"Antique" Market

rockislandmike

Active Member
Hey guys, my wife dragged me out to an "antique" market with another couple this afternoon, and I was dreading the whole thing. And sure enough, for the first half of this gargantuan complex, it was pretty boring. The only thing that kept me going was that my wife and I are collecting martini shakers, and we found a few as we were going through (and, surprisingly enough, about half a dozen stuffed Alf's from the television show of the same name - not that we bought any, but it was kind of weird).

At any rate, in the last aisle was a veritable treasure. Two rather large "booths" had archives of magazines, maps, and calendars. I model June 1980 on my layout, and believe it or not, I found myself a Life from May 1980, and a 1980 calendar. I'm gonna have to head back when I have more time and nobody to hurry me up (because of course the women weren't interested in that booth), and I'll probably be able to find quite a bit more. I'm gonna use some of the ads in the Life magazine to create billboards; and I'll put the calendar up on the wall of the layout room when I have it.

So, just a point, if you have something like this locally, you may want to check it out. The magazine only cost me $2.
 

Tileguy

Member
RImike, antique shops and flea markets can be treasure troves for old railroadiana.I have found timetables,matchbooks,thermometers,calanders,old rule books etc and some of them were very good buys.others i payed a premium for but i figured they would only go up in value if cared for.I have also come across great old industry information.For example i have a newsletter put out by one of the large mining companies from the 1930's with a wealth of pictures and information on processing etc.

I never purposely set out to collect railroadiana,however over the years i have managed to end up with quite an eclectic collection despite my self :D
 

ezdays

Out AZ way
Thrift stores are a great source as well. My son goes to them often looking for underpriced collectables and this past Saturday he told me there was a store across town run by a church group that had an N scale layout with rolling stock, engines, power packs, building kits and a bunch of other stuff. Not only did I get the reminents of someone that looks like they lost interest in the hobby, but my purchase goes to a worthy charity. I got stuff that I know dates back from the early 60's to the mid 90's.

Hey, in a few more years I'll have some "antique" N scale equipment.:D
 
F

Fred_M

I have even purchased model stuff at flea markets. Just watch out for the dirty 1980's Bachmann stuff that says antique HO passanger car... $45 on the label. It's like a baited hook waiting for some newbie collector. FRED
 

jon-monon

Active Member
(because of course the women weren't interested in that booth)

That's where a pair of those litte FM squawkie-talkies comes in handy :D I keep a set in my van. The little family FM two way radios.
 
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Fred_M

Good point, we use cell phones. I sometimes even dump her somewhere and go to another store. She can spend 16 hours in the Supercenter. I hate Supercenters, the old Walmarts closed at 9pm so men could go home to bed. But no, not these new ones. I remember my boy went to the Supercenter at 11 pm so he could get a new just released limited supply Xbox (and PS2 before that). Next day at 9am they still had some. What a bunch of.... Do they call them Supercentres in Canada? FRED
 
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