Last Saturday I spent hours weaving around the colourful tents that dotted a field in Aberfoyle, Ontario. These are the things that caught my eye.
The Aberfoyle Antique Market, about half an hour from my house, is Canada's oldest antique market, opening in 1961. It's open every Sunday until the end of October but twice a year they hold what they call the Saturday Special.
Guest vendors fill the parking lots and fields surrounding the regular show and it's become the place to go for junkers who are still mourning the demise of the exceptional Christie Antique Sale.
It was an immensely popular, world class, outdoor antique show that took place twice a year for the past 30 years with 10,000 people showing up every time.
The city cancelled it.
If you work for the City of Hamilton and know exactly who I should send my most respectful comments on this decision to - please let me know.
SO that leaves us with Aberfoyle and a perfectly pleasant fall day.
These are the things that caught my eye. ONE of which came home with me so get ready to guess what I bought.
The Thing I Regret *Not* Buying
I'd never seen anything like this table runner before. A penny rug that you could never, ever duplicate. That's the thing about antiques. The aged fabric, wood or metal just can't be convincingly faked or reproduced.
You could make a copy of this penny rug sure. But it wouldn't have the softness that a century of wear gives it. Or the subtle beautiful fading of the fabric.
That's what I love so much about antiques. They have a depth that new things just don't.
See what I did there?
Steiff hand puppet. This is the kind of thing you find at an antique show and think ... holy crap ... who knew I'd like a tiger hand puppet so much.
I was just having a conversation with one of my sisters a couple of weeks ago about these old cardboard Humpty Dumpty potato chip containers. They were like hat boxes for your chips.
Add a trip to the Pop Shop before Saturday night's Love Boat and ... you had a seriously good night ahead of you.
One of the most unique fines at the show was this bar cart.
The porcelain dolls in the cart are called Piano Babies. Draping a shawl across the drawing room piano was once in fashion. These dolls are made and marketed as a way to keep the piano's shawl from falling off.
They were weird times indeed.
It was a rough day for Superman.
FUN FACT:
Superman was in fact Made in Canada. The artist who created him was from Toronto. You can learn more about how very Canadian Superman is in this article from the CBC.
If you like the kissing dogs photo you'll love tomorrow's post which is going to be a tribute to The Dogs of Aberfoyle.
They f&*ked with my FRIES. The importance of french fries to an antique show trip can't be overstated.
They're the reason for going. The reason for walking. The reason for everything.
And then some rogue lunatic cook randomly decides to serve french fries dusted with a flavourful spice mix on them as if this were some kind of Michelin starred antique show and ruin my day.
Luckily my mood lifted as soon as I saw the 10 cent pen dispenser. I want to live in a house that's large enough to accommodate important household items like retractable pen vending machines.
Tomorrow's post will reveal what, out of all these curiosities, came home with me. Take your guess now in the comment section ...
So many choices…I’m going with Superman, the Potato Chip Tin and would have gone with the Penny Rug (perfect colours in yer kitchen) that you didn’t buy. The Liquor Cabinet Cart is tres cool, maybe you bought. I suspect $$$
I think you brought home either the ironstone platter or one of the winter scene hooked rugs. Or.....or....or.....
I’m also guessing that you bought the framed painting of the woman in the elaborate lace cap. My personal fave is the miniature wooden sideboard with two drawers (sitting odd to the right of the hooked rug). Have never seen one like it.
The penny rug was interesting…but a little paranoid about it harbouring carpet beetles. I suppose putting an old textile like that in the freezer (carefully wrapped up in plastic) for a couple months could take care of any potential critters though.
What a great selection of stuff, and a gorgeous day for antiquing! Look forward to reading about what you did choose!
I love the crawling, creepy, baby. However, I am going with the license plate. Very random and possibly the date of 1966 in meaningful in some way.
...is meaningful...
The little snowy cabin hooked rug
The penny rug feels like Karen!❤️❤️❤️
One of the rugs with the red cabin in the snow, the painting of the lady in the blue dress and the large green demi glass jug/vase.
Definitely the lady portrait and the grumpy baby, perhaps also the white chairs!?
The white birdcage. That is what I would buy if I had space. And a bird.
The stuffed tiger .... Chez Helen! The TV show in the 60's! Yep, just showed my age! I can't go to this place, even though it's soooo close to me. I would be bringing so much home with me!!
Chez Helene!! I loved that show too!
I've never heard of Chez Helen. Was it a character? It sounds like a character that would be on Mr. Dressup. ~ karen!
Chez Helene was a Canadian-made show with French Helene & her English-speaking younger friend whose name escapes me at the moment. And I think there was a cat. It was an introduction to French for Anglo children. It ran on the CBC & I watched it in Saskatchewan. Surprised you haven't heard of it. It ran next to 'The Friendly Giant' & before 'Butternut Square' which introduced Mr. Dress up.
I'm guessing the winter scene hooked rug was your winner!
The Coca-Cola tin sign.
I think you purchased the women's portrait and the cranky baby porcelain. They totally have your vibe! Also I love them!
The little oval plate with blue design sitting on the penny rug
I WOULD have bought that but I was so taken with the rug that I didn't even notice it until I got home and looked at the photo. ~ karen!
I hope it was the Steiff tiger hand puppet! Seeing it brought back to me a rush of early childhood memories. I had the exact same puppet, though mine ultimately was rendered a battered mess and could not have ended up at an antique market looking so good and with that kind of price tag on it. I can, right now, remember the feel of my little fingers up inside it. . . .
No idea what you bought. But those red pots would go great in my kitchen and would have really tempted me. And that grumpy face baby statue cracked me up, I definitely would have bought that. The few times I've been to Aberfoyle I've found great things. Like the mid century modern dining table I'm still sad about. Problem is getting them back to the States on public transportation.
I’m with you! I loved those!
That table runner is amazing! Now I have to figure out how that's done!
Ok, kind of weird timing...I just read this post and then went to an online auction site, perusing an auction currently live and look what they have! (couldn't attach a pic)
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/162139429_lot-of-6-vintage-steiff-stuffed-animals
I don't think it would be possible for you to pass on that horrid little crawling baby! Halloween, you are all set. Even with sunglasses, I saw you watching me in that picture!
I'm keeping an eye on you for sure. ;) ~ karen!
What a great day you had for strolling! I think you'd have bought the framed (Portuguese?) blue tiles. Well, I really liked it for you. ;)