I'm not sure when I first heard about the madness that is the Brimfield antique show, but it's been mentioned to me several times since I moved to Massachusetts. The show is held three times a year, in May, July, and September. Finally, this month, I got a chance to go with Stephen and his parents.
Wow. So much stuff! Great old pine cupboards, pie safes, woodworking tools, luggage, boats, lanterns, jewelry, snowshoes, quilts, toys, butter churns, candle molds, fur coats--everything your grandparents and my grandparents and some of the stuff that their grandparents had. Literal acres of stuff. I'm glad I didn't have much money to spend, because that helped me filter out a lot of what we passed. My only regret was not being able to afford a few yards of the vintage French ticking fabric we saw midway through the afternoon. Like I need more fabric.
I did get these great old shoes in one of the clothing tents for $5. The proprietor had been carrying them around to show after show and couldn't find anyone they fit, so she threw them on the sale table. Yahoo!
Such bargains are dangerous, though. I have trouble passing up any clothing that fits and is on sale, and I've got overburdened dresser drawers and several bulging boxes of shoes to show for it. I'm trying to pare things down a little. I took a bag full of underused stuff to a clothing swap last week and managed to walk away with just two new shirts. I've got a few nice things left that I don't wear much, so I made an appointment to consign them at a local second-hand store next month. The store offer consignors a discount if they spend their earnings there, which sounds like a recipe for disaster (of the not-making-any-money-and-buying-more-stuff variety), but my intention going into this venture is to put more thought and care into buying fewer, nicer things. We'll see how that goes.
I do like these shoes, though.
