Sometimes It’s a Bust…

It was a cold but beautiful Saturday morning at our small, local flea market. My eldest daughter came along with me and what a treat to have a companion. But, alas, I struggled to find things. Really struggled.

Here’s how it went…

At one seller’s table I looked at an unmarked, unsigned gold-tone pin with carved coral roses (unknown if real or faux coral) somewhat similar to this one found on eBay. It wasn’t a spectacular piece, but a bit of 1950s costume jewelry fun. I was expecting a flea market price of $5 to $8. When the seller said he wanted $40 I thought “Good luck with that.” I didn’t stay any longer at his table looking at other pieces because I knew it would be pointless.

Another seller had a little Mexican glass perfume bottle with a sterling silver overlay. Cute, but it was $20 and the cap was not original and rather jarring. Oh dear.

At another seller’s area I spotted this sweet, small enamel and Swarovski crystal picture frame. It was by Michael Hero. The seller saw me looking at it and said Hero was similar in quality to Jay Strongwater (who I know about and have sold before) and it was $120! Now I had no idea if that was a good price or not for Hero, but it was too much of a gamble for me to risk.

The same seller had some blown glass hand-painted ornaments–Father Christmas, red mushrooms, chestnuts, etc. He said most of them were from Neiman Marcus and he wanted $15 to $30 a piece for them. Gosh that sounded full retail to me.

I had to walk away.

I mean honestly, this is a flea market!! And that was the dilemma this month. Fewer vintage sellers and higher prices that left no meat on the bone.

In the end I bought just three things for a total of $9! I had optimistically brought $150.

This is my favorite purchase–a 1942 book that helped WWII draftees prep for their Army test. I thought this was such a wonderful, quirky find. One in slightly better condition sold for $30 in August. I’ll list this for $24. [SOLD]

I also picked up an antique framed lithograph. It’s by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) titled “The Dinner, Humours of Fox Hunting.” The original was done in 1787, but this is a later print, possibly done in the early 1800s. It appears to have some creasing. Not sure what I’ll list this for.

Thomas Rowlandson was a caricaturist and printmaker whose bawdy satirical images and political cartoons captured the popular imagination of Georgian Britain. 

Artsy.com

And my last buy was a 1931 “Sequoia” yearbook from Eureka, CA, with tons of signatures throughout. Yearbooks aren’t fast sellers for me, but they do sell, and right now for this one there is none for sale online other than a reprint version for almost $80. Not sure what I’ll list this for.

Well, I gave this month’s flea market a good shot. I am disappointed I didn’t find more (really disappointed), but I am glad I didn’t waste money.

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Now, here I am. It’s Monday. I’m back at my neighborhood thrift store. And I thought the thrifting gods owed me a little joy today. A good find or two. Well they thought differently.

First it was insanely crowded at just a few minutes after opening. And then nothing was quite good enough. Here are a few of things I looked at: the globe appeared to have inlaid stones, but it was VERY poorly executed. The crocuses by Royal Adderley were rather sweet, but chipped up. The 1970s style cardboard-type box was a bit of fun, but I doubted worth much. And the pretty crystal vase was unsigned and almost $10.

So I walked out empty handed. Drat!! Well, here’s hoping the next few days are better!!

As always, happy hunting,

Karen