Day Two, Saturday: I went to the folk art show, Antiques at the Armory. This show was more my style—great pieces, many humorous or unexpected—but still New York prices that seem high to a Midwestern collector. There was a big hotdog sign in the first booth I saw. The sign was a yard-long bun holding a hotdog slathered in mustard, and it had a dachshund head waving at one end and a tail waving at the other. It had sold at the opening party.

An English exercise bike made in the 1920s was priced $975. A dealer who thinks out of the box had dozens of wooden hat molds, very sculptural, selling for $600 to $900. He had sold many at this show and told me he had lots more in his shop. He also had pre-World War II wire dog muzzles selling for $75 to $145. Properly displayed on a wall, they looked like modern sculptures of dogs’ heads.

One of my favorite booths had a wall display of about 35 crocheted African hats, many of them beanies. They were very colorful on the inside, but faded from sunlight on the outside. Still, they could be turned inside out. The dealer said the Ethiopian hats were priced at 10 for $1,500. They were selling.

Old tools and machinery had a repurposed life at the show. For $9,500 you could buy a very long dining room table that was really part of a “stroke sander.” The wheel on the side and the holes in the middle of the table added character to the smooth wooden top. I was happy to see a tall mosaic vase made of concrete and pieces of old dishes, a make-do for the garden. It sold for $600; I have a similar one we bought 30 years ago.

Great weekend. No snow, and the airplanes were on time. I put my only purchase in my suitcase: a bisque figure of a seated man with a fox head. It probably represents a fable? Or a politician? Or a book character? (Another research project for me.) I also liked a pair of daisy-painted iron chairs by John Vesey made in 1965 and marked $10,500. I didn’t buy them.