Hershey, Pa – USA Theatres, promoters of the upcoming American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show, recently revealed some of the quality dealers who will be exhibiting at the inaugural show.

Tom Miano, owner of Serious Toyz, will be occupying 24 feet of exhibit space, offering a fine variety of vintage toys and collectibles; while Fred Franklin, owner of Rec Room Specialties, will be showing off a great selection of antique slot machines, game machines and other coin-operated related items.

The American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show will feature quality exhibitors buying, selling and trading an array of antique and collectible toys, such as character toys, tin toys, mechanical toys, banks, advertising items and coin-ops, according to the promoters.

The show is set to debut on Saturday, March 3 at the Eastern Civic Center, located at 90 Harding Road in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

“The location at the Greenwich Civic Center is a highly strategic choice,” said Ronald M. Vastola, Outreach Coordinator of USA Theatres.  The site is conveniently located to most major metropolitan areas in the Northeast, and can easily attract collectors from Maryland, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and of course, the New England states.

“It’s only a 40 minute, $8 ride from Grand Central Terminal in New York City,” Vastola said.  “The Eastern Civic Center in Old Greenwich is situated within walking distance from the Metro-North Train Station.”

Other exhibitors on tap include Mike Milo and Lauren Czajkowski, co-owners of Milo Toys & Collectables; and Ken Laurence, owner of Heroes Unlimited and show promoter of the Super Megashow held in New Jersey and the Boston Super Megafest.

Additional exhibitors from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, who specialize in jukeboxes, soda machines and gumball machines, have responded to the show; including Dan Morphy, owner of Morphy Auctions, who is interested in utilizing 24 feet of exhibit space.

Anyone planning on attending the show can expect to pay $10 for general admission on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  For the serious collector, early buyers are welcome Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. and also Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. for $20 per person each day.  Children under 12 will be admitted for free, accompanied by a paying adult.

A variety of food and beverages will be available for purchase, provided by Joemomma Foods, Incorporated of Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Exhibitor space is still currently available; however, exhibitors are encouraged to sign-up soon as spaces are limited.

“It’s going to be a brisk and fantastic show,” Vastola added.

For more information, call (717) 542-0567 or email usatheatres@yahoo.com

You may also visit the website, www.usatheatres.com/conventions

For hotel accommodations, you may contact the Hilton Stamford Hotel & Executive Meeting Center, the official hotel of the American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show.

The Hilton is located at 1 First Stamford Place in Stamford, Connecticut, just 1.4 miles, 4 minutes from the Eastern Civic Center.

Mention the show to receive a special room rate of just $79 per night (promo code: AMA).

You may call the hotel directly at (203) 967-2222 or visit their website, www.hiltonstamfordhotel.com

Antique, Modern, Digital, and Vintage Photography the most diverse show of photographs.

For more info visit:

http://usphotoshows.com

HERSHEY, Pa – USA Theatres, which operates drive-in and outdoor theatres in Central Pennsylvania, is entering into the world of antique toys by launching the American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show.

According to the company, the show will feature quality exhibitors buying, selling and trading a wide array of antique and collectible toys, including tin, cast iron, mechanical, pressed steel, banks, advertising, holiday, Marx, soldiers, coin-ops, and more.

“Since outdoor movies are a seasonal business, trade shows and conventions have become an important part of our annual programming,” said Ronald M. Vastola, Outreach Coordinator of USA Theatres.  “The show will be promoted and marketed through various media outlets, including television, Internet websites, daily and weekly newspapers, trade papers, and direct market mailers and magazines.”

A previous show organized by USA Theatres was the Baltimore Non-Sports Card Convention, which featured numerous exhibitors from the non-sports hobby, including artists, authors, manufacturers, publishers, and dealers.

The American Antique Toy & Coin-Op Show is set to debut for the general public on Saturday, March 3, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Eastern Civic Center, situated within walking distance from the Metro-North Train Station in Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

General admission into the event is $10 for adults and free for children under 12.  Early buyers are welcome Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. and also Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. for $20 per person each day.

A variety of food and beverages will be available for purchase at the show, provided by Joemomma Foods Incorporated of Hershey, Pennsylvania, according to the show’s promoter, USA Theatres.

“It’s going to be a brisk and fantastic show,” Vastola said.

Want to exhibit?

8 ft. by 8 ft. exhibitor spaces are currently available for $150 each and include one 8 ft. table, two chairs, and two exhibitor badges; while 16 ft. by 8 ft. spaces are available for $250 each, and 24 ft. by 8 ft. spaces are available for $350 each.

For more information, call (717) 542-0567 or email usatheatres@yahoo.com

You may also visit the website, www.usatheatres.com/conventions.html

10.10.11 Round Top, TX— Marburger Farm has done it again. The twice yearly mega-show in Round Top, Texas has overcome hurricanes, wars, recessions and more. This Sept. 27–Oct. 1, the prospects included all of those, plus the tail end of the driest, hottest Texas summer in decades. But the not-so-little show that could pulled off a winner again.

After two hot days, about noon on Thursday, a clap of thunder sounded. “In our tent,” said Patrick Kenny of upstate NY’s South Porch Antiques, “with each clap of thunder, people clapped back. When the rain started to pour, they cheered and yehawed, as only Texans can yehaw. At Brimfield, we cried over rain. At Marburger Farm, they were cheering in the aisles.”

As the rain continued, someone turned up the volume on “Amazing Grace” and shoppers found that the 10 football field size tents and 12 historic buildings on Marburger’s 43 acre site provided perfect cover for shopping over 350 exhibitors from 38 states and several nations. Kenny sold gilded frames, a pair of nine-foot tall glass doors from an 1890 Pennsylvania building and a three foot wide mirrored ballroom ceiling disc from a 1920s Catskill resort. Like many antiques sold at Marburger Farm, that piece will travel further west to a Seattle shop.

West coast wholesale buyers dominated the opening days. ”In spite of the heat early on, the designers and store buyers were here,” said Julie Harris of Kansas City, MO. “The first two days were strong selling days for me.” Harris sold, antique trunks and silver sporting trophies, many of them going west.

Most exhibitors reported good to utterly outstanding sales, with many setting career records. “Our closing day on Saturday, was the highest we’ve ever had,” said Rhonda Holden of 2 Girl’s Stuff from Dallas. Holden sold six rugs, Spanish Colonial iron and antique bottles topped with industrial gauges for use as bookends and sculpture.

Another Texas dealer, Ray Veazey of San Antonio, had shoppers fighting over a French canopy bed and huge metal leaves from a 1980s Neiman Marcus display by Emilia Castillo. “Of the 29 Marburger shows that we have done,” said Veazey, “this was our top 3^rd in gross sales. The shoppers who come to Marburger Farm are real troopers. I’m really thankful that they came.”

Studio F’s Kara Fogertey of St. Louis MO and Mike Whittemore of Punta Gorda, FL had their best show ever. They sold eight mirrors, eight pieces of upholstered furniture, an 18^th c. carved English bookcase and every zinc-topped table they brought. “We save stuff for six months just for Marburger,” said Whittemore. “and then we price things right for the market. Instead of getting that extra 10-20%, we do it in volume at Marburger Farm.”

Danny Martin of L’Antiquario Antique Tiles from Miami Beach, FL reflected, “In spite of everything, it was one of the best shows we’ve ever had anywhere—really up there.” Martin sold a large trumeau fireplace surround with faux marbling, a French leather tri-fold door to be used as a headboard and thousands of reclaimed antique floor tiles from European buildings. Colleen Martin reported that “Some people were into architecturals because they are renovating and others because the building market is coming back. We have about 30 homes to follow up with antique tiles because of this show. Marburger Farm did not disappoint.”

First-time Marburger exhibitor John Tuttle of Atlanta’s ReWorks summed it up: “Everything I had ever heard about Marburger Farm was true. There is more great merchandise and more talent at Marburger Farm than at any show I have ever seen.” Tuttle brought talent in tow by creating 150 lamps from re-purposed antiques such as old boot forms, hubcaps, musical instruments and architectural fragments. “Just one store buyer bought 18, another bought 14, all going to NM, AZ, CA and other western states.”

“Marburger Farm has evolved into a national and international crossroads for antiques and for talent,” says show co-owner Rick McConn. “We had our highest international and national attendance. One shopper kept texting photos of merchandise at the show to a niece in Hope, AR. A text returned: ‘Where is the nearest airport?’ With a private plane and a local airport, she was here shopping that very afternoon. And she fit it all into the plane, except for two carved eagles that had to be shipped. Hope springs eternal.”

Co-owner Ashley Ferguson believes that one reason this show was so compelling for shoppers was the introduction of a special contract requiring all merchandise to be antique, vintage pre-1989 or re-purposed from antique pieces. “You don’t have to paw through piles of reproductions at Marburger Farm,” says Ferguson. “We had the show vetted by an appraiser from the “Antiques Roadshow” and he pronounced us ‘a clean show.’ Marburger dealers search all over the world for the antique, vintage and re-purposed pieces that bring authenticity into a home—and that makes a difference.”

The show also made a difference by hosting a benefit booth for the Houston affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, as well as for the Brookwood Community, a Texas non-profit group that empowers adults with special needs. Additionally, a portion of the show’s ticket proceeds benefited Susan G. Komen-Houston to help in the fight against breast cancer.

A similar survivor spirit is one reason that Marburger Farm thrives: Texas shoppers are resilient. Exhibitor Beverly Williams of Warren, TX sold a French cupboard to a woman from Bastrop, TX, scene of recent fires that destroyed over 400 homes. “With her,” reports Williams, “were two other women from Bastrop, all next-door neighbors and all had lost their homes in the fire. Here they were at Marburger Farm, shopping to rebuild and to replace antiques that had been handed down in their families. They bought all over the show and I sent them all home with gifts from my booth. It touched my heart to see their spirit.”

In that spirit, the Marburger Farm Antique Show invites you, wherever you live, to the April 3-7, 2012 show, deep in the heart of Texas— where the bluebonnets are pretty darn resilient too.

The Spring Marburger Farm Antique Show opens Tuesday April 3 for Early Buying Admission from 10 am until 2 pm. Regular admission begins at 2 pm until 5 pm that day. Admission is good all week and parking is free. Shopping continues on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 am until 5 pm and on Saturday, April 7, from 9 am until 4 pm. For maps, photos, the show blog and information on tickets, groups, the Marburger Café, on-site shipping and special events, see www.roundtop-marburger.com

Kim Muller-Thym, 'Cloudy Creek,' oil, 9 x 12 in., estimate $1,200. Image courtesy of Salmagundi Club.

NEW YORK – New York City’s revered Salmagundi Club – an artists’ organization founded in 1871 – is planning a major fundraiser during the month of October that comprises three auctions of juried artworks submitted by its artist-members. The auctions will be held at the Salmagundi Club on Friday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. (following a brunch in the dining room), and Friday Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. As a special incentive, no buyer’s premium will be payable on any artwork purchased, and to accommodate those who cannot attend in person, there will be Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.

“Over the years, collectors have flocked to our semiannual auction fundraisers to buy top-quality artworks from some of America’s finest artists, often at very attractive prices,” said Salmagundi Club President Claudia Seymour. “When we included Internet live bidding at our March auction, it opened a new bidding avenue for art lovers around the world and resulted in some lively battles over premier artworks. We expect to see exciting competition in the October auctions, as well.”

All painting media will be represented in the October auctions, including oils on canvas, acrylics on canvas, etchings, watercolors, sculptures, pastels under glass and lithographs, some of them hand colored. Additionally, there will be original drawings, pen-and-ink works and photographs. Most of the two-dimensional works are framed, while a few are gallery-wrapped with canvas.

Anne Kullaf, 'Daydreams on 14th Street, oil, 20 x 20 in., estimate $1,500. Image courtesy of Salmagundi Club.

“We have many outstanding, well-known artists on our membership roster, and the quality of what is offered in our

upcoming auctions is quite exceptional. Our board is committed to maintaining a high level with our auctions, and that includes introducing bidders to the work of talented emerging artists, as well,” said Seymour.

In the past, Salmagundi Club auctions have operated under a fixed, flat-rate structure whereby nearly all artworks opened at $300, sculptures at $300-$400, and photos or multiple impressions at $150.

“We have done away with that method, now. We don’t want low opening prices to discourage better-known and more-accomplished artists, who get good prices in galleries, from putting their work in our sales,” said Seymour. “Our new policy is to ask the artist for a reasonable, typical price on an artwork they wish to submit, and we’ll open it at 30% of that price.”

Seymour explained how the artworks are selected for inclusion in the auctions. “Each artist-member may submit up to three pieces for consideration. Our art committee juries the art and selects those pieces that we believe have both the highest artistic merit and the greatest likelihood of selling. If three artworks from a particular artist are chosen, each will go into a different sale so they aren’t competing against each other,” Seymour said.

John Traynor, 'Jeffersonville, Vermont,' oil, 9 x 12 in. Image courtesy of Salmagundi Club.

Proceeds from the auctioned artworks are divided evenly between the artists and the club. “Normally, if an artist sells a work through one of our exhibitions, they receive 70% and the club receives 30%, but because the fall auction series is our principal fundraiser, our artist-members have graciously agreed to a 50/50 split,” Seymour said.

Beginning on Monday, Oct. 3, all artworks entered in the fall auction series will be displayed in a public exhibition at the Salmagundi Club. On Thursday, Oct. 6, the club will host a reception from 6-8 p.m. that includes the presentation of awards to the exhibition’s prizewinners.

Exhibition hours are Monday through Friday from 1-6 p.m., and weekends from 1-5 p.m. Auction dates and times are Friday, Oct. 14 commencing at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. (following a brunch from 11 a.m. till 3 p.m. in the club’s dining room); and Friday Oct. 28 starting at 8 p.m. All events, including the brunch and reception, are open to the public. The Salmagundi Club is located at 47 Fifth Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets in Manhattan.

For additional information about the auction, call 212-255-7740 or e-mail info@salmagundi.org. Visit the club’s website at www.salmagundi.org.

Online catalogs for the three October auctions may be viewed online at www.LiveAuctioneers.com, where prospective bidders may also sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet. Absentee bidding will also be available via written bidding forms at the preview.

About the Salmagundi Club:

Steeped in history, the Salmagundi Club is one of the oldest art associations in the United States. Since 1917, it has been headquartered in what is now the only remaining brownstone on Fifth Avenue, directly across from the First Presbyterian Church. Its roster of past members includes such fine-art luminaries as Thomas Moran, William Merritt Chase, Louis Comfort Tiffany, N.C. Wyeth and Childe Hassam. Of its 850 currently active members, more than 600 are artists.

The club’s activities include art classes, exhibitions, painting demonstrations and both fundraising and social events. The nonprofit Salmagundi Club owns a collection of more than 1,500 works of art spanning its 140-year history.

featuring: Jim Lord, Hill Country Designer and Artist Mary Baldwin

Sotheby’s annual selling exhibition of monumental sculpture returns to Chatsworth for its sixth installment this autumn, with an extraordinary line up of artists, many of whom have never been shown at this magnificent location in the Peak District before. It runs from September 16th to October 30th.

Arbor Antiques Services promotes a Spring and Fall Round Top Show every year during the nationally known Antiques Festival in Round Top, Texas. Our Round Top show site is located on eight acres at the American Legion Post #338 on Hwy. 237 off of Hwy. 290. We are just 2 miles from downtown Round Top. We offer dealer spaces in an air-conditioned hall and in several large big top tents. We have free admission, free parking and an on-site cafe. As an antique dealer or a shopper, you will not want to miss this antiquing experience in Round Top, Texas.