Autumn's here and while that's often good for antique shows and such, it's not as good for yard sales and estate sales (the spring and summer are often better for those). But...you know me. Out before dawn looking for that 'rusty gold' as that guy on TV says. 
The Flea Market is still the best place to look over junk. But it's like everything else. Ten percent of the dealers bring out 90% of the good junk. The rest of the dealers bring out the same tired old crap and ask too much for it.I got this old industrial steel lamp shade at the flea market last week. It's from the 20's approx. and originally came out of a victorian washboard factory building in the Boylan Heights neighborhood of Raleigh. It's much older and crustier than most of the old industrial shades that you see. 
I bought a pair of oak showcases at a yard sale in my neighborhood recently. The guy selling them was given them when he was helping demolish UNC Chapel Hill's old Medical School. They housed exhibits in its museum room. The manufacturer's label dates them to the 40's approximately.
Most yard sales are a complete waste of time. That's why I only go to ones that are in North Raleigh close by. -They're not typically worth wasting gas over. However, I have found a few interesting things.
I bought a pair of oak showcases at a yard sale in my neighborhood recently. The guy selling them was given them when he was helping demolish UNC Chapel Hill's old Medical School. They housed exhibits in its museum room. The manufacturer's label dates them to the 40's approximately.
I picked up this Bavarian antler mount at a yard sale in the Oakwood neighberhood downtown. It's an old mounting of a little antelope or mountain goat I think. The oak mounting plaque has its original dry finish and looks cooler in person!
This poster featuring the Native American dates from the 1940s. Original, old advertising has become much harder to find so I tryed getting some through a Midwestern contact who goes through old warehouses and factories out there and gets amazing stuff. The Maine potato posters came from the same source.
I picked up the oak teachers desk recently and fixed it up a little using my secret weapons (a certain finish stripper and a certain refinisher). Not a world beater by any means but not bad for the $5 that I paid for it. I could have picked up more furniture of this type recently but I passed. They take up too much space and are kind of hard to haul in my Volvo V70 wagon.
I picked up the oak teachers desk recently and fixed it up a little using my secret weapons (a certain finish stripper and a certain refinisher). Not a world beater by any means but not bad for the $5 that I paid for it. I could have picked up more furniture of this type recently but I passed. They take up too much space and are kind of hard to haul in my Volvo V70 wagon.
There's a dealer at the flea market that always has good stuff. He sets up at Round Top, Brimfield and other great shows. I traded a 60's 'flower power' bedspread for this diner plate advertising a long-defunct restaurant called 'Yummies.'
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