ELKHORN FLEA MARKET

Sorry for the lapse in blogging, too many things to do. Anyway, let's catch up! This week I am going a little off the beaten path with the Elkhorn Flea Market (map of Elkhorn). I can't say enough about how much I move this market. This market strives for antiques and boy it does it well. It is held from May through September in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. It is run by N.L. Promotions. Here is the website to link to www.nlpromotionsllc.com. The market is held on the Walworth County fair grounds and it is big! I took my younger sister to it in May and she was amazed by how large it was. Mind you my sister has an adversion to old things like I have an adversion to new particle board furniture. But, there is a little bit for everyone, I soon found out she has a fondness for old Barbies - there might be a collector in there somewhere.

Any way, more on Elkhorn, lots and lots of furniture. As I told a friend, you name the color dresser you want and you will find it at Elkhorn. Prices are high and low. Booths are well seasoned dealers and regular joes selling off their great aunt's things. My favorite booth is that of a husband and wife team who are slowly liquidating her father's extension ephemera collection. I bought several old stock certificates and trade cards and all have made me good money on ebay. The paper folks also have a booth up at the Fox River Antique Mall in Appleton, Wisconsin where they told me that have the "really good stuff." I can't wait to get up there as the stuff they had in the both was very good too!

Even if your loved one or friend doesn't collect antiques, the market has an exceptional assortment of food! You name it from fried turkey legs to funnel cakes to brats and dogs, it is all at this flea market. So, if you live in the area please go to the market!

A couple of the stocks I bought at the fair are shown above.

Finally, I am going to start including a section of what "ebay trends." I spend a lot of time trolling the sold items on ebay trying to figure out what is popular in ephemera - trade cards, stocks, bonds, other advertising and other historical ephemera.

This week lets talk about stocks and bonds:
If you are new to this block of ephemera mining and European stock certificates seem to be doing the best. With the dollar being so low against foreign currency, if you sell on ebay you are crazy not to ship overseas. It is not that difficult and with paper, surprisingly inexpensive. Think about it. This week I am sending my first item to Australia. I regularly ship to the UK and mainland Europe without incident. Another thing to think about with selling stocks is the buy it now option - incredibly popular for this collectible. The big money stocks and bonds are those signed by famous businessmen, Flagler, Rockefeller (rare), and other "robber barons." Books of unissued stocks do well if they are 19th century. I am still learning the ropes with stock certificates, so I will share more about this type of ephemera as I go along. I am finding it hard to part with some of them due to my obsession with Railroad Tycoon as a young kid - probably the reason why I collect board games revolving around wall street and finance. I am planning on someday starting a blog on my collection for other collectors to use as a reference.

Next week - hopefully Fox River and other Appleton, WI antique malls.