Lynn Bilton of Randolph, Ohio,
showed a Regina floor-model music box marked $6500.
Sales were obvious throughout the day, as evidenced by the
number of people carrying bags and those pulling wire carts
and children’s wagons loaded with merchandise of all ages and
descriptions. Midway through the Friday session, one woman
was overhead on her cell phone: “Hey, we’re getting some
good deals up here.”
That’s the point. With its large number of dealers and
tremendous variety, the Extravaganza has a bit of everything,
from genuine antiques to Elvis on velvet.
For more information, phone (937) 325-0053 or visit
).
Cobalt-decorated four-gallon crock, unmarked, attributed to Morgantown, West Virginia,
$675; “Ohmer-Park / Rabbitry / New Zealand Reds” sign, painted wood, $275; cobalt-
decorated three-gallon jug dated 1870, $575 from Butch Leever of Hebron, Kentucky.
Steiff penguin, 19" high, $220 from Sally and Marty Smith
of Buckeye Antiques, Castalia, Ohio.
“Finn & Labadie’s /
Home Made / Sweet
Mustard / Pickles
/ Cleveland, O.,”
crock turned into
a lamp, $295 from
William Giermann
of Shalersville,
Ohio.
Chicken mold, $195;
wooden cheese strainer
in old red paint, 19"
square, $395 from Jeff
and Carol Reinhard of
Plain City, Ohio.
Cast-iron toys: Kenton fire pumper, $450; Hubley steam roller in an unusual army-green paint
and with nickel plating still on the wheels, $495 from Gene Raab of Thornville, Ohio.