Weekend antiques event draws avid collectors

MILLVILLE – With a shared love and admiration for all things vintage and historic, hundreds showed up to make the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center's weekend Winter Antiques show one of its most successful to date.

From post cards to books to glassware and more, nearly every one of the more than 1,500 people who attended the two-day event found something to bring home with them.

"It's always interesting to see what people buy," event coordinator Doris Abeling said on Sunday.

Inside the center's event hall, dozens of vendors set up shop to accommodate the scores of people who set out in search of vintage collectibles to feed their passionate hobbies.

Laurel Lake resident Nicole Daly, who used to work for Wheaton Arts, comes back each year to attend the Winter Antiques event.

"I always bring money with me," the 24-year-old said as she browsed around. "I like old jewelry."

A love of old-fashioned oil lamps drew South River resident Christine Hohner to the event.

Hohner estimated she has about 20-25 such lamps, a collection that has grown ever since she inherited several from her mother-in-law.

"I got hooked on it," she said. "There's no two alike."

Hohner also perused a postcard vendor in search of a snapshot of Maine that she could send to a friend from that state.

Postcards are a growing source of collectibles for many people, according to some vendors at the event.

Ocean County married couple Jim and Anne Estelle attend 10 antique events each year, which they have done for roughly four decades, they said.

The couple caters in part to collectors' growing fascination with postcards, as well as jewelry and other items.

But with post cards, Jim Estelle said, "There has been an increased interest."

"I try to find as many as I can."

With several thousand postcards available — the vast majority depicting towns, cities and resorts in New Jersey — Estelle has for sale many special little moments in time for residents all over the area.

"Almost everybody can identify with where they grew up and what the surroundings are like, and you can find that in an old postcard," he said.

Bill D'Anjolell, who runs Imagine Antiques & Appraisals, which is based out of Newtown, Pennsylvania, agrees.

The longtime antiques seller said he noticed people are fond of either one of two types of postcard.

"One kind is holiday, which is interesting because they are so ornate," he said. "The attention to detail — the artist spent so much time making them, so much detail, that people hang them up as art."

The second kind of postcard, he said, "It becomes like a history. A lot of these places aren't there anymore. There's a sense of heritage, and they're not that expensive."

He added, "I find it really cool when I see people looking at this stuff."

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