Awesome Antique Finds

By: Living in Style, September 2021

A passion for history runs deep in the veins of Berks Countians. Not only do we live in one of the original 13 states; we also reside in a county whose western boundary once constituted the edge of the colonial American frontier.

Even our domestic surroundings might qualify as being historic. The items in our lives, from tools to artwork to furniture to vehicles, may bear not just the provenance of past ownership but also the obvious patina of multi-generational use.

Things, some say, are just things. But the aged and ancient things we know as antiques can have equally critical sentimental and monetary value. While Berks may not boast the moniker of “Antiques Capital of the US” enjoyed by the Borough of Adamstown just over the county line, there is an abundance of quality antiques and collectibles enterprises within our borders.

Among these are two Pennsylvania German stone bank barns in opposite ends of the county. One, in Blandon, is comprised of a number of vendors offering a variety of treasures. The other, just outside of Boyertown in Greshville, is a regional art lover’s dream with paintings by renowned local masters and furnishings by long-gone craftsmen whose works from tables to clocks have, in some cases, endured into their fourth century.

In northern Berks, in what was once a bustling Chrysler dealership on the Borough of Leesport’s main drag of Route 61, is a 40-plus-year-old antiques mart. Owned by the widow of that car dealer, it offers hundreds of eclectic items.

A dad on the scene

The newbie of this trio is Chris Howell of Hamburg, owner of the aptly named Park Road Antiques in Blandon.

The father of seven purchased the established business just before the pandemic hit in the late winter of 2020. By June, thankfully, the state and county had entered the yellow phase allowing non-essential businesses to open.

Travel concerns and constrictions were a boon to the antiques business.

“With the pandemic last summer, people tended to stay in the area,” he says. “Last summer was phenomenal and many of our vendors said it was one of best ever.”

Both Chris and his wife Tracy are small business owners. Tracy owns Stinkleberry Soap Co. The couple has also homeschooled their children during the pandemic and are considering continuing this school year. For the youngest ones, that includes accompanying their parents to work.

On a particularly nice summer day, Dawson, 9, was proudly helping his dad. While enjoying the technology (video games) so important to his generation, he was also multitasking, taking pride in helping his dad answer questions and displaying specific items with cell phone photos.

There are 18 independent vendors on the main floor of the circa 1815 bank barn and the loft area. The barn’s open beam interior vies with the vendors’ many items – from collectibles to antiques to crafted items and foodstuffs – for attention.

Among the highlights: a significant Hummel figures collection, stained and leaded glass pieces, about a dozen pricey pedal cars (placed on rafters to keep young children and accidents at bay), advertising pieces, old books, artwork (original and prints), all sorts of glassware from Depression to milk glass, tools, furnishings and home accessories.

He displayed a pair of antique bronze candlesticks from the former Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan priced at $140. That price, he says, is less than what would be listed on eBay. Shopping local not only helps area small business people, but is usually more cost-effective, he asserts.

In terms of value, Howell says there are winners and losers. Big winners include vintage kitchen hardware, older Pyrex dishes, some milk glass and vintage glasses that were giveaways four or five decades ago with images of McDonald’s and Smurf characters.

Rock on

Another winner is vinyl record albums, especially classic rock.

“One vendor recently sold a Black Sabbath album, still in its original seal, for $50,” he says. “That’s a really good trend I’ve seen among the younger generation. Vintage vinyl is definitely having a renaissance.” Dawson, savoring an old Beatles poster in one vendor’s stall, nods in agreement. “He’s a very old soul,” says his dad with a smile. “His favorite song is Help.”

Among those collectibles with plummeting popularity and pricing are Depression glassware and Hummels. Figures that once commanded upwards of $75 now sell for $10 to $12. At the mart’s entrance is a table populated with the German figures. One endearing and elaborate special edition figure bore a price tag of $37, a fraction of its original cost.

Both Howells believe that Americans, particularly millennials and younger, are increasingly transient and value product convenience over quality and durability.

Still, there are exceptions to that belief – one of which personified in customer William Borowski, 33, a dentist from Willow Street, Lancaster County, who was buying an old advertising cap. His interests include vintage soda bottles and advertising items.

“There is really something interesting about all this,” he says. “My advice is to stay off eBay and patronize established enterprises.”

A family affair

When it comes to those, the 41-year-old Leesport Antiques Mart clearly qualifies.

Faye L. Dundore, now 87, opened it when her husband, Alvin, terminated his dealership agreement with Chrysler in 1980. The family lived – and Faye still does – on the second floor of the expansive building. She gathered her first inventory on site.

“I started with cleaning out my attic,” she laughs.

What came downstairs, initially headed to a flea market with a friend, was a mélange of collectibles and old family things.

“Then I found myself buying things instead of just selling,” she says. “I went down to Renninger’s in Kutztown and saw a sign ‘Selling inventory due to health.’ I asked her what was in her inventory and in one week we met at the (former) Tulpehocken Dairies parking lot and I had bought it all.”

Initially, like Chris Howell, Faye set up a co-op with 15 vendors. As they passed or moved on, she didn’t seek replacements. She has one vendor left.

While pretty much on scene all the time, Faye has help at the mart with son Stephen and his wife Kim, nephew Jonathan, and daughter Mary Louise, who makes frequent trips to Leesport from her Boca Raton, FL, residence.

Mary Louise does some picking in Florida, bringing items home – some almost literally. During a foray in Tampa recently, she found a beautiful solid wood corner cabinet. The cabinet, replete with paperwork, hailed from Myerstown. The World War II-era paperwork contained a receipt on one side with the letterhead of Tyrus P. Kilmer of S. Cherry Street, a cabinet maker/craftsman. The other side was a letter from parents to a son and his wife. The letter explained the cabinet and noted the hope the son was recovering in time for a good Christmas. Identities of the parents/cabinet owners remain a mystery.

Still, the provenance of the piece warrants as much attention as its design and Mary Louise says she knew as soon as she saw it, she would bring it back to the area.

A packed treasure trove

The shop, always seasonally decorated, has a bit of everything from vintage clothes and linens, furnishings (antiques and repurposed pieces by Jonathan who uses old barn wood and vintage hardware), old photos and artwork, a variety of glassware, kitchen ware, collectibles, old newspapers and Life magazines, as well as some newer décor items.

“That’s why we call it a mart,” quips Faye.

Mary Louise notes Faye’s fondness for the objects that are for sale – and those that aren’t extending to brother Stephen’s vintage cars, a Plymouth Barracuda and a 1967 Chrysler Newport which their late father sold off the lot and Stephen re-acquired.

The women, like Chris Howell, lament the decline in value in items like Depression glassware and Hummel figurines. They note a special edition “Ring-Around-the-Rosey” Hummel they own originally valued at $3,100, now likely worth $200. While they won’t be selling it for sentimental reasons, the depreciation still bothers them.

“I’ve even seen them at stands for $1 each,” Faye says of the Hummels.

Faye also agrees that the popularity of lots of antiques and collectibles is not to be found in younger people. And that’s one of the reasons she’s buying fewer things. She’s always prided herself on buying privately and offering good prices. Now, she wouldn’t be able to do that and realize a decent profit.

Mary Louise said the 1980s-1990s love affairs with Depression glass, Jewel Tea pieces, Fiestaware, antique dolls and Steiff bears among other collectibles is dissipating.

The HGTV influence

Ironically, ironstone platters and pitchers, usually white or cream-colored, are “a big thing now,” says Mary Louise. She attributes that to the “farmhouse” style of interior décor championed by HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines. Both she and Chris Howell acknowledge that décor is more a factor in buying antiques than knowledge or appreciation of their vintage by younger customers.

Faye worries that the passion for antiques may not “come back soon or any time.”

Still, the family remains devoted to her and the venerable 7,800-square-foot shop. While flea markets may be more in the past, the Dundores look forward to annually setting up shop at the Kutztown Folk Festival. For Faye, the 2022 event can’t come soon enough after the loss of the 2020 and 2021 events to the pandemic. There’s an irony with that not lost on Faye.

“I think I did rather well during the pandemic,” she says of shop sales, “because people weren’t traveling anywhere.”

Mary Louise hopes those customers have had time to consider the value of their purchases and continue collecting.

“Invest in those real hand-made items,” she says, noting some customers still use furniture purchased here 30 or more years ago, “and you’ll get years of enjoyment.”

Fine art and furnishings

Enjoyment and appreciation of fine works of art are the hallmarks of Greshville Antiques and Fine Art, owned by Kurt and Valerie Malmberg.

Their 18th century stone barn/shop holds a high-end collection of museum-quality paintings by renowned Berks County artists, antique furnishings and a variety of antique Pennsylvania and European clocks.

Valerie Malmberg says the 2020 pandemic created its own challenges – and opportunities.

“When the world shut down, the Internet opened up,” she says. “It became the lifeline for social communication, a workspace and the shopping marketplace. The trend most noticeable to our business was the uptick in the purchasing of smaller items. It was interesting to note that this carried through across many categories including paintings and sculpture, jewelry, lighting, furniture and decorative items. We heard from buyers who were looking to add an item or two to refresh their living spaces and put smiles on their faces as they sheltered in the unknown.”

To meet that need, she says, the couple expanded their inventory to include vintage, folk art and mid-century modern, and added more small and decorative items – even some unusual items like a large copper kettle drum, Gibson instruments and a polar bear rug.

Valerie acknowledged a generational shift and a change in their collector base.

“The younger crowd is drawn to a mix of vintage, antique and new,” she says. “This year, we were able to place several Knoll and Bertoia pieces in private collections that successfully mixed in Art Deco and Victorian.”

Veteran buyers are adding high-end specialty pieces, those especially solid in condition, provenance and price, Valerie says.

The popularity of the Berks County masters remains strong.

“Berks County art, our specialty, is still desired by both veteran collectors and the new collectors,” she says, crediting an expanded presence on the Internet with growing interest regionally in the Northeast to nationally.

“Of course, works by Ben Austrian and Christopher Shearer still lead the way, but we have had strong interest in Frederick Spang, Daniel Devlan, Mary Leisz and others,” she says. “We did not have our annual show last year, which was disappointing, but we are now open Fridays and Saturdays and we always welcome private appointments throughout the week. As local buyers get out and around, we are seeing an uptick in the sales of Berks County Art.”

With a specialty in Berks County art and other locally made antiques, the Greshville client base was primarily in the tri state area, she said. But, adjusting to the COVID-19 shutdown, the Malmbergs took their newly developing inventory online and began selling internationally.

Family ties

Valerie relates an Internet selling experience centering on an early lesser-known 19th century Reading artist:

“An interesting story is the one of three rare Schoener pen and ink drawings that were in our collection for years. Jacob Schoener was born in Reading in 1805. He was the son of a prominent local official who was also a competent miniature painter. Schoener studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and then worked in Boston and Providence, painting portraits of New England ministers. He returned and maintained a studio in Reading from 1836-1841. In 1841-1842, he took a voyage to Florida and Cuba which he documented in a detailed journal that just surfaced in the last few years. He died in 1846. His works are very early and hard to find. Through our exposure online, a descendant of Schoener found us and was thrilled to add all three rare pieces to his collection! Beyond the beauty of the works and the intriguing history of the items, this shared appreciation is what makes our business so rewarding.”

Connecting collectors to objects of interest online has expanded the Greshville business into Germany, South America and Australia.

“Even though there are sectors of the antiques business that are choppy, we predict a strong positive finish to the end of this year,” Valerie says.