The Quarter Table

Here in my corner of upstate New York, the leaves are off the trees and the winds are blowing colder. Both are sure signs that another yard sale season is over, which means until spring, my junkin' jones will have to be satisfied with thrift stores, estate sales and occasional trips to the Sunday flea market at the Central New York Regional Market.

Last Sunday, that's where I was, hanging out at the Quarter Table.

 

The Quarter Table is just that, a simple card table where everything on it is just a quarter.

Here's how the Quarter Table works: Around 9 a.m. or so, the card table appears (always in Shed A). Quickly, a crowd gathers 'round, elbow to elbow, often two to three deep.

Eventually, the "Quarter-preneurs" -- I'm convinced that they clean out estates -- arrive and dump plastic totes of vintage stuff on the table. And then, the "fun" begins. Hands grab as soon as the stuff hits the table. And, yes, it is a bit of feeding frenzy.

You have to be both quick and patient to profit. If you see something that you want, grab it. But don't be surprised if what you want but didn't get to grab first returns to the table and into your hands. Some of the folks around the table work in pairs. The person next to the table picks up anything that looks interesting and passes it outside the circle to their partner. Sometimes the item rejected item reappears on the pile.

On Sunday, I scored a February 1958 edition of Pack-O-Fun craft magazine (but only after someone else put it back on the table). I'll be sure to share some of the Valentine's Day crafts sometime in January. My other find were these six plastic Santa mugs, which look like the Holt Howard ones. I'll add them to my Santa wreaths like I did on this one. The mug, by the way, is on the left side of the wreath. 

At a previous Quarter Table, I picked up the sheet music for "Moon River," a 1949 baby book, a World War II ration booklet, some vintage pins and two jars of old glitter.

How's that for an eclectic mix? The best part is that you really can't go wrong with your purchases, knowing that they only set you back a quarter (or two).

Comments

[svelteSTUFF]

HA! HA!
We occassionally journey from Auburn to 'The Market' - I can usually coax DH w/ the promise of breakfast at The Little Gem afterwards 8-)

I always hit the Quarter Table (OR 5/$1.00!!). DH just stands back and shakes his head when he sees the crowd gathering!!

The people that have those tables are actually dealers in Utica!

[suzy]

The quarter table, love that! Love that Santa wreath too.

[Juanita]

Awesome, I think that I could be content with a feeding frenzy over the quarter table! Neat treasures to find, and I love the wreath.

[Ann]

Love all of your purchases! It must be fun to hunt through The Quarter Table!!

[laurie]

I wannna go to the quarter table!!! We don't have anything like that around here. Love the wreath!

[Joanna {sweet finds}]

there is a booth similar to this at the Canton flea market in Texas. It's my fav! The dealer usually has boxes upon boxes set up in a row. Customers can purchase a plastic bag for $2.00 or a box for $3.00, and then we stuff it til it's full.

The only catch... the dealer charges a little extra if you only pick a thing or two.

I have found all kinds of vintage goodies there. xoxo, Joanna