By Eric C. Rodenberg Column: In the Field ROUND TOP, Texas Antiquing whether it’s buying or selling has a strange affect on people and the surrounding landscape. In tiny Round Top, Texas located at the eastern fringes of the Hill Country the population of the town swells from 77 to easily more than 12,000 people. In nearby Warrenton, population 33, about four miles south of Round Top, the change is more than evident. "Oh yeah, it’s real nice here after this weekend, real nice," said a Warrenton volunteer fireman directing traffic to a parking lot, loaded with thousands of cars, trailers and trucks. "We just sit out back here, and listen to the birds
it’s just real nice." But, today it’s bumper to bumper, pulling into Warrenton. Every spring, antique booths and tents crop up along Texas Highway 237, much like the ubiquitous Hill Country flower, the Bluebonnet, the state flower of Texas. Although much is written and spoken of Round Top, which kicked off its 40th year of antiquing on March 27, buying is also hot and heavy at several of the surrounding rural communities such as Warrenton, Shelby, Fayettesville, Carmine, Oldenburg and Rutersville. It’s estimated that more than 2,000 antique, collectible and craft dealers ply their trades in this area, roughly halfway between Houston and Austin, to eager buyers. For it is here within this 50-mile radius, that the seeker of unique antiques can find almost anything. The Southeastern Texas show has blossomed into one of the largest antique venues in the country, where collectors, decorators and dealers alike all vie for buying within the most unique and diversified market in the United States. The Texas show is markedly different from what you see in New York, Brimfield, Mass., and other East Coast venues. The emphasis is on antiques from the Midwest and West, with a sprinkling of items from the South. European antiques particularly ironware, statues and urns were a special offering of many dealers. In spring in Texas, it’s always a gamble for dealers, many of whom begin setting up in the Round Top-Warrenton area in mid-March. In southeastern Texas, the early spring winds are capricious, capable of rapidly building up huge thunderheads on the horizon, culminating in tent-shearing straight-line winds as well as the unpredictable Texas twister. For many antique dealers, the risk can be as devastating as a bad trip on The River at Texas Hold’em. Such was the case at Warrenton on Saturday, March 31. At precisely 4:12 a.m., according to many accounts. At Tree Park Field in Warrenton, several tents were uprooted, amidst the thunder and lighting, and a reported four inches of rain in almost an hour. "I was scared as hell," said Michael E. Biddy, a third-generation antique dealer from Seguin, Texas. "It pulled that tent right out in front of us, up and over our tent. I saw it all, and it was something else." Ronnie and Sue Humphrey, owners of Seasons Past Antiques, also from Seguin, manned the tent that was uprooted in front of Biddy. They lost about $3,000 in glass and Belleek china. "We were staying in a trailer across the way," Ronnie Humphrey recalled. "I’d have to say it was a twister. We had a bunch of stemware glass on one table, it didn’t even bother that, but it wiped out a table sitting right next to it. "But, even with the $3,000 loss, we’re having a good show. Our tent people had the tent back up in four-and-a-half hours
we’ve been doing this about seven years, and this location (Warrenton) is the best location around." "Yeah, it acted like a tornado," confirmed James McCune, a long-time dealer from McQueeney, Texas. "It was a mini-tornado it had the tent, and steel pegs all twisted up. It wasn’t shear wind, it was moving like a twister." Despite the unpredictable weather with temperatures dropping from mid-80s to the low, rainy 40s between April 1 and April 7 most of the dealers remained upbeat, particularly as the numerous red sold tags in several booths recorded sales from customers still shopping the environs. Despite the odds offered by unpredictable weather, the chores of loading and unloading heavy inventory, and the constant pressure of sales and customer service, it becomes evident that it takes a special breed of antique-lover to do this business. "It’s all a gamble, but life’s a gamble," says Gene Best owner of Beatrice Pearl Antiques, who shows at Marburger Farms twice a year. "But, it’s not as bad as the stock market, where you don’t have any control over what happens. At least, if you make a mistake in this business you know it’s on you you don’t have anyone else to blame." Kitty and Tony Ables from Brownsville, Tenn., deal mainly in antique and industrial-age antiques. Much of their pieces are heavy pieces, including huge 5ft tall Texas horned chairs, an industrial antique metal table and an oversized antique architect worktable. "We require a lot of muscle power to get these around," according to Kitty Ables. Her husband, Tony aka ’The Muscle Power," has become used to powering these larger items into an oversized trailer. "Yeah, these things are heavy and cumbersome to move," he said. "But once you’re a furniture man, you’re always a furniture man." Another longtime furniture man, Gordon E. Harrison from El Dorado, Kan., came into the Texas show a week early, working the Rifle Hall in Round Top, before moving out to Cummins Creek, nearer to Warrenton. Specializing in period Americana, Harrison with a longtime appreciation of American art from the 1920s and 1930s is attempting to carve out a niche in mid-Kansas. His motive: to work full time at a vocation he loves. Despite the heavy loading and unloading, the uncertain odds and unpredictable buying trends, Harrison maintains he’s prepared to ride out the business on a full-time basis. "I’ve been a chiropractor for 22 years," he says. "And that’s something I’m trying not to do. At that job I worked six days a week, 10 hours a day. I have a wife and three kids, and just decided I needed to spend more time with them." Although this year was Harrison’s first spring as a Round Top dealer, his motives are not much different from the majority of his colleagues: a desire to remain independent despite the myriad of uncertainties and follow what they love best in life. |