Yesterday, my friend Sandy and I visited St. Petersburg's Brocante, a new vintage market with dozens of vendors and "15,000 square feet of vintage bliss."
The brocante is the brainchild of Sean and Celesta Carter, and it's open the first full weekend of every month.
That the brocante is restricted to once per month is a large part of its evident success. The Carters — and the many vendors who have joined them — obviously take the better part of each month to be selective in what is included, and also take the time to present vintage items in ways that are visually stimulating.
For example, all these items were grouped to suggest Dad's shop, and one can immediately imagine sitting in that chair and tying a few fishing flies or working on a kit.
Likewise, these religious icons were resting on a very long and substantial church pew.
In an area of filing cabinets and lockers, I noticed this cool cabinet that once held college microscopes.
Globes have a huge retro appeal today, and for the person with a keen eye, the brocante held a ready-made collection.
If my dining room ceiling weren't quite so low, I might have snapped up these vintage lamps.
How's this for vintage — spats!
Years ago somebody bought a white cigarette holder, a sophisticated choice and the only one missing from this set.
Have you ever heard of a Dorking Rooster?
(Is he x-rated?) I was instantly attracted to this handsome image because it was an original 1870's lithograph. It doubtlessly was 19th-century advertising .
I'm continually intrigued by these old team photographs. Have you ever noticed that the sports teams at the turn of the last century almost always included guys who wouldn't rise above bat boy today?
With its enameled metal top, this old cabinet could be a fun piece of outdoor furniture.
You'll never guess what this is, so I'll just tell you — it a detail from a vintage lampshade.
My purchase for the day was this lithographed tin, a perfect companion piece to
my Lucky Strike tin of the same era. It probably dates to around the 1880s and is in virtually mint condition — a great find!
St. Petersburg's Brocante is very well thought out, efficiently organized, fun to visit and a great addition to the area. If you're in St. Petersburg, here's what you need to know:
2200 2nd Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL 33712
www.brocantemarket.com
facebook.com/brocantemarket
.
I'm wondering if this once-a-month market is a new trend. We have a few around here that recently started and I guess they're extremely well attended. I love poking around places like this.
ReplyDeleteHi, Steve,
DeleteThe once-a-month market is a much higher grade than the flea markets I've usually seen in Florida, and I think people respond to that. Apparently word of mouth has been huge because the Saturday morning opening resembles the Oklahoma Land Rush. I chatted with the owner, Sean Carter, and he pointed out to me that everything there was different than the last month's items. Considerations like that build anticipation.
Hi Mark, I have been trying to be "good" lately about accumulating, so luckily I'm not subject to such temptations. I do think you got the pick of the lot--your tin is small, old, in great condition, and lithographed tin is always 'cool'.
ReplyDeleteI was also taken with the colorful cigarette holder display. I wonder what kinds of personalities would select the different colors? Also interesting that the traditional amber color is missing.
--Jim
Dear Jim,
DeleteI know how you feel about accumulating. Almost everything that I collect now is (has to be) either small or flat.
I looked at those cigarette holders and thought it strange that there were no black ones. But then I thought perhaps a person would buy different colors to match different outfits. I had completely forgotten about the amber cigarette holders, but you reminded me that my grandfather's corn cob pipes had amber mouthpieces.
Dear Mark - I love to wander around vintage and antique markets, but it is something I haven't done for a while.
ReplyDeleteI checked out the Dorking Rooster - they are believed to have originated in Italy during the Roman empire and were introduced to Britain at the time of the Roman conquest making it one of the oldest English breeds.
They were admitted in to the American Poultry Association's Standard of Perfection in 1874.
I was interested to find this out as H's father farmed just near to the market town of Dorking, Surrey, which became one the main breeding centres and where they are named after.
The town has a huge silver Dorking Cockerel sculpture which sits on a roundabout as you enter the town.
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteThank you for passing along the information on the Dorking Rooster. That the Americans recognized it in 1874 makes perfect sense because the lithograph was from that very same time period.
I love when communities celebrate with public art the animals that are important to their livelihood. The statue of the cockerel also reminded me of H. J. Heinz, who put golden pickles on the gate to his estate.
oh what a fun shopping day -thanks for taking us along!
ReplyDeleteHi, Stefan - you would have enjoyed a couple of architectural artifacts there!
DeleteThose globes would have been my undoing, Mark. :) I love all this sort of stuff. That tin you bought is lovely. A great find. Once upon a time I used to collect all sorts of things though over the years I've had to winnow out much of it due to lack of space. But once a collector always a collector. :) It's all about the thrill of the hunt and the possible sighting of another treasure. I love to attend auctions too though I haven't been in quite a while.
ReplyDeleteHi, Yvette,
DeleteAs a four-year-old I was attracted to a range of bottle caps (do you remember that they used to have cork inside the caps?), and I've been a serious collector of many things ever since.
My urge to collect lessened once I owned my own house, and I came to realize that for me (who had been a renter theretofore), collecting was very much a nesting instinct.
I too have lightened the load, but as I've mentioned in other comments, I still find pleasure in collections that are flat or small.
Dear Mark, Did you take your shopping list with you? Can't think of a better place to find a few and special presents. Would love to own that beautiful Dorking Rooster...our hens would be so impressed.
ReplyDeleteDear Gina,
Delete. . . and speaking of collecting, you've amassed quite an array of hens!
http://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/2010/11/pullets.html
Ha! I grew up just outside of Dorking (on bucolic Leith Hill) and the image of the Dorking Cockerel is all over town! They have 5 toes which makes them unusual. And no, Dorking is not where all the 'dorks' live. The Saxon name was "Dorchinges'
ReplyDeleteOh, I would never ever say that about the good residents of Dorking! Thanks for your comment, Anne — the great thing about the Internet is that I get to learn something new and interesting every day!
DeleteShopping is my one of best hobbies and sometime it gives me more happiness and i got some interesting information from your blog post. Recently i published the Bedroom Decor ideas. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDear Laura,
DeleteThanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I'm a great believer in retail therapy, but my house has an odd way of getting smaller, so these days retail therapy is mostly restricted to window shopping!