The Oregon Trail: All roads lead to the Portland Expo Show on Oct. 29 and 30!

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Just in case you’re still debating whether to rake leaves or go shopping this weekend, here is an additional sampling of what visitors to America’s Largest Antique & Collectibles Show in Portland, Ore., can look forward to:

Walt and Jody Bammann of Woodberry Lane Antiques are experts in ceramics made by the Bauer Pottery Company, in operation in Los Angeles from 1910 to 1963. “They are best known for their colorful kitchenware line from the thirties and forties called Ringware, and for the popular hand-thrown pieces by Matt Carlton and Fred Johnson, also of that era,” Walt said.

Jody began collecting Bauer pottery in the early 1990s and Walt got involved a few years later. By 2001 their collection had grown to the point that they could sell duplicate items. “Bauer produced many lines of pottery over the years as customers’ tastes changed,” Walt observed. “We always have the largest display of Bauer at shows and typically have items from Bauer’s earliest years up until their closure. Prices for Bauer items range from $10 to over $1000 depending on scarcity, condition and popularity.

The Bammanns will be bringing several very unique Bauer items to the Portland Expo, including four hand-thrown vases attributed to Matt Carlton, ranging in price from $150 to $1,000, and a rare water bottle with lid from the Ringware line for $650. They’ll also have an assortment of other antiques, from Taylor Tilery bird panels to Bakelite jewelry.

Robert King and Peggy Phillips of Rainy Day Treasures specialize in “smalls,” with a few Halloween items thrown in. They’ll also have a rack of clothes including some by Pendleton Woolen Mills.

Marci Carvalho of Character Collectibles has been selling antiques and collectibles for over 30 and specializes in toys, dolls and bears, but she’ll also have antique holiday items, including Christmas, Easter, Halloween and the Fourth of July pieces. “I love children’s items and rabbits and cats, so I usually have a pretty strong collection of all of the above-mentioned,” Marci told me.
Of special note, she said, are some wonderful mannequins for children’s clothing, lots of Disney items and lots of African-American memorabilia.

“I also have a wonderful RCA Victor lamp and dog. All my items are OLD,” Marci pointed out. “I do not deal in reproductions and my condition is as good and as original as I can find. I really love this business, and my booth will represent my passion for it. Hope this answers your question, please feel free to ask more and I will try to help out.”

Paula and Gary Barnebey of Hall Mania have been collecting products made by the Hall China Company of East Liverpool, Ohio, for about 15 years, have almost all of the shapes and sizes of tea- and coffeepots made by the Hall China in their personal collection. “Hall China made more tea- and coffeepots shapes and decorations than any other American china company,” the Barnebeys told me. They are the authors of the collector’s reference book “Hall China Tea and Coffee Pots: The First 100 Years” (Schiffer, available on Amazon) and a self-published book on Hall decanters and lamps.

Gary and Paula exhibit at both the Portland and the Puyallup show. They will be offering a wide range of Hall China products, including a 1939 maroon automobile teapot, coffeepots, decanters, lamps, refrigerator ware, and restaurant ware pieces. They will have various pieces in dinnerware patterns including Autumn Leaf, Red Poppy, Orange Poppy, Silhouette, Crocus and Wildfire. Because of the wide variety of items, prices range from $2 to $450.

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For paper and ephemera collectors, Elisabeth Burdon of OldImprints.com sells historical graphics from the 1600s to about 1950; at the Portland Expo she’ll have antique prints, antique and vintage maps (with a specialty of pictorial maps), a select stock of old books, especially illustrated (children’s, travel, natural history, literature, etc.), ephemera (such as old travel brochures and merchandise catalogs etc.) and vintage magazines. Prices range from $5 to $1,000+.

Asked about special pieces she’ll have on hand, Elisabeth mentioned a 1905 bird’s-eye chromolithographic view of Spokane, Wash., by John W. Graham & Co., a Spokane paper and stationery supply store. “In 1898 the main commercial area of Spokane had suffered a devastating fire; along with loss of life, there had been hundreds of thousands of dollars of property damage, including the total loss of the Graham store, then located in the Great Eastern block, built in 1890 at a cost of $250,000,” Elisabeth explained. “A mere seven years later, J. W. Graham & Co. trumpeted the resurgence of the Inland Empire, and their business, in this huge bird’s-eye-view image,” which identifies 74 sites, including two J. W. Graham locations, one of which is a warehouse; there is an inset at the upper left edge of the military post Fort Wright. Measuring 41.5 by 61 inches, mounted on linen and attached to wood rods at upper and lower edges, the map is priced at $2,650.

On the lower end, Elisabeth mentioned a complete January 1914 issue of the “Good Housekeeping” magazine, illustrated in color and black and white, in color pictorial wrappers as issued. The contents include an article titled “The Making of a Militant” by suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and artwork by Jessie Wilcox Smith (the Mother Goose series), plus a massive quantity of period advertising. It’s priced at $55.

Fran and Luke Alton of Sweet Memories Antiques are eclectic dealers with lots of period items from the 1930s and forties. “We have been selling in the Expo show for over 15 years, and we have been doing shows for over 25 years,” Fran said. “We sell what we call ‘happy’ items. Our items are colorful, priced right and off they go . . .

“We keep our prices very fair,” she added. “We sell a tremendous number of items to other dealers, and we rarely bring items a second time. After the show, the antiques go to our shops. The customers love the fact that our items are always new.”

Floyd and Marine Bergmann of B & B Antiques, whose specialties include furniture, silver, Venetian glass and lighting, told me they’ll be bringing “a lovely old Chinese cupboard, a drop-leaf inlaid table, matching burgundy wingback chairs with ottoman, a small oak drop-leaf desk and chair, mirrors, oak coffee table, confessional style bookcase, a beautiful old drill bit holder, collectable flatware, some Waterford, Limoges and Bavarian china, English china, a horse harness mirror, a Victorian wall-hanging cupboard, a bamboo table, a primitive medicine cabinet, chandeliers . . . Whattaya think?”

Personally, I like it just fine!

The Portland Expo Show, produced by Palmer/Wirfs & Associates, promises to be a great one: the perfect place to do your holiday shopping early – and have fun doing it!

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