Glamourous pin-ups!

 

Hee! Hee!....We know that title would get your attention!

We've been out and about distributing the flyers and posters promoting the Dawlish Antiques and Vintage fairs so we're pretty sure you'll stumble across one on your travels.

The fairs start again in just over a fortnight's time (yikes... how exciting!) so please mark 16 March 2019 on your calendar, smartphone, tablet, diary, hand (you won't be able to wash it mind...lol!) and we'll see you at the Strand Centre in Dawlish. We open an hour earlier this year at 10am, even more bargain hunting time!

Here comes the sun!

On Dawlish train station platform

Saturday morning was glorious and just perfect weather to visit the Antiques and Vintage Fair at Marsh Barton.  Via the train and the bus (we pegged it across the car park in front of Matalan!) we took to get there, we arrived in time to warrant paying the extra £1 per person entry fee to get in. 

 

2 Dawlish Antiques and Vintage fairs coming soon!

The fair's recently been taken over by Cooper Events (they also run the Giant Shepton Flea Market) and it's great to see how they've transformed the fair. It never disappoints! We'd never seen the outside area so full of traders, some had travelled from as far as Cornwall, Worcester, Wales and Somerset.    

 

 

 We had a good look andbought some wonderful vintage items.  Our favourites had to be the 1950s/1960s vintage fashion magazines all the way from France, stunning 1930s Bakelite buckle and gorgeous vintage handbag.  The gold plated earrings we picked up still had their original 3/6 price tag on them!

 

We also saw Carolyn, one of the organisers of the Langstone Cliff Hotel Antiques fair (Dawlish Warren) on Sunday 12 May.  We'll be having a stall, so please pop down! 
 

Then it was back on the bus to Exeter St Thomas and to Spooneys for a much needed respite pint!  We also picked up a very pretty pink and grey Glen Cree Mohair scarf and a men's wallet which doesn't look as if it's ever been used.  We love it because it harks back to pre-decimalisation as it includes a section for your farthings! 

 

All in all Saturday was a very good day in the sun!

Respite pint at Spooneys!

 

P.S. All these items and many other gorgeous items will be for sale on the Old's Cool Traders stall at the Dawlish Antiques and Vintage Fair on 16 March 2019, see you there!

 

 

 

 



 



Why buy antique or vintage...an (irreverent) mini-guide

Talk to some antique dealers these days (especially the ones who are practically antiques themselves) and some of them will bemoan the state of the market before waxing lyrical about the days when a Georgian Tea Caddy made £200-£300 rather than the £30-£40 that you can sometimes pick them up for.

But whilst it’s pretty clear that prices for ‘traditional’ antiques have tumbled in recent years there are signs that younger generations are rejecting the world of buy today fall to pieces tomorrow flat pack MDF and discovering the joys of owning something that’s already been around for a couple of hundred years and will probably still be here in another couple of hundred. Hmmm, wonder if Brexit will be sorted by then?

 

So why buy an antique or vintage piece? Good question. Here’s our top 7 (we couldn’t think of 10 but you’re welcome to make some suggestions of your own) reasons:

 

(1)  Value for money – There’s simply never been a better time to buy genuine antiques. Ask a furniture maker to knock up a lovely mahogany table for you and you’ll probably (and quite rightly) get a bill for several thousand pounds. Buy a Victorian or Georgian example and you might even get change from a hundred quid.

(2)  Patina – Or dirt as some people might call it, but there’s something beautiful about the colour a piece of wood takes on after it’s been used and polished hundreds and hundreds of times over the years. Yes...really.

(3)  Investment – You can buy a lovely pair of solid brass Victorian candlesticks for £3 these days. We know you can because we’ve done it. And how much should be worth? £20...£30...£40? Stick a pair of brass candlesticks on your dining table, bung some candles in, dim the lights and boom...you’ll feel like royalty...or at the very least someone from Love Island. Even if you are eating a Fray Bentos pie and chips.

 

(4)  Quality – Things don’t last 100 years+ if they’re poorly made. Back in the dim and distant past people took a real pride in what they did whereas now it’s often about cutting costs and corners. It used to take years to learn certain crafts and sadly some of the skills that our great great grandparents had have simply died with them. 

 

(5)  Uniqueness – Ever been into someone’s house and recognised half the items in it from your place? Or been to a party and bumped into at least three people with the same dress on? I have. And I’m a chap. Buy an antique or vintage piece and you’ll stand out from the crowd.

(6)  FUN! – Okay, so we know it’s easier to sit at home in your pants and order something from...we can’t bring ourselves to type the word...you know...one of those big blue shed places that sell cardboard chairs called Schmicklesnackelschmergan or some such nonsense...but getting out and about and visiting antique fairs (hint hint), centres, shops or auction houses and hunting something special down is far more fun.

 

 

(7)  Save the planet – Making pretty much anything damages the environment in some way so by buying an antique or vintage item you...yes you...will be saving the world. Hurrah! And you don’t even need to wear your pants outside your trousers.   

 

So next time you need/want to buy something or have a few quid burning a hole in your pocket think antique or vintage and we pretty much guarantee you’ll be at least 52% happier with life.

Rug-ovely day out!

 

Waiting for the train to take us to Topsham and Exmouth

Although it started cold and grey on Saturday morning and stayed like that for most of the day it didn't stop Old's Cool Traders on their picking spree.  Fortunately GWR behaved itself all day (thank goodness after last Saturday's fiasco) and the worst we had to endure on our day trip to Topsham and Exmouth was a 10 minute wait. 

Into Topsham first and we had a good look at the shops along the High Street and then a visit to Topsham Antique Centre.  We found out along the way that one of our favourite picking spots, Devon Air Ambulance's vintage shop, had been closed due to flooded drains and burst sewage pipes. Yuck!  All of their stock had been destroyed too, devastating news.  Fortunately the  kind people from the surrounding area and further afield have been very generous with their donations and the shop is due to open again in March.  We can't wait!  We've always bought items from there and it's a great shop for inspiration and vintage ideas.

 

Well deserved pint stop at Exmouth's Powder Monkey

We had a really good look around the Topsham Antiques Centre, we could spend hours in there!  There seemed to be loads of new dealers there which is always good to see as the stock changes more often.

 

With Kirk at the Exmouth Antiques and Collectibles Centre

We bought two really pretty brooches, one in the shape of a butterfly which has some real age to it and a sweet heart brooch, a perfect pressie for your loved ones.  The centre agreed to us leaving some flyers for our forthcoming fairs so please pick one up when you go there.

 

Pretty heart and butterfly brooches 

It was then off to Exmouth which has such a great range of charity shops that we never come away disappointed.  We found plenty of very cool vintage things that we'll be selling at our fairs including some gorgeous handbags which we'll be adding to the collection!

 

 

Red beaded handbag (top), Welsh tapestry glasses case (left)
and 1960s tapestry bag and matching compact (right)

The Powder Monkey has to be one of the best Spooneys in Devon for their ciders.  It's thirsty work picking items for sale so we had a relaxing pint or two) whilst we caught our breaths.

Fluffi by Marida Made in England mink coloured hat

The last stop of the day was the Exmouth Antiques and Collectables Centre (5 High Street).  Kirk Axsom does a brilliant job running the centre and there's a really great range of antiques and collectables for sale. Kirk's an expert on rugs too and has some real beauties for sale. All in all Saturday was a 'rug-ovely' day out! 

1980s sewing patterns, some bought at Selfridges London 

 



It Pasta Be Love!

You can't beat this clip from Walt Disney classic 'Lady and the Tramp' on Valentine's Day.

 

Share the love!

Central Perks!

 

How you doin'? In the Old's Cool Traders' household the TV series Friends has to be our 'go to' programme. 

Whether we're tired, need cheering up or are just looking for a good 20 minute time filler we put it on.  It never fails! 

 

 Monica, Joey, Chandler, Ross and Phoebe have become family members and even though we've watched every episode zillions of times we never get bored of it!

 

Friends has recently been cited as the most binged watched TV programme too and it's the most watched by 16 - 25 years old on their tablet, smartphone, TV etc who weren't even born when Friends was first televised in 1994!  In fact the show's so popular that last year its background set did a tour around the UK!

 

 

We've not got the set (well not yet anyway) but...OHHHHH MYYYY GODDDDDD...we have got a super cool original Friends board game (from the classic episode where Ross invented the game lost the girls their apartment) and extra large coffee cup for sale.

Get in touch if you want to buy 'em, they're not 'Gunther' be here for long...

 

Challenge Old's Cool Traders!

Well deserved pint after a successful day picking

Forget Challenge Anneka (early 1990s TV programme where tv presenter Anneka Rice was given a ridiculously short amount of time to achieve remarkable projects)  Saturday was all about Challenge Old's Cool Traders!

 

We had a very limited time to visit Heavitree, Exeter City Centre, Marsh Barton and Exeter St Thomas, all without the help of Anneka's helicopter and instead reliant on GWR's trains and Stage Coach's Green Bus.  The trains and the buses were fine for most of the day, it was the traffic in Exeter city centre and especially around Exe Bridges that got in the way.

Once again Old's Cool Traders had their 'pickers' heads and we had a great time hunting for lovely vintage items to sell.  The highlights had to be the award winning Force Charity shop in Heavitree and talking to lovely Babs who runs the Attic in Marsh Barton.  Barbs very kindly took some of our Dawlish Antiques and Vintage Fairs flyers whilst we had a good rummage and bought a shop dummy and necklace stand. 

 

Spooneys in Exeter St Thomas was our next stop where two pints of cider really hit the spot before heading back into Exeter via an unplanned detour on the bus (don't ask!) and then home.  Unfortunately our train journey wasn't the nicest (the phrase 'cattle truck springs to mind) but at least we could say we'd had a successful day picking!

 

Here are some of the lovely items we picked up on Saturday - they'll all be for sale when the fairs start again on Saturday 16 March but in the meantime if you see anything you fancy please get in touch.

Very rare Jolles original Austrian Petit Point evening bag - £100

1960's gold sparkly evening bag - £12

Retro Smirnoff Vodka tea towel - £10

Midwinter Riveria design side plate - £8 

Vintage Royal Navy Breton style cap - £18

1920s style patent handbag - £10

Rare Kangol beret - £15

Vintage silk scarf - £15

Etsy does it!

 

Great news...we've just opened our first shop on Etsy. You can find a small but perfectly picked selection of some of the things we love for sale there right now.

Please have a look and if anything takes your fancy snap it up before someone else does (don't you just hate it when that happens!). 

You can find our shop here - Old's Cool Traders Etsy Shop

 

Alternatively if there's anything in particular that you'd like us to find for you please get in touch too, whatever it is we'll sniff it out and hunt it down.  You can get in touch by emailing us at oldscooltraders@gmail.com or visiting our Facebook page.

Credit to Crediton

 

Waiting for the train

Bright and early on Saturday we set off to Crediton and then go back into Exeter later on in  the day. 

GWR were doing some work to the railways so we had to rely on their rail replacement bus service to get into Crediton once we'd arrived at Exeter St Davids.  Can't criticise the service though because both there and back the coach was on time, if only the trains could be as punctual!

We had a brilliant time in Crediton trawling the shops and found some real gems.  Vintage handbags, designer ties including a beautiful one by Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo, a supersize Friends coffee cup (could it BE any cooler) and a gorgeous men's Tootal scarf.

We visited the Crediton Antiques Centre and had a good look round too.  Lots of lovely items for sale and we spoke to the lovely Ayesha who runs it. Ayesha's also the organiser of the new Devon Salvage Fairs which are held at South Molten Indoor Pannier Market.  The next fair's on Sunday 17 February 2019.  We've heard lots of good things about the fairs so fingers crossed we're able to get to one in the next few months.
 

Eager to get out of the cold and into Crediton's Antiques Centre

 

Some of the gems we found in Crediton.... 

Friends large coffee cup - £8

 

Salvatore Ferragamo Designer Tie - £40

Salvatore Ferragamo label

Tootal Red Silk Scarf - £15

1970s fabric handbag - £10

Aubergine velvet handbag - £12

Sparkly black and gold handbag - £12

Vintage tiger striped glasses case - £10

All of these items will be up for sale (unless they've already been sold (of course!)...get in touch if anything takes your fancy) when the Dawlish Antiques and Vintage fairs start again on March 16th. 

Baby it's cold outside!

Vintage Kangol Wool Beret - £10

Keeping warm and looking fabulous is incredibly difficult during these sub zero temperatures.

 

Vintage 1980s caramel fake fur coat - £20

Fortunately at Old's Cool Traders we have the answer.... wear vintage!

Vintage 1960s fake fur coat - £25

Vintage USA Imported fake fur coat - £25

Our wonderful fake fur coats, Scottish woollen mill scarves and vintage Kangol berets will help keep the chill away. 

 

Please message us at oldscooltraders@googlemail.com if you need one of these lovely items in your winter wardrobe. 

Vintage Mohair Tartan Scottish Woven Scarf - £12