Newtown Historical Society

Hits The Antiques Trail

From the Antiques Roadshow to the neighborhood tag sale, the world of antiques has a hold on its loyal subjects like few other worlds.

And it has spawned auxiliary industries: in publishing the number of titles available, from the cheapest spiral bound price guides to solid multivolume monographs, both fuels and reflects the cult; in equipment for dealers to show and sell their wares; in filling otherwise fallow fields with weekend flea markets; eBay has become a household word.

On Monday, May 9, at 7:30 pm in the Meeting House, Main Street at the flagpole, the Newtown Historical Society will join the fray with a program offered by Wayne Pratt entitled, “Great Discoveries of the Past 35 Years.”

Mr Pratt will talk of his full and varied experiences as one of the country’s best-known antiques dealers. Over the years there have been great finds, and just as great mistakes. In addition to the objects themselves, no other field offers so much chance to meet a varied cast of characters, with the emphasis often on the “characters.” Whether they are other dealers, the customers, or the sources that sell the many rare and wonderful treasures to the dealers, the antiques world abounds in colorful folks.

But it is the object and its never-ending hunt that drives the business. The hordes that line up at the major flea markets and antique shows are all searching for that elusive rarity, obviously for the money it will bring, but just as much for the thrill of the hunt, and of the kill at its end.

Wayne Pratt had an early start in the antiques world, buying his first antique chair at the age of 7, and making his first sale at 15. Putting aside the world of the old, Mr Pratt spent several years as an executive in the business world. He returned to his first passion in 1969 when he opened his shop in Massachusetts.

Over the years he has moved from an itinerant show dealer to his prestigious locations on Nantucket and Connecticut’s antiques capital in Woodbury. The firm specializes in 18th and 19th Century American furniture, and is one of the largest dealers in the country in that area.

Mr Pratt is active on several local and national antiques and historical organizations, has been widely published, and regularly appears on the Antiques Roadshow television series.

Elections of new officers also will be held at this historical society meeting.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served at the program’s conclusion. For further information call the historical society at 426-5937.