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Hi, this is Mel Allen, editor of Yankee Magazine, with our black flies, and you cannot really
see them, so we call them no-see-ums, but they are here.
I got to crawl into a bear den in Baxter State Park.
Hi, this is Mel Allen, editor of Yankee Magazine. I want to tell you about a unique experience
at the Brimfield Antiques Fair. Imagine one mile: maybe it is a walk you do, maybe it
is a drive you take. Now, imagine that mile on both sides, as far as you can see, lined
with antique dealers, flea-market sort of tents, and as far as you can see on both sides,
the same thing: tents and booths.
There are thousands of dealers, tens of thousands of people walking around, and anything you
can imagine that you might want to find will be there. In fact, there is a saying, "If
you don't find it in Brimfield, you won't find it anywhere." This happens three times
a year: always on the second Tuesday of May, July and September. I went for the first time
in July, and I have never really had an experience quite like it.
It has been going on for 50 years, ever since a well-known local auctioneer named Gordon
Reed set up sixty dealers in a field. At that time, people really were not having these
outdoor flea markets, but people came, it was a success and more and more dealers heard
about it, and today, it is the largest antiques fair and collectibles market in the world.
What do you find there? Well, do you love Civil War things? Do you love World War II
collectibles? Do you love posters? Postcards? Art? Ironware? Pottery? Whatever you can think
of, you will find there. I found my Buddha. The dealers asked $10; I offered seven; and
now, it is mine. He said, "It has age on it." That was in response to my question, "Is it
old?" Well, it is from China, and it certainly has age on it. I like to think it is centuries
old.
This is the beauty of Brimfield. People thought, "Well, with eBay, people wouldn't really need
a place like Brimfield," but it is the characters that you are going to see there. It is the
whole atmosphere. It is alive with people strolling, and people carrying their stuff,
and people haggling. It is a little bit like going to a European bazaar, so I think eBay
has nothing on Brimfield.
I am going to give you a few tips that you are going to thank me for.
Number one: wear comfortable shoes. You are going to walk, and you are going to walk a
lot.
Number two: bring a parka or an umbrella, and have it in a backpack, and the reason
being, believe it or not, rainy days or a little drizzle actually are one of the best
times to go because the dealers are so anxious to almost give their stuff away.
Number three: you are going to get there early. Now, Route 20 is a two-lane road. It is not
a major highway, and you have thousands of people coming to Brimfield. I would say, think
of it as a fishing trip. You know how you get up at the crack of dawn to go fishing?
Well, you really are after the big catch at Brimfield, so get up early--Route 20--you
do not have to maybe wait for an hour to find your parking spot, and bring cash. The dealers
appreciate it when you have cash.
Do not forget, old-fashioned Yankee haggling is alive and well at Brimfield, and I will
see you there the second Tuesday in September. Have fun! This is Mel Allen at Yankee Magazine,
and I will see you at the Buddha booth.