You probably don't remember, but after the second Bazaar at the Congress Theater, I wrote this:
The J-Dog and I are pretty much pros at this now, but there are a couple things we're gonna do different next time.
1. Bigger is better. Lets just say, we're sick of selling items, we want to sell rooms. Rooms baby! So maybe this WILL become a cute couple interior design blog. harharhar.
The last Bazaar, Jayson and I left the theater that night vowing to never get a small vendor space again. We wanted the furniture, the room for styling and presentation, the dizzying highs! The crushing lows! We want it all.
Well our dreams have been answered! Manly Vintage is one of the five sellers that will be keeping it real at the next Vintage Bazaar in a Logan Square store front. A FLIPPING STORE FRONT!!! Info herehere and here.
Jayson and I are gonna have some killer sleepovers as we set up and stage beforehand in my basement. Oh it's gonna be manly alright.
WARNING: Usually I take pictures specifically for each blog post, or a blog post comes from pictures I've taken. In this particular case I have none. You will be mercilessly subjected to my stinking cute kids.
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Last week over at the new TVB blog, Libby posted about hating her dining room and doing something about it...
Wait.
You guys read this blog, right? It's basically a super-blog. While Libby and Katherine still have their individual blogs, Alexander Salvage and BackGarage, the two co-creators of The Vintage Bazaar are putting the pedal to the metal hand in hand.
Wait.
...Oh, man. Right now I'm listening to Shrinebuilder, which among others, include metal god Scott Kelly of Neurosis(possibly my favorite band of all time) and Dale Crover of The Melvins, easily making them a super-group. The Vintage Bazaar is super-blog. Therefore, The Vintage Bazaar is Shrinebuilder. whoa.
Sorry about that, I enjoy breaking life down to its most purest form, hardcore/ metal bands.
So, anyways, I commented(on Libby's post) that patience is king, and baby, in this vintage business, it's the truth.
We can all agree, for the most part, money is the biggest factor. I guess in a perfect world I'd drive my Cadillac Escalade with rims to the swankiest boutique on the northside and buy whatever leather couch I wanted. Unfortunately, this is real life, the democrats control the White House, so not gonna happen.
Even if I had money to burn, I'd still be hitting strangers homes to rummage threw their earthly possessions. For all the reasons that estate sales( or all secondhand living for that matter) are wicked awesome, catalog-like predictability is not on the list.
Patience is king. Not only do you need to find that perfect "something". You need excellent condition, good timing, and a damn good fair price. At least in my experience, finding the perfect, whatever, is not that hard. It's finding the perfect of something you're actually looking for.
So we wait. My wife and I have been looking for a leather couch for almost two years. Our current couch below is great, and vinyl is the best there ever was with three little rascals running around.
But! If I could get it in red leather, cushioned arms, and one more spot wide, oh baby...baby, baby, oh.
(Sorry this a bit of an afterthought,seeing everything is sold except for the stool, I'm a lazy blogger)
"This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time."
If for a second you're thinking I'm copying an IKEA catalog, you're wrong, it's Fight Club dude. 1999 man, it was another 2-3 years before I even heard about this thing called IKEA. Another 1-2 years before my smoking hot wife and I filled our first apartment with their cheap particle board whatnot.
When was this layout original and fresh? Am I fresh?
Anyways, I like it. The folks on Craigslist couldn't get enough, got a bunch of replies just for the pictures.
"Only after disaster can we be resurrected."
"Hey, you created me. I didn't create some loser alter-ego to make myself feel better. Take some responsibility!"
I might of been obsessed with everything Chuck Palahniuk back in the day. good times.
I will definitely be offering this again, think about it, maybe even posting a whole room on Craigslist. The possibilities...
Unfortunately, things are not going to work out between us. I am so sorry for rushing into a relationship.
Before meeting you, I only dreamed about machines like you. When we first met I found you irresistible, hip, and that chrome trim made my knees shake.
You were always so eager to hand me a beer. Remember when I first put eggs in your rack? Golly you have an amazing rack.
Trust me baby; when I say it’s not you, it’s me. I should change for you, but I can’t. I need someone who can handle all of me; I’ve got too much baggage baby. Move on.
I will never forget when I first touched your curves, or laid eyes on your mint green interior.
The two hot dudes from Manly Vintage will be pushing vintage goods this Saturday at the Heaven Gallery in Wicker Park...wait a minute...THAT'S US! Come on by and buy some antique razors, throw some high fives, and step outside with us for a smoke.
We're gonna be trying some crazy new ideas this time around, our first vintage market experience at the Vintage Bazaar was somewhat of a serious systems malfunction, so we're doing things different, LIKE HAVING PRICE TAGS! I'm also setting up at home beforehand so I don't have full boxes of crap underneath the tables, and I will eat breakfast and have coffee before I head out Saturday. Did I say crap? I meant recycled treasures. ha.
I’ve grown to be pretty mechanical in my buying and selling of vintage merchandise; I’ll make a swift walk in, assess the situation, narrow in on what catches my eye, acquire it, get the pictures completed, list it, and stockpile it in the many places around the apartment or in storage.
Also thanks to this blog and the painful art of listing, my knack for some creative writing is slowly returning. Listing on Etsy has become a cinch, and lately I’ll have an entire post in my head as early as walking up to check the price tag on something. This whole process just happened this past Saturday at a church flea market in Lyons when I spotted this 1950’s-60’s typewriter.
“Mid-Century typewriter- excellent condition. Only $5, would be an easy flip.”
Then I saw the “Made in Bulgaria”, which gave me all I needed for my ridiculous one-liners that have been accompanying my Etsy listings. “1950’s Bulgaria. Commies. The perfect typewriter to hole up in your attic and write some subversive literature- Yeah that’ll work. Easy $40 or more”
Then at home while taking measurements, weight, and checking for any flaws worth mentioning I came across this sheet of paper located in the convenient paper slot inside the typewriter case . (ink is faint, click to super size!)
Then this.
“Oh man Laura Neumann you communist SOB.”
Then. Vintage Euphoria.
Occasionally an item itself will floor you, but often it’s the weird things; the receipts, to do lists, the notes to themselves or their children. While you would never purchase these little things themselves, when found become far more valuable than the purchase or even the resale value of the item. The things they would never want anyone, especially the FBI, to see.
This is why I go through other peoples crap on my free time. Priceless.
Now is the time for for all good men to come to the aid of their party.
Now is the time for for all good men to come to the aid of their party.
Now is the time for for all good men to come to the aid of their party.
UPDATE!!!: Well it turns out the phrase above was a popular typing phrase alongside “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”. It originated in 1867 in some podunk town in Wisconsin. Still interesting...and...Laura Neumann is still a communist SOB.
Jayson and I had just got off the phone discussing trying to push the blog into something useful for our readers and not just Etsy shop nonsense when this wonderful idea popped into my head: lets have the readers pick my next item title.
What a more perfect item and LOL funny then this vintage Schlitz beer pitcher. Let the voting BEGIN!
Whenever I notice items labeled "primitive" I chuckle, because often it just means busted, and more costly than a tad newer, working, vintage/antique pieces. The primitives’ category also consists of plenty of decor, which (you couldn't tell from our existing overcrowded living space) I'm more and more leaning towards the direction of wholly useless.
Primitive furniture on the other hand I've become smitten and awash with love. So am I saying I want a house minimally decorated with each room centered on a gnarly, rustic, my-entire-brood-couldn't-destroy-it, piece of wooden awesomeness? Yes. Yes I am, that and rows and rows of Globe-Wernicke bookcases. (My wife will never let this happen)
These objects are very pricey if you're a sucker and purchase from a dealer (I'm not and I won't) and rare to come by in these parts (Chi-town). Also and a BIG also, I'm split on the issue of spending money on distressed pieces of furnishings all together!
Isn't some of the fun watching your furniture going from new (always a little used in my case) to charmingly beat up? Particularly the family man that I am, when my kids are on their own and I sit those final years on deaths door, wouldn't furniture covered with 20+ yrs of damage I told my wiener kids never to do my stuff just warm my old saggy gray heart?
So what is the point of the blog post? I think a to-do list is in order.
Keep going to sales/junk stores/alleyways, maybe, just maybe.
Take a trip down south with a van?
Seriously consider begin investing in space (purchase of my own Chicago bungalow is in the works) and tools to make my own damn furniture.
Does anyone know of a blog about this kind of stuff?
Oh and duh, the whole reason I started this post was because I found this chair last week, worst-blogger-ever. $15 yo.
"Harry Dazey began his career by producing butter churns, but when Mr. Dazey came up with the idea for the "floating arm" portable light he decided to restructure his company into a lamp manufacturer that specialized in task lights."
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