PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Widely recognized as the premier American antiques and decorative arts show in the country, The Philadelphia Antiques Show has a lot to celebrate in 2011. Since its inception in 1962, the Show has raised more than $17 million to help further innovative programs with a direct impact on patient care and has been a major fundraiser for Penn Medicine. The 2011 Philadelphia Antiques Show, presented by Drexel Morgan & Company, the parent company of the Show's six year-running title sponsor, The Haverford Trust Company, is expected to raise nearly $1 million to benefit Penn Medicine.

The 2011 Philadelphia Antiques Show will be held Friday, April 8 through Tuesday, April 12, 2011, at The Navy Yard, Philadelphia Cruise Terminal at Pier One. This year, proceeds will support development of the Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center.

Led by founder Ali Brown, the show premiered on April 24, 1962 as the University Hospital Antiques Show at the 33rd Street Armory in West Philadelphia. The Show’s debut was a huge success, welcoming 5,000 visitors and raising over $30,000 – more than three times what was expected. Throughout the years, the Show’s names included the University Hospital Antiques Show, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Antiques Show, which it assumed in 1986, and The Philadelphia Antiques Show in 1989, which it still remains.

Since the beginning, the Show’s committee, now comprised of more than 200 volunteers, has determined how funds from the Show are allocated. Over the past half century, these proceeds have provided great assistance to Penn Medicine. Funds from the first Show paid off the Nearly New Shop’s mortgage, and the following year provided enough to aid the Hospital Chapel in adding a meditation room, a Christian altar and a Hebrew worship place. The Philadelphia Antiques Show has also helped fund initiatives such as the Trauma Center, the Multi-organ Transplant Program and the Penn Lung Center - all of which are major programs that have helped to make Penn Medicine the leader in medicine that it is today.

Over the five decades of its existence, the Antiques Show has played a great role in developing Philadelphia’s reputation as a first-rate market for antique items, especially period furniture, folk and fine art, ceramics, porcelain, silver, jewelry, textiles and Americana. Thanks to its dedicated volunteer force, each year The Philadelphia Antiques Show has grown exponentially and has become a tradition of excellence. The 50th annual Show is expected to attract 10,000 visitors and raise nearly a million dollars for the Penn Ovarian Cancer Research Center.

“The Philadelphia Antiques Show, and the 50 leading antiques dealers and galleries who comprise the Show, continue to set the standard for outstanding quality and integrity,” said Show Chair Patty Cheek. “We look forward to celebrating 50 years as the nation’s foremost arts and antiques show.”