Elkhorn Antique Flea Market

No Egrets Antiques is our business name, and while it’s a play on words to reflect our attitude about buying and selling antiques and collectibles, we do have some regrets about our past purchases, and they sit in storage awaiting some sort of decision on what would be the best way to dispose of them. I don’t recall any regrets toward any thing we have sold. Oh sure, if you held onto some antique long enough it may increase in value, but then where would the profit come from to buy more. So we try to keep the “I Let It Go Too Cheap” talk out of our conversation.

Our buying time is constant with different seasons giving us different venues to shop, all of them discussed in previous blogs on Collectors’ Quest. And I have discussed some of our selling activities also. We’re getting ready for a full calendar of flea markets this year, with several already paid for to ensure we get favorable locations. Our first was last month and while successful, it was a small show and we had a small booth. Our next show will be new to us and the booth space is larger. The challenge is finding the right mix of items to attract a wide audience to your booth.

I’m a believer in the philosphy that shoppers attract shoppers, and to that end we select some items that attract buyers but take time to look over, keeping people in our booth longer. These are mostly inexpensive collectibles, post cards, records, photos, costume jewelry, and we sprinkle in salt and pepper shakers, and little figurines of animals. Every one loves little animals.

With an indoor setting, wind, cold and rain are not an issue so paper, magazines, photos, books and framed prints can be used to fill the tables and the booth space with customers. The rest will be the antiques that have value and will attract the serious collectors. Then comes the fun of the outdoor markets and we are signed up for five shows already. Plus I’m looking into about nine other dates from early May thru October. Naturally, the opportunity to purchase antiques at all these shows are part of the attraction.

Spring also brings out the yard sale signs. I know that mid February is a poor time to start thinking about garages filled with great treasures, but with the long winter’s end coming nearer, my March Madness is the first orange sign at the end of a driveway. So let’s hope your buying season starts soon and maybe we will cross paths at the end of a driveway.

And if a vendor at a flea market is wearing an outlandish neck tie to attraction attention to his booth, say HI, it’s me.

As a long-time buyer and seller of both antiques and collectibles, I am often asked “What is selling today? What are the trends and hot items?” I hate to say it, but I honestly do not know. Oh, I have some success stories; some surprises of things that sold higher than anticipated. Also a lot that have not ‘moved’ in over a year that were thought to be the ‘next absolute sure thing’ in the business.

I’ll give you some ideas of things that have recently sold. We set up our booth at the fantastic Elkhorn Antique Market, held 4 times a year at the Walworth Fair Grounds. It is definitely one of the best and you can always count on a large, top-notch crowd, come rain or shine (and we’ve sat through both.) The weather was picture perfect, high 70s, low humidity and sunny. (An occasional high wind made us treat glassware with caution, but that goes with the territory.)

We are very eclectic in our offerings and basically have no specific area. That’s because we hunt for things we like; unique items, not anything that limits us. We usually have 6 long ‘banquet’ tables, a card-table to check-out and we use turned over plastic containers to rest miscellaneous items on. We have locked glass cases with our ‘better offerings inside.’ The front of our booth usually has heavy metal and cast iron pieces, just because we don’t expect folks to want to carry them very far. (It makes sense except many times the buyer wants to leave their purchase with us until they are ready to head out, being reluctant to carry it around the fair. So we have to drag it to the back of the booth and into the van. Oh, well.)

In any case, I’ll give you an idea of some of the ‘mix’ that we sold. You be the judge as to what you’d buy to sell if you were a dealer.

Our first sale was a large metal Sealtest Ice Cream Sign. Definitely very old, with rust around the hanging holes to prove it. The second was a 1930s lady’s robe. Black with vibrant pink flowers, it was most likely silk. Sold to a young girl, perhaps in her early 20s, who was about 5′ 9” tall and weighing maybe 120 pounds, it fit her like a dream and she modeled for us, twirling around to show off the flouncy skirt. She was a fashion major at an Illinois college and was just thrilled. We next sold three watch fobs. Advertising pieces from local industrial giants that had long-ago changed hands or had left the industry. We then sold a cookie jar of a school house, probably from the 1960s. This went to a school teacher (but of course.)

An older gent sauntered into our booth. We both looked at him and recognized a repeat customer from the last show. He was a pig-collector and in fact had purchased a pig ‘oiler’ from us a while back. We were able to satisfy him with a carved wooden pig. He was so glad, paid promptly and carried it right out to his cart. We told him we’d keep an eye out for others and he vowed to return in August!

It got very crowded and neither hubby nor I had time to analyze what was selling. Not until we got home. Then we sat down to have a beverage and count the ‘loot.’ We tried to recall everything that we had sold. He remembered another ice cream sign, this one lit up, and also a cast iron stove door, an antique for sure. How about the advertising crates? Yup, sold two of those, in spite of being next to a real pro who specialized in all sorts of them. We had several pieces of carnival glass, lots of lookers, no takers. I remembered the canvas golf bag that sold. We had Sam Snead golf clubs inside but they were not of interest. The same gent bought a few wooden shafted clubs as well. The buyer shared with us that he was a heavy-duty collector and had over 2,000 clubs!

I had recently purchased a ‘lot’ of contemporary sterling silver pins and rings. We sold about 15 of those, nothing over $20. Hubby put a rack up with $2 necklaces, not too fancy, but we sold 10 of those too. My ‘best jewelry’, some signed rhinestone pins, a few cameos and even a pocket watch did not sell.

Another item that sold late in the day was a Milwaukee Brewers lunch box with the famous ‘racing sausages’ on the outside. We also sold 6 beer steins, some with the name of a brewery, others with just a German scene. Some linens sold too – a baby quilt and 10-12 doilies.

While in Ohio this winter, we purchased a very unusual item; a Snow Scoot. It is a type of sled with one runner over the seat. Folks would actually rent these from the park (still had a number ‘8′ on the side) and hurl themselves downhill. Boy, consider the potential litigation on that item! It was purchased by a collector of sleds who often lent his items to a small museum near his home in northern Wisconsin. He was just beaming as he carried it out!

We sold two paperweights, a few books, some wooden print blocks, several beer bottles and a pair of leather saddlebags for a motorcycle.

This should give you an idea of the mix that we offer and items that were purchased. If you can see a ‘trend’ from this assortment, you are a far better antiquer than I am. (But, that’s what makes it so darn interesting.)

 Once again, we set up to sell at the fabulous Elkhorn Antiques Fair at the Walworth County Fair Grounds in Wisconsin. This Fair is run by N.L. Promotions, in their 27^th year and it still remains the best in the area. It has kept its integrity and has not allowed the “tube socks and Tupperware” dealers to peddle their wares! We always find super bargains here as well!

The weather was ‘iffy’ at best but hubby and I set up on Saturday afternoon. Friends always say “boy, that sounds like a lot of fun!” and “you guys must really make a lot of money doing that.” But when it comes time to setting up, they are at a picnic or relaxing in a lawn chair. It is doubtful that they realize how much work goes into it. In addition to hunting for items to sell, I usually spend 24-30 hours during the week doing research on identifying what we have to sell, then pricing, wrapping, and finally, another 2-3 hours are filled in loading up. It’s over an hour drive from our home and we head out early Saturday afternoon.

This time we barely got several of the tables set up, and filled when the skies darkened. We re-wrapped the pieces that could be hurt by moisture, tarped the rest and sat in the van, waiting. And boy, did it rain. Big, heavy drops pelted the windows and the winds came up too. I wish I had brought a bunch of umbrellas from my collection!

About 30 minutes later, the sky was blue and we ventured out again. Hubby took a squeegy to the tables, we dumped out bowls, wiped everything down and cautiously put out our wares. A few buyers came over, we had a some ‘early-sales’ and we continued to work until 7-ish. Then once again, we put away the pieces that could be damaged by the rain, covered the rest and headed home for a quick snooze.

The next morning we arose at 4:00 A.M., cleaned up, grabbed some coffee and headed back to the Fairgrounds. It was a beautiful morning, cool and clear and we were so relieved since rain was predicted. The weathermen who love to cover their butts now do the percentage thing. They’ll say “50% chance of rain”, which means they are right either way. Not too many jobs where you can give that type of projection and still stay employed. “Hey, Steve – what are the chances these car seats are safe?” “Oh, I’d say about 50%.” “Great job Steve-o!”

In any case, the weather was wonderful and the crowd gathered early; gates open at 7 but we all know that dealers buy from dealers so we had several sales before then.

Hubby is always optimistic and cheerful, calling out “what a gorgeous day” to all who entered our booth. You hear all sorts of responses from “Yep, sure is” to “it’s really too cool” to “Yes, but the sun is too bright” or “Sure wish it was not so darn breezy” to the one we hate most or all “You are right but it is GOING TO RAIN!” We always shoo those folks away, no matter how much they would buy.

But they were right; not just 50% moist but 100%. Before you could say “Why now black cloud?” the skies opened up. We raced around with tarps, covering what we could, putting items into the back of our vans. Then we sat, dripping wet in the van, trying to remain positive.  chatted and made comments such as “It was moving pretty quickly so it will end soon”, or “Just an isolated shower” and the like. It ended after about 15 minutes and once again, vibrant blue skies and puffy white clouds appeared. We came out again and cleaned tables, wiped everything down, bringing out the wood and paper items. The crowds became quite heavy and we had some decent sales. I would yell out “come on in – everything was just freshly cleaned!” We do have our fun. Years ago, hubby had a rubber mallet, bright green and very ‘limp.’ He’d act like a barker and pound it on the table. It brought on a lot of smiles. He is the type who can always do a 15 minute show anywhere! Much too young for vaudeville, but that’s where he could have really done his ’schtick.’

Well, you guessed it, our reverie was short-lasted and the black clouds re-appeared. We usually stay set up until 4 or 5, then slowly begin taking the tables down. But it was about 2:30 when we started to close ‘er up. And it was a good thing, because as we put the last box in the van and slammed the door, it rained again.

Well, now you are thinking – are these people, nuts? All that work for what??? It may surprise those of you who have never done it, but it was actually fun. You meet a lot of nice people, many from out of the area. They share stories on their collections and what they are hoping to find. You learn more about the trends and what people are seeking and you often re-affirm that what you have been offering is what collectors want to find so you can continue your passion of the hunt. It is an ‘instant gratification’ thing, albeit some of the items have been around a while. We enjoy our day together and even the dripping wet part makes us laugh. If that stops being fun, then perhaps we’ll stop too. But for now, it’s our hobby and we love it!