They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. A visit to the Brimfield Antique Show definitely illustrates that well. To be fair, the show, which takes up about 1/2 mile of the town of Brimfield, does house some pretty neat stuff, from beautiful old pieces of furniture and vintage jewelry to newer items like the farmhouse table that will be perfect in my Sonoma kitchen. But the show also had it’s share of junk on display, and vendors weren’t hesitant to lower prices to near nothing for some of it.
We started our day early with some Starbucks coffee before picking up my mother in law, the true antique aficionado. She once disassembled an antique spinning wheel and trekked it from New Zealand home to Ireland.
The drive to Brimfield was lovely, and surprisingly, with the size of the event, traffic-free. We parked in the first lot we saw, a church that charged $3 in exchange for a parking space and use of their clean restrooms (as opposed to the banks of portable ones at the show). And then we began our Brimfield experience.
Our 3 minute walk to the show brought us through a wooded path over a stream, past a few historical buildings, and then into a sea of stuff for sale.
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It seemed just about every vendor had tons of glass bottles for sale for a dollar each. There were moments throughout the day where I saw something pretty and cheap and then reminded myself of my already cluttered house and my disdain for clutter. A simple “what would I do with this?” was enough to keep me from buying anything.
The Brimfield Antique Show had just about everything anyone could ever want. Looking for Trump: The Game, with an unrecognizably young and coiffed Donald Trump on the cover? It was there.
Need a dress with puffed sleeves for your next Anne of Green Gables outing? Brimfield has you covered.
They even had the tall, Anne Shirley style lace up boots from days of yore. I won’t say I wasn’t tempted.
I found some of the old cooking items interesting, and there were lots of plates I might consider buying if I had a bigger house.
But, at the end of the day, the farmhouse wood table, made with a light wood top and legs painted green, paired with a mismatched bench and chairs, was my big find. It wouldn’t really fit our city kitchen, but if I ever do get my Sonoma farmhouse, I will be looking the vendor up.
Brimfield also offered lots of wide open spaces, pretty architecture, and nature. That, paired with the dusty parking lots made for a nightmare day for the old sinuses, but was nice to look at.
The other thing in great abundance in Brimfield were food trucks. They had everything from falafel to Southern BBQ, fried dough and cider doughnuts to ice cream, fish and chips, lobster rolls, goat curry, fresh-squeezed lemonade, and way more.
Though not normally on the list of things I eat, the grilled hot dogs were calling my name, and this one, topped with cheese, relish, mustard, and ketchup, was totally worth it!
My closing observations:
1) If you sell it, someone will want to buy it. The antique show made me want to go through everything I don’t want and to set up a stand next time around!
2) I love dogs, but they don’t always belong at every occasion. Many of the dogs there looked scared, and I saw one use an antique painting as his fire hydrant. When the owner was made aware, he said, Oh, sorry. And walked off. You can’t fault the dog for doing what dogs do or for having a stupid owner, but these antiques are people’s incomes. Not cool.
3) I was very, very glad I wore sneakers instead of flip flops. There’s lots of walking in rocky, dusty paths and some muddy fields. Trust me, this is not a dress up event.
4) Antiques people smoke. A lot.
Overall though, the experience was definitely interesting. The Brimfield Antiques Show returns in July and September, and it is worth checking out for a day of fun, food, and some potentially new old stuff.
Have you ever been to the Brimfield Antique Show? Are antiques/ vintage items your thing?
