Flea Market Fun

Every year about this time I make a pilgrimage to the Midland Antique Show, the largest antique flea market in Michigan. It’s better than a two-hour drive for me but it’s a chance to hang out with my family in the area who also attend. My mother usually packs ground bologna sandwiches for lunch, my absolute favorite sandwich in all the world.

Except nobody in my family joined me this year. They all drove up north to their cottages instead. Oh, well. Lunch was at Mr. Hot Dog this time. I like them too.

At the crowded market, I browsed here, peeked there, checking out coins, cards, cans, comics, cookies (bought an oatmeal raisin), vintage cars, clothes, crafts, crocks, Confederate currency, Coca Cola collectibles and other curiosities. Lots there.

Though ordinarily it’s more fun (and less costly) just to look, I did buy an older saddle basket to put on my Schwinn at home. I even talked the vendor down a few bucks from his price. Most stuff for sale comes with a handwritten price tag, but other antiques are unmarked.

A passerby remarked to his companion, “They say if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.”

“Is it true?” his shopping partner asked.

“I don’t’ know. I’ve never asked.”

I passed by a vendor who had a collection of individual state maps for sale. I took a look at a few older Michigan maps. While I was working for a newspaper up north over 30 years ago, I remember the Michigan Department of Transportation put out a map of Michigan that contained a couple “errors.”

Some University of Michigan fan in the print shop added two small towns. Sharp-eyed map-readers discovered “Goblu” and “Beatosu” in Ohio. I had one of those maps once but lost track of it and have been trying to find another one ever since.

“Do you know anything about Michigan maps?” I asked the vendor lady.
“I know that I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else?” she replied.

Okay, maybe she misunderstood my question. I asked again specifically about the Michigan maps that were published with the aforementioned errors .

She quickly held up four fingers. “Four hundred dollars,” she said excitedly.

Holy cow! I guess that guy was right.