50th Annual Delaware Show

FIFTY YEARS OF EXCELLENCE Arminda Dunning du Pont and cousin H. F. du Pont celebrate Tea for Two, the loan exhibit in 1968. What began as a small but select event in 1964 under the watchful eye of Minda du Pont has blossomed into one of the country’s most acclaimed “save-the-date” antiques shows. Arminda Dunning du Pont (Mrs. E. I. du Pont) was the founder and driving force behind the Delaware Antiques Show, sponsored for many years by the Junior Board of Wilmington Hospital as a fundraiser for the hospital’s Pediatrics Department. With encouragement from antiques dealer David Stockwell and financial support from Henry Francis du Pont, the plans for an antiques show were hatched in 1963. Dealers up and down the East Coast were contacted, and Minda even made an appearance on the Today show to promote the event! As chair of the first show, at Wilcastle Center, Minda had high expectations for its future: “The Junior Board hopes that the show is of sufficient interest to become an annual cultural event, eagerly anticipated by the community and by all who are interested in antiques.” And indeed it has. As remembered by past chairman Peggy Barton (Mrs. Randolph Barton, Jr.), “The association with H. F. du Pont helped catapult the show from a nice, local affair into a world-class event.” — 12 —