FleaSpeech

Hell's Kitchen Flea Market mysteries

Here's a photo snapped of a vendor and customer at Hell's Kitchen Flea Market. FleaSpeech is curious to know what sort of lamps those were on the table. (And was the bike for sale, or did it belong to a vendor? *Grin* Anyway, we love the yellow!)

Vintage dominoes from The Garage

A flea find from The Garage in NYC. Haggled for at the end of the day--vintage dominoes. Dealer asked for $12; it went for $10.

Flea-findin' on Captial Hill

The weather's getting nicer in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. If you're in the D.C. area, check out the Sunday Flea Market at Eastern Market. Eastern Market itself is a beautiful 19th-century building now housing a fresh food market.

Christopher Kent on collectibles

Via The Birmingham News, Christopher Kent, the host of the television show, "Flea Market Mania," offers some advice about collectibles.

Plastic high-tech items, such as portable transistor radios from the 1950s and'60s, are very popular as collectibles, Kent says. "Any of the first, one-of-a-kind cameras" are also in demand, he says.

Metal banks from the early 1900s with clockwork or spring mechanisms are sought after in good or excellent condition.
.....
[T]ubular steel, chrome and leather furniture from the late 1930s through the'60s is sparking huge interest from collectors....

But Beanie Babies? Ummmmm. Not so much.

The Style Files

The Style Files describes itself as

Danielle de Lange’s daily weblog about design and (life) style. The Style Files is dedicated to search the globe for inspirational finds. Observations and ideas related to design, interiors, art and other life enhancing subjects are posted daily. This is a place to absorb new ideas, find new products & designs and to get inspired!

TN flea gets new owners

From The Leaf Chronicle:

Judith and Glen Castleberry...married 37 years, recently bought This Old Place Flea Market and Antiques, located at 1216 College St. [in Clarksville, Tennessee.] The flea market houses 28 vendors who sell a wide variety of goods, including antiques, furniture, collectibles and even discount groceries.

(Photo by Greg Williamson/The Leaf-Chronicle)

Flea Market Studio adventures

Read about some flea market finds via the blog, Flea Market Studio.

(Flea Market Studio's photo of vintage sheet music viewable here.)

Puces de St. Ouen

Blogger "Ev" in Paris gives an enthusiastic description of the Puces de St. Ouen, the famous weekend flea market in Paris. Some say that the very term "flea market" was inspired by Saint-Ouen's centuries-out market.

(Photo, "Old Friends" taken by Flickr member Colodio at the Puces de St. Ouen.)

$400G flea heist hits the 400

Out of Canada comes unfortunate news that

Burglars made off with between $300,000 and $400,000 in jewelry from the 400 Market during an early hours break-in Sunday morning at the popular weekend attraction north east of Alliston[, Ontario].

The 400 Market is very large: 105,000 sq. ft., both indoors and outdoors.

Outside screen door as indoor screen. And why not?

Cindy, whose Romantic Home blog (and Flickr site) features great finds she's used in her home, recently purchased a charming old wooden screen door frame at the De Anza College Flea Market in CA. She's using the screen frame indoors to display other interesting items.

She tells a fairly common flea market shopper tale: going to a flea in order to buy an item seen previously, discovering that the item's been sold, but leaving with something else entirely. Instead of the old adage, "You snooze, you lose," it's more like, "You snooze, you lose, you win anyway."

The lesson of the story is one any flea market lover will confirm: go often! You obviously don't have to buy something each time you visit a flea market, but the more often you go the more likely you are to find some just right for you.