A Day Trip to New Hampshire
I love antiques of all kinds and have been collecting for many years, so whenever my schedule allows, I always try to attend a show.
Not long ago while still vacationing in Maine, Kevin Sharkey and I took a day trip to New Hampshire to visit a couple gardens and to attend the 61st annual New Hampshire Antiques Show. The three-day event is hosted by the New Hampshire Antiques Dealers Association. This year, 67-exhibitors gathered at the Manchester Downtown Hotel to showcase some of their finest early American pieces - folk art, porcelain, country and formal furniture, paintings and prints, glassware, metalware, pottery and much more. It was a fun morning, followed by a fun lunch and a visit to the country's longest wooden covered bridge.
Enjoy these photos.
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- I always stop in the booth of Judy Milne. I’ve admired her pieces for many years. Judy owns Milne Inc., which offers design and decorating services and a showroom of vintage, industrial, antique and custom furniture in Kingston, New York. This wall is filled with fun antique and vintage signs.
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- Judy Milne also featured this rare marlin weathervane from the 1920s.
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- And these interesting antique pottery jugs and plates. Early American utilitarian earthenware and stoneware vessels date back to the Colonial period.
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- This deer buck was presented by John Chaski Antiques in Camden, Delaware. John Chaski’s love for antiques began at an early age, while attending auctions with his father. Now, he exhibits his collections at shows around the country, operates an open shop, and serves as broker for auction sales. https://www.johnchaski.com/
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- Here’s a brass eagle wall piece from Ian McKelvey Antiques in South Windham, Connecticut, a shop specializing in antiquities, art, and furniture.
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- And here’s another marlin table top figure.
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- Here’s a farm sign warning visitors of livestock in the area.
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- Recognize these? I also have a set. They’re German glass tulips from the early 1920s. The set includes red, pink, purple and yellow tulips, all with green stems ranging from eight to 12-inches tall. They’re quite rare.
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- Also at the New Hampshire Antiques Show – handmade antique quilts. People in nearly every part of the world had used padded fabrics for clothing, bedding, and even armor. In fact, the word quilt comes from the Latin word ‘culcita’, meaning stuffed mattress or cushion. With the arrival of the English and Dutch settlers in North America, quilting took on a new life and flourished.
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- Here is one of a set of 12 English antique creamware plates by Wedgewood from 1872 – a rare pattern with red feathered edges.
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- Another well-loved pottery maker was Roseville. The Roseville Pottery Company was an American manufacturer in the 19th and 20th centuries – one of the three major art potteries in Ohio at the time. Though the company originally made simple household pieces, the Arts and Crafts–inspired designs rose in popularity and are now sought after by collectors. This is a vintage Roseville creamware pitcher with a green band stripe.
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- Here is another early Roseville piece – it is about 18-inches in diameter at its widest point and approximately six and a half inches tall. The pitcher is cream color with a one and a quarter-inch orange stripe all the way around.
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- And who can resist a handsome cast iron dog figure – this one a hunting dog presented by Heller Washam Antiques in Portland, Maine.
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- After our morning at the New Hampshire Antiques show, we stopped for lunch at the popular Red Arrow Diner in Manchester. Its pledge: “to create, cook and serve, with consistency and a smile, the most palate pleasing diner eats known to mankind.”
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- The Red Arrow first opened in 1922 – it has kept a lot of its vintage charm ever since.
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- The popular eatery offers breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert 24-hours a day, seven-days a week, 365-days a year.
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- The diner displays “Dinah Doodles” along the wall – showcasing various patron drawings.
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- Here was Kevin’s lunch – a DinahMoe Burger with two ground beef burgers, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and cheese on a roll with fries.
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- I had a salad and a BLT.
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- This is one of the original vintage “Dinah mugs” at the Red Arrow Diner.
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- And here’s a look into the dessert case – pie pieces were going very fast.
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- On our way back to Skylands, we crossed this beautiful bridge – the Cornish–Windsor Covered Bridge. It spans the Connecticut River between Cornish, New Hampshire and Windsor, Vermont.
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- This is the longest wooden covered bridge in the United States and the longest two-span covered bridge in the world. There were three bridges previously built on this site—one in 1796, another in 1824 and then another in 1828. The current bridge was originally built in 1866, and rebuilt in 1988. It is approximately 449-feet long and 24-feet wide. I love the sign above – “Walk Your Horses or Pay a Two Dollar Fine.”
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- The Connecticut River is the longest river in New England, flowing roughly southward for 406-miles through four states. It runs from the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, all the way to the Long Island Sound. It was a beautiful drive home. If you’re ever in this area, I encourage you to take a drive along this gorgeous river.
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