Reyne Gauge: Discovering Round Top, Texas
Image courtesy of Marburger Farm Antique Show.
Everyone who’s a collector or dealer knows about Brimfield. If you’re on the West Coast, you go to the Alameda Pointe, Hillsborough or Rose Bowl shows. In Texas, we have Round Top.
Round Top is a small town (population 77) located about an hour east of Austin and 30 minutes west of Brenham, Texas (home of Blue Bell Ice Cream).
Round Top Antiques Week was founded over 30 years ago by Emma Lee Turney and her company, Antiques Productions. The show started out as a social event for Houstonians that took place in the spring and fall. It offered some of the best dealers with nothing less than the finest antiques this part of the country had seen.
It still takes place twice a year, however, it is no longer caters exclusively to the Houston social scene. Each event is mobbed with antique dealers from around the country and shoppers from all over the globe.
Much like Brimfield, there are different fields that open on different days, and many dealers that set up tents in more than one field. It is said there are over 2,500 dealers set up each season. The event is 10 days long, however, numerous dealers talk about being there for a full three weeks.
What type of merchandise will you find at Round Top? Just about everything, from American Indian jewelry to vintage gas pumps. There are miles of tents, air-conditioned buildings filled with dealers and vendors set up along roadsides.
There are plenty of porcelain plates and Victorian keys offered, but if a bigger acquisition is what you are eyeing, you’ll find a fine array of great art, furniture and important silver there, too.
To help you determine which shows open on what date/time and where, visit the Web site of the Round Top Chamber of Commerce: www.roundtop.org. There are also few magazines published with scheduling information, maps, and highlights of dealers and auctions happening in the area. They are given away at most of the show sites. You will certainly need a map. There are over 50 fields in four different towns for your shopping pleasure.
If all of that isn’t enough, Round Top is also home to the Junk-O-Rama Prom. Yes, I said prom, and not one meant for high school kids. The Junk Gypsy Co. has turned Thursday evening during Antiques Week into prom night. It’s an event for dealers and shoppers to cut loose and have a little fun between the frenzied buying and selling. Everyone dresses up – or down, depending how you look at it – in vintage garb, and Zapp Hall is turned into an outrageous “gym” with champagne, Christmas lights and chandeliers. No prom would be complete without great live music and a disco ball.
So change your weekend plans, book a flight to Texas, or get in your car and start driving now!
What are you waiting for? The deals are just waiting for you to come and find them.
Happy Hunting!
Reyne
ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF NOTE
Image courtesy of Marburger Farm Antique Show.
Image courtesy of Marburger Farm Antique Show.
