Flea Market Finds

DougH

Member
We went to a giant flea market in the middle of Ohio yesterday, and came home with these finds. That place was crawling with CI, and I passed on a lot of pieces, which I'm sure my wallet thanks me for :)

http://i.imgur.com/XE0bHmA.jpg

The Lodge (I think) on the right is pretty rusty on the outside, but the cooking surface is in surprisingly good shape. And my wife and I were drawn to muffin pans for some reason, so we came home with a couple. I didn't have a chicken fryer yet, so I picked up the Wagner on the left. And then there's a trivet that we liked and a little kettle we'll use for decoration at Halloween time.

I'm kicking myself a bit for not getting a Wagner 14 that I saw in one of the first booths. I should have gotten it, but it was early, and I didn't want to make a big purchase without looking around first. And then storms blew in for the afternoon, and I think he packed up...I couldn't find him again anyway to see if it was still available. But aside from that, it was a good day, and I got some pieces I didn't already have.
 
Way to go DougH, some nice finds there. I really struggle sometimes at flea markets. I'll pass up decent deals on really nice stuff because I'm a real cheapskate, lol.
 
Thanks! Its funny because I'm getting to be more of a cheapskate. A year or two ago, I would have bought twice as much, but spent 3-4 times the money. I'm getting better about not over spending just because I have the piece in front of me.

My best deal was the Lodge. Picked it up for $6. Even though its now my third #8, I didn't want to leave it behind at that price and in decent condition.
 
I passed up a Good Health #6 and #8 for $15 for the pair today. Kind of regretting it a little. I find that when I get some really great deals (like $2 for #3 Martin on Saturday), it makes me think I should always be getting them cheap.
 
Hard to tell from the photo, but the little kettle is more than likely an old glue pot. There would have been another smaller pot that fit down inside of it.

Big pot with water in it, smaller pot with the glue to be melted in it.
 
I passed up a Good Health #6 and #8 for $15 for the pair today. Kind of regretting it a little. I find that when I get some really great deals (like $2 for #3 Martin on Saturday), it makes me think I should always be getting them cheap.

I'm getting to the point that if I'm interested, and it's under $10, I'll most likely get it. If it's $20-30, then it depends a lot on what the piece itself is and condition...but I'm getting a lot better at passing on things I know I can find elsewhere for $10 or less. And that's for common pieces...unique pieces don't really fit that scale.

---------- Post added at 10:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 AM ----------

Hard to tell from the photo, but the little kettle is more than likely an old glue pot. There would have been another smaller pot that fit down inside of it.

Big pot with water in it, smaller pot with the glue to be melted in it.

Oh, that's fun. I can take a few better pictures of it this evening. Halloween is a really big thing on our street (literally a couple thousand people will be on our city block that evening), so we picked it up as a cheap decoration for the porch. But it's fun to have an idea of it's history.
 
Good gravy, that's awesome. I'm jealous of the chicken fryer. Looking for one exactly like that.

Great score, thanks so much for sharing!
 
A year or two ago, I would have bought twice as much, but spent 3-4 times the money. I'm getting better about not over spending just because I have the piece in front of me.

Thats the problem I'm having now, we are new to collecting and getting stuff we find even if the price is a little high. We need to learn some patience. I did pass on a #6 LB Slant Gris Saturday. I made an offer but we were $5 apart.
 
Thats the problem I'm having now, we are new to collecting and getting stuff we find even if the price is a little high. We need to learn some patience. I did pass on a #6 LB Slant Gris Saturday. I made an offer but we were $5 apart.

Depending on where you live the prices of cast iron can vary greatly. It also depends on where you shop. I live in CA. So the really nice stuff is in Antique stores, because those guys get to the flea markets at 6am. I get there at 8 and it's already gone. They don't see everything, and they don't go every week. They miss lots, but you have to be patient. One thing I've learned is that if there's something you want, be patient, sooner or later you WILL find it for what you want to pay.

Thrift stores, fixed price, hit/miss. Flea markets are where it's at. face to face negotiating, people mostly just want to get rid of this heavy junk. It's dirty, rusty, cruddy, $10! How about $8? Sure.....

Be patient, iron will come to you..
 
One thing I've learned is that if there's something you want, be patient, sooner or later you WILL find it for what you want to pay.

100% This. It has taken me awhile to learn this, but I'm getting there after having been burned by over paying and then finding it later somewhere else for the price I would have been happy with. Patience.
 
Oh, that's fun. I can take a few better pictures of it this evening. Halloween is a really big thing on our street (literally a couple thousand people will be on our city block that evening), so we picked it up as a cheap decoration for the porch. But it's fun to have an idea of it's history.

For the life of me, I can't seem to remember to take pictures of this little guy. Every morning when I check the forums, I remind myself to take some pictures when I get home...and then never think about it again until the next morning. One of these days, I'll actually get it done...hopefully... :shootself:
 
OK, admitting to my poor memory seems to have helped me remember :) Here are a couple pics of the little kettle.

http://imgur.com/a/wsV2C

Also, it is quite heavy for it's size...it's about as heavy as kettles I have that are twice as big.
 
100% This. It has taken me awhile to learn this, but I'm getting there after having been burned by over paying and then finding it later somewhere else for the price I would have been happy with. Patience.

We showed some patience yesterday. We put in 11 hours and 210 miles of cast iron hunting. Flea markets, antique malls and antique stores. We passed on a few pieces I would like to have. Some were just crazy prices and some were just not as good of a deal as I wanted. The #4 fully marked Griswold for $350, crazy. We also found a #8 "Wagner" with gate (sprue?) mark for $45. If it would have been anything other than a #8, I would have got it. Still questioning that, but have too many #8 skillets. Also passed on a Favorite Piqua Miami and a Wapak Z. They just wanted too much. Then I went and messed it all up by paying $15 for a #3 Wagner Ware. Should have just waited, but that was the 8th one I had saw at the that price in a day. Oh well, it is in great shape.
 
A "Wagner" skillet with a bottom gate is not a genuine Wagner. $15 for a #3 WWSO, if in perfect condition, isn't bad considering no shipping cost.
 
A "Wagner" skillet with a bottom gate is not a genuine Wagner. $15 for a #3 WWSO, if in perfect condition, isn't bad considering no shipping cost.

Thanks for the info Doug D. I'm glad I didn't get the Wagner and now can stop trying to justify the hour and fifteen minute drive to go back and get it. The WWSO can out of the e-tank yesterday. It looks great.
 
Thanks for the info Doug D. I'm glad I didn't get the Wagner and now can stop trying to justify the hour and fifteen minute drive to go back and get it. The WWSO can out of the e-tank yesterday. It looks great.

See, this is where we differ, I would love to find a re-cast Wagner, but the $45 would have sent me packing too... If I can find a fun weird piece, fake or not for cheap, I'll grab it, but $45. Nope.
 
Back
Top