Coburg Antique Fair 2010

This is what it looks like if you arrive at the Coburg Antique Fair at 5:30am.

It's crazy. It's cold and dark (a hot beverage is a must just to keep your hands warm). It's when some of the best stuff gets bought. It's tradition. I'll do it again next year for sure.

The Coburg Antique Fair is a one-day event I look forward to every year.

Here's Kim, one of my favorite Coburg companions, whispering her early Christmas list into Santa's ear. I think it probably included something about word flashcards or Halloween stuff.

One of my favorite things to do is check out the collections of like-items.

Lots of looking around. Lots of going back through booths again to see what we missed the first time.

There's lots of layers at shows like this.

There's layers of looking. The first layer is the initial look - a general overview for those pieces I know are likely to have a sold tag or have disappeared when we come around again. That first layer is almost always followed by a few more pass throughs to take a much closer look at the smaller items being offered in the booths. Sometimes I grab things right away, like the letter A you'll see below. Other times I have to walk away and think about it for awhile.

There's layers of clothing. It's usually really cold when we begin the morning and boiling hot at mid-day when we are ready to head home.

And then there's the literal layers of years of so much of the stuff. My head fills with thoughts of who, what, where, when, and why. Where are these from? What in the heck is this thing? Why would someone get rid of these? What could I make with this?

It's truly one of my favorite events of the year.

Here's a look at a couple of things that came home with us in 2010:

Katie brought this great old pink radio and a cool telephone sign I forgot to photograph.

Kim found a bunch of cool word flashcards - I loved that they included illustrations.

And here's what came home with me:

A couple years ago I picked up an orange "Statesman" newspaper holder - this new yellow one will make it a nice pair. The rolling cart and giant letter A will go in my office (the "A" was my first purchase in the early AM and was a definitely a hooray for the day). The glass vases will be in the living room for now - supposedly they are wine jugs from France. I just really liked the shape. The other large basket will be a home for the collection of kids indoor and outdoor balls.

Looking forward to that 4:30am alarm again next year and hoping Chris will be home to come along.