February is here and the Super Bowl is over with the winners celebrating and losers well, probably trying to understand the loss.

It’s also a time when many antique malls and stores have sales, with markdowns and discounts throughout. And with our outdoor antique market season coming, it’s time to start restocking our depleted inventory. We’re looking for items that are unique and underpriced, and that requires lots of work finding just the right pieces. Being collectors of far too many things, wer’e also looking for additions to our own collections.

One of our favorite antique malls is Fox Lake Country Antiques located in Oconomowoc, WI., and a short jaunt from home. Their mailing on a special sale had been attached to our calendar and with the Super Bowl starting so late in the afternoon we had “Time To Buy.” And while out their direction another must stop is the Antique Center at Wales, WI.

Looking at the first photo you may wonder about our purchases, so let me justify our buying habit. The window frame and coffee pot are both for our personal use. Wifey has a good collection of pots and pitchers of all ages. This one is old transfer ware in the Kenilworth pattern by H. Alcock & Co of Cobridge, England. It had a tiny chip on the spout and was priced “As Is” but as the display shelf is high up, only Wifey, You and I will know it’s not perfect. It was purchased at Wales. We also bought bronze hinges at Wales, and they are to sell. We seem to favor metal hardware and these three are very decorative and large. Made by Yale & Towne and signed on back, STANDARD Y&T. Let’s hope these find a buyer when its “Time To Sell.”

Our purchases at Fox L.C. included a rubber St. Bernard figurine, a souvenir plate from a jeweler in Ithaca, MI, an advertising pen holder marked Rexall Drug Stores, a deck of playing cards with Citgo Oil advertising, an old nut cracker with lion heads on the handles and two Masonic pins. All these will go into our stock for now as its “A Time To Hold”

Now lastly let me show you what my reason is for buying the window frame. I already had one for many years, it’s in our powder room off the master bedroom. With long winters, the room has a garden theme that includes this window and a “view” of the flowers in our gardens.

Oh, wait, “A Time To Pitch” is not in Wifey’s vocabulary, but I’ll be taking some time soon to sort through a lot of discarded electronics and other things relegated to the basement; too old to use – too new to be collectible.

As promised on Thursday, more from the “Best Of” Better Homes & Gardens Creative Collection: 100 Ideas Flea Market Style 2009 magazine. Like I said before, I don’t usually buy new magazines like this. The reasons fall into two categories: “How I live,” and “What I know.”

I live with kids and pets, plus a typical “I don’t want to pussyfoot around the delicates” husband. So while I love to look at and admire the gorgeous photographs, I’m skeptical (at best) about the “place your glass and pottery on benches” and “display delicate knick-knacks around your marble edged bathtub” advice. Not that I actually own wooden benches or have such a bathtub, marble ledge or no; but I think you get my point about the dangers of wagging dog tails, curious cats, and less than careful family members.

Better Homes & Gardens Flea Market Style Tip 91

It’s all so pretty, but equally impractical in my house. Your mileage will likely vary. And if the pretty pictures take you on an emotional dream vacation to another life, where you can decorate without such worries, well then you’ll love this magazine.

Now for “What I know.” Not to be all stuck on myself, but I find that these magazines are full of articles and tips I already know. Hey, I’m clever. I hang with clever people. And I own a ton of vintage magazines which say pretty much the same things. (Because I’m clever, I know how to adapt the old ideas to modern ways &/or with modern materials; of course, being a poor bohemian type helps too.)

A few examples of things I already knew… Like how to use old architectural elements in funky “new” ways.

Tip 11: Old Porch Rail As Mail Organizer

Better Homes & Gardens Flea Market Style Tip 31

What the magazine fails to tell you is that old porch railings, newel posts, ginger breading, mantles, and other architectural elements — even antique table legs etc. — are priced higher than the sky. I’m not saying they aren’t worth every penny; but your eclectic summer cottage look is going to have beach-side property pricing. (Oh, and you’re going to need a lot of white paint; this publication lurves white paint!)

Among other things I already knew, using antique steamer trunks to store stuff. I personally wouldn’t do this outside because the metal fittings are going to rust and critters will nibble & infest the wooden parts… But if you have a more enclosed patio, perhaps. I do love this photo though because A) I’m a girl who loves to “nest” and put things away in drawers and stuff (ask hubby; I drive him nuts with this storage lust), and B) I get a hoot out of seeing the stored contents on display — only in magazines *wink*

Flea Market Style Garden Ideas

Also on that page, using “pretty fencing” as a trellis. I knew that too. Hubby and I have used antique metal baby crib parts and almost two years ago The Dean showed us all how to get even more creative and use parts from antique foot treadle sewing machine stands in your garden.

One of Better Homes & Gardens’ favorite ideas must have been #77, a “furniture remix” given two pages. It shows turning an antique workbench into a kitchen island — something else The Dean wrote about here at CQ nearly two years ago. (Not to be all “braggy” about Collectors’ Quest or The Dean, but his is bigger and better. *neener neener*)

Better Homes & Gardens Furniture Remix

Antique Workbench Becomes Kitsch Island

But Better Homes & Gardens proves with their 100 Ideas Flea Market Style 2009 that sometimes even I can still be surprised.

For example, tip #66 is a surprising “twist” on how to use old upholstery springs to display fluted glassware.

Recycle, Recoil (With Fear), Glassware Holder

I fear the photo may be misleading… They show just a section of what is supposed to be the coil springs from an old chair — holding (precariously to me) glassware. Just how big is this thing? And how/where do you set it? And won’t vibrations make the coils “spring” or at least move… Just enough to maybe drop the glassware? Maybe I’m a worry-wart. But it certainly is an idea I never thought of.

But I just love tip #49, which comes from bottle collector Micheal Breddin. Look at his cool idea to display his antique lavender bottles (once clear, but with age & the sunlight’s UV rays the manganese within the glass has transformed the glass into beautiful shades of purple). The bottles are inverted and placed over bamboo & rebar sticks stuck in plant beds for a stunning burst of color.

Stunning Way To Display Antique Bottles In The Garden

I suddenly want to collect bottles.

So while I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to get more issues of new home decorating magazines (it will dip drastically into my budget for vintage decorating magazines), I did enjoy “Best Of” Better Homes & Gardens Creative Collection: 100 Ideas Flea Market Style 2009. It did, after all, teach this jaded junk junkie a few new tricks. If you’re looking for inspiration (be it decorating or maybe even a new collection of bottles for your backyard garden), it’s totally worth the $5.99 cover price for the flip-through.

Last night on PBS I caught a show from 2001 called “A Flea Market Documentary.” During 2000, WQED producer Rick Sebak crossed the United States, visiting the greatest icons of the flea market world. From the eclectic and free-form environment of the Freemont Summer Market in Seattle, Washington, to the Orange County Fairgrounds flea market with its produce and non-antique new items, the Flea Market Documentary examines the wide variety of people, places, and things that compose the flea market environment.

Mostly, the documentary gave me and D locality envy — there’s a few flea markets nearby (like the Shady Hollow Flea Market we took my inlaws to last month), but nothing on the scale of the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market (which seems visible from space), or the Canton, Texas “First Monday Trade Days” which boasts to be the oldest flea market in the USA. While the term ‘flea market’ seems so generic that every one must be similar, the documentary shows well the gradients and variety that the genre entails. None of the flea markets shown are 100% different from another, but they occupy such different portions of the same continuum that you could see why some market visitors would be more likely to attend one than another. Over all, the documentary presents a flea market as a fluid, organic assembly of place, things, and people. While each may have antiques, rummage-sale clothes, or factory-outlet off-brand shoes, the climate of a flea market only comes together at the point when the tables are stocked, the dealers are ready to meet the public, and the customers arrive to peruse their wares. One amusing part of the documentary is when the filmcrew meets up with Frank DeCaro, style writer for the New York Times, who was also on assignment to cover the 450-Mile 127 Corridor Rummage Sales. Rather than passing each other by with a courtesy greeting for a fellow journalist, DeCaro and his friend showed off the cool stuff they bought at the sale, and chit-chatted about what they’d seen during their travels of the 450-mile sales. It goes to show that, even if you’re a dedicated observer, it’s impossible to go to a flea market without getting involved. The documentary film-crew even kept track of their bargain-finds on their website.

While you might not have the luck of running across the documentary on your local PBS station like I did, you can purchase the video at Amazon.

 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!

 The expression goes “Wearing your heart on your sleeve.” But some heavy-duty collectors do wear signs to advertise their specialty. You’ll see them most often at Flea Markets with a note on their hat or pinned to their shirt “I Collect Left Blue Shoes.” Some go as far as wearing large pinback buttons with their specialty in bold letters. Every so often, I’ll find a tee or sweatshirt with screen printing shouting out the wearer’s wants. There is a local dealer who comes to yard sales touting a fishing lure in his hat – he shouts out “got any fishing items?” and exits promptly if the answer is “no.”

Some dealers in malls or markets will have a nicely printed sign that is displayed in their booth. “Paying best prices for vintage Neenah Foundry manhole covers.” Personally, I have never tried this tactic but assume it would work. 

Today I was in a business meeting with a gentleman that had a strange symbol on his shirt. I recognized the swirl form but wondered if my customer knew its meaning or was simply intrigued by the design. As our meeting was ending I had to ask “Are you a record collector?” He responded “Why, yes!” The pattern on his shirt was the little plastic spring disc that would reduce the large 45 rpm record hole to fit on the post of a 33-1/3/45 rpm record player. He explained the shirt came from a trip he had taken to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. We discussed the great collectibles at the Hall and how much he enjoyed the visit.

Our own collection consists of various artists on several types of media from 45’s to albums to tapes and CD’s. They are in a wide variety of genres.

We also have a huge pile of 78’s and 33-1/2’s that we have accumulated over the years. These are not our collection but stock for wifie’s antique business.

Our reference source for 78 records is this book – American Premium Record Guide 1900-1965, by Les Docks, and published by Books Americana in it’s 4^th edition and copy right 1992. This book contains a photo section with black and white pictures of record labels in alphabetical order. The rest of the book is broken down by style of music, again in alphabetical order, by artist’s last name. This makes it possible to find the value of a record by the Alabama Fuzzy Wuzzies on a Champion ‘78′ titled Fuzzy Wuzzy ($150 to $250, depending on condition.) They were evidently one-hit-wonders.

Most folks have recorded music, and that gets replaced as evidenced by the vast collections at yard (Tag-Garage) sales we visit, often with the advent of a new recording method. (OH NO, my 8 tracks are so last Century, how can I get them onto my I-Pod?)

 Before you discard your 78s, albums or 45s, take a peak to be sure you didn’t buy an early Sun Records recording of some guy named Elvis, or of an artist you don’t recall on a label you’re sure you don’t remember, it may not have charted at number one, anywhere but in the price guides.

As always good hunting and gather your collection here on Collectors’ Quest for all to see.