When it comes to summertime at the flea market, we’ve got the scoop.
We love strolling the flea market on hot summer days. The pace is slow and the mood is relaxed. This trip was extra fun because we brought our darling Aunt Kay with us, and she loves antiquing as much as we do!
We didn’t have anything on our lists, but we had ice cream on the brain. It all started when Kay spotted a vintage “Jiffy” ice cream churn that we all agreed would make a cute conversation piece. Just down the aisle, we saw a colorful arrangement of parfait glasses filled with “scoops” of yarn. A great storage idea! Jennifer was sold! She got four parfaits for two bucks each and convinced the seller to throw in some yarn. The display will be adorable in her studio.
That was just the first scoop. We then ran across banana split dishes, a wire cone holder, and a set of dessert die-cuts that Kay remembered from her childhood Woolworth’s. One dealer had ice cream scoops by the dozens––some wood, some metal, and some Bakelite. Kitty thought they’d look delish hung on a narrow wall, one over the over.
Kay liked the idea so much, she scored five for $3 each, and picked out an orange one for Cousin Inger, who is the sherbet queen!
Jennifer gushed over a hand-painted “Ice Cream” sign with snowy letters and a swirly pink cone. The vendor said it wasn’t old, but it was handmade in retro-styling by her neighbor Jan Ely. At only $25, Jennifer had no choice but to take it home. And with that, we made our way to the Dairy Dip truck. Three soft-serve cones, please!
Shake It
The find of the day was a 1940s jadeite green Hamilton Beach Drinkmaster. Wow! Our friend Margaret has one she keeps out on her counter, not only because it looks terrific…it still makes amazing milkshakes. This one was in excellent condition and the seller only wanted $30. Kitty figured a new one would cost that much or more and wouldn’t be nearly as gorgeous. So she bought it, and then found out the thing weighs fifteen pounds! We left it with the vendor and picked it up at the end of the show.
Time In A Bottle
We see seltzer bottles at the flea market every time we go. But outside of slapstick comedy routines, we didn’t know much about them and surprisingly neither did Aunt Kay. The vendor said his mother used them to make Egg Creams, mixing carbonated water from the seltzer bottle with milk and Fox’s U-bet chocolate syrup. If they were lucky and had real ice cream, they made Black & White sodas, a sweet treat on a warm afternoon. We thought the bottles were pretty sweet too, and now we each have our own!
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