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Monday, May 19, 2014

Brimfield Flea Market - Part 1

This weekend my family and I went on a road trip to the Brimfield Flea Market - the largest outdoor antiques show in the country.  Which for me is actually going home, as I grew up in the town next to Brimfield so I am no stranger to this amazing show. I am dedicating this whole week on my blog to the Brimfield Flea - showing some of our discoveries we took home, meeting some cool people we came across and some history on the show itself.

Brimfield is a rural town - just like the towns surrounding it. It is the quintessential New England small town with farm land, beautiful antique homes and many friendly faces.The town was founded in 1731 and has roughly 4,000 residents.  It is located pretty much in the center of Massachusetts not far from the Connecticut boarder.


Growing up in the area, the Flea Market was not something we typically looked forward to as that meant all of our small, quiet towns would now be overpopulated with "Fleas" as we called them.  We would now have to worry about traffic something none of us worried about on a day to day basis.  However it is a great source of revenue for people living in the area - including myself as a teenager who would scoop ice cream at one of the food booths.

The Brimfield Flea Market began in 1959, when one resident decided to open his field to vendors selling antiques.  It is now comprised of over 5000 dealers on about 21 fields -each being roughly 3 to 5 acres - and hosts about 250,000 visitors.  Residents turn their fields into parking lots, food concessions and dealer booths 3 times a year for this show.  It is about 1 mile long on RT 20 and goes about 500' deep on both sides of the road.













From collectors to individual shoppers - People come from all over the world to visit this event!  I have even heard from some dealers that top brands such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger come at the start of the show to purchase items for their stores!

You can find just about anything you are looking for.  From vintage clothes, to antique odds and ends, to reclaimed items and loads of furniture - if you can't find it here you can't find it anywhere!  In my opinion it is impossible to see the show in one day, even 2 days - especially if you are going for your first time.











The Brimfield Flea Market takes place in May, July and September each year for 6 days - rain or shine!  So if you are in the mood for some serious antiquing, I hope you get to visit as for a collector it is a dream come true!  Here are some of the things we came across!

Beautiful French Provincial Fabrics








 






HAPPY ANTIQUING!!!

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