Sunday, February 10, 2008

A fair day

A week ago I was at the Alameda Antique Fair, which is held the first Sunday of every month at the old Navy base, right across the bay from San Francisco (see it there in the background?). We were lucky; it had rained quite a bit the day before and clouds were threatening, so the place was not crowded with sellers or shoppers, and there was no entrance fee (usually $5 after 9 a.m.; more for early birds). The sun would come out for a bit and warm things up, but you could see more weather was coming in.
One thing that really caught my eye: Chinese combination locks! (Combo included.) Very cool. But pricey. I was tempted, though.

The Zippos were also neat. The dolls less so.

I loved the colors of the siphons. If you were opening an old-fashioned soda shop, they'd make a nice decoration.

One seller had crates of old tin ceiling tiles. You could make a neat wall display out of them in the right space.
The mirrors made from them were neat, too.
Lots and lots of jewelry was on display. This was the last case of it we saw, and hit the jackpot on poodle pins. I should have taken a photo of all the ones the seller pulled out for me, but I was too busy looking them over. Just as we finished our transaction, it started raining in earnest, as you can see from the case.
We dashed back to the car, with a quick stop along the way to shoot this lovely relic in the parking lot.

Here's my souvenir, for $12.

3 comments:

  1. I would have had fun (and a much lighter wallet) there!

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  2. It is hard to resist! But knowing I could only get something small helped limit the impulse shopping. Plus I'm trying to keep my tchotchke clutter to a minimum.

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  3. oo cute cute, love the poodle! I've never been to this place, I might have to check it out sometime. I think I read an article about it once in a magazine also.

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