Louis Vuitton Treasure Trunks of the Paris Puces

They say the name ‘flea market’ first originated from the legendary Paris antiques market of St. Ouen, when an unknown bargain hunter in the 1880s looked down from nearby fortifications, observed junk dealers selling their scrap and allegedly exclaimed, “My word, but it’s a market of fleas!” In reality, it is anything but. On my…

Paris’ Mid-Century Vintage Village

In the heart of the 11th arrondissement, the Oberkampf district has its own mini Paris flea market, a petite shopping village of mid-century design, decorative arts and vintage lighting waiting behind weathered façades of the neighbourhood’s old ateliers. Shop owners set up coffee tables right outside in the square to chat with locals, leaving the…

The Fantastical World of Mingering Mike, the Imaginary Legend of Soul

When you were young, what did you want to be? An astronaut, a princess, maybe a superhero or president of the world. Mike Stevens dreamt of being a soul super star, he wanted to tour the world, to write and produce award-winning albums and run his own record label. He would star in, write and…

Inside America’s Biggest Flea Market

The Brimfield Flea Market was founded in 1959 in Brimfield Massachusetts and has grown to become one of the largest flea markets in the world. Three times a year, the population of Brimfield swells from 3,000 to a quarter million, when treasure hunters flock to the fair in search of vintage Americana. One dealer sums…

Moscow’s “Rage Rooms” by the Hour

Do you ever feel stressed and just want to break the furniture or smash up a computer? The Russians have the solution! In Moscow, located in a flea market, Debosh offers a unique way for people to relieve stress and to take out their aggression harmlessly, violently and legally. This concept, known as “rage rooms”…

The Vault

Found in a Flea Market: A 1930s Scrapbook of a Young Lady’s American Dream

A recent visit to the Brooklyn flea market unearthed a quite remarkable treasure; a lovingly compiled 1939 scrap book once belonging to a young lady called Lotta June Miller. The scrap book records her journey across America to become a theatre director. Photographs, old signed playbills, tickets for sleeper cars on trains and Valentine’s cards…

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A Brief Compendium of Vintage Cigarette Dispensers

“Tobacciana.” That’s a big ‘ole blanket term for all things smoking-obsessed. Not very 2020, perhaps (and for good reason! Don’t smoke, kids). But the reality is that until relatively recently, folks smoked a lot. So they were getting rather creative with the ways they lit-up, especially when it came to their cigarette dispensers. These often…

Making a case for Mouthwatering Majolica

They say you are what you eat. But what about what you eat with? We love a good bout of antique hunting, from the Paris Flea Market to one-of-kind auctions – and in matters of dishware, “Majolica” officially has our attention. You can spot the curious ceramics by their decorations of fish, fruit, and other…

World War II Love Letters

The other day from across the pond, a New Yorker got in touch with me to ask whether I might be interested in a scrapbook he found at a Brooklyn flea market, made by a young lady leaving New York in 1939 for California to become a theatre director. Of course I was interested, and of…

Brunch in the Paris Puces

On a crisp sunny Sunday, there really is no better place to be in Paris than les Puces (the flea market) of St.Ouen. The epicenter of authentic Paris, le Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen is an ideal little society of its own, made up of village-like alleys and small streets, persevered by an intellectual and…