Your favorite Antique/Flea market finds

[Kueblerconetop]

Rusty Bunchers:

Love reading through the stories of big, wall, barn, back shelf finds. How about Antique/Flea Market finds, where you were wandering through to kill time and almost spit out your coffee, prompting your best "poker face" to inquire about that rusty can with the sellers who where not collectors. Wanted to relate my favorite. Love to hear and see your favorite.

Bucknell University, Lewisburg PA, 1983. The McDonalds had 25 cent burgers on Sunday, the same day as the flea market in the adjacent parking lot. My fraternity would head their and get about 16 each and head back. I stayed to wander the flea market. Came upon an older couple that were artists. The gentleman had 8 Stegmaier Quart cones as well as a Park Beer for sale. $5 each. They were rebuilt and touched up as he was an artist and not a collector. Bought them all. If you have a Steg Quart cone with a silver painted seam, it is most likely from this find.

Regarding the Park. Showed it to Art. L and he said to share it with the RB as there was discussion on whether or not this brand was commercially sold. The mint ones came from the brewery. Here is the dumper, so it was sold. This came from the F&S brewery in Shamokin, PA (Cedar and South Harrison street, by the Reading railroad tracks) You can bet I will attend any flea markets in that town.

[DURTBAGG]

Over the years I have found several good cans at flea markets Most of which are still on the shelf, however here is the best $5 I ever spent for a can at one

Actually it was a friend of mine that found this one day. Knowing I collected cans and having seen my collection numerous times thru the years he knew the brand was not familiar to him and he figured for $5 what the heck!!

I’ll say what the heck!!!!

[Kueblerconetop]

So cool - a dream find. And the seller may think, what a sucker $5. But then again, whats in our attic that we might throw out. How about the prices on Lionel and American Flyer trains.

[pinnacle-project]

I grew up near the Shipshewana flea market in Northern Indiana. Much of my childhood collection can be attributed to that flea market. Things were pretty simple back then. I had a cardboard suitcase that was leftover from a Boy Scouts fundraiser. I would fill it up with cans and walk around the flea market looking for people who had cans. There was a guy with a red beard who often showed up with a bread truck full of cans. He would look through my traders and tell me which ones he wanted. I would then pick an even number of cans from what he had and we would trade even up (5 tabs for 5 tabs, 5 flats for 5 flats, etc.).

Unfortunately, I no longer remember my best deal from that flea market but I always came home happy.

[bradflinders]

I found a Strouds Cream ale at a flea market in Portland, ME. The dealer had a bunch of cans and all were priced at $10 each.

[bradflinders]

I found a Strouds Cream ale at a flea market in Portland, ME. The dealer had a bunch of cans and all were priced at $10 each.

[burgiedave]

North of the Golden Gate Bridge the Marin Flea Market, during the '70s and '80s, was worthy. Route driver for Acme Beer had retired and some of his holdings were acquired by a vendor at this event. Unknown what initially was available my take, for measly funds available, landed eleven Pabst snap cap quarts. Condition hovered along grade 1- and grade one.

Years later I met the former employee. One whopper of a story. Louie was a hoarder and stockpiled outdated advertising. The brewery was going to trash it, so why not? There could be money in it (many brands were carried), was his thinking. He had a can assembly the began in the early '50s.
Photographic proof presented. Possibly 200 flat tops, majority representing west of the Mississippi manufacture.

Catching wind that a hardcover can guide existed he was able to round up a copy, when the Rogalski Brothers were Baltimore based. Allowing for inflation, he had a solid grasp of what price points should be. Through word-of-mouth he began to sell the best of this lot. At this time a 49er Club member began appearing at regional trade sessions with amazing, high end cans. What canning line gave him the key to their archive?

From the mouth of the ex-SF employee, it was stated that if the cans weren't listed in Beer Cans Unlimited, they were too common for inclusion. The collector then scored the highest end examples for some piddly cost, like $10. each (Budweiser Bock, Super X and Grace Brothers examples were heavily represented). Having the seal of approval on how this breweriana was obtained has collectors wince. Honesty wasn't part of their vocabulary.

In less than two years, after the word got out of how his his acquisitions were acquired, he'd dropped out of sight, exiting the hobby (for some time he was dubbed: the Greedmeister). Was able to reference a potential buyer for Louie's foreign cans, which count was likely two dozen. It transpired. Went to his home in San Francisco twice, the basement storeroom, off the garage of his hillside home, still loaded with pre-zip code beer stuff.

Development eventually took over this plot of land, off Highway 101. Marin Flea and Louie may be gone, however, solid memories remain when I fly by the location, now a store fronting a national drug store chain (these boots are made for walking...)

[hemmings]

My folks went to a yardsale in Phoenix that had a bunch of cans from the 80s in a crate. Guy having the sale let them have the Apache wooden case for $5. Cans were $1 except his active ashtray can because it was a flat top...... perfect....8oz Sir Lady Frothingslosh.....

[keithker]

[MarkB]

In an antique mall in Bristol VA/TN (not sure which side I was on) I picked up a Wagner's quart for $10 that was an Ebling Beer paintover. MarkB

[MarkB]

I grew up near the Shipshewana flea market in Northern Indiana. Much of my childhood collection can be attributed to that flea market. Things were pretty simple back then. I had a cardboard suitcase that was leftover from a Boy Scouts fundraiser. I would fill it up with cans and walk around the flea market looking for people who had cans. There was a guy with a red beard who often showed up with a bread truck full of cans. He would look through my traders and tell me which ones he wanted. I would then pick an even number of cans from what he had and we would trade even up (5 tabs for 5 tabs, 5 flats for 5 flats, etc.).

Unfortunately, I no longer remember my best deal from that flea market but I always came home happy.

I have a very nice Waldorf OI that I got in a trade at a Dayton Minicanvention in the late 1970s. I don't know what I traded for it, but knowing my trade stock it was a dumper, probably a Sterling, an Oertels, or a Falls City. But that was the days of trading like for like, a flat for a flat. MarkB