Love Flea Markets? How to Finally Hunt Bargains In Person Again

During a year marked with so much loss, the cancellation of my favorite pastime ranked extremely low on the tragedy scale, but I felt it bitterly all the same. The sheer pleasure of looking, the lure of the great find, the jocular social encounters all wrapped up in a single morning’s trip—I pined for them, endlessly scrolling auctions online. It was not the same.

My first flea market purchase came at age 6: white leather go-go boots with fringe, for a quarter. That was my first flush of the adrenaline that passionate flea marketers know. At 12, I aimed higher: a 1940s quilt made of triangles of sun-softened cotton shirting for $10. It is still in use today, if decidedly more tattered.

In the intervening decades, my romance with flea markets has only strengthened, and I can chart the course of my life and travels in my purchases. Armfuls of antique hemp linens from the Ecseri market in Budapest; vintage silk dresses from the Porte de Vanves in Paris; woven Welsh blankets and willow baskets from Kempton, outside London. While living in Kyoto I memorized the market schedules and headed out early, returning with a rucksack full of indigo textiles and stoneware ceramics.

It was the cancellation of my local annual flea market in Dublin, N.H., that stung most. I could no longer walk through the slightly sodden field—the sun barely risen, wallet full of small bills, coffee in a thermos. I couldn’t navigate rows of dealers hawking all manner of good old New England junk: braided rugs, milking stools, Windsor chairs, woven baskets—the scent of the breakfast-sandwich grill enveloping everything in a dreamy bacon haze. I missed the excited hum of the community spirit we all loved and lost.

Two summers ago, I took my soon-to-be husband to this cherished local flea market, a trial by fire for the uninitiated. He found for me a flawless Tivoli Model One radio with a $5 price tag, the exact model I’d recently confessed to lusting after for years. Antique it was not, but he passed the test all the same. In the fall of 2020, I met him in Switzerland to elope after enduring the painful pandemic separation that plagued so many international couples. The morning our quarantine finished, our first taste of freedom was a socially distanced, masks-required flea market in Basel; we came away with an Alpine folk-painted floral bowl. The day before our wedding, we went to a highly sanitized flea market in Zurich. An embroidered Swiss marriage sampler from 1890 became a witness to our occasion.

Now it’s time to unpack the spoils in our new house, radio in the kitchen, bowl on the table and other memories from near and far. A fresh flea market season is on the horizon, reopening with regulations that might only vaguely dampen its joys. We’ll be first at the gate, wagons in tow, sanitizer to hand. Flea markets may have closed last year, but I came out of 2020 with a lifetime treasure: someone to rummage through them with.

FLEA ENTERPRISE

U.S. markets open for business after 2020 closures

Alameda Point Antiques Faire

Alameda, Calif.

This sprawling, open-air affair studded with views of San Francisco Bay opens the first Sunday of each month. A great source of Arts and Crafts furniture and studio pottery. Masks required.

Brimfield Antique Flea Markets

Brimfield, Mass.

A global destination with 5,000 dealers, Brimfield will restart its market season July 13-18. Thrice-yearly events offer an unmatched trove of Americana: from fine antiques to quirky advertising collectibles. Masks voluntary.

First Monday Trade Days

Canton, Texas

A 450-acre venue makes First Monday the world’s largest outdoor market. The event happens not the first Monday of the month but rather the Thursday-Sunday preceding. The pickings, via more than 5,000 vendors, include rare western pottery and silver, with lots of BBQ along the way. Masks encouraged.

Rose Bowl Flea Market

Pasadena, Calif.

Bubbling with West Coast style, the fair’s 2,500 vendors open every second Sunday of the month. Five miles of stalls ring the parking lot of the Rose Bowl stadium, where Hollywood celebrities and civilians vie for goods, particularly kitsch and cool midcentury finds. Masks required.

Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market

Springfield, Ohio

This flea market hosts a massive antiques extravaganza each May and September and smaller but mighty events each month. With over 2,500 vendors the place is full of Midwestern gems: from country-farmhouse finds to midcentury treasures. Masks voluntary.