Mohawk Valley 22nd Annual Show was a Hit

This past weekend I attended the Mohawk Valley Bottle Collectors Show. Once again, this year it was held at the Utica Maennerchor, located at 5535 Flanagan Road in Marcy New York. The members of the Maennerchor always make us feel welcome and provide some great food.

The Mohawk Valley is a great show which is mainly supported by a lot of local club dealers and dealers from New York. There are always some great buys and I get something for my collection every year. Over 125 paid admissions came through the door to see the 50 plus sales tables of what is mainly bottles.

Polly Blunk at her table.

One of Polly’s great water colors.

Another one of Polly’s fantastic water colors. These are truly world class pieces of art!

One table which I have to mention is Polly Blunk from Clayville, NY. Polly is the Mohawk Valley Clubs photographer and also a master painter. Polly truly has a skill level beyond compare. She specializes in water colors. Her art is so good that at first glance they look like photographs. She paints a lot of local scenes and buildings. It truly amazes me at the level of skill she has.

My sales were good and I was very happy with the day. I bought a great Washington Springs bottle with a bust on it from Fran Hughes. I have always wanted one of these bottles and never seemed to get one. I just love it!
The nice thing about these smaller shows is the family feel you get at them. Everyone knows each other. Everyone is there with a common goal of having fun and enjoying the day.

Bob Strickhart and I hope to put that same type of a feeling in at the FOHBC Springfield National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo in August of 2017. Even though we believe we will being having the largest show in years, we want to keep it as small time feeling as we can. We want people to come and enjoy the long weekend. There will be many things to do but we are also planning on rest breaks along the way. Springfield will have an extra day so we need to have a few breaks in the action to catch our breathes. Bob and I both believe shows are more than selling a bottle. They are reunions of friends and times spent creating memories.

Next stop is Mansfield, Ohio on May 7th to support Matt Lacy and Louis Fifer. These two young guys are doing a great job. Not only are they handling the Mansfield Show but keep watch in 2018 in Cleveland where they are co-chairing the FOHBC 2018 National Antique Bottle Convention & Expo. Make sure you support the guys!

Jim Bender
FOHBC Historian
FOHBC Co-Chair 2017 Springfield National

A couple of very nice Utica Beer pieces for sale.

Bottle talk.

Jon Landers and Chris Davis enjoying the show.

As always, the FOHBC is there supporting the local clubs.

Every year the club raffles off a nice flask. This year was no different. Won by a fellow named Bob from Little Falls, NY.

Bob Decker, a well none dealer still selling bottles well into his 80′ . See you next year Bob!

An interesting clear gin with a cobalt blue seal.

Polly Blunk looks over the bottles for sale at Sue Landers table.