ELORA – Things only get better with age at the Elora Antique and Vintage Show.
With an extra three years added to wares since the last show took place in 2019, it should come as no surprise antique hunters packed the Elora and District Community Centre this past weekend.
Parking was hard to find on the morning of April 9. Cars lined surrounding neighbourhood roads as people strode in, pockets padded with cash, on the lookout for their newest find.
On either end of plush, red carpets were the tables of 30 exhibitors, chocked full of antiques and collectibles from near and far.
Young and old alike mused collections of old metal signs, hand-made chairs, vintage textiles and more. From the seemingly mundane to the obscure, it seemed there was something to catch everyone’s eye.
Clark and Maureen Fryday made the trip to Elora from Prince Edward Island, only bringing along what could be packed into their compact Kia Rondo.
Before Saturday, 14 years had gone by since the Fryday’s last show.
“It’s fun getting back into this,” Maureen said, adding business was going “extremely well.”
A woman browses antique china at the the Elora Antique and Vintage Show on April 9. Photo by Jordan Snobelen
Indeed cash could be seen exchanging hands at almost every turn as people bartered over prices.
Fergus exhibitor and Iron Bucket Antiques owner Ron Dodge said he’s in it for the fun.
Speaking with a sharp whistle, Dodge tells a woman eyeing a blue, vintage hat, “We base things on what we pay.”
Would he accept $40? Why not.
It’s the dealer’s first time at the show, one he said is “a bit too swanky.”
“I’m a pretty basic guy,” he says, wearing a bucket hat with a pin reading “special officer” over scraggly grey hair.
Most of the goods he has acquired from widows, whose recently passed husbands have left behind what become Dodge’s treasures.
He points out an item he’s especially proud of.
It’s a hand-hewn, pegged (no nails), bird fighting bench from the 1850s.
The bench, capable of housing roosters below the seat, has found its way to Elora from Indonesia, according to Dodge.
The woman who bought the hat eyes a drinking glass set masked as old books, until the top is cracked revealing a red felt encasing.
Ron Dodge of Iron Bucket Antiques, left, holds a drinking set at the Elora Antique and Vintage Show on April 9. (Photo by Jordan Snobelen)
“It’s gorgeous,” she remarks.
The price tag says $75, but Dodge lets it go for $55.
“Because you’ve got soul,” he says.
Show organizer Jeff Gadsden says the return is scaled down from a typical year.
He and his wife Wendy have been orchestrating the weekend gathering for over 30 years, but this year marks the 29th show thanks to pandemic restrictions leading to the cancellation of shows in 2020 and 2021.
With 1,900 people counted across Saturday and Sunday, turnout was under the typical 2,500 to 3,000 the show has attracted in past years, but Gadsden said he is satisfied nonetheless.
“It definitely surpassed my expectations,” he said.
A few of the exhibitors were left wanting more, but “all in all” Gadsden said it was a decent show.
Next year, the Gadsens are hoping to return to a full show, with more vendors and a larger turnout.
