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A Mile-and-a-Half Shopper's Paradise
by Chuck Miller

Frank Neal couldn't be happier. With a collection of over 60 children's sleds, Neal found a model he hadn't seen before at the outdoor antiques sale known collectively as "Brimfield."

"I've been to Brimfield every year for the past five years," said Neal, as he handed $70 to the dealer for the Comet model sled. "This will get hung up in my barn-in my tack room-anywhere there's room I can hang it."

For three weeks every year, over 5,000 dealers greet and sell to 50,000 customers per week, with booths and tents crammed into a 1-1/2 mile stretch of U.S. Route 20, in Brimfield, a tiny Massachusetts town near the Connecticut border. Many collectors arrive as early as 6 a.m., staying in hotel rooms that were booked up to a year in advance, looking for everything from furniture and china, to vintage electronics and memorabilia.

The first Brimfield show was in 1959, when Gordon Reid started an open-air auction in the town. The show's popularity drew collectors and dealers from across New England, and by 1979, other promoters set up their own dealerships in Brimfield. In an effort to ensure dealers have a stellar opening day and won't get crowded out by over-saturation, the Brimfield promoters stagger their hours of operation, so that only a certain number of fields will open on each day of the week-long event.

"We've been here for 15 years," said Raymond Johnson, who with his wife drives up from eastern Pennsylvania to sell antique glass and pottery at Brimfield. "Trends change, there are more collectibles today than antiques, but the people still come from all over. Brimfield is known worldwide; when you say to somebody you're going to Brimfield, they know where it is."

Several dealers stocked vintage license plates from all over North America. Other booths had street signs and road markers, both authentic and reproduced. Even broken items are for sale, as collectors search for spare parts, or as materials for art projects. Need parts for some vintage CB radio equipment? It might be at the next booth.

After a long morning of shopping, many customers stop at the centrally-located outdoor food court, where delicacies from around the world are available-everything from Greek spinach pie to barbequed ribs.

While most collectors and buyers are at the gates on the first day, many bargain-hunters wait until Sunday, the last day of the week-long event, to hopefully snag a bargain or discounted sale.

Other Brimfield devotees come to the show to see the animated choreographed traffic control signals of officer Scott McCarthy of the Wales Police Department. During the Brimfield shows, McCarthy uses every hand signal, body expression and smile to make sure traffic moves smoothly along US Route 20, and that shoppers cross the street safely. "I just sit there and watch that policeman for hours," said one collector, carrying an old Admiral Play-Mate II phonograph, bought for $30. "To me, it's not a Brimfield show if that cop's not out there directing traffic."

SHOP TILL YOU DROP
Upcoming Brimfield show dates

May 11-16, 2004
July 6-11, 2004
September 7-12, 2004

Admission: Most lots are free; some charge $5-$7 per person
Parking: $5-$6 per car per day; overnight parking at nearby campsites
Hours: Dawn till dusk; some dealers open as early as 6:00 a.m.
More Information: www.brimfieldshow.com
Nearest TravelCenters of America:

• Willington, Conn., I-84, Exit 71 Ruby Rd.- 17 miles
• Southington, Conn., I-84, Exit 28-54 miles
• New Haven, Conn., I-95, Exit 56-58 miles