The annual Hawken antiques show in Gates Mills, a suburb of Cleveland, started with breakfast, and I was there early to see what was selling, to discuss the prices and problems of the antiques world and, of course, to see many friends.

The first booth was filled with sports-related items—golf clubs, catcher’s mitts, black and white photographs, etc. I liked the collection of small pennants (pictured), $15 or more apiece, a perfect wall hanging for a college room.

One dealer comes to the show every year with hundreds of “smalls,” and the usual crowd was searching through trays of necklaces, cigarette lighters, little boxes, figurines and picture frames. I spotted a fake brass buckle advertising Colt revolvers, $35; and a World War II cigarette lighter with an embossed decoration of soldiers, $12 (pictured).

Another dealer was selling relics of nature, including a 10-inch turtle shell, $95. Technology was featured in a booth with a wine rack made from an old film reel, $250; and a 2-foot lamp made of pottery insulators, $265, on a film reel table, $775 (pictured). The dealer said he was selling a lot of his pieces to department stores.

Dealers often buy whole collections, so it was not surprising to see a group of five 18th-century helmet-shaped Chinese export creamers in a single booth. Four were the same shape but had different decorations, $275 each (pictured). There was even one piece of stapled Chinese export porcelain. I am always amazed at this early method of repairing a broken dish. Small holes were drilled in the piece and a metal wire staple was bent to pull the pieces back together. A couple of centuries ago, it took more than a year to get a replacement if a dish broke, since the order had to be filled in China, then shipped to North America.

Glass paperweights, $95-$175, were displayed near a clear glass inkwell, $175, and other desk items (pictured). The least expensive collectibles we noticed were trays of sterling silver charms, $8 apiece. An old medicine tin filled with flowers made from small buttons was $35.

I was surprised to see a booth filled with Royal Doulton character jugs in many sizes. The bottom row was filled with minis. They have not been selling well at shows. Other pieces I spotted include a darning egg with a silver handle, $85 (pictured), and a pair of metal elephants about 3 feet tall that probably would sit on a floor. The elephants’ trunks were up, a sign of good luck, and they were already sold. I also liked a carved wooden boot, life-size and good enough to fool the eye into thinking it’s real. It was sold, too.

Other prices include a sterling-silver butter knife, $15; a large wooden bowl, $50; an English silver-plated punch bowl, $295; antique sterling punch ladles, $495-$795; and pressed glass goblets, bargain-priced at $14-$28 each.

Several dealers were selling spatterware. A soup bowl, $89, surprised us when we noticed it was from Belgium. Another surprise was a tin sign advertising wagons. We bought one that advertised Ebert wagons for under $50 about 30 years ago. Here was another sign like it advertising Owensboro, perhaps a wagon maker or dealer. But this one was marked $1,495. The dealer said he has seen the same sign with yet another name at the top.

Comments from dealers were varied. Some had a great show, but others sold only a few items. A jewelry dealer told us necklaces were not selling. Another commented that sets of dishes only sell well in the South. And a third was annoyed because pond boats (toy boats made to sail on a pond) were way down in price.

As I left the show, a dealer ran up to show me a sign from Euclid Beach Park, which closed in 1969. We have been working for five years to get the park’s original carousel housed and restored in its original city, Cleveland. It will open in November, ready for riders in its new glass building. So, of course, I bought the sign, $45, and hung it on a door at home. A great day—and I left the show laughing at this funny top-hat sign (pictured below) near the exit.