Tuesday 13 July 2010

VINTAGE COASTAL TREASURES AT CONNECTICUT'S OWN ELEPHANT TRUNK COUNTRY FLEA MARKET


ABOVE PHOTO: What a find! A lovely vintage shell art mirror - $50!

The Elephant Trunk Country Flea Market is located on Route 7 in New Millford CT and is a well known hunting ground for designers, collectors and folks who just love stuff. It is open every Sunday from April thru November at 5:45 am to 2 pm. Those of you who want first dibs on undiscovered treasures can enter the flea market at 5:45 am to 7 am for $20 per person. After 7 am , the price of admission drops to $2 per person. It does pay to get to the flea market as early as you can. Their is always ample parking however, after 9 am the market does tend to get packed and I've seen some vendors pack up their treasures and head on out as early as 11 am.



ABOVE PHOTOS: Shoppers at the Elephant Trunk flea market.

The Elephant Trunk offers a treasure trove of mostly vintage goods at mostly bargain prices. You will find a few craft vendors, some new items and vendors selling plants in the mix. My trip today was mainly to seek out vintage pieces I could possibly use with or incorporate into my shell work.


ABOVE PHOTO: Bargains on tarp. You will find a lot of things like this scattered about the flea market.

Since the Elephant Trunk is so large (it sits on a 55-acre parcel of vacant land), you really have to be focused in your game of "I spy" in order to find exactly what your looking for.



ABOVE PHOTO: Vintage steamer trunks $300.


ABOVE PHOTO: A Mermaid statue.

The thing I love most about the Elephant Trunk are the people. The vendors are friendly, funny and willing to bargain with you. I remember a few years back, a vendor, I called him the "king of the costume jewelry." He would sit in a big chair in the middle of piles and piles of cardboard boxes filled to the brim with tangled old costume jewelry. After you spent forever sifting though and untangling your finds, you would need to bring your jewels over to the "king" for a price. He was very serious. He didn't talk. He didn't smile. He would look over the goods (as if he knew the exact origin of every piece of old jewelry ever made) and do the calculation in his head. You would be very anxious to see what price the "king" was going to come up with. Then he would come up with some ridiculously low price, like $5.00 for 15 or 20 pieces. I loved this guy. I didn't see him today though.



ABOVE PHOTO: Crated model Ship sits high above piles of stuff.


ABOVE PHOTO: Very cute and highly collectable, vintage Sea Horse salt & pepper shaker. It was in perfect condition (although the dealer said it had a chip, it didn't). It was missing only the stoppers but still a deal (for a lover of all things coastal) at $5. I bought it.


ABOVE PHOTOS: Some thing I always love to see - vintage shells.

My trip the the Elephant Trunk was fruitful. I did manage to find a very large vintage wooden octagon wall clock (not shown) that could be used as an encasement for a Sailor's Valentine or related. I am going to see if I can salvage this piece. It had some molding damage but is still usable.


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