I also spotted a familiar red Jersey Coffee store bin for $1,100 and a country store hardware cabinet for $3,295. An old “friend,” an empty 1930s Babe Ruth brand underwear box, was for sale for $895. When we last wrote about one in 2007, it was priced $605. A 10-inch reticulated copper lobster like one my parents owned was marked $350, and an early painted child’s sled with wooden runners covered in iron was $250.

There were some tempting rarities. An 8-inch pottery vase similar to pieces made in the 1880s by the Cincinnati potters was marked “I.V.W.” in a diamond. The dealer told me it was a piece of rare art pottery made about 1880 by Rouse & Turner of Jersey City, N.J. I looked for the mark in Edwin Barber’s 1904 book, Marks of American Potters. It was there, and Barber explained that the mark was a misprint—that it should have been “I.W.W.” because it stands for “Ivory White Ware.” Rouse & Turner was in business from 1859 to 1892.

Two items were amazing. One, priced $1,495, was an unusual 18th-century blue and white English delft berry bowl. There was an inserted drain covering the top of the bowl and a small hole to drain the bottom of the bowl. I have never seen another bowl like it. The other—the item I saw that I most wanted to own—was an expensive piece of folk art. It was a painted wood carving of Uncle Sam, 4 feet high and $8,500—way over my budget.

What did I buy? A small wooden child’s stocking stretcher with an inset metal ad that says, “Product of the Avon Workshops, Cincinnati.” I thought it was priced too high but knew it would look great in my laundry room collection, so I paid the full price of $50. And for no good reason, I just had to have a celluloid baby rattle shaped like a turtle for $35 to go with my other celluloid toys. During the last 10 minutes of the show, I bought a small painted period Sheraton chair to use with my Carleton desk. Asking price: $115; selling price: a bargain $75. Dealers prefer to take home money instead of furniture, and there were no other customers in sight.