Rise ‘n Shine: Breakfast At The Flea Market!

When it comes to flea market shopping, the early bird catches the worm. So with mocha lattes in hand, we paid the extra $5 to get in before dawn with the serious bargain hunters––for breakfast at the flea market!

Top Of The Morning
While the hardcore collectors headed for showstoppers like fancy birdcages and giant store signs, we started toward tables filled with breakfast collectibles. Kitty was looking for vintage jelly glasses like the ones we grew up with. Who knew we’d see such a variety before we even had breakfast? The seller at our first stop had dozens of colorful glasses arranged around a deco Juice-O-Mat juicer. We skipped the Welch’s jars printed with Archie and Scooby Doo and set aside a trio of glasses featuring springy tulips priced at $3 each. We could see this booth was full of deals, so Jennifer added on a Depression Glass hand-juicer and a pretty set of floral glasses with a matching pitcher. If only we had a bag of oranges!

Coffee Break
A few aisles over, we saw more classic kitchenalia. Jennifer got a red and white enamel percolator and three vintage coffee cans to display on top of her kitchen cabinets. All for $40!

Then we spotted something we’d never seen before, a wooden egg crate with 24 little compartments. The vendor told us it was most likely from the early 1900s, and she showed us the metal handle and dovetail joints. Kitty was in love, and for $30, she carried that cute crate home.

Toast Of The Town
Maybe we were just getting hungry, but a table sporting syrup dispensers, a waffle iron, and a cast-iron bacon press got us drooling. Jennifer tested every syrup dispenser and settled on a five-dollar one with a red lid for her hubby. Kitty snagged a wire toast rack to sort bills on her desk, only $8. We both admired a mid-century Georges Briard teakettle, but the $50 price tag was too rich for our blood. Kitty pointed out a shiny chrome toaster with a fabric cord. “Just like the one my in-laws had!”

The vendor also had milk bottles marked from $5 to $150. Why the big range in prices? He said like all things collectible, old and rare ones in excellent condition fetch good money. We each picked out a $7 bottle. Not rare or old, but perfect for wildflowers on the breakfast table.

This Little Piggy
Jennifer led us to a booth loaded with creamers and sugars. We recognized a piggy pitcher just like one we had growing up. It had closed eyes with long eyelashes and a puckered mouth. The dealer confessed she had been collecting piggy creamers for ages. She thought the one we liked might be Shawnee. They made pottery for dime stores during the 40s and 50s, and the pieces are highly collectible now. We couldn’t resist this blast from the past, so we pooled our last few dollars. And for $15, that little piggy went home!