Flea market musings.

[formariz 11,987]

Like many of the prior years we went to the Jacktown Show on Sunday. It’s a place we really enjoy and as far as old tools go it has one of the best flea markets around. I spend hours rummaging through crates of stuff and talking to many of the vendors which I have known through the years. I also like to observe people going through stuff and watch their reactions as they find stuff that puzzles them as to their purpose. 

Sadly flea markets such as this one are eye openers to the state of society today. These flea markets are both cemeteries of long gone trades and arts and at the same time museums of the same. A vast majority of people going through them looking for bargains have no idea what most of these items are. Sadly the same is true for some vendors. Our young people today lack in the very minimum,the knowledge and ability of what is possible to do with their hands . A couple of hours spent going through one of these places with someone who has a considerable knowledge of these tools would substantially enlighten them ,perhaps sparking a lifelong interest. I noticed that the ones rummaging through these places are getting increasingly older and scarce. So are the vendors. I believe that in the near future many of these items will cease to be available and cease to exist perhaps dumped or taken to the scrap pile. Another indication of it is the noticeable absence of vendors of this type of stuff and the increase of vendors with shiny new useless mostly Chinese stuff. Unfortunately we have a habit of neglecting and forgetting the old things and the old ways, always dazzled by the new and the modern not realizing that more often than not they are cheap imitations of the real stuff we are throwing away.

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by formariz

[Jennifer 1,877]

So true!

[lynnmor 7,308]

We have quite a collection of a certain type of glassware and notice that only the geezers have any interest now.  In the not too distant future, I think that the value our collection will drop to near nothing, It is now a throw away society where few find any value in things of the past.

[WHNJ701 4,165]

I was fortunate enough to grow up around antiques, restorations, collectibles etc... So from a young age I knew what look for at sales.  

The markets and times have changed but most collectible interest runs in cycles.  Rare stuff is still rare stuff to the right people.  

Needless to say the jacktown flea market anymore isn't really worth the time.  Last couple years it's been mostly either junk new items, or ridiculous overpriced.  Unfortunately other engine tractor shows  are like this too with all "good stuff" no longer available 

[ri702bill 8,340]

We are fortunate to have two indoor flea markets nearby in old mill buildings along the river. The first one has only pick of the crop antiques and collectables from one source and their prices reflect just that.The other sells old stuff - a joint effort of 6 or so sellers, each with a specialty, under one roof. One sells tools, another books, another glassware, another toys -  you get it - prices there are much more reasonable and for the most part negotiable. Not a bad way to kill an hour or two on a Saturday...

Bill

[Ed Kennell 38,227]

9 hours ago, formariz said:

forgetting the old things

One of the reasons I enjoy visiting the auction house every Wed.     Learning and sometimes teaching the function of the old unusual tools and equipment.

This local family owned business cleans out estates and auctions everything.  They suffered a fatal accident this week.

I will relate in a separate post so as not to go off topic here.

 

 

[ri702bill 8,340]

7 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

 Learning and sometimes teaching the function of the old unusual tools and equipment.

Ed - the tool guy at the second facility will sometimes call me over and ask if I know what a certain tool he has is - because he doesn't! Always interresting though...

[OutdoorEnvy 1,522]

Yeah I enjoy looking for old quality made things.  I find more and more I can appreciate quality items of a wide variety.  I do often look for old tools and outdoor gear mostly.  I do have my 9 year old son hooked on it as each place or market is like a treasure hunt of sorts.  We have a couple antique malls we regularly visit.  I am gradually piecing together a toolkit for him.  Adding in tools as we find them.  Everything is vintage era USA, German, or Japan made tools.  By the time we're done he'll have quality tools that will outlive him and we likely won't have more than $50-60 in the whole thing. 

 

I think a good first project with a kid is finding a vintage hammer and cleaning it up and putting a new handle on it.  It's cheap, easy, probably the most used tool outside of screwdrivers, and will show them the proper way to hang a head on a tool.  There are some really neat makers marks from back in the day.  They give it nice character.

 

I keep an assortment of old hammers and will let my sons friends have one and we'll put a handle on it.  If they want and with parents permission of course.

 

Maybe there should be a Flea Market/Antique Store/Swap Meet Finds thread?  I've shared a few finds in the "What did you do today" thread.   

[formariz 11,987]

4 hours ago, WHNJ701 said:

Needless to say the jacktown flea market anymore isn't really worth the time.  Last couple years it's been mostly either junk new items, or ridiculous overpriced.  Unfortunately other engine tractor shows  are like this too with all "good stuff" no longer available 

It has changed a lot over the last few years but still has a lot of good stuff compare to most. I agree with the overpriced assessment. I have a hard time understanding some of these vendors and what they expect when selling at these places. Quite honestly it almost seems to me they are just waiting for a “sucker” to show up. 
 Let me describe one example from this Saturday. Now, I happen to know a little about tools , specially woodworking . This one vendor there incredibly had a Stanley #9 Piano Makers Mitre Plane.  Good condition complete including the elusive “hotdog” handle. This is a rare plane that not even 99% of woodworkers ever heard about. Don’t get me wrong it is indeed a very pricey plane only sought after by a very exclusive group. Firm price was $1900.00. It is a $1200.00 plane from specialized well known collectors that will stand behind it in case you find it has a hair line crack or a faint owners mark that will reduce its price by at least a couple hundred dollars if found after you bought it. Did this guy really expect to sell this thing in a flea market setting at a tractor show? Firm? Did he think it was already a bargain? Who goes to a tractor show and takes two thousand dollars in cash just in case you find a nice tool at the flea market? I watched people at his table trying to bargain on five and ten dollar items and he also wouldn’t budge and was not very friendly about it. What’s the point on him going there with that attitude , specially showing off a tool that all it did was warn everyone of the unreasonably unyielding high prices? Not a good way of attracting customers in that crowd. It’s hard to understand people like that and they are a real turn-off. 

[ri702bill 8,340]

Cas - that is why we like the second outlet I mentioned - the tool guy knows us - we will pick up a few items, maybe valued at his price of $24 and I am not bashful (nor any of the other 6 Dwarfs) about doing a cash bundle price of $20. I tell him "Yup, I'm a repeat offender - $20 bucks..."

[953 nut 55,323]

On 7/17/2022 at 10:47 PM, formariz said:

watch their reactions as they find stuff that puzzles them as to their purpose.

Several years ago my wife and I were going through an agricultural museum and I would explain what the implement was and how it operated. As we went along a few other people followed at a discreet distance listening intently. I spent quite a bit of time explaining how the horse drawn grain binder worked, the various functions it performed and the tremendous amount of exhausting physical labor it saved. Turned out one of the people listening intently was the curator of the museum and never fully understood how a grain binder worked. At his request I recorded a narrative about it which he said he would use in an audio information station at the display.  

 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,600]

Sounds like you were a decent docent…!

 

[squonk 41,156]

Our Steam Pageant has a big flea market. Half of it is off shore junk or crafts. A few vendors with good deals. I often find some toy Dino's that I often send to you know who! 

 

But there is one guy who has so much stuff that it must take 3 days just to set up and it looks like it the same every year. Still hasn't sold that $500 pedal car! 

[Handy Don 12,237]

16 hours ago, 953 nut said:

going through (a) museum and I would explain what the implement was and how it operated

Laughed out loud at this, as I've had two similar experiences.

First in the French Cable Museum on Cape Cod (the US end of a transatlantic telegraph cable). I was explaining how what looked like a six-foot ruler painted on one wall was so that an operator could see large movements of a beam of light reflecting off the tiny movements of a mirror connected to the cable on the opposite side of the room to discern "dots" and "dashes" as well as judge the status of the connection. The docent went off and got a pad and asked me to make a diagram and write down the explanations so he could share it!

Then in the London Science Museum demonstrating to a group of school kids how the slide rules on exhibit worked. Multiplication? Division? Logarithms?! The 20-something teacher with them was blown away!