What I didn't find at the antique fair.

So today I went antiquing with my wife (who is 8 months pregnant) and my 22 month old son at the bellmore train station on the south shore of Long Island. I grew up in bellmore and the antique fair has been running every Sunday under the elevated rail road tracks for the past 5 years or so and this year seems to to be off to a great start. I would say that there were at least 50 - 75 vendors there today with set ups ranging from two or three folding tables and a lawn chair to a multi aisle set up complete with tent and music van.

The vendors sell everything from useless old junk to rare antiques guarded carefully in display boxes. As always I have my out for the usual suspects- straight razors, strops, hones, old AS bottles, vintage brushes, mugs or anything else that may catch my eye....
My family also lends a helping hand by keeping an eye out, and my wife always get excited when she's the one who makes the find. Thi time around was really disapointing given the number of vendors, i thought for sure I would come accros something of intrest.

All in all we had a great day together. Here's what I found.

0 brushes
0 strops
1 pocket hone, looked to be about 800 grit, passed
0 attractive vintage AS bottles
1 DE, Gillette travel handle, passed
1 straight razor......................

So yes I did come accross 1 straight razor which had no rust, Bakelite scales in near mint shape, perfectly even hone wear. I open up the blade to find a 3/16 blade staring back at me. No, it wasn't a corn razor. It was a bonafide open blade meant for shaving. I should have taken a picture, sorry I didn't but this thing wasn't but a hair over an 1/8 of an inch. I mean I have razors twice as thick at the spine as this thing was wide. I would say it was originally a 2 or 3/8 blade that got honed down. When the guy asked if I was interested I just smiled and handed it back to himand thanked him for his time. I thought that was really funny any way.

I did pick up a couple of vintage, unused briar pipes. One is leather wrapped and the other a nice grain of briar burl. I also got some Avon black suede EDT that I am a fan of so it was a great trip and a nice day out with family.

That straight could have belonged to a famous skinny barber. :shrug:

Skinny Barber! Wasn't that Red Barber's younger brother? Every antique fair, flea market, auction, yard sale, antique store, etc. etc., is a turkey shoot. Time after time you won't find anything but rusted and/or chipped blades, broken scales, or no razors at all. But the key to the hunt is persistence. You can't be discouraged because these places are continually changing their stock and the next time you go you may be surprised to find a treasure. I have been haunting all of these venues for years and have picked up about 400 razors. You can't be put off by a bad day. I went to a flea market in Virginia and a guy had a box of about 50 razors. After picking through them I didn't buy a single one. All junk. Several weeks later I came across another dealer who had picked up a bunch of razors at an estate auction and I ended up buying 22 razors from him. So, don't give up. Keep looking. And remember, ALWAYS ask if the dealer has any razors or shaving items. Sometimes they are not obvious on a table or they may be stashed away in a box in his car or under the table. I bought an excellent Greaves for a dollar because the guy had it in a carton of junk because he didn't put any value on it and didn't think it would sell. So, remember, keep going back and always ask. If the dealer knows you are looking for a straight razor and he comes across one, he may pick it up and bring it to the sale later because he knows that you are interested.

Regards - Walt

I am in a very isolated area, there are none of those venues. I envy all those trips looking for vintage shave gear. End of the month I am going on a three week educational trip and am looking forward to some vintage shopping in a major center, well major for this area. I'm hoping to find something but really looking forward to the hunt.

Hey Joel, I live in Merrick,and from what you just wrote confirmed my suspicions cleaned
them out for the most part last year....lol. Last time I went I saw nothing but junk.

Yep. Most of the time it's just junk or overpriced. But often you can find a gem. Many times I've found razors in decent condition (needing just some polishing for example) for a couple of dollars. And once I found a mint 7x2 yellow blue combo coticule for 10$.

But you never know. Sometimes you find something and sometimes not. But you can't go out looking for something specific and expect to find it. And I always need to buy something to keep the kids happy as well. :)

Yup, so true Bruno. Keep going and asking. If you talk to people it is amazing what they will tell you.

Last week I met with a guy, that I met a couple of years ago. He is an antique dealer/ picker and I have purchased a bunch of razors from him over the years. He had come across a couple of collections with over 100 razors in cases. I bought 18 beautiful razors, a thick coticule and an unused Craftsman strop.

He called me.