BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — With only high-end merchandise spectacularly arranged in all booths by the 38 participating dealers, a walk through the Central Illinois Antique Show and Sale in December was an exciting and educational experience.

The semi-annual event at the Interstate Center is produced by the Central Illinois Antique Dealers Association (CIADA).

“We try our best to have a quality show,” said CIADA Manager Prima Daniels of Springfield, Ill. “You have to be different than other shows, and we are.”

John Wanat of Indianapolis, Ind. noted a definite change in recent antique sales with most customers interested buying for home decoration.

“Once the whole dining room was decorated with Flow Blue,” he said. “Now they’re buying Flow Blue and hand-painted china and paintings as well. Younger people are coming to the shows, too, but they are a little more shy because they’re not knowledgeable on antiques. Parents and antique dealers need to help educate them. The older crowds are buying unusual and rare items to finish their collections, whereas younger people are buying to decorate. They are learning, and they’re asking questions.”

Wanat said sales of Flow Blue items, which have often been highly popular, have increased recently. The resurgence includes items from the early Victorian/Oriental ironstone pieces to 1891 transferware in cobalt blue. Wanat offered a two-piece, circa 1891 Flow Blue pitcher and washbowl in the Arcadia pattern, with lots of heavy relief and gold gilding, at $595. Another exciting piece was his 1846 deep cobalt blue ironstone Victorian platter with Oriental pattern, priced at $395.

Rex Andrews of Andrews Antiques in Rushville, Ill. displayed a scarce, flute-cut glass catsup bottle with a wide mouth and fitted stopper at $85. Recent publications indicate American glass businesses imported barrels of finished stoppers from Val Saint-Lambert and other European companies, then honed the vessel to fit the stopper instead of vice versa. The tint could vary between the two as American cut glass has a different lead dioxide and manganese content than European glass.

Andrews also displayed five cranberry-cut-to-clear cups and saucers with thick blanks in the flute cutting. These elegant pieces were by an American cut glass house, possibly Durand, circa 1915.

“They’re the only ones I have ever seen, and I’ve been in business 40 years,” Andrews reported.

Two cups had heat checks on the handles, but the other three cups and all five saucers were perfect. The perfect pairs were $395 per set, and the damaged pairs were $75 each.

Marvin Eckhoff of Benson, Ill. offered an early 1900s metal Case (now Case IH) toy steam farm tractor at $225.

A paper with the toy was dated 1911, and said, “Case goods are now sold the world over. Since last year, they went into new and more remote districts and heretofore, unknown customers ... We build to last.”

A metal Buddy L toy steam shovel that Eckhoff featured was modeled after a working vehicle that operated on steam from coal-burning boiler. The price tag was $495. He recalled owning the same steam shovel toy as a child in the mid-1930s.

Show-goers Carolina and Michael Smith of Bloomington began collecting Candlewick glass as newlyweds after admiring a $200 punch bowl at the 3rd Sunday Antique Market in Bloomington years ago. They couldn’t afford it then, but later purchased a similar bowl at a Depression glass show in Wheaton, Ill. After 30 years of collecting, the couple now has 200 Candlewick items. “We also collect Rose Point sterling silverware by Wallace. We have all the ordinary pieces of Rose Point, and now we’re searching for the hard-to-find pieces,” Michael Smith said.

Virginia and Steve Hallett of Scottsville, Ky., displayed a pair of late-1800s European Majolica chargers at $2,195 per set. Fourteen-inches in diameter, the two were in mint condition. A majestic eagle graced the center medallions, with European castles visible in the background of one.

Another eye-stopper was the 17 1/2-in. master punch bowl displayed by Dogwood Antiques owner Dan Marquette of Kentucky-Florida. Painted on a German blank, the piece was signed by American artist McSweeney (no first name given), dated 1906, and available at $1,295.

“The artwork is gorgeous – the grapes and the leaves and the coloring and the gold is all perfect,” Marquette said. “It’s just a fabulous piece. It came out of a home in Indianapolis. It took me six years, but I managed to get it.”

Marquette can be contacted at 859-420-4777.

The two-day event was the 88th edition of the CIADA show, and the first one in December. All preceding shows have been in March and November. The 89th edition will be at the Interstate Center in Bloomington on Saturday, March 10, and Sunday, March 11.