Page 3 Post-Con Road Trip - 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention

PART 1

2013 NATIONAL SPORTS COLLECTORS CONVENTION

Net54Baseball.com Dinner

The Three Bills Room

Corey Leiby Collection

PART 2

2013 NATIONAL SPORTS COLLECTORS CONVENTION

POST-CON ROAD TRIP

John Gennantonio Collection

PART 2 OF THE 2013 NATIONAL SPORTS

COLLECTORS CONVENTION COVERAGE

- THE POST-CON ROAD TRIP -

Featuring forays into Indiana's Antique Alley, Springfield Ohio

Antiques Malls, Adamstown PA. , and a viewing of

the John Gennantonio Collection

BY CARLTON HENDRICKS

Page 11

THE 2013 NATIONAL SPORTS

COLLECTORS CONVENTION COVERAGE

POST-CON ROAD TRIP

By Carlton Hendricks

FROM SPRINGFIELD OH. TO ADAMSTOWN PA. ON I-70 - 57 FRAME SLIDE

HITT'N THE ROAD

Once I finished with Heart of Ohio I was off for the 450 mile drive to my next stop Adamstown PA...And of course as was typical throughout the whole trip I was running behind on time...My original itinerary called for me to be finished with Springfield around 12:30pm-ish and get to Adamstown around 8 or 9PM...get to bed around 10 or 11PM and up at 4:00AM for the Renninger's and Black Angus antiques markets...HAH...what a hoot...right...Try I finished Springfield around 3PM and ended up getting to Adamstown about 2:00AM...I don't even know how that happened...you make a few little stops here and there and the next thing you know it's getting dark...Next thing you know it's 10PM and you're not even close...I think I only made one lengthy stop at a highway rest area. The little park area was just so pleasant I couldn't help but take 40 minutes or so to unwind a little...And of course I was calling the hotel I had booked to let them know I was in route not to sell my room..

THE LEGENDARY ADAMSTOWN

So finally I rolled into Adamstown around 2:00AM...Now I usually like to get up at 4:00AM and get out to the Renninger's Antique Market and Black Angus market as dealers are setting up...but two hours sleep and all that walking...what was I gonna do?...I made lemonade out of lemons...As I checked into my motel I told the clerk to give me a wake-up call at 6:00AM...The phone went off at 6...I jumped out of bed...washed my face and tore out for the long one block commute to Renninger's...My motel was right next door...

Some of the things Carlton saw at

Renninger's Antique Market

(click here to see all 99 photos)

Busy entrance, cars coming and going

The legendary

Renninger's

(click here to see all 99 photos)

This was my third time coming to Adamstown. Adamstown and Denver Pennsylvania are right next to each other and for all intense and purpose I just refer to both as Adamstown...as I can't tell when I leave one and enter the other...both full of antiques stores. Technically Renninger's is in Denver. Like I say I got out there late about 6:15AM...and low and behold the place was packed with dealers...I had never seen it so full...the two previous times I was there, rain was predicted and it put the kabash on it...This time the sun was out and you couldn't have asked for nicer weather...So it was exciting to roll into that.

For those not familiar...Adamstown was antique central back before eBay...there were three main markets, Renningers, Black Angus, and Shupp's Grove. A friend told me back in the day he had to park two miles away from Shupp's Grove and walk in it was so packed...Well...I can tell ya it's nothing like that now. It's all changed...Nevertheless it's still fun.

So I made my way thru Renninger's but didn't make any finds in athletic display piece...which was fine...just being there on a strong day was very interesting. The talk I heard was Renninger's was as good as it gets that day as far as the number of dealers set up. Although towards the back where the trees are it looked like they could have squeezed in a little more.

ADAMSTOWN THE WAY IT WAS

I'd heard Adamstown wasn't what it was and that was my general perception...But then I heard concrete testimony that once and for all ended any speculation and shed a lot of light on the issue. I was speaking with Corey Leiby, one of the foremost sports antique dealers in the world, who I went to visit right after I left Adamstown that day...It was a great flea market day...You couldn't ask for better...So when I went to see Corey...in the course of my visit I said so you don't do Adamstown? Since he lives only about an hour from it...Corey said as much that, in the1980's he was always there...and found a lot of great sports antiques over the years...Then in the late 90's the finds started slowing up...and as time went on it dwindled to the point that for him it wasn't worth going to...Now me being a west coast boy it was really interesting to hear that from someone who deals in pretty much exactly what I collect...And from another aspect, hearing that story, I couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like had I lived on the east coast in the 80's and 90's...It would have been nuts...

CARLTON'S HISTORY

I got into this full swing starting about 1988...and I made the best of the west coast...I dug everywhere there was to dig...turned over every rock...tore up every kind of antiques venue...paper shows, book shows, poster fairs, toy shows, gun shows...from the toniest antiques shows to the junkiest fleas...I looked everywhere...every weekend I was on the road going somewhere...a lot of windshield time...And during the week I devoured Sports Collectors Digest and the antiques journals...ran up huge phone bills...I think back before the internet my phone bills averaged $200.00 to $300.00 a month...And all that time I had the gnawing feeling I was getting the short end of the stick and the real action was on the east coast...But I had a good job and didn't want to leave it...and I was having a blast anyway...Plus...to be honest there's a whole lot more competition for stuff in the east...When you're at a show in California and you walk away and think about it...chances are the piece will still be there when you go back...You don't do that at Brimfield or the Pier show...So between hitting it hard, and getting the weekly antiques journals, and occasionally going back east for shows...by the grace of God I did OK...very good really!

Outdoor area of Stoudt's Black Angus Antique Mall

Remarkably few dealers set up; almost no action!

So anyway back to Adamstown that day...After I finished Renninger's I headed over to the Black Angus market...phew!...Things had really changed there in Adamstown...Black Angus was about kapoot...there were hardly any dealers set up in the outdoor area...Which was remarkable being Renninger's was packed...It didn't take long to walk thru it.

Quick jaunt thru Shupp's Grove

(click here to see all 18 photos of Shupp's Grove)

From there I headed over to Shupp's Grove...Well...there was more dealers than Black Angus....but they mostly looked like retired couples camped out with nothing better to do...and the quality was nothing...like a big garage sale...So I had some breakfast and left. I went back to my motel and was back in bed by 10:00AM...I had the clerk call me at 12:00 noon...that gave me two more hours of sleep...six total...which is very do-able.

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