Sunday, November 7, 2010

Redwood Country Flea Market, Wallingford, Connecticut




Redwood Country Flea Market 170 South Turnpike Road, Wallingford, Every Sat. & Sun. year round! Approx. 60-90 dealers, Ample Free parking, Free admission, Antiques, Collectibles, New & Used items, Sports Items, Tools, Music, DVDs, Produce, Flowers, Clothing, Jewelry, Coins.
Hours: 6 AM to 2:30 PM
Restaurant on premises, indoor restrooms, Our 33rd Year! More info Ken Dubar, 203-269-3500

Directions: I-91 left off exit 13; 1st R, next R 500' to market; Rte 15 (Merritt/Wilbur Cross Parkway) take L off exit 64, 1-1/2 mi. 50-80 dealers.

We went to this flea market on a Sunday in mid October. It was an overcast morning and the lot was full of vendors. I am sorry to say that we did not eat at the Redwood Grille. I would never call this an antique market even though I did find a few old toys and Jonathan found plenty of old tools to purchase. I would go back again.

There were also a handful of antique stores in the town of Wallingford.
I bought the Barbie dolls from Cathy. We discussed all the dolls we had as children.
I bought quite a few choice items this weekend. They included: 2 containers of Tinker Toys, a box of blocks including miniature bowling pins, 25 rabbit's feet, a ceramic head of Bach, 3 metal cars, 2 plastic buses, 3 train pieces, 5 beat up Barbies, Topo Gigio, a book on astronauts, plastic flowers, shell salt and pepper shakers, a small skunk, ice pick, 3 staple guns with staples and brass fasteners and a well worn wooden snake. I made one trip to the car and went back for more.



Thursday, October 28, 2010

What I Collect
















Initially, I intended to make this blog about my collecting habit and started talking about my new dog and then got lost for almost a year. I am going to start out with a list of the things that I collect. It is a list I made for my graduate thesis paper. I thought if I had a list it might make the endless boxes of stuff seem less random.


What I Collect
Dolls of any shape or size
Barbie is my best friend. I do not have a new total but I am sure it is in the thousands.
Chatty Cathy , the doll that used to talk, Tammy, Dawn, Little Kiddles and Patty Play Pal were two dolls from my childhood.
Jane West and family were after Barbie and I found that I related to her more closely because of her plain look, brown hair and movable hands that were capable of holding a camera or a gun.
There are dolls that fit the small doll homes and china head baby dolls.
Metal doll mold, Doll clothes, hangers, shoes , accessories
Doll cars, buses, motorcycles, recreational vehicles etc
Anything with a head.
Famous personalities like The Flintstones, Sonny and Cher, Farrah Fawcett and the Olsen twins.
I do have new dolls like Bratz and Troll Dolls.
Although my Knock Down Cats or Punks are in the Sea Shore Category, they are like dolls.
Hand Puppets, Marionettes and Ventriloquist Dummies.
Doll Houses and furniture,
Tin Doll houses, plastic furniture, any kind of furniture in a small scale,
Chairs that could fit small children but still in a small scale.
Rugs, small oriental ones, made from ties, fur and animal pelts.
Television Sets
Sporting equipment, gym and exercise, Bicycles, boxing gloves,
Tennis and skiing.
Luggage, pocketbooks
Petite Princess and Princess Patti Furniture
They deserve their own category because they are the newest addition to my collection. It is a dollhouse full of furniture that is made with real fabric, plastic and brass-like metal pieces.
Hand crafted items include:
Knitted Poodle dogs,
Bottle cap chair, chain, bottle, snake
Sewing items, fabric. thread, buttons, Knitted Poodle dogs, embroidered and needlepointed works.
Dogs in general, preferably plastic, knitted, plaster, tin
Taxidermy to include, Deer heads and hooves, squirrels, foxes, alligators, alligator purses, chicks, fish, seagull, etc. I often think my earliest association to the taxidermy is from the Addams Family television show. There was a standing bear in the show and a fish with a foot sticking out of its mouth.
Bulls, Bull fighters and dancing women
SMALL TOYS
Small plastic teeth, nails etc.
Pez, Mr. Potato Head, Plastic animals, Playmobile
The Dollar Store, or as I call it the "Thirty Dollar Store", I buy endless items at the dollar store. Bugs, spiders, snakes, skeletons
Books, art books, how to do books, sheet music, post cards, ephemera in general, signs,
Photography of children, dogs
Small metal buildings
Guns, both plastic and small metal
Musical instruments, pianos, heads of composers.
Cameras, both toy and real useable ones
Pictures of dead people.
Mechanical toys, battery operated or wind up, broken or working.
Handmade mosaic ashtrays
Tramp Art, pocketbooks and picture frames woven out of cigarette packs
Bowling pins
Noise makers
Rubber Stamps, any older office equipment
The list could grow at any time if something new catches my attention.

April 2019 *SINCE this original post, I have added some new items to my list.

Objects made from bottlecaps (this would fit into the Tramp Art Category)

I do not buy as many Barbies because I do not like the new ones but I do still buy an old one if it  is good.

I still buy doll furniture but I have upgraded from the plastic furniture (althought I still but Renwal) to the metal Tootsie Toy and Arcade brands. They are from the 20's and are much more expensive and rare.

Metal (Tin) Watercolor Paint Boxes with the fancy pictures on the lids. I just like the boxes. The paints are usually trashed.

The Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty Circus are toys are originally from 1903. There are animals. clowns and accessories.

I love DOGS and even if I mentioned it I still collect them. I used to only collect plastic ones and then switched to china. In the past few years I have focused on "Dogs with and Injury". They make Boxers with their tails bandaged, Dog with a Toothache etc.

I do buy some cats but not too many.

I like sculptures that are an artist painting or sculpting. Mostly under 12" or 6". Artist at the potters wheel etc.

to be continued.....















Rexland's One Year Anniversary


Rexland, Rex, Rexie, Rexalino, Little Man; any one of those names will get my little friend to come running with his little stump of a tail wagging so quickly that it makes his hind end curve sideways.

It has been one year since he made the long trip from North Carolina. We still can not figure out why his original owner let him go.

This is a current picture of Rexland. In my initial post I said he was 1 1/2 years old. It turns out he is really between 3 and 6 years old. He is still really frisky and so incredibly loving.