The LA Flea Market

One day, a man in Los Angeles came up with the clever and risky idea to create a whole brand new flea market in the huge city of angels. The flea market would be held at the parking lot of Dodgers Stadium, overlooking the gorgeous backdrop of downtown Los Angeles.  New and Crafty Items as well as Vintage and Antique Collectibles would be made available to shoppers.  Fantastic finds, new and old, could be found, and their prices would be both desirable and affordable.  There would be live music at this event.  The Salvation Army would offer items at a 50% reduced price (as if their prices weren’t already cheap enough).  Celebrities would cruise the market, and Rick Dees would be there to say Hello.  This market, he decided, would be called...The LA Flea Market. 

Guess who was a part of this fun-tastic event?!  Yes, yours truly, BETTER THAN NAKED!  Among 400+ vendors, our forever favorite Dollhouse Republic was there, too!  Although it was a sweltering hot day, we had a great time.  We met new people, we scratched the heads of many panting dogs and offered them ice cold water while they basked in the shade with their owners.  We offered 3 crates full of rare vintage vinyl records at an astounding $3 each or 4 for $10.  Vintage purses were going for as low as 5 bucks.  Vintage and retro jewelry flew out as low as $3.  And the clothes?  What clothes?  We’re practically all out!  Retro Nash roller skates?  All gone.  With cute and funny vintage mugs at only $3, we were practically wiped out! 

While we didn't get the chance to do too much exploring, we did manage to get out and see some cool stuff in the vintage and antique sections.  Our hearts melted (not from heat) at the sight of the refurbished vintage and antique furniture by Antique Rose Show. 

Vintage Paper Fair

As I mentioned in a previous blog, February is Vintage Month. This past weekend marked the halfway point of this month, so I felt an update was due.
Unfortunately, I missed out on a few events I was really looking forward to. Saturday, Feb. 6th was an Apartment 3 Party at the Standard Downtown and, although I said I was going, I lied. The weather was horrific (for Southern California) and the clouds, rain, thunder and lightening kept me indoors all day.
I also had every intention to attend the Vintage Expo happening that weekend as well, but on Sunday I ended up at a friend’s house instead, Ooh-ing and Aah-ing over Vintage 1930s Mesh Bags and Costume Jewelry while the Saints won the Superbowl.
Valentine’s weekend, My Dude Man ended up taking a couple days off from. After working out our plans for the weekend, they did NOT include driving to Palm Springs for Modernism Week. But that’s OK! We DID make it to the one event I have longed to attend for years - The Vintage Paper Fair.
O-M-G. I had an idea of what to expect, but really...I didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t contain the goofy smile that spread over my face when we pulled back the heavy curtain. I browsed through vintage fashion posters, vintage botanical posters, movie posters and more! I walked through aisles and aisles of old postcards; some dating as early back as the mid-1800s! I looked at old road maps, secretly sniffed old books, and gawked at the cheap meal prices on the old restaurant menus. Heaven!
Somewhere among the paper was my Dude Man. I last remembered him muttering “wow, this IS cool...” before we separated.
After finding each other on the opposite end of where we had entered, he surprised me with an Antique Valentine’s Day card from 1908! We enjoyed the rest of the Fair together, where we learned about Hold to Light Postcards.
Here are a few of the items I purchased for myself. Enjoy!