Average Jane Goes Flea Market Shopping

On Saturday, we met up with another couple and spent an exhausting day at the flea markets in White Cloud and Sparks, Kansas. (Seriously, click the link. It’s the web page equivalent of the flea market itself.) We had fresh-squeezed lemonade and gyros, but forewent the Indian tacos and funnel cakes. Naturally, we bought an enormous bag of kettle corn on the way out.

Here are a few of the treasures we chose not to purchase:

This figurine gave me the creeps, so I had to take a photo. Don’t look too long – she might steal your soul.

Here’s my husband and my friend, Robert, posing with a mannequin that I was really tempted to buy, but not for $125. The mannequin was disturbingly thin, with visible collar bones, ribs and vertebrae. If I’d taken her home, I’d have bought a box of Twinkies for her to hold on her lap with her one arm.

Do you ever think to yourself, "Boy, I wish I’d bought some collectible pins from the movie, ‘Dick Tracy,’ back in 1990!" Well, at White Cloud they had a whole box full of them.

By the end of the day, I had a killer headache. I think it had a lot to do with the amount of mold I was exposed to throughout the day. Cool vintage wallpaper, though.

More antique doll creepiness. I should have taken a photo of the entire doll because her arms, legs and body were weirdly elongated. You could picture her creeping up on you while you slept and strangling you with her long limbs.

This is the one thing I did buy: an interesting old hat. Once I remove the daisies, I think it’ll make a cool stage hat, despite the fact that it’s a bit too small for me.

Once we got back into town, we had a huge dinner and beers at Granite City Brewery. I was so beat that I was asleep by 9:45 p.m. It was a blast, though, and I’m sure we’ll go again next year. You should come with us!