ROUND TOP, Texas – Three young girls lined up at the frozen lemonade stand at the Marburger Farm Antique Show. Dressed head to toe in Magnolia Pearl cowgirl attire, they each carried a small purse with their own saved-up money. Nearby their mothers and grandmother shopped in concert, part of the family rhythm that has become a phenomenon at the twice-yearly Marburger Farm show in central Texas: multiple generations shopping for antiques together at their favorite market.
On Tuesday, Oct. 2, through Saturday, Oct. 6, the Marburger Farm Antique Show in Round Top will welcome shoppers from across the U.S. and around the world. Among the thousands of designers, store owners and collectors will be families shopping together.
“I always see family groups at Marburger Farm,” says Kentucky exhibitor Tricia LeTempt of Red Door Antiques. “Each generation buys different things, but they are creating time to have this experience together at Marburger.”
Just back from shopping in England, LeTempt will offer ironstone, industrial lighting from an old European factory and a collection of French rosaries in silver and mother of pearl, as well as American garden and farmhouse antiques.
“Marburger Farm is our favorite show,” show says shopper Maggie Castleman who leads her tribe of daughters, daughter-in-laws and granddaughters into the 43-acre show with over 350 exhibitors. “Marburger is big so that we all can look for different things, but it’s also easy,” says Castleman. “Everything is in one place. It’s relaxing. It’s fun for us to wander up and down those aisles together.”
While Castleman collects vintage jewelry (Marburger exhibitor Virginia Pierson in the Silver Dollar Saloon is a favorite), the next generation buys to decorate their homes. Daughter-in-law Laura Castleman has brought along her girls and their cousins for six years. “They want to be with their grandmother in the environment that she loves. The girls shop for charms, for antique doll clothes and for vintage cowgirl boots.” Laura Castleman once brought her husband along too. “He fell in love with a dining room table that is now in our house,” she says. What else is in the house from Marburger Farm? Well, chairs for the table from one show, a hutch from another, a Marburger coffee table, lighting and a huge piece over the mantel from Marburger artisan exhibitors Sundie and Brad Ruppert of Vintage Sculpture from Iowa.
Sundie Ruppert looks for the Castleman clan at every Marburger show. “It’s fun to see the children shopping at Marburger Farm,” she says. “With their purses and boots and hats, they remind me of me. I grew up going to shows with my parents.” The Rupperts will alight in Texas with sculptures and re-claimed furniture, covered edge-to-edge with paint, bottle caps and other vintage embellishments. Recalling yet another family of Marburger shoppers, Sundie Ruppert remembers selling a life-size Indian maiden sculpture to a shopper who now collects their work. “Then her daughter came and surprised her mother for Christmas with one of our big flashing arrows. It hangs in their kitchen at the beach.”
Exhibitor Julie Harris of Missouri also sells to family groups with her inventory of antique and vintage college memorabilia, trophies and sporting equipment. “Sometimes I’ll have three or four generations all wanting pennants and photos from the University of Texas, A & M or other Texas schools—I save those up for Marburger. I’ll have antique paperweights and the framed vintage banners, swimsuits and sports uniforms that families use to decorate their kids’ rooms, dens and man caves.” Harris will also offer a collection of antique trunks, some large enough to use as tables and kitchen islands.
At the fall 2012 show, Marburger Farm will debut its own man cave. “Bring your husbands and dads,” says show co-owner Ashley Ferguson. “For football season, we’re turning the Marburger Bingo Hall into an air-conditioned man cave with a big screen TV. And it’s just across from the Blacksmith Bar.”
A more formal setting at the show can be found in the booth of Massachusetts exhibitor Cora Brown. “I’ll set a table for 12 with fine French and English china and crystal,” says Brown who also brings Continental porcelain and furniture. “A mother and daughter who share the same Wedgwood china pattern always come by to see what I have put back for Texas. Customers in Texas have a broader imagination than in other places. They really know how to use antiques.”
And they also know how to wear them. Vintage clothing expert Steven Porterfield dipped his toe into the last Marburger show with a tiny booth. Now he will offer 30 feet of the antique and vintage fashion that has made him a costume source for television shows such as Mad Men and Downton Abbey, as well as a longtime appraiser on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow. In addition to wearable clothing, shoes, hats and handbags from the Civil War era to the 1960s, Porterfield promises to bring quilts, jewelry and a collection of dolls. Multiple generations will have plenty to buy and enjoy, with dolls ranging from early bisque French and German rarities to a collection of 1958-60s Barbie dolls.
Many Marburger Farm exhibitors also represent multiple generations who have loved antiques. Oriental rug specialist Azra Bastani of Atlanta grew up in the rug business started by her grandfather. She shops in Europe for Persian and Turkish carpets made from the 1880s through 1930s, in a large range of sizes and colors. “I’m bringing a huge inventory to Marburger Farm,” she says. “Trust is very important in the rug business and I go the extra mile to earn the trust of my Texas customers.”
Another third generation exhibitor is Michael Berry of San Jose, Calif., who carries silver flatware and hollowware. “My grandfather’s store,” says Berry, “had a sign that said ‘Old Things Not Found Elsewhere.’ That’s what I try to offer.” Berry will bring sterling serving pieces, hand-hammered Arts and Crafts-era silver and over 1,000 sterling napkin rings which draw in families with children and grandchildren. “Sometimes at Marburger we have families coming in for each child to pick out their own napkin ring. They look for figural napkin rings with animals and for those engraved with monograms, initials and names.” They also look for Michael Berry Jr., age 1, who presides over his parents’ booth, happily welcoming other children into the world of “old things not found elsewhere.”
The Marburger Farm Antique Show opens for all ages on Tuesday Oct. 2, with early buying from 10 a.m. through 2 p.m. for $25 for adults, free for children 15 and under. Regular $10 admission begins Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. One admission is good all week, with the show running on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 6, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parking is free and dogs on a leashes are always welcome. Advance tickets and group tickets are available.
Among special events at the fall show will be book-signings with celebrity designer Rachel Ashwell. A longtime Marburger Farm shopper, Ashwell will offer her newest book, Shabby Chic Inspirations and Beautiful Spaces, on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from noon to 3 p.m. near the Gulf Warehouse.
Antiques, vintage and artisan exhibits will include American, French, English, Continental, mid-century modern, industrial, architectural, fine art, jewelry, silver, western, garden, textiles, early Texas and more. Benefit booths will support the Brookwood Community near Houston and Dwell with Dignity of Dallas.
See information on vendors, special events, the Marburger Farm mobile app and blog, travel, maps, lodging, on-site shipping, media and the full-service Marburger Cafe at www.roundtop-marburger.com or call Ashley Ferguson at 800-947-5799.
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