The Whittier Spring Antique & Vintage Street Faire

If you’d had asked me months ago if I would be spending my time at an Antique road show on a weekend morning, I would probably feel like a fossil and would think that it’s time that I got bumped off. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some old timey stuff. I have a place filled with pinball machines, a jalopy with a cracked windshield in the back and a slew of old postcards– half of which are written to and from people long since dead.
But the idea of walking around a swap meet for old trinkets just doesn’t fit in with my hard boiled image. Gee golly, was I wrong. I loved every moment I walked around here. It also took me back to my early days when I was a youngin’. I would go to flea markets every weekend with my parents lookin’ for that bargain. It’s the awe of being like Indiana Jones without any of the stigma of sorting through someone’s garbage on trash day.
A lot of the clothing and items sold were perfect for hipsters– if you still believe that hipster means being a follower of bop jazz of the 50’s. Much like comic con, I think the real hep factor about this faire was that there was a lot of folks who were rockin’ the look of the era (s) and, I gotta say, were the cat’s meow.
What caught my eye was a bunch of empty old hooch bottles. Clearly someone had been storing a Gin mill in their backyard over in Whittier. Either that or someone’s grandparent they raided a speakeasy trash bin
Old radios– some of which only had AM tuners. Which, while looked amazing, you’d have to be a dumb Dora in order to stand listening to a limited selection of KFI for the rest of your days. The Big Bopper would not approve.
I think a lot of the appeal of flea markets is to get all American Pickers and find that hidden treasure that the sucker getting rid of it doesn’t know what he owns. Not the case here. These antique’ers know what they got and aren’t going to be a knocked off when it comes to getting their perceived value. I overheard a couple of price haggling exchanges and boy howdy, these vendors are no pushovers.
But aside from gawking at really neat-​o wares that I probably will just let sit for 30 years until I set up a booth and try to unload them on another pool soul, I was here for a mission. Seems that luck was on my side and I was representing Unilocal in the Apple Pie judging contest. My goodness, if this wasn’t a taste of Americana with a few hundred calories, I don’t know what is.
There I was, making the scene with my Unilocal shirt, but after 10 pies, I was beat. This was no Stand By Me Barf-​o-​rama moment, no good sir. These pies were picture perfect and I doubt I scored any under an 7 in taste, appearance, texture and flavor. By the end I was screaming Applesauce! Which is what my belly felt like it was filled with.
The fall Vintage and Antique street faire has a pumpkin pie contest. My oh my, that sounds delicious– even in this nice April heat. Well worth checking out and bring some cash. You don’t want to be caught all wet and pass up the chance to take someone else’s old junk and putting it into your garage.
One note though — come on folks, don’t bring your uncut sheet of Michael Jordan cards. That’s neither vintage nor antique. If it is, then I’ll really start to feel old.