Charlotte County Florida Weekly

Something old, something new

First big antiques show of the season promises a little of everything.



 

 

FOR COLLECTORS OF ANTIQUES, THE PAST eight months have been a long, dry run.

Oh, for the most part, shops have reopened after the COVID-19 lockdown.

But monthly shows typically bring fresh merchandise.

And so it goes with the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival, Florida’s largest monthly show, which has been on hiatus since spring.

The first big show of the season is set for Nov. 6-8 at the South Florida Fairgrounds, in suburban West Palm Beach. It draws people from across the state, who drive over for the day.

Promoter Kay Puchstein said she is relieved to be back in show business in Florida.

“I’m glad to get back to some type of normal,” she said by phone from her home in Ohio. “I don’t think I’ve ever had as many calls about a show. When? Are you really going to have it? Will the repair people be there?”

Mrs. Puchstein and her husband, Bill, are 30-year-plus veterans of the antiques business — she managed a large show near Atlanta for years. The Puchsteins have promoted the West Palm Beach show for about a decade. They also run the Burton Antique Market in Ohio, which they staged again this summer.

The West Palm Beach Antiques Festival fills the main expo building of the South Florida Fairgrounds each month. COURTESY PHOTO

The West Palm Beach Antiques Festival fills the main expo building of the South Florida Fairgrounds each month. COURTESY PHOTO

“We put on two shows up by Cleveland, Ohio, and rescheduled the June show to July,” she said. “And we had half the dealers and half the crowd, but they all said they sold great.”

September proved better.

We had it in September and had almost a normal crowd, which is almost 5,000 in one day,” she said. “What I’m seeing is people are concerned about the masks. But they brought their wagons and wore their masks.”

West Palm Beach will be no exception for masks.

Mrs. Puchstein said she and her team are taking the pandemic and local laws requiring masks seriously.

“We are following CDC requirements,” she said. “We’re taking temperatures. They must wear masks. And if they’re not wearing them? They will not be invited in to shop the show.”

PUCHSTEIN

PUCHSTEIN

The Puchsteins said they expect to have about 200 dealers for this November show. Several vendors have requested outside spaces. Expect to find the usual mix of antique and vintage furniture, mid-century pieces, Highwaymen and other art, plus glassware, china and other decorative items. One new vendor will bring bars he’s built from the fenders, fronts and rears of old cars and trucks.

Plus, no doubt, some of the early American primitive pieces Mr. and Mrs. Puchstein adore.

As she spoke, she and Mr. Puchstein were cataloging and pricing items to sell from an 1830s log cabin they had moved and assembled on their property.

“I’m in love with good, old paint,” she said referring to original worn finishes.

Some folks invest their money in stocks, but the Puchsteins put their money in antiques, buying the best they could afford.

“When you’ve loved antiques and collected your whole life, it’s pretty special when you’ve worked hard and collected and got something to show for your money,” she said, adding, “We both loved the real early toys.”

 

 

In fact, antiques is what brought the couple together 32 years ago — Mr. Puchstein rented a booth from a show Mrs. Puchstein was managing in Georgia.

“Bill drove down from Columbus and rented space and I talked to him a few minutes and he asked if he could go to dinner with me,” she remembered. “I said no.”

Then she got to know him.

“I got my eyes opened that these guys are wild and crazy and sure lived life to the fullest,” she said.

That sealed the deal, as it were.

“After five months, I went out with him, then married him three months later.”

They both became hooked on antiques shows.

But show business isn’t necessarily glamorous.

“He took me out to Brimfield,” the big market in Massachusetts, she said. “I’d always heard about it. We slept one night in the back of the van, and I said never again. Next time we went, he’d bought a motor home and I was very happy in my motor home. This is hard work. You have to be up early to find the stuff and to sell it.”

It’s a calling.

“Bill’s passion is to find the stuff and sell it for more money,” Mrs. Puchstein said with a laugh. “My passion is to keep it.”

She’s also passionate about seeing vendors and customers again.

They are passionate, too, she said.

“They’re chomping at the bit to get back and I know we’ve been missed.” ¦

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