Antique perfection.

Well, today was a flashback.

Antiques were part of my life growing up in northwest New Jersey. Perhaps this doesn't come as a surprise; I grew up in a town with no zip code, after all. Antique shops dot the streets of Andover, Lafayette. People had garage sales the way we have happy hours now. I spent weekends with my brother and father walking the abandoned tracks of the Lackawanna Cut-off in our pursuit of glass insulators (pictured). They were worth less than a recyclable bottle, but it didn't matter. It's what we did; and we were damn good at it. You know, just three boys climbing trees in pursuit of antique glassware.

So today - yes - a flashback.

I spent much of the morning and early afternoon exploring the Brooklyn Flea, a collection of 100+ "vintage" vendors packed into the old Williamsburg Saving Bank. I woke up to a text message from the friend I was meeting, saying, "pack your camera." Like really, I'd miss this photo opp? I. Think. Not.


The building itself is delicious eye candy. Once obviously a bank, it's now available as a rental space. Sure, it's nice to have Chase on every single corner in Manhattan; but this space is simply beautiful.

Vendors carried an almost overwhelming amount of stuff. I say stuff because the word vintage doesn't come to mind; it's a term used too freely in the city. This was all stuff I've seen before, crammed into tiny mom and pop shops that smelled like dusty piano sheet music and Virginia Slims. It would do us city folk some good to take a weekend trip to the endless rows of shops tucked away north and west from here; the towns themselves left over from another time.

More picture taking than shopping commenced today, but I still managed to buy a set of typewriter cuff links. I'll be back next weekend for a closer look at the goods. Check out the rest of the photos here on Flickr.