I love Flea Markets and garage sales. There is an excitement about going out to look for something without the slightest idea as to whether or not you will find it. I look forward towards the week-ends in the spring and summer because I never know if I might stumble across that certain item that will catch my attention. Sometimes I might put an item in a box I keep in the garage, but usually they end up as exhibits in my own garage sale.
Recently I was on the internet when I stumbled across a site selling replicas of nostalgic tin sign. The vast array and quantity of the signs was astounding. There seemed to be a tin sign for almost any category I could think of. As a lark, I went into the garage and pulled out my flea market ‘find’ box and brought it into my office. Reaching in I pulled out an object at random, it happened to be a plastic lamp in the shape of ‘Betty Boop’ a popular cartoon character of the 1950′s. Searching through the images I found several tin signs that had Betty as the subject. After a half-hour I was able to match over half of my flea market finds to a corresponding tin sign counterpart.
Giving gifts at Christmas and birthdays has always been a problem for me. It was hard to find just the right item for the right person. I was reduced to buying the ubiquitous ‘gift card’ from a department store. Finding that unique gift is now no longer a problem.
For my teenage nephew (who is a big comic book hero fan) I found an action figure of a character called ‘Captain America’ at a garage sale for 25 cents. After cleaning it up, I mounted it in front of a tin sign of the character and it now hangs on his wall as one of his favorite possessions.
That Betty Boop lamp now sits on a table shining up on her tin sign, which is hanging on the wall of my sister’s home.
I found an old Michigan State College sweater that I hung beneath a tin sign of Michigan State in my husband’s den (his alma mater).
I even stumbled upon a set of old tools in a tool box which I sent to my brother-in-law along with a ‘busted knuckle garage’ sign. He loved it!
I was able to create a ‘trophy room’ out of various trophies I found at garage sales and flea markets. These were the trophies that a horde of anonymous children had achieved over the years. I thought it was only fair that their forgotten exploits deserved some form of recognition other than to have their hard earned trophies discarded in a garage sale. So I took these forgotten monuments and, along with the appropriate tin sign, created my own ‘hall of fame’ for these athletes.
Tin signs have added a new dimension to my Flea Market excursions. Now, with just a little imagination; other people’s junk is truly my treasure!
Flea markets can be extremely fun and addicting to some. But for the majority who are looking for unique tin signs.
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