Auction Fever!

Elkhart, IN          High:  92          Low:  73

Sparky started typing "hot" instead of high for the first line of the temperatures, the heat must be getting to her!

Off to Shipshewanna early this morning for a quick breakfast at Wanna Cup, a little Amish restaurant. Service was very slow, food was ok, they screwed up Eldy's order but fixed it. We noticed they screwed up some other patrons' orders as well. There are some better restaurants for breakfast in the area, we felt this one is slipping and not as good as it used to be...

Off to the flea market and auction!  Flea market first, before it got too hot...the usual stuff...sox, gloves....fit over sunglasses....cheap ball caps.....The antiques auction is every Wednesday, year round, and starts at 9:00 AM.

......everything imported from China, India, etc. Hardly any crafts any more, Sparky is sorry to see that part disappear. You used to be able to find the coolest, handmade crafts at great prices, but not any more.

The interesting part was the auction...Multiple auctions all going at the same time under the same roof. The cacophony of auctioneers' barking out the bids was deafening and took some getting used to. Sparky and Eldo saw a TON of interesting stuff today we'd like to have....Sparky likes old cameras, they were here....So we activated our bidder cards and decided to see what bargains we could find.

She bid on an old Polaroid Land Camera, complete with flash and a box of old film in a leather case for 10.00 and won! The excitement started building. Eldo was looking at "man cave" signs and stuff today. He saw some cool ones. This one went for 68.00, more than he wanted to spend, so someone else got it.

Eldo saw this NASCAR driver poster of South Bend, IN native David Stremme, and bid on it. He won it for 5.00.

Sparky saw a cool sign that would look neat in the den, Eldo's Man Cave, so she bid and got it for 10.00.

Now she's REALLY into the spirit of the auction. Let's see what else is out there! Some cool furniture but no way to get it home....(THAT'S a good thing! sighs E., with relief.) But this would have been such a great storage unit in the craft room, sighs Sparky......An old hardware store storage drawer unit.

We're NOT going to empty out the storage shed this time, just pare it down, so bigger purchases will have to wait.) A cool aluminum horse went for over 400.00, with a story behind it, but not something Sparky wanted in particular.

Beautiful lamps.....Tiffany? But not in the scheme of Florida decor, Sparky will pass.... (Whew! says E.)

Sparky eyed the beer advertising trays briefly, but they were gone by the time she made it around again....

Sparky loved this blue Carnival glass pitcher and glasses set. Have no idea how much it went for....

Eldo spied some horns and waited for the bidding to begin. By now, you know he buffed horns for a living for 42 years, so brass instruments always get his attention. There's a LOT of waiting around to get in the action for items you want. Patience is a much needed virtue. Sparky did all right waiting around, she kept getting lemonades and sitting on the nearest bench. One of these would look cool mounted on the den wall, but they were in bad shape and went for too much money so he passed....

Sparky always enjoys people watching.....She saw more smokers (you have to smoke outside the auction building) with major health issues sitting in scooters and wheelchairs, wondering why people continue to punish their bodies when it's so bad for you in the first place. But then Sparky continues to eat stuff that she knows is bad for her, so she better quit talking and move on.....

How about an old victrola record player?

Isn't it amazing that this old stuff keeps surfacing week after week, year after year? You'd think the supply would diminish. But as a dealer said, people won't let go of their possessions until they pass away, and then the families have to get rid of it. Just like the show, The Pickers, where they visit barns and houses all over the country, and continue to find TONS of old stuff to buy.

A couple more favorites that Sparky liked but didn't bid on....a child's bench with a Noah's Ark design....

"Junker" booths...Sparky just loves collections of junky old stuff....

And a beautiful old (?) saddle....

Well, after standing around for HOURS  on a hard cement floor, it's time to head home to the Elkhart Campground. Thanks for coming along on the ride today......See you in a few......