FOUND By Susan Walker

Dear Santa

2011-12-02T14:27:00.005-05:00

Dear Santa,
I would say I’ve been a good girl this year, but that’s really your job to decide. I hope I’m on the nice list because I have a long list of wishes (even though my friends and family leave me wanting for nothing.)

I would like an android phone because the camera is way better than my iphone. And a new digital camera for home. Or can you just hire me a professional photographer? I wish I never post a blurry, dark photo again. Until this wish is granted, thanks for putting up with my photography skills.

Some more Australian Scent all natural, so pure you could eat it, healthy, eco-friendly bar soap would be nice. I wish I could remember what my favorite flavor is.

I’d like oysters on Christmas Eve. And more oyster farmers. Oyster beds keep the water clean.

I’d like a fuel efficient, safe, reliable vehicle to get back and forth to Brooklyn. Or at least a repair bill on my Outback that I can manage. Vanna White doesn’t do so well in the snow.

I would like an open bar holiday party for me and my flea friends. Oh wait! I already have that. Thanks Eric!

I wouldn’t mind some organic, fair-traded chocolate in my stocking.

I wish everybody had friends like Amy. And I wish everybody could see Amy’s collection of vintage bar glasses. Amazing.

I wish every little boy and girl got a bunch of appliances from the thrift store for Christmas, and a bunch of tools to take them apart and rebuild them. Now THAT’S an educational toy.

Could you give everybody on your list the gift of understanding HANDMADE? Jessica DeCarlo is a true silversmith and her work CANNOT be compared to any other retail jewelry.

I don’t need a new card case. The one I bought from City Bitz 4 years ago has outlived 12 purses.

I would like a winter CSA for Christmas so I don’t have to buy vegetables from all over the planet.

I wish for an employee who will work for me for a whole year.

I wish it was already Saturday night so Ms. Papushka and I could be clinking glasses over how many vintage Gucci purses and dinosaur earrings we sold.

I wish I knew who was on your naughty list. I think this world needs greater transparency of naughty lists. The naughty kids shouldn’t even get lumps of coal because we really don’t need to be promoting the coal industry. And I think the naughty kids have more than their fair share of everything anyway.

I wish that owls will never ever ever go out of style. I think Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom, was the first hipster to rock an owl.

I wish for repeat customers! I love my customers!

I wish that for the future people can just talk about the holidays, Christmas, the shopping season, whatever it is that we’re doing right now, without having to trip over their words and worry about offending people. To my Non-Christian readers, I hope you don’t mind me talking about Christmas. Santa, please find a way for me, and the rest of the world, to just get around this issue for good. By the way, I’m a devout Flea Marketist. Every Sunday.

I wish that every girl who walks into George and Rafael’s booth and boutique spends as much money on jewelry as she spent on her purse.

Can I have more customers like Annie Jackson? Please? Can Annie Jackson have more customers like Annie Jackson?

I wish people didn’t hate on vintage fur. The damage has been done. You might as well look glamorous. Just avoid buying new things with fur on them.

I wish people would call Russell for flea market deliveries! 917 645 3381. Fast, friendly, reliable, affordable.

I wish that nobody was ever lonely on the holidays.

I wish I sell all my vintage Christmas Cards. That would be a recycling accomplishment.

I wish that my customers could figure out who to pay at the flea market. My signs that say, “Turn around and shout, ‘Susan,’” aren’t enough. Thanks Alphaville for handling the overflow!

I wish I could hang out with the Val from King’s County Salvage more. All day every day at work isn’t enough.

I wish they made more costume jewelry in Rhode Island again. There used to be tons of great jobs in Rhode Island, and a beautiful product to be proud of.

I wish Angela Spencer of Angela Spencer’s Irresistible Stuff (ASIS) has a better 2012 than 2011.

Santa, can you make it so my friends make more money than me at the Flea this December? I know, that’s going to be REALLY tough, but see what you can do :P

I wish that all my customers will sing, “I don’t care if it rains of freezes, long as I got my plastic Jesus,” when they see the pop up book nativity scene with the plastic baby Jesus in my booth, or any other plastic religious item ever.

My final wish, Santa, and, I know this has been a tall order… I wish for less plastic this Christmas. Less credit card debt for everybody, more real, more homegrown, more family, more recycled, more songs… more, “Plastic Jesus,” less plastic, Santa.

Big Deals

2011-09-02T14:33:00.004-04:00

There are so many significant events to talk about! Where to begin? Big show in Brimfield coming up, last weekend’s weather, I’m actually going to work in Brooklyn this weekend, the days are numbered for the historical Garage Flea Market (last of the even more historical 26th St Flea Market collective in Manhattan), and I have a collection of really big things to sell. You saw that already though. Everyone watches the slide show. And the most awesome people read the text under it.

OK, I only went to Brooklyn Flea myself once in the month of August, but I’ve been shopping nonstop. Translation: I have a big collection of big things. And a lot of smaller things. I have a lot of things, and it’s time to get serious about selling them. Basically I’m packed for Brimfield now, but Brimfield is getting Brooklyn’s sloppy seconds. That’s how you manage 4 days of selling within 8 days.

About Brimfield: I’ll be in J and J, C7, Friday and Saturday, September 9 and 10. This will finally be a permanent spot for me. And, I’m teaming up with Kings County Salvage! My darling Bk Flea bud, Val, is going to split my spot with me. She drives a shark van. Gotta love girls who drive vans. And paint them to look like sharks. Val deals in wholesale rustic storage and industrial. She’s an inspiration to most of us at the Flea. I think Brimfield will be psyched too.

How about that Irene? Well, my basement didn’t flood, I only lost power for 36 hours, and there was a bona fide shipwreck on the beach in front of my house to provide a full 2 days of entertainment. It appears some people really got nailed, and my heart goes out to them. I honestly shouldn’t have stayed here on the beach, as it’s really a flood zone. I wanted to be here to save the inventory in the basement if necessary. I was having visions of my whole street paved in the costume jewelry that flooded out of my basement. Thankfully, there was only a shipwreck, and no undersea treasures. I hope you enjoy the photos of the crane putting the boat back in the water. We sure did.

Last weekend’s Brooklyn Flea cancellation should be regarded as historic. It was the first time the flea was officially cancelled in 4 seasons. Big deal? Everything was cancelled? Well as late as Thursday, all the vendors were notified that they were NOT to cancel based on the forecast. Crazy, right? Well, here’s why I bring it up. It’s one of the things that makes the Brooklyn Flea awesome. The management puts a lot of pressure on the vendors to keep showing up consistently every weekend. It drives us nuts. I hired help to keep up with the grind. But here’s what it means for you: successful vendors who have a successful product at a tried and true price point are at the market every weekend. Flea markets struggle with consistency, especially new markets. That’s why the fold so often. The Brooklyn Flea vendors have been showing up and improving their game for 4 seasons now. You get to shop from people who know what they’re doing. It’s a SALE, not a SHOW. The Brooklyn Flea is for real, and that’s why its fame is spreading and people keep coming back.

Now, that I’ve talked up the Brooklyn Flea, I’m going to insist that you shop at the Garage in Manhattan before they close. Their lease is being extended 1 week at a time now. It’s the last of the historic Chelsea Flea Markets, and its days are numbered. Heather Karlie blogs about it here. I learned the business at the Garage. I set up in Chelsea from 2001-2008, both indoor and outdoor. This is getting to be a jumbo blog post, so I'm going to put off blogging about trying to back a full size cargo van up a garage ramp, with modern sharks shining flashlights into the windows, everybody shouting at me and fine art and antiques set up 8” away from either side of my tires. Next time!

A Slide Show is Worth 1000 Words

2011-07-22T14:39:00.003-04:00

Somehow, I don't have much to say today.... Must be the heat. One little fun fact: I just found out that both "collectible," and "collectable," are acceptable spellings. So all you collect-A-ble people, forgive me for making fun of you. I can't stop firefox from underlining it in red though. But your iphone won't autocorrect either spelling.

Overboard

2011-06-10T12:25:00.003-04:00

Ahoy! Lately, I've been going overboard in both the literal and proverbial sense. I had two whole gorgeous sunny weekends off at home! I've been busy sailing the latest addition to my armada of outdated boats. The Sailfish is even less stable than the Sunfish, and both are classified as "bathing suit boats." Going overboard is part of the deal :) When I'm not sailing, I've been buying everything in sight. So I'm over-extending my working capital, overstocking, and my basement is overflowing. The forecast is rain for this weekend, but clearly I'm not afraid of getting wet, and I can't abide this stuff staying up here in RI, when all the people who want it are down there in Brooklyn. So please email if you see something you want. If the market is rained out, I might be peddling out of my van.

A few points of interest:
• May 2011 Brimfield was my best show ever in 12 years of marketing.
• If you want the Italian wall fixture with prisms, please email. Those things are sharp and scrape up everything else in the van, so I’ll only bring it if I know I have a sale. It has a plug! No wiring needed.
• Let me know if you’re into vintage watch tools. I will probably have some available.
• An army of GI Joe’s commandeered my living room. They’re on eBay. 1990s, not vintage.
• I hope you don’t mind the photos of stuff I keep for myself. It’s salesmanship by example. I get excited about keeping some treasures for me too :)
• Unfortunately I pulled out of the Sowa Vintage market. Overextended. Sorry Boston.
• I need to hire a woman or man with a van. Job description: storage unit to market in the morning…market to storage unit in the evening. $100 per day.
• Forgive me for keeping the doctor’s office furnishings away from you so long. Sometimes I just drag my feet about transportation logistics.
• I’ve hired a new necklace minion! Welcome Xenia!
• Terri, The Treasurer, says you’ve all been lovely to work with and she wants to keep the Brooklyn Flea in her life. Wow!
• Jewelry has dropped dead on eBay, so for the rest of the summer, the Flea Market shoppers are getting first crack at the signed and highly collectible stuff.
• I’m reading The Big Oyster by Mark Kurlansky. It’s a history of New York City told through the history of the oyster beds. Fascinating. Oh, I have time to read. Thank you, Necklace Minions!
• The yard sales have been great this season too. But I really hate yard saling. It’s such a gamble…
• I’m knee deep in necklaces.
• You have a friend with a house on the beach. Remember that :)
• I’ll personally be at the market every third weekend this summer. When I’m not there, I’ll be sailing, spending every last dollar on necklaces, figuring out what to do with the latest van full of furniture and binging on oysters. In short, going overboard.

Brooklyn, Brimfield AND Boston!

2011-05-06T16:39:00.004-04:00

Buying and selling antiques is definitely a form of insanity. The second I make enough money and get organized enough that I might possibly have some free time, I go and spend every last dollar on more necklaces, and triple up on shows. In fact most of us worry about our mental health so much that I recently came up with a new term, Flea Market Related Psychosis:

New entry into the World Health Organization International Classification if Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9).
389.4 Flea market related psychosis
5th digit subclassifications
389.41 Type A. Inability to stop working or checking the weather.
389.42 Type B. Crabby all the time from back pain.
389.43 Type C. Would you just freaking shut up and buy it????

Who am I kidding? You guys know I love my job.

But I did book three shows that are all happening within the next seven days. Kinda nuts. J and J Brimfield, the biggest and best antique show around! Should be a big one for me this year. And now that I've learned how to let someone else do my job for me, I decided to take a weekly booth at the Sowa Vintage Market in Boston. I like that one because I can load everything in once,and the booth just stays there all week :) Minimal back breaking labor. One of my old roller derby team mates is going be running that show for me. We haven't come up with an official title for her, but I will accept suggestions. And the treasurer is holding down the scene in Brooklyn. I'm not even sure what she has in her collection, so I can't rightly blog about it. I know it's good though, and her supply has only seen the field once or twice. Chances are I'll be selling Found By Susan Walker Franchises by the time the next blog post rolls around. Oh, and I'm probably taking on a partnership role in the BirdSong Gallery in East Matunuck, RI too. That's mostly because I want to chill on the beach for the rest of the summer though. That's how I relax. I do more work. Flea Market Related Psychosis :)

New Season, New Everything. Well, new vintage everything.

2011-03-31T21:38:00.003-04:00

Thanks for stopping by. Gonna keep it short and sweet today. The Brooklyn Flea moves outdoors this weekend. You know what this means? My cozy and comfortable routine that I had down pat is gone forever. No, really, I'm excited about it. I've been preparing the merchandise shown above all week long. And we have a cool new location in Williamsburg on Sunday! So, I have tons of amazing jewelry this weekend. Maybe 5% of the jewelry I'm bringing has been shown the to public before. All other jewelry and items are what we call in the business, "fresh." Not new. Nay, nay, never new items in my booth. All vintage, but fresh vintage. I've been buying buying buying. The Gucci bag is big enough for your lap top. The furniture will only be available on Saturday, unless you request otherwise. And I have high hopes for the medical equipment. Kooky crazy stuff. So, as much as I love blogging, I must ship the ebays, pack the van, and I have an appointment at two to go buy MORE jewelry.

A little too much excitement....

2011-03-04T14:39:00.003-05:00

I may have been quiet these past few weeks, but I have been far from idle… In no particular order here…
• I bought the most amazing estate collection of jewelry ever. Sorry, but the best pieces need to run through eBay first. The auctions will start next Tuesday. You still need to shop my booth this weekend though, because the second rate stuff is still amazing.
• I took a weekend off. AND I took a vacation to go snowboarding in New Hampshire.
• I bought a van. Introducing Vanna White!
• Credit for naming the van goes to Steve. He writes a funny blog.
• Vanna’s water pump bit the dust on the BQE one chilly Sunday night while heading home. Thanks to George and Rafael for taking in a stranded damsel in distress. They sell jewelry at the market too. We're cut-throat competitors ;)
• Vanna’s alternator bit the dust on the way home from New Hampshire. Thanks to John and Stephanie for taking in a stranded damsel in distress. They sell at the Brooklyn Flea sometimes, and run a wonderful vintage market themselves in Boston.
• The offer for the extended warrantee on the van came in the mail yesterday. I’m going to buy it. And I still think Vanna was a good buy.
• I bought a giant collection of Dansk teak. You should buy some too.
• I started buying the teak items even when they are not made in Denmark. The teak forests of Southeast Asia are getting wiped out. You should buy all teak, and not just the Danish stuff too.
• I’m learning how to repair watches.
• I sold a necklace to a darling girl who had a spot playing keyboard on David Letterman. Theophilus London and Sara Quinn and Libby rocking out.
• I picked up a cut crystal bowl at a thrift shop one day. Joe informed me it was chipped. Sandra said, “You can use it for dip! It already has a chip!” And we all fell to pieces laughing. This is my favorite thrift shop. And that’s my new sales pitch for selling chipped china.
• There’s not a single owl in my slide show. But it starts and ends with a horse.
• While shopping the third floor of an antique store, I came face to face with a live raccoon! My nerves of steel failed me and I screamed and turned around. I had to insist that they ring me up before chasing the raccoon out of the store with a pitch fork.
• All the awesome estate jewelry came from one auction of a doctor’s estate. I also bought the medical equipment, the medical cabinet, and other killer stuff that’s on deck for weeks to come.
• Perhaps the biggest news: NOW HIRING! Being the savvy business woman that I am, I’ve realized I do not need to do every last task myself. Who wants to sit at the market for me and put necklaces in little ziplock bags? Can you make change for a $20? Can you say, “NO” when someone offers you $20 for 2 $12 necklaces? Do you want to get all dressed up every weekend and hope you end up in a video clip on some other, more fashionable blog? Great, come visit me at the market this weekend or shoot me an email and we’ll talk.

Madness!

2011-02-04T13:08:00.004-05:00

Greetings from snowy Rhode Island. I haven't come down with full blown cabin fever yet. Between a good run at Gifted and a good run on eBay, I've been able to afford myself some bona fide leisure time, and taken up snowboarding again. Otherwise weather related insanity would be definite threat.

Since we're on the subject of insanity, I'd like to share with my readers an aspect of my business that you may or may not be aware of. It's my job to deal with crazy people. The people I buy from are nuts. I'm the middleman (middlegirl) between the lovely retail venue that is the Brooklyn Flea, and the senile, calloused, quirky and unique population that make up the collective world of flea market vendors. In the slide show above, you'll see a photo of the Cumberland Flea Market, and a few shots of the booths inside. I spent the weekend shopping two weeks ago,and made my first trip to "Rhode Isand's Biggest Flea Market." They advertise for this place on the radio all day every day. Bunny's Hare pieces? Wow. I really loved the display of second hand knick knacks and expired over the counter meds. These people put jewelry that they're selling for $2 each in locked glass cases and it takes them 15 minutes to get it out. The biggest challenge I faced while shopping that day was sorting out the vintage from the brand new jewelry. They're making tons of new cheap costume jewelry. It generally looks great, and falls apart the second you put it on. These vendors had it all mixed up together, and it's a real challenge zeroing in on the vintage items. It's tiring and frustrating. Shopping is hard work! Picking is like training your brain to be an infra-red heat sensor. You scan, and zero in on the things that glow. It's a unique mental skill. And the crazy people really try to mess up your scanner. So one charming vendor had a big spread of jewelry. New and vintage in every case. All of it was displayed perfectly under glass, and nothing priced. You may have noticed I never put my jewelry under glass. There's a good reason for that. She had her hands full, so I asked if I could look in a case. "I'll help you with it in just a minute. You caught me in the middle of something". I also try not to be in the middle of something when I'm selling. Before she was done with her project she informed me, "That's all expensive jewelry." I tell her I'm a dealer and I'm there to buy costume jewelry. She opens the case in question, and I flip some pins to see if they're signed. I'm told, "I don't discount for dealers ever!" Wow! Where did this woman learn salesmanship? I can't look at it, I don't know the price, it's suggested that I probably can't afford it, and this mysterious high price is firm. And nothing was even that great, so I just thanked her and moved on. I see a lot of people at the flea markets where I shop asking higher prices than I get in Brooklyn. The flip side of that is I'm very keen on "the going rate" for things, and offer the best price possible for things. Just because you're shopping outside of Brooklyn doesn't mean you're getting a deal. And I make it easy by pricing everything, and letting you pick it up and try it on without asking for help. I gain more sales by making my booth shopper-friendly than I lose to shoplifting. But maybe I'm the crazy one.

Time pieces?

2011-01-06T20:10:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year! First blog of 2011. I did a little tidying up for the occasion. I finally got around to making a facebook page for this operation. You would think that blogging, tweeting and emailing were enough. But if you're like my friends, facebook is the only thing you really care about, so log in and like away. The Brooklyn Flea is back to normal. Saturdays and Sundays from 10-6 at 1 Hanson Pl, The Clocktower Building.

Gifted was lovely in every way. Most people left my booth with handfuls of stuff. It became my tag line for the week..."Most people leave my booth with a handful of stuff." I had never experienced a line of 6 people waiting to pay me until Saturday, December 18, 2010. I set up once and sold for 9 days. It was hardly even work. Only one 3 1/2 hour drive for 9 days of selling. To put this in perspective, I usually spend 35 hours driving in order to get in 9 days of selling. During the summer I set up and break down 9 times in order to sell for 9 days. One drive, one beautiful set up, so many many wonderful customers. Thanks so much. And two weekends off pretty much rocked my world too.

Please take a look at the eBay auctions. Lotta great stuff. I'm really encouraging a conversation about the tiny machines on facebook. You know my business does not really leave much room for conversation. It's always, "Will you make me a deal if I buy 6 of these for $1 a piece?", "No," "But it's a flea market," "NO." While I've gotten better and better at saying, "NO," I prefer a more nuanced, artful conversation. One where I need to really consider what the other is saying. I would very much like to appreciate the point of view of the person I am conversing with. Let's have a discussion about the machines, shall we. This will happen via your comments on facebook. And the pictures there are really cool.

Gifted, the Virtual Tour.

2010-12-14T11:59:00.004-05:00

Dec14 - flash slideshow maker

Hiya, Above you'll see basically my whole inventory. The only things that I'll have that aren't shown above are the snowballs, the bigger letters, and the rest of the tiny machines. You can see pics of those in the previous two slide shows, or email me. Really, you should just come see me at Gifted. The flea is open for 9 days straight! 12/15-12/23 from 11-7. 1 Hanson Place. What you want a story too? Hopefully I'll have a good story for you, my friends, after I spend 10 days straight in Brooklyn. Santa's Elves are the only ones out there working harder than me right now.

Gifted!

2010-12-02T16:25:00.002-05:00

dec2 - slideshow dvd

It's really hard to include my whole selection in one slide show, but if you check both this one and the previous slide show, you'll get a good idea of what I have to offer. It's going to be amazing. Now, am I withholding all my holiday cheer for December 15? I wouldn't do that to you. I have Christmas ornaments this week. Every year I tell myself I'm going to start selling these in early November. But the fear of taking them to the outdoor market and exposing them to the elements wins every time. And, as you can see from the slide show, I have fun playing with them. For once, I'll budge on my prices. I break these things by looking at them the wrong way. They need more responsible parents like you.

Occasionally being a successful silver shark earns you an important business distinction... Like the most amazing consignment of silver ever. PLEASE take a look at my eBay auctions. This stuff is amazing. It probably will not go for full retail value. This is why your read my blog. So you can be in on opportunities like this. Oh, and for history and information. Georg Jensen was the definitive Danish Modern silversmith. Sorry, you may have noticed I don't like stating the obvious. Through this consignment I am also learning about Mignon Faget. She's a Newcomb College graduate, and apparently up to speed with the long standing associated artistic movement. I have three of her pieces on eBay, and they are getting lots of attention.

Funny thing... about a year ago, I found two of the most amazing pieces of Whiting & Davis I had ever seen. Remember the scarf? Well, to mark the anniversary of that amazing score, I picked up two Whiting and Davis tops today. They're cute, and comfortable. Metal mesh, akin to chain mail, is surprisingly comfortable to wear. Got any parties to go to?

The Brooklyn Flea schedule is as follows: This weekend 12/4-12/5, next weekend 12/11-12/12, and GIFTED from 12/15 straight through 12/23. Are you as excited as I am? Great, let's have eggnog.

If you're still reading, you're a devoted blog follower and you deserve to hear the latest news with the embalming table. It appears that it is not the worst thing I ever spent money on. Well, it's not the worst investment. It's going to sell. Right now it's at $255, with 3 days to go. The current high bidder has bought 3 of these in the last two months, and also bids on embalming tools and 1930s cracker jack charms. Your guess is as good as mine.

Clearly Possessed

2010-11-17T20:33:00.007-05:00

nov17 - making a free slideshow

Gifted is right around the corner! I mean, yippee, it's Christmas! Gifted is the Brooklyn Flea's week long holiday market. You can find me selling my treasures at the bank from 12/15-12/23. The slide show starts with my treasured collection of Swedish glass snowball candle holders. I'm really going to sell them this year. If I can part with them, that is. They look so nice around the holidays.

What, too much holiday cheer? Perhaps too early? OK, let's talk about that embalming table instead. I have a spooky story to go along with it. It all started long ago before the Brooklyn Flea ever had a bff. On a dark and stormy day at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, this fella named Ryan bought a bunch of lamp parts from me. I put him on my email list and told him to read my blog. Crazy, right? It gets better. These days, I see Ryan from time to time in Brooklyn, and he's always telling me about his latest enterprise. Well, two fleas ago, Ryan told me he was going to be on the Discovery Channel's new show called Oddities about an antique store. So I made a note to watch the show. You should watch the clip. I don't recommend any other clips though. Some of them are kinda yucky. Not that an embalming table isn't yucky. But this mortician model lady wanted it to style shots for her new fashion line. That's kinda cool. Now, I was born and raised in the antique business. For real. I was a runner at an auction at the age of 4. I spend my life sifting through old stuff. I'm at shows and shops all the time. I had never ever ever seen anything like this Victorian embalming table until last Thursday night. Once this spot on the show was over I turned it off because I don't really get into cat mummies and specimens. Last Friday morning, I hit the shops to stock up for the Flea. I hit one of my favorite shops, and was having a blast in the $1 jewelry pile. I turned around and see the exact same embalming table! The guys were like, "I bet you'll never guess what that is..." Spooky, right? I was a little unsure as to what to do, because the price was pretty high. But, I saw the EXACT SAME THING on TV the night before. And even saw someone purchase this thing. So I bought the embalming table. If I still have it in 6 months, I think it will be safe to say that I must have been possessed to do such a thing. The guy gave me a deal on the embalming table and the portable prayer kneeler. It folds up into the box.

So, these are some things I've learned about embalming tables in the past week. I guess, back in the day, the embalmer went to the body, rather than the other way around. They say on the show that it's a "cooling" table; the holes allow the ice underneath to cool the body. Everyone in my booth last weekend insisted that the holes served a drainage function, and I argued with them all day. Now that I have, ahem, polished the table, I have to say, I think the customers were right, as always. And apparently there are some people who raise an eyebrow at the embalming industry as a whole. I'm not going to say any more than that for fear of alienating any potential customers for this piece. I want to stay on the good side of anyone who would consider buying this charming little treasure. You gotta admit, the head rest really completes the look.

Ok, let's talk about the crazy stuff I've scooped up for pennies on the dollar. The Carl Tasha bronze bracelet brought $150 on eBay! Yay! Back to my roots in artist signed hand made jewelry. I've been buying great stuff from people who should know better than to let things slip. I bought the sterling compact that's on ebay for $5 at an antique store in Taunton, MA. Taunton is also known as the Silver City. Taunton was a manufacture center for sterling and silver plate. It's how the Industrial Revolution manifested in Southeastern Massachusetts. What I'm saying is, if the antique store in Taunton has a big sign out front that says, "WE BUY GOLD and silver", they're in the silver city, they have magnifying glasses and test kits, I SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BUY A SILVER COMPACT IN THAT STORE FOR $5! But I did. I win. The guy's jaw dropped when I picked it out of the case and he saw the tag, and the sterling mark and knew that it weighed at least 2 ounces. I can scrap it for about $45. I win. Mind you, if your grandma asked me to make her a fair offer on her comparable silver compact, I would offer her $45. Good silver compacts can be worth a fortune. I pay more for older and ornate silver compacts. I picked the sterling scarab bracelet out of a shop that probably wouldn't know an egyptian silver hallmark if it was stamped on their forehead. But I get paid for having knowledge. I earned that profit too. I picked another sterling and 14k bangle bracelet out of a dollar pile at another store owned by a scrapper. You know, the guy who weighs the gold and silver and gives you cash. Why was there a good bracelet in his dollar pile? No good excuse. I win. Oh, and the Arabia candlesticks that sold on ebay last week for $88 came out of a shop owned by religious ebayers. They look everything up on the internet. They run a real auction too. I can't tell you why they sold me those candlesticks for $5. They just did. The sad truth is that I really botch one up once in a while and let something go for nothing. I've even screwed up at the Brooklyn Flea. So you might find something for pennies on the dollar in my booth. Even know-it-alls can't know it all. I guess that's what makes this business interesting.

One more thing, if you are at all interested in that Victorian Hair brooch, please make me an offer. It's about to go the way of the scrap pile. It's worth more as gold than as a retail piece. You know, I've known for years that antiques associated with dead bodies are a tough sell. Don't know what possessed me...

What $5 Will Buy at the Brooklyn Flea

2010-10-29T12:15:00.003-04:00

Oct29 - how to create a free slideshow

Lucky you! Two posts in October. I bought another collection of dead stock jewelry this week. Most of the stuff in the slide show above is from the 70s and 80s. I have older stuff, but I'm saving it for Gifted. So, sometimes I hear people discussing the price points at the Brooklyn Flea with their friends and family. Most folks are used to stuff being practically free at a flea market. And well, sometimes it is. That's when I fill up the van. I do my best to have fun, inexpensive things for you to enjoy. That's why I keep buying up these job lots of dead stock. So you can actually get something for $5 at the Brooklyn Flea, and I can make a million $5 sales all day long. I think I'm attempting to recreate the flea market experience I had when I was a kid. You know all the cheap stuff that was so fun looking but your mom wouldn't let you buy it because it's junk? You can buy it now. Hope to see you at the Flea. Happy Halloween.

Gear

2010-10-22T13:20:00.002-04:00

Oct22 - create a slideshow with music

I've got it all for you this week, friends. Adventures, merchandise, owls, shameless "look at me" photographs, bragging about how much money I make and flea market shopping tips.

I had an adventure... I've been driving questionable vehicles back and forth to New York City nearly every weekend for about 10 years now. I had car trouble for the first time ever two weeks ago. By trouble, I mean, my van went kerplooowy. Fortunately I was all unloaded and selling my brains out by the time I found out. I'm not really sure how it all went down, but Young Ronald, who helps me unload my van and parks it for me, called me at 3:00 PM telling me my van wouldn't start but everything was under control because he got it to his cousin's garage, right up Myrtle. So, thinking fast, I get Chris (Industrial guy, nice fella), to pack my stuff in his box truck and bring it to Hanson the next day. One problem solved. The next morning I unload, set up, pay Ronald the Elder to sit in my booth, and go see about my van. Well it turns out that "right up Myrtle," meant "Queens." It was a $30 car service. I still don't know how Ronald got my van to Queens. His heart was in the right place, but I would have preferred to call AAA. I got there, and I still had to get the van towed around the block to Young Ronald's cousin's garage. The tow truck driver did not tell me that I was going to ride around the block right there in the driver's seat, on top of the flat bed. That was fun. See photos. The mechanic named the price, I thought about the oil leaks, the cracked windshield, the ugliness, how much I hate answering questions about the "Rent-a-Ride" logo on the side, and how well it has served me in just the last month. I made the call. Junk the van and rent a U-Haul. Now, how pleased was I when I went to uhaul.com on my iPhone and I got a "Use current location?" button? Very very very pleased. Cruz, my new friend, the tow truck driver, dropped me off at the Uhaul rental place about half a mile away. Cruz and I made plans to take the Rent-a-Ride to the scrap yard the next morning. I drove the UHaul back to Brooklyn, carefully avoiding hipsters texting their way through every crosswalk in Williamsburg. Ronald the Elder handed me a wad of cash when I got back to the bank, and everything was just lovely. I finished out the day, got to enjoy an extra night in Fort Greene, junked my van to the tune of $300 (I was thrilled), and drove my pretty panda UHaul home. I'll be outbacking it for a while, so I hope you enjoyed the furniture while it lasted.

OK, about the product... I'm not a textile girl, but I had to buy a car full of 50s fabrics. $20-$30 a roll. I'm not selling it by the yard. A marquetry pirate table top? Yes, you need that. The slide show starts with me basking in the glow of the coolest vintage necklace ever. It's on eBay. The ebays are all pretty choice this week. Dior, YSL, a Trifari necklace you should watch. That's the good Trifari. The chair is cool. We can make delivery arrangements if you bid on that. I thought you would all appreciate a photograph demonstrating the full spectrum of owl necklaces.

Hey, this is cool. It's the first Zippo lighter ever issued. I bought it for $5. Yeah, I bat one out of the park once in a while. It has a factory refurbished repair on the hinge. In perfect shape, you can ask $1200.

As promised, I have some tips for shopping at the Flea. If you have a piece that you want to buy and you can't find the vendor, here's what you do: 1. hold the piece up high if possible; 2. take out your wallet, maybe flash a bill or two; 3. look around with a confused expression. This ought to get the attention of the person taking the money. Although you really only need this strategy with a quiet, low-key vendor like myself. If you're dealing with the type who barks the second you pick up an item, you shouldn't have any trouble figuring out who to pay. Although whenever I have tried that approach, the customer runs away the second I open my mouth. So chances are you're not trying to pay a vendor who makes themselves known to you the second you approach their table. Personally, I've never been able to sell a thing by informing a customer, "That's sterling," "That's signed," "That's vintage," "Make me an offer," or, "I can do better on the price." I never assume that the shopper does not know what they are looking at. You people are smart! And I never assume that you would buy something for any price just because you picked it up for 15 seconds. You're there to have fun. So I just sit there until you take your wallet out.

Literally

2010-09-24T13:02:00.002-04:00

sep23,10 - slideshows

Hi Friends, Are we ok with new blogs once a month or so? Good good. I am too. My junk hunting life isn't really so exciting that it needs to be recounted every week. I buy things, I sell them, I giggle at the ridiculous prices I make you people pay... You've heard it all before. But this week. This week.... I hit pay dirt. Remember my initial pendants? The foundry cast brass and aluminum letters in every size and font imaginable, these things are amazing. I shouldn't run out any time soon. So come by my table, spell your name, hang your boyfriend's initial from a chain, or choose some letters to decorate your dog's water bowl. Thanks to Carol, Mary, Dan, Nancy and the Sandwich Flea Market for helping me spend my money this week. Brooklyn, There's no need to thank me for helping you spend yours.

Smalls

2010-08-27T15:18:00.003-04:00

September 27 - free slideshow maker with music

Thank you Brooklyn for a real strong run with furniture. I might load up a few pieces this weekend, but I'm going to concentrate on the "smalls". In the antiques business, "smalls" is a term used to describe things that fit in boxes. It could be bric-a-brac, metalware, kitchenware, collectibles, or anything that's not large. It's not really a complicated concept. So, above, you'll see a sampling of the smalls on deck. No stories today. Just photos. The jewelry selection got way better this week too, but you'll have to visit my table to get a look at that.

Short and Sweet

2010-08-20T13:44:00.002-04:00

August20 - how to create a free slideshow

Or perhaps just short. I bought this stuff at a flea market. I'm going to sell it at a flea market. The van wants repacking, so that's all I got for today :) Brooklyn Flea this Saturday and Sunday.

Small Wonder

2010-08-13T13:39:00.002-04:00

August 13, 10 - making a free slideshow

A blog post at last! I even took nice photos! I decided to focus more on jewelry this time, and less on stuff shuffling adventures. My devoted readers deserve some real content. I even took legit photos using my light shed and real camera. I do appreciate your patience with my phone camera pics and sub-standard backdrops. I'll tell you what, though... the day that my images start looking too polished might be the day that my prices go up. That kind of thing takes more time and effort than I have. As far as I can tell, my customers appreciate my streamlined, at times lacking refinement, but never fluffed up with image-promoting bologna, quickest way from point A to point of sale, approach. The photos are some highlights from my inventory, about half are new to the market this week. The following are some details about the pieces. I am also bringing a van full of furniture from the school clean out. See the slide show below for photos of the school furniture. And I'll tweet a few pics of some key pieces.

Pot Metal Dragonfly Pin: Dragonfly pins are always popular. Pot Metal was used when metals were on ration. It did not need to be plated because it has a natural shine and does not oxidize. Often "cold-painted" by hand, rather than decorated with heat-fired enamel.

Coro: One of the most prolific Providence jewelry manufacture companies. Buy Coro when you love it and the price is right.

Fendi Pins: Always stunning!

Bakelite Turtles: If you get a chance, pay some attention to these guys. They're adorable.

Kramer: The rhinestone jewelry from the 1940s gets really pricey. This is a quality pin from the 60's that's affordable.

Chinese Dragon: My favorite! Also made of pot metal. He'll bring you good luck and tons of compliments.

Best Bracelets: From the top, Persian sterling silver with enamel. Just look at the detail in this bracelet! The best faux pearl bracelet ever. Stunning copper enamel panel bracelet. Scandinavian modern pewter bracelet. Chunky costume bracelet. I say, buy them all.

Tiny Earrings: It's taken me almost my entire 12 years of selling jewelry to realize that with earrings, bigger is NOT better. I sell tons of itty itty bitty earrings. I have what you want this week ladies. No stop, YOU'RE the best.

Flower Necklaces: A shopper for Anthropologie picked up like 10 of these to pitch to the designers. You should buy them from me for $12 before they go down in quality and up in price.

Sterling & Shells: It's antique, quality, romantic. I won't water it down with more ineffective modifiers.

Gold Filled Bracelets: Gold filled lasts FOREVER. It does not turn green. You never find bracelets like this broken or damaged. They were made too well to begin with. It is a heavy layer of gold applied to a base metal. Nobody makes jewelry of this quality any more. Buy bracelets like this. They are a good investment.

80's Set: I call these "hot glue gun specials." It is what it is. Lots of look accomplished with no jewelry making tools. Stuff like this was sold at craft shows in the 80s. It looks great! You might knock a stone off, but it's so big, it's not like you'll lose it forever. I like the artsy brass bases on these.

Treasures: I often ask myself why I drive the distance I drive, pay the fees I pay, and work the hours I work, to make $2 sales. Because you people love this stuff! I think I'm going for the sort of Flea Market experience I had when I was a kid. I am happy to be the girl that offers something amazing for $2. Oh, and you know what? THE OTHER VENDORS ARE COPYING ME! I don't mind. My stuff is better ;)

Religious Figures: These were made in Hong Kong in the 60s. I bought them at a church sale. They were from the CCD classroom. Basically I bought them because I'll take any excuse I can find to sing, "I don't care if it rains or freezes, as long as I've got my plastic Jesus riding on the dashboard of my car..." Except that none of them are Jesus. We've got St. Christopher and Mary.

80's Earrings: These are from that collection of dead stock. These have been the best sellers. I picked up the rad triangular display a few weeks ago. I expect the ladies will stop dead in their tracks and fling five dollar bills at me when they see it. The earrings are cool.

Hattie Carnegie: Yes, real signed costume jewelry. There was a time when I wouldn't buy a piece of jewelry unless it was of this quality: of the period, signed, substantial and impressive. I'm still true to my costume jewelry roots, but I accept that not every girl wants a designer faux pearl necklace. But I have the fancy jewels for the fancy ladies that still appreciate that sort of thing.

July Brimfield

2010-07-23T13:00:00.002-04:00

july Brimfield - how to make a free slideshow

I will be returning to the Brooklyn Flea this weekend with everything that didn't sell in Brimfield. It astounds my how much I have left after a successful show. So, consider the photos a catalog. You can buy almost anything shown in the photos. The school chairs at the end of the slide show are not available yet. I have no interest in completely repacking the van in this heat. Yeah, I had my head on straight for once, and called the school department to ask what was happening to all the furniture from the closing elementary school. I bought it :) It's under a tent in my back yard, but you can, "place your order" now. The chairs are roughly $20 each. But that's for some flea weekend down the road. For now, enjoy the pictures of the pretty store I built under a tent. And please visit me in Brooklyn. Mad deals this weekend.

Anchors, Owls and Fighting at Church

2010-07-02T15:40:00.002-04:00

July2 - how to create a free slideshow

The title of this post neatly sums up my life since last we spoke. I'm going to talk about the product and the plan for the weekend first. Then I'll tell you about how I nearly got beat up while trying to get into a church sale. I'm not sure how long your attentions span is, and I don't know if anyone actually reads the text anymore. My slide shows really steal the spotlight.

The Laurel Lamps are on ebay. They're opening for $100 and I made the mistake of letting the auction close on 7/4. I don't think many people are poised and ready to snipe ebay auctions on the 4th of July. You might get them cheap. And I didn't offer international shipping on them, so you don't need to worry about bidding competition from Canada and Japan. I'll deliver them to the flea for free. Maybe I'll deliver them to your home. All you have to do is tell me you read my blog, and I'm putty in your hands. So bid on the Laurel Lamps. They're practically free. There's a 3rd replacement shade too. Those aren't easy to find or cheap.

I'm getting more and more into dead stock. Perhaps I should define dead stock. It's stuff that's old, but was never purchased. Some of you may be fans of my 80s dead stock jewelry by now. The earrings and flower necklaces are really popular. I'm selling dead stock money clips now. And the 80s bikinis (which are admired more often than purchased) are also dead stock. They were not worn. They still have the tags, but they're from 30 years ago. This week, I'm offering dead stock cap guns! The packages are extremely cool. I have caps too. I expect the cap guns will go fast. I have about 50. They're more practical than the eensy weensy bikinis. By the way, if you want a bikini, go ahead and make me a low ball offer. I won't give you my long speech on firm prices. I promise.

I'll be at the Brooklyn Flea both days this weekend.

Since we didn't have the market last Sunday, I decided to stay home and hit sales on Saturday and work at the Sowa Vintage Market on Sunday. I can't say enough nice things about that market. John and Stephanie were so helpful, the space is beautiful, the crowds were friendly and spendy, and I left half my stuff there so I can go set up again on 7/11. I didn't mind driving an hour as opposed to 3 1/2 hours either. Don't panic. I'm not giving up the Brooklyn Flea. I've always jumped from one market to another. That's why they're called Flea Markets. Really. That's the origin of the phrase. Classy, right?

So, about these church sales. Well, in my experience, they're not really all about pies and charity. I mean, there's some competitive buying going on at nearly every church sale. I know all the people I'm going to see waiting at the front of the line an hour before the doors open. They all know they're going to see me in line in front of them. We make nice for a while, check the time every 8 minutes, and try not to acknowledge the fact that one of us might hip check another one of us out of the way to grab a lamp in the next hour. That's a perfectly normal level of aggressive behavior frequently found at church sales. What I experienced last Saturday blew my mind. I pulled up on the wrong side of the church. I had scored a great parking spot on this "wrong" side last year and I didn't have to move my car to load up when I was done spending my $40 (on a car load of stuff). So I went the same way this time. The nice old church man was talking to the woman driving the car in front of me. She pulls ahead, and he stops and talks to me. I'm told I need to park on the other side, I can drive around, I'll have to move the cones, and then I should put the cones back. I can do this. The car ahead of me is stopped at the cones. The driver runs up to me and says we can't go this way - there are cones. I say, "Well, I'll just move the cones." "Move my car?? Whose gonna move my car?" "No, no, I'll move the.. *stammering, growing fearful...* c-cahh" and she ends the conversation by informing me that if I move her car she's going to move my face. Move my face. Charming expression. Then she moves the cones and drives over to the parking lot. I had to stand in line with her for 25 minutes and see her at the next two sales. I tried to smooth it over by asking what reason she thought I could possibly have for wanting to drive her car. I was told how lucky I was her sister wasn't there. I considered telling her how lucky she was that my Roller Derby team wasn't there, but I'm not the type to make threats. So, free long story with purchase of bowling pin lamp. See you at the Flea!

I learned a new word: Destash.

2010-06-11T14:44:00.002-04:00

June 10, 10 - Slideshow

I’ve been hanging around Etsy lately. Really, I’ve been hanging around Regretsy.com because I die laughing every time I log in. Also, I’ve spent some time in the basement trying to deal with my backlog of merchandise that I just can’t seem to manage. What else have I been doing since last we checked in? I bought a vintage 1950s wooden Sailfish boat, I opened an Etsy store, I’ve burned some merchandise and I cleaned out an attic at the most amazing property in Little Compton, RI. I will try to make it clear how these events are related.

So, I get home from Brimfield and I need to unload the ugly Rent-A-Ride van. I can’t get my cute Outback back until I give mom an empty van to drive. I fail at this van unloading task for about two weeks. The problem… I have too much stuff. The solution… Destashing. I learned this word on Etsy when I was looking up what to call piles of junk jewelry that are suitable for crafts but not really good enough to sell by the piece. I knew there was a name for it. Destash. I can’t find a bona fide definition of the word yet, but I’ve extrapolated a definition from various uses of it. I believe it’s a noun, adjective and verb. I’m selling lots of destash (noun) on Etsy. You can make destash (adj) jewelry with it. I’m destashing (verb, tr). I believe you would call the verb form a cognate accusative. Like when you dance a dance? I’m destashing the destash. Check it on Etsy. More to come. I think the price is fair. I mean, my junk is actually good.

Destashing the jewelry is only going to solve a very small part of the storage problem. I managed to free up some space by making a burn pile and a scrap metal pile. Thanks to all my facebook friends who participated in the “Merchandise or Firewood” poll. I think I even sold a broken drafting table. I had to include photos of my friend Mr. Lee who offered to take away my scrap/junk pile. He hauled it away in his 65 Valiant. Mad style points, Mr. Lee.

To compound the storage issues, my mom talked me into buying a boat! I had to do it. Isn’t it beautiful? We christened her River Rat. She’s a 1950s wooden Sailfish. This boat was built from a kit, which was not uncommon. It was never sailed. You’ll see a photo of me taking her on her maiden voyage. Also, the slide show includes the original instructions from a Sailfish kit. I’m in love with this boat. The goal is to be able to fit it in the basement for the winter. It’s on the beach now. For now, I’m only tripping over the sail every time I need to load or unload product.

As soon as I get everything out of the van and into the basement, the scrap has been scrapped, the burn pile has been burned and the destash has been destashed, Mom gets a house call. Both doctors and antique dealers get house calls. Mom’s ears perked up when they told her to look for the stone pillars at the end of the driveway. We turned down the driveway, and 10 minutes later, after we pass a pond, a deer, some farmed fields, and an avenue of trees, we arrive at the house. Holy cow! It’s right on the Sakonnet River. You could fit the whole town of Little Compton inside that house. Yes, I’m a little spiteful that I grew up there and never got invited to a party at this place. The good news: this whole property is for sale. The bad news: Daddy’s second wife already got rid of most of the contents. Where was I when that yard sale happened? So they showed us an ok pile of kitchenware in the attic. Nothing good was actually for sale. In a brazen show of gogettership (ala American Pickers), I asked if I could buy the dishes that were still in daily use right out of the kitchen cupboards. To my delight, she said, “Yes.” And the Arabia Finland Anemone service is now on eBay. Then she started pulling the Finel (Finland) enamelware out of the cupboards, and I left smiling with a happy pile of modernist kitchenware. Have I mentioned that Scandinavian kitchenware is good? If it’s good enough for these people, it’s good enough for your home. So quit squawking when I ask $80 for a used enamel pan. It’s worth it. The best stuff is on ebay, and the rest is coming with me to the Brooklyn Flea this weekend. I’ll be in Fort Greene on Saturday and 1 Hanson on Sunday.

During and after Brimfield

2010-05-20T18:59:00.002-04:00

may19 - Slideshow

Brimfield could not have gone better. It didn't actually rain during the show, only the night before the show. Was I snug as a bug setting up my circus tent by light of propane lantern? Yes. Yes I was. I even came away from the ordeal with a new nick name, "Coleman Karen." I was too scared to light my propane lanterns, so Tim, from two tents down, was kind enough to oblige me. By the third time I came back asking him to light a lantern, his buddies started calling me, "Coleman Karen." I've had better nick names. I, in turn, dubbed the lantern lighter, "Tinder Tim." His name really is Tim.

I sold so many things. So so so many things. It doesn't really seem like I have less stuff though. I decided to take photos of my booth before I packed up because it occurred to me that my next set up will probably have a lot of the same stuff. The end of one show looks much like the beginning of the next. I was most pleased to sell about 1o tiny machines to an appreciative gentleman on Saturday morning. Everyone loves those things, and I sold a couple in the city, but it felt good to make a bulk sale to someone who gets it. I think I need to do a slide show of the tiny machines I have left. They deserve they're own moment in the spot light. I also met a gentleman who knew the man who made the tiny machines. They were made in New Hampshire. I met this fella at the Hester Street Fair. He was kinda shocked to see his hometown next door neighbor's handiwork all displayed for sale in New York City. I was surprised too. You haven't heard the end of this tiny machine business.

So, after Brimfield.... Do I sleep in on Sunday morning?? Goodness, No! Off to the dirt malls to "replace my inventory." I did some serious replacing. I stumbled upon a goldmine of 80's dead stock from a Providence jewelry manufacturer. You know most of the costume jewelry ever made was made in Providence, right? I think I've mentioned that before. Southeastern New England is where the industry of small metal things grew up. Casting, plating, machining, chain making... that's how the Industrial Revolution manifested around here. So, most of the jewelry I bought is from Giovanni. It's not a super duper name. It was retailed in stores like JC Penny. There are a lot of killer looks in this collection. And I will stand behind any piece of jewelry made in Providence. The plating wont chip. The plating won't turn black. The stones won't fall out. The pins won't fall off. It's well made and beautiful. I'll have baskets of it at Fort Greene and in the bank this weekend.

When you see me at the Flea, if you call me "Coleman Karen," I'll give you a free gift. That's this weekend only. If you call me "Coleman Karen" on any other weekend, I'll ask for the gift back.

FOUND in Brimfield!

2010-05-13T09:47:00.001-04:00

brimfield - Slideshow

It's a gorgeous sunny Thursday morning in May, and I'm all packed up for my two day outdoor show in Brimfield, MA. Naturally the forecast is for rain and wind all day tomorrow. I'm really glad I sprang for the weather proof circus tent this year. You should see me trying to hammer down the rebar stakes for my 10' x 20' carport tent. You would say, "Why do you even bother, Sue?" I'm not bothering this year. I'll let the brawny men put up the professional tent for me.

A bit of news: I sold copious amounts of necklaces, rings, skeleton keys, viking buckles and tie bars at the Hester Street Fair two weeks ago. It is a lovely venue. Great location. It sort of juts into the park. You must check it out soon. I can't think past Brimfield, so I don't know when I'll be set up in NYC again, but it won't be long. But you can go to these things even when I'm not there. The products and prices might not be so tempting, but I can't be everywhere every weekend. Take a good look at the photo of my booth at Hester St. in the slide show. I'm basically bringing all that stuff to Brimfield. While I had a killer weekend, nothing sizable sold. If it didn't fit in people's pockets, they didn't buy it. OK, I sold one teak hanging fixture, one set of mixing bowls, one Royal Copenhagen vase, and the coolest map with little airplane tacks to show where you've traveled (You know the map coaster lady at Hester St? Her husband bought it for her for Mother's Day. Charming.) But it didn't seem like I sold anything big when I was packing up. And all that stuff will be under my giant tent in Brimfield.

Slideshow Narrative: Those stands... What are they? I was told that they were stands for glass oil tanks for some kind of stove. I'm not the best at research, but I can't find any info on any kind of heating stove fueled by oil in a glass tank. It sounds like trouble to me. Nonetheless, I know gorgeous iron work when I see it, and those are killer end tables to-be. I hope my customers can share my enthusiasm for the above average cufflinks. I'm asking $30 a pair for them. I've seen thousands of owl necklaces in my 12 years of treasurehunting. I've only seen one pair of owl cufflinks. The cherry amber bakelite necklace was a tidy little score. The toothy handmade pottery mugs are pretty amazing. It pays to get in line 3rd at the church rummage sale. Although, 6 years ago at this same church sale I scored a modernist vase by Meissen, a Blenko vase, a boxed set of Arabia cups and saucers, and 25 pairs of vintage boots for $2 a pair.This year, I'll be satisfied with my mugs with teeth. Let's talk about that spatter painted wicker.... Nice, isn't it? Another dealer bought them from the home of the owner of the Boston Scandinavian Design store. When asked, "What are they?" I answer, "Art." That's my standard answer whenever I'm not exactly sure what something is though. I have my usual mountain of enamel kitchenware, Danish stainless, and the like. I have 20 times what you see in the photo. Lots. Lots and lots. Also, solid perfume compacts. These are highly collectible. The trouble is they are filled with perfumey orange goo. You've got to know what you're getting into when you open them up.

The plastic Lucinda House Pins need explaining. There's a woman who comes to my booth every year in Brimfield asking for those pins. They are hand made, and were sold to fund an affordable housing project in Maine. Nice idea, but I'm really not a fan of them. But I found a few this year, and tucked them away. Now, they don't command a very high price. I have mine priced at $6 each, which is the very lowest price I can ask, assuming I paid something for them to begin with. I'm worried that this house pin hunter is going refuse to buy the pins. Generally speaking, when people go around asking, "Do you have this kind of thing? I buy that kind of thing," they never actually buy the thing when you show it to them. What I'm saying is, this house pin hunter is the driving force behind the market for little plastic pins shaped like houses. I wouldn't even know what they are if it weren't for her. If she refuses to buy my pins, I'm going to lose my mind. And I'll promptly and politely ask her to read my blog. Note the evil grin on my face.

FOUND in Manhattan

2010-04-30T13:25:00.002-04:00

may30 - Slideshow

How are you? Owl is well with me, thank you. I told you, I'm into owls now. And corny owl jokes. Sadly, I only found one owl piggy bank this week. But guess what!!! I'll be at the Hester Street Fair in Manhattan this weekend!!! My vendor friends who set up last weekend said it was nothing short of delightful. Please come check it out. The corner of Essex and Hester on the Lower East Side. I'm sooooo excited.

The blue shelves, provincial end tables, and oak kid's chairs are new to the inventory this week. When I work two weekends in a row, restocking in the 5 days in the middle is really hard, so fogive me for not having ALL new product this week. I'm going to pick up a really sick mid-century teak and glass end table later, though. I'll tweet a pic as soon as I get it. If you like the provincial end tables, and are interested in a pair of chairs and a couch that match, please email me. I took photos, but they were pretty pricey, not to mention huge, so I didn't buy them on the spot. I am always happy to broker a deal and take a short profit if I know I have a sale. Translation: If you need a couch and chairs, assure me you'll buy them from looking at the lovely photos, I will buy them and transport them to you for a minimal mark up. Email me if you need giant, frilly, Provincial style furniture. That's all I got for today. It's so nice out, I'm even looking forward to loading the van.

Shopping like it's my job

2010-04-21T16:26:00.004-04:00

apr22 - Slideshow

I've taken two solid weekends off from flea markets, but I have been far from idle. I've spent the last two weekends trudging through "Dirt Malls." I've adopted that term from my friend Jared from Artificial Marketplace, who will be set up next to me this weekend. It describes flea markets that aren't quite so upscale as the Brooklyn Flea.

Sometimes people don't understand how shopping is really work, so I'm going to try to explain it. You have to be ultra-optimistic to bother even getting out of bed at 5 on a Sunday, but be able to deal with a morning of disappointments. That's an exhausting little bit of mental gymnastics. It requires quite a bit of walking, schlepping back to the car, more walking, running, and sometimes pushing someone out of the way. Even out in the sticks, at the dirt malls, there are people who ask more for their crumby merchandise than experienced show dealers ask for their good stuff in New York City. It requires a degree of effort to refrain from freaking out at these people. Sometimes they insult you for not buying their product. I heard, "What, did she think it was going to be twenty five cents?" as I was walking away from a table last Sunday. You have my permission to freak out at any flea market dealer who ever speaks to you that way. I kept it together that morning though. Then I get home, unpack my car, and hit the shops two or 3 times during the week. I've unpacked about 10 car loads of stuff into my home in the past 3 weeks. I can't even walk in here. It's not like I have it that bad. I mean, my job is probably cooler than yours. But it's work.

So, about the stuff. I'm pleased to present the first piece by George Nakashima I've ever had. It's the top of the credenza. The bottom of the credenza goes for $3000, but I don't have that part. I have the top. It's considerably cheaper, and it has shelves. The country style table is nice. There are chairs for it, not photographed. You can buy them together or separate, because I'm not sure they match. There are a couple views of Jared's shop in the slide show. I'm pretty sure he's going to jam his whole shop into his van, so whatever you see in those pics will probably be at the Brooklyn Flea on Saturday. I LOVE the cameo slave bracelet. I have two others in pearl and green too! I've never seen costume slave bracelets. They're always those silver, biker things, which are also cool. Plenty of lamps, as always. A couple signed metal sculptures. And owls.

About the owls.... I'm done complaining about them. I'm giving in wholeheartedly. Owls ARE cool, and it's not just a weird trend. Here's what I think about the owl sitch.... You like them, and I can buy them everywhere I go. But why? Why do you like them, and why do I find them everywhere I look? Owl stuff was a huge trend in the 70's. They made enough owl merchandise to supply owl enthusiasts for the following 4 decades, at least. Now, my business is buying and selling, NOT new age philosophizing, but you'll have to forgive me just this once. Owls are a symbol of wisdom and knowledge. Hmmm... it's the Information Age. Age of Aquarius, hmm? Are owls so attractive to us because they are some kind of spirit guide in this time of immediate answers, communication and nonsensical blogging? Get it? If not it's ok. I don't really get what I'm saying either. I just hope I don't regret buying that ceramic owl pitcher.

FLeaster Weekend

2010-04-02T19:34:00.005-04:00

pinsapr2 - Slideshow

I'm happy to report that my basement did not flood during the "Worst Flood in Two Centuries." It's no joke. People are still pumping out their basements. But thankfully, all 4 tons of antiques and decor (that didn't sell the first three times I brought them to the flea) are safe and dry in my basement, and awaiting the day that I pack them up a fourth time.

I'm bringing a collection of antique signed brooches this weekend. Many of these could be considered "book pieces." They were designed by Alfred Philippe of Trifari and Adolf Katz of Coro. Alfred Philippe's "Surrey With The Fringe On Top" brooch, (the antique car) has moving wheels, charm and books for $275. "Book value," to me, means, if it has a book value, that I'm just more likely to sell it. Especially if I knock the first digit off the price tag. Or move the decimal point to the left. Or divide by four. These are common algorithms used by members of my trade for converting "book value" to "price someone will actually pay you."

As always, keep an eye on the twitter feed for more photos posted live from my booth at 1 Hanson Place. Enjoy your FLeaster Weekend!

What's to come

2010-03-26T12:17:00.003-04:00

mar26 - Slideshow

On this last weekend in March, you might be wondering what's to become of the Brooklyn Flea. We are at 1 Hanson Place, the bank, for two more whole weekends. That's this weekend and Easter weekend. For me, that means I have two more full weekends of work where I can haul my stuff in, set it up, leave it overnight, and get two days of selling for all my hard work. It follows that I'm going to cram as much stuff as I possible can into that little booth for the next two weekends. Starting the second week in April, the Brooklyn Flea will be at the High School on Lafayette on Saturdays, and at the bank on Sundays. I'm not sure what this means for my schedule. Sadly,I can't sell things at the Bishop Loughlin location. I don't know why that market hates me. I'm well loved everywhere else I put my tent up. So, that's what the flea market is doing. You'll have to check in to see where I'll be after April 4th. I'll be taking a weekend or two off, you can count on that. But a "weekend off" in my world means getting up before dawn on Saturday to go to yard sales, and getting up before dawn on Sunday to go to flea markets.

Let's talk about this weekend. I'm really excited about the miniature machines I bought. They are scale models produced at the machine company. They were made to estimate shipping dimensions and packing logistics. Hand made with hand machined parts. Great colors. Most have moving parts. The oil rig is 21" tall. The rest are tiny. I put a AA battery in the photo so you can get a sense of the scale. They were made in the 70s. I had to shell out of them, so they're priced according to what I paid. I can't help it. Sometimes I fall in love with tiny pieces of metalwork.

The mustard yellow set is great. Sorry for the plastic wrap in the photo. That's how it looked when I bought it. In fact, that's how it still looks, in the back of my mom's van. Unwrapping it and cleaning it up is next on my list. The couch has a booboo on the back, so it's cheap. On Saturday, I'm going to put the chairs in my booth, and leave the couch in the van, but you can ask to see it.

The baby Laurel Lamp is nice. I'm even offering your choice of shade. My customer service is improving by the day.

The padlock bracelet blogged below will be in the case. $550 for all it's antique beauty.

I'll be tweeting some more pics of what's to come, so keep an eye on the twitter feed. Do you like the slideshow? It's way easier than cropping and editing all those photos. And slideshows are fun. Another job streamlined!

This is why you should buy from me

2010-03-17T18:27:00.003-04:00

On the left we have an antique heart locket that I brought to the Brooklyn Flea every weekend for 6 weeks. I was asking $65. It’s antique, gold filled, larger than most (1 1/2” tall), with an antique gold filled chain. I knew all along that eBay is the place to sell lockets, but I aim to please, and my girls love lockets so I try to have a good selection. I never budge on my prices for antique lockets. They are too hard to find. I like to rotate my selection, so I pulled the heart locket and listed it on ebay. It went for $310. I guess I was right about the size being rare. It could have been yours, ladies of Brooklyn…
The antique 9K gold padlock bracelet is on ebay now. These sell for between $400 and $800. The opening bid on mine is $300. The gold would scrap for $200, but I would never ever ever scrap this bracelet. I draw the line somewhere. These bracelets are rare, and amazing. You should bid.

News

2010-03-12T14:38:00.001-05:00

Lots to tell this week! First off, there's Scavenger Hunt winners Joey and Polly with their new (old) mid-century solid teak vase. Yep, I donate a scavenger hunt item about once a year. I'm the very definition of generosity… except when you ask if I'll take $15 for an $18 necklace. And then I make a lengthy speech about how my prices are competitive, and totally make you regret asking. And then I usually tell you that you should always ask even though I said no. By this time you're just throwing the cash at me to get me to shut up.

Next, I thought it was really exciting this week on Pawn Stars (History Channel) when someone brought in a Gibson Banjo Ukelele (also known as a Banjolele.) I have one of those! But mine's not Gibson. In fact, I was just speechifying to a dinner guest last week about how they were popular in the 30's. Mine is not for sale, and not worth nearly as much as the beat up Gibson on TV. Even still, all my facebook friends decided they wanted my banjolele and offered me some pretty interesting trades. I keep it to play Little Town of Bethlehem once a year.

You'll notice the 3 lovely items for sale right here on top of my blog. I ditched the trocadero store because I wasn't putting much effort into it, whereas I probably put too much effort into this endeavor. You can expect the product list to grow every week. If you're interested, it was super easy to set up with Google Checkout. And free. I do enjoy streamlining.

Here's a funny story. If you look back to the 2/19 post, you'll see a photo of some bracelets. One bracelet has a giant Bible Charm. It actually has 10 pages with 10 commandments on them. Not THE 10 Commandments however. The customer informed me that there were two of Commandment 4, but that Adultery was missing. She looks at her husband and says, "I wonder if it's trying to tell me something…" Hilarious.

I actually got my ebays done this week. Tip: You'll probably get a deal on the collection of 5 (yes, I said 5) antique gold pins with real gems. They are priced at $15 over the scrap price for the gold (about $35 a piece), and nobody is clicking on the auction. I don't know why. I can't ever get a decent price for fine jewelry. For the price of two owl necklaces, you can buy one antique pin that is actually valuable. I honestly don't think that anyone on the whole wide internet is going to bid on those pins. So here's your chance. Also, the Paloma Picasso Tiffany pin probably won't go for what it's worth. So please check the ebays. Free shipping for blog readers.

Operation Tidbit-Sachet was accomplished. That's not code. I was really on a mission that involved tidbits and sachets. It was harder to accomplish than you might imagine. But now you get a free sachet when you buy a pin. The sachets smell like Smarties.

OK, I suppose you want to know what I'm selling this weekend. Lockets, pendants and owl necklaces, as always. A slightly discolored 50's table. An antique sword made with a real swordfish bill. And some great rings I picked up. I was looking for $15 sterling rings, but ended up buying better rings, so I'm charging $25. I also marked down a bunch of higher priced rings and put them in the same tray, so I have plenty to choose from. I can't blog everything, so come see the rest of the assorted fun.

Tidbits

2010-03-05T15:19:00.001-05:00

First, let's get a look at how pretty my booth looked last week. If I can fit the butterflies in the outback, they'll be back this week. I also need to fit the Eames Shell Chair, and the coffee-table-sized green trunk. And all my display props, supplies, clothes, food, sleeping bag and me. Sometimes I feel like I pack my whole home into that car every week. Speaking of bulky display props, do you like the tiered silver plate tidbit with pins displayed on it? I picked that up this week. It has 4 tiers. Tidbit is the official name for that piece, and yes, I do feel silly saying it. I also felt really silly today going into 7 stores asking for sachets to put in my tidbit. Nobody knew what a sachet was. "You know, tiny pillows that smell like flowers?" But I was determined to have a tidbit full of beautiful pins displayed on sachets. I only found 7, but I'm ordering more on ebay. If I can find them cheap enough, I'll let you have the sachet when you buy the pin. Incentives….. Team Unicorn picked up a new player – a beautiful needlepoint tapestry design. Stainless and teak kitchen items usually fly out of my booth. Race-A-Car is in perfect working order. The leather and canvas trunk is also just the right size for a small table. I have the sterling hand mirror set, and a few antique wall mirrors. Everyone always wants my display mirror, but I need that to sell jewelry. The jewelry situation is intense this week, but I haven't even sorted it all out yet, never mind photos and blogging. I was too busy hunting for scented tiny pillows today.

I’m thinking Spring

2010-02-25T21:52:00.001-05:00

Motivation is first and foremost in my thoughts this week. The weather might be a tiny bit better by Saturday, but I'm thinking you're about as motivated to go shop at the flea as I am to go sell at the flea. In this weather, that means we're not too motivated. However, all of the amazing stuff pictured to the right just sort of fell into my van this week. It's like the antiques and the butterflies and necklaces are dragging me to the flea. I hope they have the same effect on you. I think I might win the "Most Colorful Booth" award this week. I can't wait to hang all those butterflies up. They're stunning (as if you need me to tell you that.) I bought them from Irene, a lovely woman who went to my mom's antique shop, and asked her to come over and look at her treasures. Mom made the mistake of inviting me along. I bought out the whole basement. Irene's late husband made the butterflies and used to sell them in front of the house. And, unlike the American Pickers, when she quoted a price for them, even though it was a bit higher than I was willing to pay, I bought them anyway. I also paid more than she asked for the costume jewelry, because the Givenchy star necklace pictured below was a real winner. If Mom hadn't brought me to Irene's, I would have zero ambition to set up this week. I'm in it for the butterflies though. And the Zebra chairs. The upholstery is not perfect, but not terrible. I can't keep lamps in my booth, so I'm bringing all I have hanging around. Kitchenware is always a hit. It's a wonder you've gotten this far in life without a Dominion table model chrome hair dryer. It works. Magazine racks are ever popular. That jazzy number at the end of the line is a vintage 60s necklace by Goldette. It is the largest, most amazing piece of Goldette I've ever seen. It's not signed, which is downright maddening. But glass intaglios coupled with bezel set Swarovski crystals is a Goldette trademark. The quality of the brushed gold plating is also standard. If you ask to see it, I can show you what I'm talking about. Jewelry people know what I mean. In case you're wondering, I plucked that out of a consignment shop. One more bit on motivation…. I go to bed at 8 on Friday nights, wake up at 2, and get on the road at 3:30. Naturally, the motivation is running pretty thin at 2, or 2:40am. But, in order to get my brain functioning last Saturday [ahem] morning, I checked my email while still warm under the covers. Lo! A customer emailed and asked if I still had a $12 trivet I had posted on my blog. That's all it took to get me out of bed. I was ready to drive to Brooklyn to make a $12 sale. Naturally, he didn't show up, but that's ok. I might not have shown up either if he didn't email. And I threw the trivet in the car right before I left, without wrapping it. Now it's chipped. So if he shows up this weekend, he wins a free chipped trivet!!! Hooray. Now we're all properly motivated to shop and sell this weekend.

You asked for big jewelry.

2010-02-19T12:30:00.002-05:00

I think 5 people asked me for really giant pins last weekend. I didn't exactly go out looking for them, but they found me, along with some really big necklaces. My favorite is the leaf necklace in the middle of the second photo. I'm asking $75 for that one, and all the rest are totally affordable. The pins are not exactly ones that I would pick out one at a time, but I obviously bought this as a collection. I like them more and more (which means the price went up and up in my head the more I looked at them.) Most of them are hand-made, and sort of fragile. But they're fun. I'm asking between $18- $30 for the 4 pins in the third photo. The gold tone pin is Givenchy. The pins in the second to last photo and the box of bead, necklaces, and assorted and sundry—that's all going in a 2 for $18 pile. It should be a certified free-for-all.

If anyone is enjoying my running commentary on American Pickers, please read on…. First of all, I'm a picker. I pick shops, flea markets, auctions and places where people actually put things out for sale. That's picking. Pickers show up at the flea market to shop before it's light out (normal fleas, that is, out in the sticks.) Pickers wander through one shop after another for 8 hours straight without stopping to eat. Generally, pickers do business with other people who sell junk as their business. Like me :) Our friends with the show on the History Channel are DOOR KNOCKERS. "Door Knocker" is synonymous with "asshole" in this business. Nobody likes the door knockers. They are unscrupulous, aggressive, cheap and predatory. Ever wonder why every yard sale ad in the paper says, "NO EARLY BIRDS"? We have the door knockers for that. They knock on the door the night before and try to scoop all the good stuff. I go to very few yard sales because the door knockers take all the fun out of it. And I refuse to knock on the door of a complete stranger and bother them at home. There's plenty to choose from. There are heaps and heaps of second hand items available out there. I actually don't have enough time between Monday and Friday to do as much picking as I would like to. Spending a day bothering senior citizens until they sell things that they would obviously prefer to keep just seems like the hard way to do things.

Lockets

2010-02-12T15:30:00.001-05:00

The top photo shows the antique lockets and necklaces I'll be brining this weekend. I have a few more already up on the display, so I have plenty to choose from. Also I have a new deco pocket knife necklace, and a perfume bottle necklace. I have good luck with gadgets on chains. All the lockets are on gold filled or sterling chains that match the locket. These chains do not turn your neck black. I'm also showing an antique locket I sold on ebay today for a tidy price. The price is surprising seeing as the back of the locket is completely dented up. So, to get the bidders competing over a damaged piece is pretty significant. This kind of locket actually goes on a Victorian locket chain. It's a pretty desirable piece of jewelry. If you want to see what people ask for Victorian Locket Chains on ebay, click here . You'll need to log in to see the completed listings. These are not my items. This is just how I learn about things, so I figured I'd share.

Owls v Unicorns

2010-02-04T18:23:00.001-05:00

I wonder which I'll sell more of. This is a small portion of the stuff I bought in my weekend off from the Brooklyn Flea. All you people who asked me for clip-on earrings??? I have clip-on earrings. I restocked the cufflinks and tie bars. My favorites are the old scissors. Great forms. The floral basket with the red lining is known as a cookie basket. Precious. Fake Chanel, Stak Bins, the cutest, rock and roller tooled leather purse, and, well, basically every cool thing that I saw. I shopped like a vacuum cleaner this week. I recommend it. It feels good. I also enjoy selling things. I think you people know this about me. 1 Hanson Pl, Brooklyn, NY Saturday and Sunday 2/6 and 2/7 from 10-5. That's where the party's at.

Where I go shopping

2010-02-01T19:51:00.001-05:00

There are lots of rundown mills like this in New England. I heard about it when I was out in the snow on Thursday. Come to find out, it's run by some old pals I used to buy from. People may close their shops, but they never leave this business. You'll find them again somewhere. I sifted through ten tons of debris and found a few gems, soon to be blogged above. You know what else? I paid what the hard working senior citizens asked. And I didn't browbeat anyone into selling me stuff. Have I mentioned I really can't stand that show American Pickers? Wow, now they're on the TV ridiculing the old man who asked $250 for a ridiculously cool industrial lamp. They bought it and are going to ask $350. What's their problem with the old man who wants $250? Why can't he ask a strong price? He's no dummy. Why do you people like these guys? If someone asks a high price for something I want, I have a bunch of standard responses, like, "Nowhere to go from there…", "My price points are about the same…", "Is that firm?" (and I accept their reply without being a jerk about it.) They're just taking advantage of one senior citizen after another, and I can't stand it. But I also don't like making offers. I tend to shop in places where there are price tags. If they made up the price before I walked in the door, then I can make a ridiculous profit and not feel any pangs of guilt. Everyone asked for my opinion on this show. There it is. Oh, and they act like they're the first people to see the merit in rusty industrial lighting. Like they're starting the industrial lighting thing. Please.

Picking

2010-01-28T22:12:00.001-05:00

I'm a little spiteful about this new show, "Pickers," that everyone is talking about. I've been saying there ought to be a TV show about me, and antiques and flea markets, for, I don't know, 10 years now! I want to be a star. Instead, I'll write a blog. So, this is what happens when a girl gets in her outback and hits the shops. It starts snowing heavily, instead of the predicted dusting. I visit stores with funny names like Saks Thrift Avenue, Days Gone By, Antiques Etc, and Lost Treasures. All the shop owners know me by name and save stuff for me. Except for Sak's. They're new. And greeeeeen. That's a Juliana bracelet, the sparkly one on bottom, above my new snow suit. I've been in the market for a pair of overalls like those for a while, so I picked them up for me. There's another pair there, if anyone wants them. They have nice hoods. I'll gladly run back and round up the other pair for any of my blog readers for the nominal fee of $40. I actually bought about 70 pounds of costume jewelry today. I was serious about restocking after 3 killer weekends at the bank. The jewelry will be all photographed and blogged before my next trip to Brooklyn. I'm taking this week off. Email for first crack at the drafting table. I'm thinking $90. I'm going to spend all weekend picking. I know, I know, it's a shame I don't have a camera crew following me around.

Why do I still have this?

2010-01-28T21:47:00.001-05:00

I'm starting a new weekly feature on my blog. I'm calling it, "Why do I still have this?" It's my attempt to show you, the buying public, the light. The unicorns are $6 each. C'mon people. I don't drive from Rhode Island to Brooklyn to make $3 sales. OK, I do, but it's ridiculous that I do that. Unicorns are cool! I actually picked up like 6 pieces of unicorn jewelry today. Maybe I'll feature an enchanted unicorn forest next week. OK, this is ridiculous. If you just buy the unicorns, nobody wastes their time reading and writing blogs about unicorns. The Bjorn Wiinblad Trivet. Yes, it's just a trivet. But it's by Bjorn Wiinblad. He's kind of important. And it's $12. I've had that piece since before I started using my fancy logo price tags. There's no need for all this hesitation, people. You can buy Scandinavian designs for $12 and not feel guilty about it. You can even rest your hot pots on $12 modern art and not feel a shred of remorse. The Swedish teak and stainless server thing: ok, maybe you have a good excuse for not buying this. I don't know what it is or what you would do with it either. But it's cool. I'm firing it off on ebay next week. That 5 strand pearl and aurora borealis bead necklace is boss. Look at it! It's gorgeous. The shape of the crystals is rare. It's in perfect condition. OK, anyone who reads this blog post can have that piece for $20. Just pick it up, approach me, and say, "Why do you still have this?" and I'll know you're one of the cool kids. And, well, you had your chance to buy the Arabia of Finland luncheon service for 6 for $100. But you stalled. Ebay is going to eat that up too.

A Blogging and Shopping Fool

2010-01-22T11:40:00.001-05:00

I heard no less than 20 times last weekend how much people like reading my blog. Forgive me if it's going to my head. Selling all the blogged items is also adding to my enthusiasm. So, this, and the following two posts include the previews for this weekend 1/23-1/24 at the lovely and historic Williamsburg Savings Bank in Brooklyn. And if you scroll further down, to last week's post, you'll see the floor lamp that surprisingly didn't sell for $65 last week. Yes, that's another Gucci bag. This one is smaller, but the red stripe adds $20 to the price every time. $50. There's a cute gilded occasional table, ca. 1960. I wouldn't be surprised if my decorator ladies from Long Island snap this one up for $60. I bought all that costume in one foray on Wednesday. It's all under $20 except for that $85 gem in the middle. And, contain yourself, it's a Joanne Delomba cookie jar! When you're in this business, it's your job to buy anything signed, in the hopes that it's a good signature. Sometimes you find yourself disappointed. Joanne Delomba = mass produced trendy stuff. It's recent, and cheap when it's retail. I actually like this piece waaaayyyy better than any of the other examples of her work I saw on the internet. The eyes are great. The globe form rocks. And it's a kitty! Please don't let me regret buying yet another piece of mystery pottery, and please buy this for $20.

Handmade Jewelry

2010-01-22T11:23:00.001-05:00

There's the kind of handmade jewelry that I like, and the kind that I don't like. Both are pictured to the right. Do you know me well enough to know which piece merits my respect? It's the hand wrought vermeil link bracelet. It's gorgeous and classy. Notice the textured sides and inside. The top surface is flat. Classy, classy, classy. It's signed DB STER. This is the sort of thing that I put in a drawer hoping someday I'll figure out who made it. Then I sell every good piece of jewelry I have in one weekend in Brooklyn, I'm desperate for product and don't have time to shop, so I take it out. I bought this piece last June. I need things to sell. I'm going to charge $150. If it was by the likes of Ed Weiner, I would be able to identify the signature. It's good looking enough to be made by someone important. My guess is that it was made by an artist who sold at venues much like the Brooklyn Flea, who studied the great modernists. You'll like it better when you see it in person. I've apologized for my photography skills enough here on this forum. The rings are all in the same vein. I hang on to them hoping I'll be able to attach some provenance or pedigree to them. I give up. I'm going to sell them for the gorgeous pieces of art that they are. $45 to $85 for those.

Then we have that beaded thing. Lovely to look at, right? I thought it was a deal at $22, so I bought it, even though I never ever ever ever buy craft show beaded crap. It's attractive, chunky, and I thought it would be an easy sale at $45. I picked it up to put a tag on it, and a bead cracked in my hand. Why do I have no respect for this kind of thing???? The materials are garbage, the people who make it do not have access to wholesalers, so they pay retail for their beads and whine all day about what their materials cost, they buy garbage because they have no ability to discern, and beading does not equal jewelry design. So, I did a hasty glue job on the bead, because that's all it deserves. I'm going to try to get my $22 back, but I'll probably take $18. I will not guarantee that this will not fall apart, although I've been offering my customers more guarantees and exchanges lately. I like happy customers. There is some handmade jewelry I can't stand behind though.

Foxy!

2010-01-22T11:06:00.002-05:00

I finally popped for this Finnish blue fox coat this week. I've been eying it since July. Thankfully it was in a shop that does not attract fur coat shoppers. The workmanship is amazing. It's in great condition. Did you know my Grandpa was a furrier? Grunstein Couture has become Gemmi. Generally, when I see a website full of expensive photos, and no price tags, I'm scared to ask the price. My price for this one is $650. A word on fur: if you buy it second hand, you're not really supporting the industry, but you are preserving what's already been done. Ok, I'll never get political on my blog again. I promise. This coat will make its debut at 1 Hanson Pl. on 1/22/10.

Did you happen to ask where I get all this stuff?

2010-01-14T15:08:00.003-05:00

And did I promptly request your email address saying that I have a blog devoted to that very subject? Well I lied. I don't tell people where I get my stuff. In a rare display of generosity, I brought another dealer around to my shops with me yesterday, but I let him know the whole time what a big favor I was doing for him. I can tell you what I bought, and the order I bought it in, just not where I bought it. I got the mustache man hanger in the first shop we stopped at. It's a junk shop. It's run by cheap old men who offer people almost nothing for the contents of their attics. That kind of business practice only gets you so far, so they rarely come up with anything that amazing. But the mustache man hanger is outstanding. It's $30, has some damage, but is painted like the back of his head on the other side. Next we went to a consignment shop. This shop is run by a verbose part time aerobics instructor, who, one of these days, I'm going have a drink with. She's a scream. And she stays open just for me when I call. I bought the Gucci bag, the teak lamp, the daisy napkin rings, the daisy bracelet, and the metal cart there. I'm a good customer. I let my friend buy the big round Lucite coffee table. I can't deal with 150 lb glass table tops. The Gucci bag is $90 firm. It's real. I know, everybody loves the red stripes. But this one is big enough that you can actually put something in it. It's big. I think the teak lamp is going to go on ebay. It's real teak, not walnut. Similar lamps were bringing some surprising 3 digit prices on ebay. So, I better at least try. If it doesn't go, you'll see it next weekend at the flea for a reasonable, two digit price. Under the daisies, you'll see a modernist, sleek, serpentine chain Napier necklace. It ought to fetch $55. I bought that at a new consignment shop. Allow me to sing the praises of new consignment shops. There are just a few brief months before the shop owners really learn what they're doing and how to price things. Mostly, they err towards overpricing things. But it's up to sharks like me to pounce on mistakes of the opposite nature. Also, it's great when all the other sharks have yet to discover the new shop. After hitting like 8 shops, I get a little delirious. That's when I remind myself that going into shops is my job, and if the animal rescue thrift shop that smells like puppies is actually open, we need to go in. Even though it smells like puppies. Once we were inside, I needed to remind myself again, that standing around waiting for the incompetent, volunteer counter help to figure out what they were doing, and watching the rambunctious child shaking the kitty cage almost off its stand……..it's all part of my job. It was worth it for the 4 way floor lamp. The form is awesome. The color, not so awesome. But it's bright, and it will be a wee $65 complete with 4 brand new light bulbs. And the wheelie cart is $40.

One Hanson Place Rocked my Necklace Selling World

2010-01-14T14:25:00.001-05:00

If you didn't get there last weekend, please make it a priority soon. You have 11 more weekends. This is urgent flea market business. No, seriously, what a beautiful space. The aesthetics almost made up for the lack of heat. Fortunately, I didn't sell everything last weekend. I have more to sell this weekend, and I did a little treasurehunting yesterday. My friend Joan, of Citybitz fame, took the photo of the clock tower. Joan's work can be seen here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/citybitz . I rock the Gramercy Gate card holder, and get tons of compliments on it. I took the other photos. One is of my booth all set up pretty, and the other is of my booth completely packed with people. An update on the red boxcar toybox: it's going to spend the rest of the winter in the basement until Brimfield, where the folk art buyers will snap it up. Unless you email me and want it. While it got plenty of attention in Brooklyn, things like this get roughed up every time you take them for a drive. No one was serious about buying it, so it's going to stay safe at home for now. Previews for this week should manifest above shortly.

5 Blog Posts

2010-01-08T15:37:00.001-05:00

You'll need to read the next 5 blog posts for the complete picture of what I'm bringing to the market this weekend. Or you can just look at the pictures. I'm bringing furniture this week. This is the furniture blog post. The daisy shaped faux marble 60's table is unique. Ikea hasn't even knocked off this design. It's small too. It will fit in your apartment. $100 firm (until 2:30 on Sunday.) The blue chairs are returning for an encore. Yes, the upholstery has problems. Yes, $125 for the pair is cheap. I remembered to photograph the $40 stack tables after loading them in my van, but you don't mind turning your head and imagining how great they'll look at your place, do you? Speaking of my van, actually my mom's van, you can see it in the photo of the table. I included it in the picture on purpose. I want my customers to know the shame and humiliation I endure in order to bring attractive, affordable furniture to Brooklyn. It says, "Al & Paul's Rent-a-Ride" on the side. It says it on the back and on the other side too. 7 years ago my mom decided that leasing this van to own was a great deal. It gets the furniture from point A to point B. But every trip, I generally answer at least 3 questions as to nature of this Rent-a-Ride business. People frequently inquire about the rates. Someone approached my mom once and asked her for a ride to the airport. And there have been more colorful and imaginative questions. When I junked my bright blue chevy cargo van, I swore I would never sell furniture again. It's a hard habit to break. So, please buy all my furniture. If I bring anything back from Brooklyn, I'll be driving the Rent-A-Ride straight to the Artificial Marketplace in New Bedford. There's an upstart there who claims he can sell furniture the second it walks in the door.

Keys

2010-01-08T14:53:00.003-05:00

I picked up a new supply of skeleton keys. I need to charge $6 each for these because they cost me $1 more each. Sorry. But I think they're cooler than the last collection. I look forward to taking them all off the key rings. My thumbnails aren't chipped enough.

The stuff I really like:

2010-01-07T20:39:00.006-05:00

Real costume jewelry! No, that's not a contradiction. By, "real," I mean jewelry that was pricey to begin with, from the right era, signed, and hard to find. Listen, I know you can't take your eyes off those striking photos of me modeling jewelry (that totally matches my outfit) in a consignment shop, but i f you can tear your eyes away for a second, and read, I'll do my best to impart some useful knowledge. Ok, we have two amazing pieces of metal mesh from Whiting and Davis. To put as imprecisely as possible, there's Whiting and Davis, and then there's Whiting and Davis. That scarf is made of metal mesh. It's like silky chain mail. It's possibly the raddest piece of costume jewelry I've ever seen. It comes in the original box. The box has a drawing of a knight on it. There's nothing not amazing about it. Its friend, the metal mesh cape-type thing is also cool. I've had plenty of Whiting and Davis bibs, and they're great for making my customers try them on and act like disco cowgirls. This one is a step above the normal Whiting and Davis piece as well. The mesh falls in the back, which is clearly way better than falling in the front. The clasp has extra detail. It also comes in it's original box with the knight on it.
Next, you'll see a 1940s Coro rhinestone bracelet. It's signed with a pegasus and the name Coro. That means it is from the 1940s. It also has that "Golden Age Of Rhinestone Jewelry" thing going for it. I was pretty excited to find the Coro angel Duette. A Duette is a trademarked design that Coro patented in the 30s. This one is from the 50s. They consist of two fur or dress clips mounted to a bracket to make a pin. You can use the clips or the pin. This is from a series of angels for every month. This caught my eye, but I immediately thought, "looks like that Kirk's Follies garbage," (that falls apart the second you put it on, FYI). Thankfully, I picked it up and turned it over. That's my job. Picking things up and turning them over. Duettes are rare. Coro in it's own right is not synonymous with valuable. But both these pieces count as, "the good Coro."
I'm pretty excited about the French art deco bead necklace as well. It's signed, "France" on the ends of the barrel clasp. How did I ever find the signature? Knowing where to look is half the game. I would've bought it anyway, for it's deco splendor. Maybe I'll wear it this weekend, in tribute to the Williamsburg Savings Bank. What's so great about this necklace? Well, who doesn't love Deco? Furthermore, French art deco is the creme de la creme. France is where art deco happened, in many ways. A piece of 1920s jewelry from France is particularly significant. It was right around then that an orphan named Gabriel started making straight line dresses out of army surplus jersey, and encouraging women to wear glass beads to adorn themselves. Coco Chanel basically invented costume jewelry. She might have sold something like this in her first Paris boutique. Prices? The only item whose price can be expressed in two digits is the Coro Bracelet. It's $75.

Tapio Wirkkala Polygon Ovenware for Rosenthal

2010-01-07T17:07:00.003-05:00

I'm thinking if I throw around enough designer names, my blog will start showing up when people google them. Is that how that works? These were designed by Tapio Wirkkala for Rosenthal. The pattern is called Polygon. They are in mint condition. Never used. It's cookware: "Flammfest" to be precise. If I could read any of the 6 languages in the informational packet, I might be able to tell you more. Tapio is one of my favorites. He's been good to me. I'm asking $100 for the three. Replacements asks over $150 a piece for larger pieces like these in this pattern. Does anyone know if Replacements actually sells anything? Or do they just encourage the unknowing to overprice china at their yard sales?

Late 70's Belts

2010-01-07T17:04:00.003-05:00

These are all pretty high quality. Eel skin, snakeskin, Ettienne Aigner and all around coolness. $10 each.

Boxing Day

2010-01-02T11:47:00.005-05:00

It's January 2nd, 2010. Happy New Year! I'm sorting out the gifts, the ebay piles, the product that needs to go to my next show (January 9th and 10th at the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank in Brooklyn!!!!), and the things that need to get boxed until the holidays roll around next year. Every day is Boxing Day around here. So, I never sold any snow ball candle holders; A. because I just didn't do any shows in December, and B. because we really like them on my coffee table. I put a hurt on the Christmas ornaments in the two shows I did in fact work before 12/25. And I found this rad vintage nativity set after Christmas. Hopefully I'll remember to take it to a show next November. I just don't like selling at flea markets in December. I feel like a very very small fish in a giant capitalist ocean of retail. So, these are hand made. I figure they're from the 70s. I remember my aunt had stacks of pattern books with crafts like this. It also looks as if the facial hair on the wise men was fashioned to resemble the beards and mustaches of my dad's friends when I was growing up. The figures are crafted of styrofoam, and fabric stiffened with glue and/or paint. Baby Jesus has gone missing. Do you often read reports of Baby Jesus disappearing from local church nativities in your town. Jesus-napping is rampant around here. Hasn't he been through enough??? I bought these because I really liked the faces. At first they reminded me of the bubble heads that Bjorn Wiinblad is known for. To illustrate this point, I've posted a photo of Wiinblad's Madonna and Child glass sculpture he designed for Rosenthal. The heads are not round out of any sort of artistic intention, or fondness for the simplicity of geometric solids. They're round because they're styrofoam balls. The expressions are pretty awesome too though. They have a little funk and soul in them. I would put this nativity on display in my home. I was raised going to flea markets every sunday, and never once set up a nativity in my home, except in order to sell it on eBay. But this one is cool. It will be for sale next November, and boxed in the basement until then.

This is it...

2009-12-25T16:47:00.004-05:00

A fine blog post for a lovely Christmas day! I bought this hand made toy box shaped like a red caboose last weekend. I actually bought 10 tons of stuff last weekend, and it's all stuffed in my car. That's what I do when I don't sell things on the weekend. I buy things. I don't always get the chance to photograph the things and talk them up between buying them and selling them. Ohhh, most of what I bought last week is on ebay. AMAZING stuff on ebay. Please look. This hand made 1950s toy box will be available at the Garage on Saturday and Sunday 12/26 and 12/27 (maybe), for $175. I think it's rad. That's why.

Snowball Fight!

2009-12-10T23:33:00.002-05:00

These will have to do until we have snow balls that we can throw. They're really better for just looking at though. I saved up a collection of Kosta Snowballs. If you're into Swedish glass, bear with me a moment while get everyone else caught up. Kosta is a Swedish glass company. Edward Hald and Vicke Lindstrand are some of the more important designers that worked for them. Historically, there was Kosta, and Boda, and they got married sometime in the late 60s. My Swedish Glass book says that the snow balls were designed by Ann Warff in 1973. But the book is by Leslie Pina, the self-proclaimed expert at everything, so all claims are to be regarded with suspicion. I have the boxes for most of my snowballs, and the boxes all say "Kosta Boda." But most Swedish glass companies made something like this at some point. They got really into that glass-qua-ice-and-snow thing. In short, the snowballs are awesome, attractive, well-made and artsy. Don't get the wrong idea here.... They're ubiquitous. Not hard to find. Not irreplaceable. But high quality, and worth each and every 18 dollars that I'm asking for them ( the big one is $25.) It's like this with Scandiavian housewares: each piece has a well thought out design, is well-manufactured from high quality materials, lasts forever and is ridiculously attractive. The Nords were just so good at this kind of thing, that they produced LOTS of their best designs. So even though it's hand-made, artisan quality stuff, it's not always rare and incredibly valuable. But it will be.... as soon as I stop finding this stuff in thrift shops.

Dumbo Indoor Pop Up Market Opens!!!!!

2009-12-04T10:11:00.005-05:00

Maybe next time I'll work on neat, organized text and photo placement. Can I just say??? I'm excited about the opening of the indoor pop-up market for a number of reasons. It's where I fell in love with Dumbo. It was my initiation into the Brooklyn Flea. And I DON'T NEED TO CHECK THE WEATHER EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK! There is significantly less anxiety in my life now. So, we have a photo of my completely ransacked Christmas Ornament display from last week. I sold the bird, and disappointed a blog-reader. So, if you see something you like on my blog, email back and I'll hold it for you. I check my email constantly, even when I'm traveling. Not to worry, friends, I restocked the Christmas Ornaments, as shown in the photo. Why do I still have the lucite swag lamp? That's been out for two weekends. $200. It's the best one of these ever. It will look great in your mid-century modern home, or in front of a bunch of African statues. I added tons of new $8 cufflinks, and $4 tie bars and money clips. Although I claimed in my last post to be "better than an owl necklace," the owl necklace girls have been good to me, so I'm bringing more. I'm taking out my collection of gilded Florentine imports. These are usually from the 50's. The same Italian companies produced tables, commodes, shelves, mirrors, trays, jewelry boxes and wall hangings. Some of it can be pretty valuable. The pieces shown here top out at $30. I know what you're thinking; they looks so great on my couch, why am I even trying to sell them. I have other merchandise to trip on all over my living room, so don't worry about me, friends. The rare form Old Hickory Adirondack chair is up on eBay. I used to be able to sell chairs on eBay, especially desirable items like this. We'll see. Most of my eBay items this week are consigned. The consignor makes me start everything at $9.99, which means everything is underpriced. Checking out the eBays is highly recommended. Ok, 11-6 Saturday AND Sunday at 81 Front St. in Dumbo. I can't wait!

Me encanta la plata mexicana!

2009-12-02T10:52:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday in the Garage, one darling Southern dealer bought me out of Mexican Silver. She bought the Fish Necklace, the Nestor Metales Casados pin, the onyx cuff bracelet, the multistone bracelet shown here. I gave her the pair of Metales Casados (mixed metals) cat pins that were tiny, and no one would buy because one was missing a whisker. I also sold the post modern bracelet with Dichroic glass shown here, to a fancy and decisive shopper. Rita bought the Carved Ivory dancer pendant. It fits in with her amazing, over the top, extremely expensive and rare jewelry thing that she does. The point is, Manhattan shoppers buy fancy, rare, quality stuff. What I'm trying to say, Brooklyn, is that I'm better than an owl necklace. You just need to see that. Also, that Margot bracelet, I've been talking about... $298.99 on eBay! Oh, the joys of clicking refresh! For your sake, because you deserve to be rewarded for actually reading my blog, I've posted a photo of the bracelet, including the marks. I've also included a photo of the later "T Marks" found on Mexican silver. There's lots and lots of Mexican silver, and the prices really vary. The T Marks started in the 80s. Jewelry signed like that is usually high quality. I buy it if I like the design, and I sell it by weight. I try to get $1.50 per gram, almost triple the scrap price. I'll settle for a dollar a gram, especially if you're buying a lot. Older Mexican silver is a whole different ballgame, as evidenced by Margot. Most of it is just cool, has cooler looking signatures, and is well made. Some is pedigree. You can pay more for anything marked with "heiroglyphics."

Vintage Christmas Ornanments and Why They Are Valuable

2009-11-28T15:33:00.004-05:00

As you guys know by now, finding great stuff below market value, and making it available to the New York Metropolitan area, and the internet, are my strong suits. Marketing, blog layouts, and handling things carefully are things I need to work on. Maybe I'm good at writing clever blurbs on vintage Christmas ornaments. You tell me. You should buy vintage Christmas ornaments when you see them in the boxes. Look for "Shiny Bright" brand, boxes that say "Made in Poland," make sure there's no UPC code on the box, and don't pay too much. They are collectible, but not hard to find. Their value lies in the fact that they are hand made, hand decorated, very fragile, and extremely beautiful. See where they are all laid out on my kitchen table? The box closest to the window, teetering on the edge of the table, has the best, most desirable ornaments. They are all hand blown mercury glass, with lots of fancy decoration, in those antique shapes that you can't get any more. I bought these in July. They lived on top of my guinea pig cage for a while. That's where I put things that I really want to avoid breaking. Then they ended up in a larger cardboard box, and safe in my "I'm gonna deal with this stuff later" corner. I was actually able to find them today, now that I want to bring them to a show. I even had the foresight to photograph them so I could talk them up on my blog. Then I knocked the box off the table. Bye bye, pretty, antique, rare, never to be created again ornaments. Therein lies the reasoning behind collectibility. Some things disappear from this earth forever.

Behold, the extremely collectible, desirable, sought after mercury glass bird ornament survived! She's one tough bird. You can pay more for these. If you see a whole box of the ones with clamps at a yard sale, buy them. You can sell them to me, if you don't want them. I'm pricing the round ones at 3 for $10, the fancies at $15, and the fancy bigger round ones at $5 each. I think they look pretty, and I might not even break them in my showcase.

I also did up a showcase of all the jewelry that I have on my online store.

Holiday Bazaars

2009-11-21T15:28:00.002-05:00

To answer your question, "Where do you get all this stuff?" in November, at church holiday bazaars. They're pretty hit or miss. Sometimes you get there and it's all cakes and hand knit items. I usually do a portion of my grocery shopping at the bake sale table. If they have pickles and relishes, I really stock up. Once I got this amazing beer cheese bread. But I'm really there for the jewelry table and the "white elephant." Today I bought a tramp art dollhouse, shingled with matchsticks, and outfitted for the holidays. Doll houses are hard to sell, and take up too much room in my outback. Due to the delicate nature of the shingling on this one, I'm gonna let you know if I don't want your kid playing with it. And this is coming from a mother who has dragged her child in and out of every antique store in New England, so you better listen up, mommy. Basically, I'm a sucker for handmade items from the 40s, and this is the coolest thing I've ever seen done in matchsticks. And maybe, just maybe, people will buy holiday related antiques around the holidays. Oh, I paid a real price for this at a church sale (by real, I mean more than $2.) It's a price that equates to gallons of gasoline in my mental calculator. I probably shouldn't have bought it. I just loved it, OK????

Open for business, under the bridge, at 10AM.

2009-11-18T18:44:00.003-05:00

For those of you who only get to read the blog, and don't actually shop at the market in Brooklyn, I've posted some photos to show what it's like. I'm not kidding when I say I work under the Brooklyn Bridge. You'll see the back side of my necklace display, directly under the Bridge. The Manhattan Bridge is over there, above the other tents. If there was ever a November day that was ideal for working outside, and selling jewelry after dark, it was last Sunday. A beautiful day, dusk and nightfall. As much as I enjoy making 70% of my sales after 4:30pm, I would like all my customers to know that I get there at 9AM, and I'm set up and ready to sell by 10AM. You'll have first pick at the $12 necklaces and $15 Sterling Rings if you get there early. If you want to shop in the dark, like the happy cufflinks customers shown above, I'm not going to turn away your business. But it's caveat emptor. Some things sell better in the dark ;) I used to sell all my chipped china and paintings with holes in them before dawn at Todd Farm! Ok, if you get there before noon this coming Sunday (the last Sunday under the bridge), I might actually say, "yes" if you make me an offer. I'll say, "no," first. Then you're going to say, "but I read your blog, and you said..." and I'll say, "Oh, you're one of the cool kids, OK." OK?

I'm really trying to unearth my home under all this merchandise.

2009-11-13T19:20:00.004-05:00

This week, I'm doing "smalls." I try to make things easy on myself by limiting the product line each week. Lately it's been furniture and jewelry. This week I'm working on things like you see on my kitchen table. For about two weeks, these things have been in boxes on the side that I have to dance around, on top of my guinea pig cage, under the coffee table, and right there on my kitchen table, keeping us company while we eat dinner. I'm basically tired of kicking this stuff, which is why I sorted it out and priced it up on this rainy Friday night. So, we're looking at 3 vintage steel slide boxes. These are just the perfect thing for something besides slides. I'm sure of it. $15 each. An owl switch plate, $7. A gorgeous artist signed Arabia of Finland low bowl, $65. An Italian bowl with some chips, $15. A pencil sharpener, something by Dansk, with teak. I think they're wine bottle coasters. A small metal sculpture, a deco jewelry box, a Paul McCobb Contempri salad set, and a "Washboard Blues" print. I have about 5 more boxes of items in the same vein down in the basement. All "fresh", which means I haven't trotted them back and fourth to Brooklyn 3 times already. Oh, and notice the fancy new logo price tags I just had printed. Who is more excited? Me or you? Listen, I never used to have to try to sell things. Times have changed. So 11 years into this business, I'm applying marketing skills. I've got product, marketing, now I just need a sunny Sunday in Brooklyn.

2009-11-07T17:14:00.003-05:00

Seeing as beautiful autumn days at outdoor markets are the best (only, in my mind) place to sell furniture, I'm bringing another giant load of large items to the Dumbo market under the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend. I've got an extra fancy rope bed. The rails have been converted. No rope necessary. It's a twin, but a piece of plywood laid flat will make this a full bed. I hear these are being used as couches anyway. If I get the time, I might apply some orange oil tomorrow, but then I might kick the price up to $350. I charge for effort. The two blue chairs, are rad, but water damaged. $125 for the pair. Sorry I couldn't get a photo of the industrial desk on its feet. It was all I could do to get it on the trolley, and near the van. Then it gets sort of levered up into the van. I did it all myself! Girls use a lot of leverage to move heavy things. Girls also use zip ties to repair their trolleys. See the zip ties? I know you're impressed. The desk is $165. It's a little rough, but it has that great linoleum top. The sink marble is $65. I've also loaded up a 1940s round oak table top. Just a top, no legs. $70. The metal auto cabinet from a few posts ago is returning this weekend, at a reduced price of $70. The industrial pallets are actually in the van, but I'm not sure I'm motivated to haul them out. Of course, I will have one table full of amazing jewelry. The 24 ounces of silver were left at home last weekend, so the silver jewelry will make its market debut this week. So get there early, bring your credit card, and please don't ask me to deliver :0)

This is what 24 Troy Ounces of Sterling Jewelry Looks Like

2009-10-30T11:48:00.003-04:00

Did you know I hail from the jewelry capital of the world? So I have pretty good luck finding jewelry. There are also tons of refiners and "metals guys" around here. Some of them are nice enough to sell me jewelry based on weight. Not the scrap weight, (I wish), but a reasonable rate based on the scrap weight value. So I can afford to buy about 100 pieces, and pass the savings along to my customers. This stuff will look a lot better when I shine it up and display it nicely. Nearly everything I buy ends up in a disorganized heap on my kitchen table before I sell it. If you like disorganized heaps, this business might be for you. If not, keep your day job, and let me do the hunting, heaping and schlepping. A few choice bracelets are already listed on ebay. The rest is going with me to Fort Greene tomorrow, Saturday, 10/31. Just so you know, the Jensen cufflinks on eBay did not come from the above heap. They are a charitable consignment from the church (you know, charity?) So come see me at the Fort Greene Market in Brooklyn, tomorrow, 176 Lafayette Ave. I'll be the girl in the Viking Helmet.

I did it, I took the photos

2009-10-24T17:31:00.004-04:00

Yeah, I'm a pro photographer. Listen, once I get the stuff in the van, I'm not going to take it out. If you shuffled as much stuff in and out of vans as I do, you would understand. The fan is $225. A little rough around the edges but it works great. The settee is $85, and the auto cabinet is $100. These items, and the items posted below will be available at the Brooklyn Bridge Flea in Dumbo, Sunday 10/25.

Good treasurehunters post photos of the merch BEFORE taking it to the market.

2009-10-24T12:40:00.003-04:00

I'm bringing my Industrial Pallets, shown stacked on the right in the first photo, to the Dumbo Market this weekend. They are $75 each. I have 4 left. I sold 4 in Brimfield. I'm also loading up the nauga chairs shown in the second photo. These were not a hit in Brimfield, but when I brought 3 blue ones to Dumbo in August, they were gone in the first hour. These are $55 each. All the other pieces I'm loading up have not been shown at other shows. If I can get some pics while I'm loading up (if it's not raining), I'll post them later today. The Vornado fan is sick.

Work work work

2009-10-21T11:31:00.004-04:00

Now that it's Fall, I'm home during the days, and my son is in school, I decided to reopen my on-line store, an resurrect this blog. This is a blog about finding things, selling things, and the nature of the things themselves. Above are photos of my last set up, in the Garage in Manhattan. I weathered the "Nor'easter" there last weekend. The Garage is dear to me insofar as it's the first market I worked in New York City. I remember feeling so appreciated. People would walk into my booth, and just hand me money!!! It's not quite as lively as it was 8 years ago, but it's still fun. I think I heard three stories this weekend from old customers telling me the deals they got from me when I was still pretty green. Yeah, I used to give stuff away. I still do. Whatever, I prefer money over merchandise any day of the week. It's going to take me a while to get my website current, but it's open now, so take a look around. I'll be at the Sunday Dumbo market in Brooklyn most Sundays through November. This Sunday, I'll have the red plaid vintage poncho, shown above, the 3 bulb burl wood lamp, and a good percentage of the items you see, but can't identify on those tables. So don't be a stranger.

Sometimes I Work at Real Auctions

2007-11-26T22:33:00.001-05:00

When I'm not driving around treasure hunting, setting up my booth in Manhattan, or listing things on eBay, sometimes I work at a real live auction. As if I don't do enough. I'm a phone bidder at MVauction out of Yarmouth, Ma. Here's the auction homepage http://www.mveb.net/ .
And here's the eBay Live catalog. You need to log into ebay to see this. http://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/14378/page1

Phone bidding is pretty high pressure. You have to work fast, and can't space out for a second. I was not in charge of making sure all the bidders actually got called this time, so it was a little less pressure. I wish I could be a runner. All good antiquers have been a runner in a real live auction at some point in their lives. You get to actually pick the stuff up, look at it, turn it over, and listen to the bidding. I can hardly pay attention to what things sell for because phone bidding takes so much attention. But now they know I'm good at it, so I can't ever be a runner again.

This was a really successful auction. None of these items were mine. But I hang around so maybe some knowledge will rub off on me. Here are some highlights.

This was a large, watch maker's trade sign. Estimated for $300-$500. It sold for $2000 to my bidder on the phone. Boy I'm good.

This is a roomsize Oushak. It sold for $21,250. I grew up in piles of expensive Oriental Rugs. Do I know what a $20K rug looks like? Boy I hope so.

This painting by Charles Gruppe sold for $3000. I was also on the phone with this bidder. The auctioneer didn't say the lot number, but I started bidding as soon as I heard the word, "Gruppe."
Then I realized there were 4 Gruppe paintings in a row. I panicked and thought I had my phone bidder bidding on the wrong painting. Nope, I had it right. Happy auctioneer, happy customer, happy, stressed out girl on the phone.

And this I believe was the real surprise of the night. It's a brilliant period cut crystal punch bowl with a sterling rim. It was estimated at $1000-$1500. It went for $14,000! It came from the home of a highly decorated Vietnam Vet. I'm still not sure why it went so high. I was on the phone with a nice man from California who thought he might scoop it for $1,300. He didn't know why it went so high either.

So, if you see me selling anything with a 5 digit price tag on eBay, I learned everything I know at MV Auctions!

Costume Jewelry, New Old Stock

2007-11-20T12:31:00.000-05:00

I go from shop to shop, show to show, vendor to vendor, looking for jewelry. I probably buy one out of every 500 pieces of jewelry I look at. There aren't any hard and fast rules for when to buy and when to pass, but I can give you some insight into my thought process.

Trifari jewelry is collectible, well known, and the good pieces fetch a good price. But its EVERYWHERE! I don't buy it just because it's Trifari. The common, boring pieces abound, the collectible pieces are scarce, and it's easy to accumulate a pile of Trifari that is not interesting to collectors, not attractive and not salable. I don't buy a lot of white jewelry either. Summer White was big in the 60's. I can't ever sell the stuff.

These are some ground rules. Don't buy white. Don't buy boring, common Trifari, just because it's Trifari. Then there comes a time to break these rules. A gentleman in a consignment shop showed me a box full of bits and pieces of jewelry that he hadn't put in the case yet. There were about 20 pieces of white Trifari jewelry. It was clearly what we call New Old Stock. You see quite a bit of it here in Rhode Island. Nearly everybody had something to do with the jewelry manufacturing business at some point. Lots of little old ladies have little treasure chests of factory seconds and unpopular items that never got retailed. All these items were clearly made in the same line, and came out as a series. Probably not the most popular series. Maybe because it was white. But I found a new customer for Trifari in Italy (Italians LOVE Trifari). She had been buying all my low priced mediocre Trifari. So I offered the gentleman a low price for it, and then sold it as a lot to my customer in Italy. She was thrilled. You break the rule when the stuff is priced right, in quantity, and in perfect condition.

I suppose it all looks nice together.

This was probably the best piece.

I found another collection of New Old Stock about two weeks ago. Also in a consignment shop. I guess an elderly gentleman who owned one of the Providence factories is bringing in some new old stock to sell. I bought all the STAR thermoset lucite sets. STAR is a brand name, but not one to get excited about. I don't buy it because the little tag says STAR. I buy it if it looks nice. Thermoset lucite jewelry wavers in its popularity and the price it brings. Generally I buy it if the colors are pretty, there's a matched set and it's cheap. These sets were all priced at about the price I get for them. The owner of the shop likes me. He gave me a deep discount. I like matched sets. They were all in mint condition. I paid a bit too much for them, but I like them. Oddly, the white set sold on ebay. The rest are on my website because the ebay customers didn't want to give me a $10 profit on each one. These will look nice at my shows this summer, if they don't sell on Trocadero.com.

Yummy!

My favorite.

And then there's Sarah Coventry. Sarah Coventry jewelry was sold at parties like tupperware. It is collectible. But it does not bring a high price, and it's very common. I like costume jewelry that was made for movie stars. Sarah Coventry jewelry was made for housewives. I never buy it any more. NEVER. Except when I see a whole case full of it at Thrift Store, it's all priced under $10, and all in the original packages. That's when I make an exception. I still didn't buy it all. I left the very plain items. The all gold tone, thin, boring items with no flavor. These are all up on ebay now, and getting the attention they deserve. I think I'll make some cash on this deal.

This is everything I bought.

This is Midnight Magic, one of the more collectible patterns. I went back to the shop the next day and found the bracelet and necklace in this pattern.

This is Blue Champagne, another collectible pattern. I got the whole set in this pattern. I'd probably buy this set even if it wasn't in such fabulous condition, but only if it was as steal.

I try to buy only the very best. But sometimes I buy the mediocre when it is in mint condition, with original packaging, and dirt cheap.

I need a network that works in a place called Little Cape Proviyork Speedway

2007-11-06T13:37:00.000-05:00

After a good steady 8 weeks of selling off tons of merch in order to fund and fascilitate a move, I find myself with with no inventory to speak of, and plenty of money to spend. This was the state of affairs last Friday morning. Right now, it's quite the opposite. Here's a fun little story of how it came to be that I now have a substantial inventory, and substantially less money.

I shop estate sales on Friday mornings. I plan a little route and go to as many as I can. I got a late start on Friday because I wanted to be home to get my son on the bus. And I need to check the ads online again for new sales. I added two new stops to my route.

I hit a couple of sales, didn't buy much. I followed my directions to one of the last stops I added to my itinerary. It was at the end of a long road to a lake. There were no Estate Sale signs, but I knew I had the location right. It didn't look like a sale was happening. Not the usual row of cars parked out front. Just two vans. Vans and estate sales seem to go together. Then I see two gentleman I know, who run estate sales. We say hi. I'm a day early. They love me. I spend money at their sales. They let me go in and look. This is highly unorthodox. They are not supposed to let people in before the sale. I considered myself quite lucky. And that was before I saw what was inside.

I liked the stuff. Lots of Modern! A kitchen full of Scandinavian Cookware. An exceptional mosaic. Teak end tables. A lucite coffee table! And it was cheap. Well, affordable. Like exactly the sort of thing I need to be buying at a fair price, plenty of it and I NEED STOCK! It was a good situation. I changed all my plans, set my son up with his Dad for the night, made plans to spend the night in the area, and got up at 5:30 AM in the middle of a tropical storm to wait in the rain and get in line first at this sale. So take a look at what I got, and keep reading.

A lucite coffee table. Email if you want this. A Royal Copenhagen bowl, Arabia of Finland tile, and a Danish pot. See, it's all Scandinavian. Doesn't it look nice together? That's why it's good.

The teak chair and teak end tables

This is all the jewelry I bought this weekend.

This tile is totally sick. I think it might be Harris Strong, or some other artist that's as good and respected and talented as Harris Strong. I love the subject. A man at work in the middle, surfing on the left and skiing on the right.

It was a good haul. Saturday morning was miserable and rainy. I made a few more stops, bought a few bits of jewelry (see ebay auctions and photo above), went home and barely made it to my son's friend's birthday party.

Sunday morning I get up early enough and hit the Seekonk Speedway flea market. I copped this Tramp Art Lamp. And some more bits of jewelry.

The legs are star fish points. It's made of a coconut, coral, exotic wood, pine cones and star fish. Never seen anything like it. I think it's really good, but I'm probably not going to get what I think it's worth. We'll see....

I emptied my van on Sunday afternoon. Then I filled it up on Monday morning with Industrial Furniture. Now I have stuff and quite a bit less money. Check my ebay auctions, my new store on trocadero.com, and enjoy the pics.