A Revelation

On Sunday, my hubby and I took a little trip to the downtown area to check out our city's monthly antique fair. I had heard a few vague mentions of the fair, but I never really knew much about it until we went to the local flea market a few weeks ago and were given a promotional flyer by one of the vendors there. We're glad we discovered the antique fair, and we have plans to go back--perhaps next month. Next time we'll get an earlier start on the day, though, so we can make it over to the farmer's market that's held a few blocks down the street.

(I like this photo of this guy staring intently at the poster of "Marijuana Girl," who was kinda hot looking. I wonder if that's his wife up ahead? As a matter of fact, Hubby was staring at Marijuana Girl too, but I didn't take his photo--it's enough that I talk about him without plastering his photo all over the internet! Sorry you can't actually SEE the poster very well, but you know me and photos.)

If you're anywhere near the Sacramento area, you might be interested in attending. It's held on the second Sunday of each month, from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and antique and collectible dealers from all over Northern California come to town and set up booths to show their wares. It's like a giant flea market but with better "stuff"! The fair is held in a couple of parking lots that run under the freeway, so at least part of the area is shaded--a nice benefit during the hotter months of the year!

I fell in love with this piece:

Simple, homey, and utilitarian. I could just imagine it restored and looking beautiful. Unfortunately, neither my husband nor I possess the necessary knowledge and skill to retore it, but it sure was hard to walk away from. Still, walk away we did, with just one parting look when I snapped the photo.

Instead, I contented myself with rummaging through a lot of boxes of old papers and photos--I could have spent hours at one guy's booth looking for "treasures," but hubby was waiting--patiently, but still, I knew he was waiting. So I ended up selecting three old greeting cards whose graphics and colors I loved. Later, at another booth, I picked up the wooden bowl they're sitting in.

My patient hubby is more interested in glass objects for his yard creations. Glass insulators caught his attention during this excursion, and we bought two that were priced "right." I'm sure price is based in part on color, size, and style, but some of the insulators we found were priced at several times what these cost. Since hubby's not actually a "collector" per se, price was the most important consideration. (Besides that, hubby is cheap! He's always hunting for a bargain. One thing I DID notice about these vendors is that for the most part, their wares were reasonably priced--something we don't always find at the flea market or antique shops and malls.)

Old magazines are always fun on a number of levels. The old ads can be pretty campy and can be used in collage/art projects; the stories are often interesting from a "historical" perspective; and looking back at fashions from a period can be a real hoot! But tell me this--looking at these two early 1950s Life magazines I picked up--am I getting old or does it seem like styles really haven't changed that much?! Okay, maybe we don't wear the long white opera gloves and chunky necklaces these days, but other than that?

Finally, I picked up a small lunch pail that's kind of cute and is just about the right size for carrying sewing notions and things to quilting classes. I also picked up this old weights and shipping data pamphlet--this and one of the glass insulators were priced at 2 for $1 toward the end of the day. Don't you love bargains? The pages of the pamphlet might make an interesting background for an arty collage project.

This guy had the most interesting booth--to me at least. All sorts of stuff that was particularly geared toward my tastes! Quilty and embroidered stuff, vintage printed tablecloths, old cooking utensils (flatware with bakelite handles!), etc.--tons of neat stuff. But he knew it, and his things were priced accordingly. Not many bargains to be had at this booth, but if you came with a pocketbook full of money and a house that needed some cute touches, this is probably the place you would have wanted to hang out.

About now, you might be wondering about the "revelation" mentioned in the title of this post. Well, sadly enough, I've realized that I'm most definitely "vintage" too. At this last booth pictured I found some old red and white Schilling spice tins, priced anywhere from $5 to $11 or so. I have a couple of those here at home--at some point during my life, my mom bought them new. Now I'm just hoping to stick around long enough to become "antique."