Olde Good Things

Photo I took on my disposable in New York this summer on the way to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market

These past couple of months I've been squirreling away all sorts of goodies, picking them up from flea markets, thrift stores, antique shops, garage sales, and any other place that happens to sell ye olde goods. Katherine and I have been stopping at a lot of places in New York, especially, since we've been going in nearly every weekend for shows (pictures from those to come!). A few weeks back we finally made our way to the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market (I've been wanting to go there for years, but somehow never managed to until now!) and were not disappointed one bit. We both thought it was really great, if not definitely a bit overwhelming at times. There was one stand in particular that I kept gravitating towards and ended up buying an old boy scouts pin and WWII era America flag from. Something about the set up (and the man who ran it) was just right. There were old America flags hanging next to a taxidermy deer head who was donning a funny old hat and soft tunes from scratchy 78s pervading the tent. Just right. The tent was set up next to a similar, though inexplicably less alluring tent and between the two there was a sign that read something along the lines of "The Bad Boys of 42nd Street." It was pretty wonderful. After exploring through the whole lot of the place I also ended up buying an adorable '30s feedsack dress (for $10!) that'll definitely make an appearance on here soon, a funny/creepy toy of a wind up rabbit playing the drums that's missing both of its ears (though the metal that held the ears up is still fully intact and is sort of a bit of a safety hazard), a handful of Kodachrome slides (including a still from "King Kong!"), a photo of a great gal from the '20s, a plastic figurine of a scuba diver that I want to pretend is from one of those wonderfully awful 1950s low-budget drive-through films, and a broken baby toy from the '30s with a duck on top.

A sampling of some of the things I've found, including some Hell's Kitchen finds. Also amongst the findings: an English Spelling book from the 1800s from my favorite old book store not too far from home, a 1930s/40s Zoo pennant and 1920s wooden game toy from Charisma 7, an old industrial photo from a different NY flea I stopped at, magnetic scottie dogs from a local estate sale, and a 1940s hunting license I bought at the Brooklyn flea while I was still in school.

The '30s baby toy that I might end up hanging in my room

Honest Abe, from my favorite local vintage store, and a better look at the license and game!

A couple of photos from various fleas and antique stores

My dad's old boy scout ties, still in the box, that we found tucked away in my grandparent's dresser!

An 1800s botanist/florist book and "The Cat and the Fiddle" from "The Olde Book Shoppe," the coolest '20s lady from Hell's Kitchen, and a silly stuffed toy with one leg shorter than the others so it can't really stand up on its own (which makes me love it more, I think).

The best part about the book I found definitely has to be the faded impressions leftover from pressings done many'a years ago imprinted within a few select pages.

xx