Book Board Chat

Good morning, all!

Looong Kane County Flea Report:

Yesterday was THE perfect day for a flea market. It was the 2nd day of this once monthly event, and it was crowded. However, there were fewer vendors than during the height of the summer. One dealer told me Saturday had been a great day for sales. Sunday didn’t look bad, either, from what I observed.

What we saw: Used Beyer horses were NOT selling (now that I know what they look like). Several vendors had them. Printer’s blocks in metal were not selling, even when packed into a 9x12 box top at $15 per box. Perhaps this was because the subject matter was nothing special? Old and moldy books were not selling, but this may have been because you could smell the mold. I saw a Nancy Drew Cookbook (Grosset & Dunlap, 1974, no DJ) for $10 (unsold), probably because you can get it other places from $1-$7. Disbound illustrations from old books and magazines were selling at $1 each, including lovely gilded ones from some (unknown, perhaps 1920s) copy of the Rubiayat. 1920s furniture IN GOOD CONDITION was selling, mostly small occasional tables and bedside chests. Larger pieces, such as dining room tables and sets of chairs in maple and mahogany went unsold. Oddly, outside shutters taken from an old Wisconsin house, sold. Those must have been a bear to cart home.

Seasonal items, such as for Halloween (Day of the Dead stuff, decorated skulls, pumpkins, both real and ceramic, corn husks, door wreaths) sold briskly. So did new candles and spices (Watkins). Jewelry, as always, was selling briskly – the glitzy kind with lots of sparkles. The dealers that had them arranged according to color of stones and style (birds, butterflies, etc.) seemed to sell more than those who simply had boxes of pins, brooches, etc.

I heard more than 1 person ask about Civil War Waltham pocket watches. One dealer went into a discussion about how reinactors (sp?) wanted them and that if he had one, it would be a couple of hundred dollars. The earliest pocket watch he had was from the 1870s; the large railroad watches (Elgin and Illinois), which are very common here, were not selling. Neither were the engraved hunter’s case watches. Perhaps this was because they were engraved?

Pens, as usual, were objects of desire (I know this because the woman with whom I attend these fleas is a pen collector). However, dealers were raising the prices of pens with 14K nibs solely on the grounds that the price of gold has gone up. For a collector, I was told, a gold nib is not all that desirable because they are too soft to use on a daily basis. A rare numbered Schaeffer nib commands a higher price, for example.

As elsewhere, sets of glasses, even when they were pretty, were not selling, but sets of dessert plates King’s thumb print (glass) did sell. I saw a couple of sets of those fly from tables at around $4 each plate. Odd items, such as horse hitching posts (ca. 16 inches tall) from a Wisconsin foundry sold at $85 each. I heard the woman who bought them say she collects anything equestrian and intends to use them on her fireplace mantel.

I saw more feed bags ($2-7) than ever before; believe it or not, these were selling. I even saw one framed in old barn siding for $85! Old windows (taken from a Victorian house, according to the dealer) and made into a picture frame with a phrenology print sold, again for $85. Come to think of it, almost everything this dealer had was priced at $85! Old kitchen implements and wooden tools were selling with people going thru the boxes searching for little treasure. Perhaps they are gearing up to “nest” since winter’s coming.

Odd wooden sugar molds were flying from of the dealer’s table at $30 each. These are rough wood with conical holes that would have produced a "cone" of sugar. The measure perhaps 4 ft. long and have 12 holes. The dealer has boxes of 12 glass pots that fit into those holes ($20) and people were buying them like there was no tomorrow. This dealer also was selling “made-to-look-old” retablos ex votos on tin for $25 each. These used to be “hot” sellers on eBay, FWIW. He also had Oaxacan wooden masks for Day of the Dead. Again, maybe because these were “imported,” and because it’s seasonal, people were buying like crazy. It didn’t hurt that he and his wife were extremely personable and willing to explain to customers what was what and how they acquired these things, conveying their love of Mexican folk arts.

Dealers were more than willing to bargain. For example, I bought 2 sold brass candle holders that were marked $4 each. I handed the dealer two $5 bills. He had no change, so returned $5 to me. Another dealer knocked $10 off the price of a lovely Chinese sang de boeuf vase I bought. All I did was ask the dealer’s “best price.”

I heard two women making offers to 2 different dealers. One said “I’d be willing to give you XXX for this” and her offer was turned down. One asked if the dealer would take XX, and her offer was accepted. Maybe it’s all in the phraseology? I'd be interested in knowing, all you flea market and antique mall vendors...

Concessions covered everything from dog treats, corn dogs, & beef jerky to funnel cakes. The flea market had a carnival atmosphere, in truth.

There will be another flea at Kane County next month. I heard one dealer say to another that if the weather was good, he’d be there, otherwise they’d see each other in May.

And that’s my flea report. Pictures will follow later.