The Brimfield Antiques Show began in 1959 when the Reid family held the first sale in a field behind their home. Other farmers soon followed and it has since grown, now gaining the reputation for being the largest outdoor antique show in the US, if not the world. The dealers show a full range of items from fine antiques to flea market finds to good old junk. It attracts around 250,000 thousand visitors and stretches over a mile along Route 20 with more than 5,000 dealers. It has now become a favourite shopping destination for antique and salvage trade buyers, designers and also attracts many tourists from all over the world.
 
Salvage can be found at Brimfield too with dealers selling items such as stained glass, vintage windows, old signs, industrial, lighting, reclaimed wood furniture and other reclaimed upcycled or repurposed pieces.
 
The show is a collection of about twenty individually managed venues. One such venue The Brimfield Barn has become a particular attraction for antiques and this is where you can find Big Daddy's, an antique and salvage dealer with a reputation of its own. Big Daddy's Antiques is based in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Aspen has attracted celebrity customers such as Taylor Swift. It has also been named by BuzzFeed as one of the twenty two coolest places to get married in America. It is expanding too with a new lease, on a 3,990 square foot building, in the Houston area. It always stocks lots of industrial and vintage salvage bits to interest anyone doing a reclaimed project and its show booth is no exception.
 
Olde Good Things has a large national architectural salvage warehouse based in Scranton, PA and is a regular exhibitor at Brimfield. Its booth displaying a range of salvaged materials can be found at Sturtevants, by the swimming pool. It includes items recrafted from reclaimed materials such as from mirrors made with antique tin frames and tables made from reclaimed wood.
 
Another exhibitor to look out for is Dan Ritter's Aged Objects, from Pennsylvania with a booth in the New England Motel venue displays industrial, architectural salvage and vintage pieces.
 
Mad Men inspired Mid Century Modern furniture is also attracting attention at Brimfield. Look out for Paul Goldberg, owner of 50s, 60s 70s Living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to be found in the Meadows venue. He has been having a successful show, selling to buyers from Brooklyn, Boston, Europe and even New Zealand.
 
The Brimfield Exchange, see the link below, has the definitive show directory and survival guide. There is another link giving an interesting insight into preparing for their first Brimfield show from the Big Daddy team. Follow Instagram and Twitter #Brimfield for the latest comments and great images from the show.
 
The Brimfield Antiques Show is held three times a year, starting on a Tuesday and running through to a Sunday. The last day for the May show is this Sunday the 17th and other dates for 2015 are July 14 to 19 and September 8 to 13.