Taking Antiques on the Road: A Travelogue

Most antiques dealers do business in a variety of ways, including hitting the road to sell their wares in larger markets than they can find at home.

We do several big antiques shows each year, but our annual trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden Antiques and Garden Fair is the longest journey we make. In April we captured some aspects of our trip in photos, and share them here to paint a portrait of a few weeks in the business lives of antiques dealers.

We once owned our own box truck, but since it moved on to greener pastures we have found it easier to rent. Once we have the truck, our next step in getting to an out-of-town show is to pack up all of the antiques chosen for the journey.

Jeff is an experienced packer, knowing through trial and error how to 1) pack to prevent shifting and damage en route, and 2) see goods as geometric puzzle pieces that can be optimally arranged to conserve space and maximize the load. It is not unusual for loading to occur in adverse conditions – on this packing day, rain, sleet and freezing temperatures outside our gallery in Damariscotta made things a bit trying.

Once the truck is loaded, we leave a few days early in order to stop at several targeted antiques shops along the way.

Jeff loads one of our purchases onto the truck.

We also broke up the trip by diverting from major highways occasionally, finding scenes like this in rural Indiana more pleasant than endless asphalt with six lanes of traffic.

A homey welcome from friends in the Midwest warmed our hearts and provided a welcome break from the sterile environments of chain motels.

Upon arrival at the Garden on the morning of set-up, we lined up to wait for our turn to be directed to our load-in location.

The Botanic Garden is a beautiful location for a show, but getting large vehicles safely along the network of interior garden roads and pathways to the tents presents logistical challenges which Stella Show Management handles admirably. Some of their logistical people are full-time New York City fire fighters who take vacation time to moonlight with Stella. They know how to back up trucks in tight spots, and remain calmly assertive in “crisis” (i.e., when accosted by dealers who are unhappy with long waits in line and long walks to their booths with heavy goods).

Once parked, we quickly check out our booth location, and find it ready and waiting to be filled.

Back outside, it has started to rain – heavily – which made the load-in process quite unpleasant. (See more about the rain – which led to major floods – later in the story.)

Loading into the tent itself can be chaotic and requires tricky maneuvering around other dealers’ piles of goods and boxes in the aisles, but gradually our booth fills up with our own furniture and boxes.

It takes about a day-and-a-half to make the booth presentable, but we’re buoyed by the transformation all around us. The Garden goes all out in creating floral displays such as this topiary planter, one of several along a hallway leading to one of the antiques display tents.

The gateway to our tent is lined with tulips in shades of red and orange.

Here some garden staff members put the finishing touches on an awesome tree made of hundreds of potted plants.

We also admire the booths of dealers who specialize in garden antiques.

Finally, show time arrives.

The preview party is a gala affair, packed with affable people in designer garb. The catering is stupendous. In this photo, some dealers and guests enjoy tidbits from one of the roving hors d’oeuvres carts.

Despite our exhaustion by the time the party ends at 10 pm, we have been rewarded by enthusiastic customers like this woman who falls in love with our patio furniture set.

The aisles are almost always packed with shoppers during the three days of the show.

There are special events throughout the weekend, such as lectures by home and garden designers and wine tastings by local vintners that help attract and enrich the experience for attendees.

All of this occurred despite major flooding in the area that actually required the garden to close its front entrance for a day because several parking lots were under water.

Our tent was located next to a pathway along a large pond, which had to be sandbagged as a precaution against the steadily rising water.

One morning, after stepping one foot into a puddle that was much deeper than it looked, Jeff had to remove shoes and socks to wade through 8” of water to retrieve our truck in the hotel parking lot (not caught on camera, because Kass was too busy running back inside to fetch dry socks and replacement shoes…). We then headed to a northern suburb to make an 8 am delivery, all the while hearing about road closures and encountering one-lane traffic on partially flooded roadways. Quite an adventure!

The rain cleared out by Sunday, and a few brief breaks away from the booth allowed time to enjoy some of the surrounding gardens which are structurally interesting despite a lack of green leaves and colorful blossoms in this colder-than-average spring.

On Sunday evening the dreaded process of pack-out begins, but at least the sun is shining.

Jeff gets compliments from several dealers and porters who are amazed at how neatly and tightly he packs the truck despite the mad rush we all feel to get on the road.

The trip home is a long grind of steady driving ... Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire ... before we finally cross the border into Maine.

A few hours later, we are happy to turn into our driveway, along which daffodils had come out in force while we were away.

Post-show unpacking and paper work at the gallery takes another several days. Happily we unload new purchases that were stored at the front of the truck. Stay tuned to see some of them unveiled on our May website update, as the cycle of buying and selling antiques – both at home and on the road – continues.