I always look forward to getting through the winter and on to spring. For me, the Baltimore Antique Arms show near the end of March is the start of the new season. Sadly because of COVID there hasn’t been a Baltimore show for three years. Finally on March 18, 19, and 20 it was back on again. I had a feeling given the fact that it hadn’t been held for three years that it would be packed with dealers and eager buyers, and I wasn’t wrong.
I normally drive down and get there for dealer setup on Friday. This time was no different. The line for dealers snaked up the road waiting to get in and get their tables in order. I hadn’t seen some of the folks who were there for a long time, and it was so good to see people again walking up the line. I was setup with a friend and his Siege of Boston powder horn display which I had helped research, so between talking to folks about the powder horns and the history of the owners who originally carried them, I managed to wander around and see the tables and tables of interesting historical arms and objects.
Saturday morning the show opened to the public and I was curious to see how long the lines were outside, so I took a peek and like the dealer line the day before it snaked all the way up the road and the massive parking lot looked full. As people flowed in the hall it became hard to really see all of the things on people’s tables as there were so many folks! I did manage to work my way around and saw some pretty cool things. As I mentioned above, the show also has display tables for people to share their collections and favorite objects and there were some fantastic displays! From prototype guns, Revolutionary War powder horns, to a sword, belt, and other items carried by Confederate general William Mahone. A lot of money and effort went into these displays and from talking to folks at the Siege of Boston horn display, people enjoy looking at some of these great historical items and learning about them.
While I enjoy seeing all of this stuff and picking up a few things for my collection, the best part of the show was seeing old friends and catching up in person, something we hadn’t really been able to do for a few years. If you want to go to a great show with a large variety of material, look up the Baltimore show online and put it in your calendar for next March. I don’t think you will be sorry.
