What I Didn't Buy at the Famous Waldo Flea Market, A Shangri-La of Vintage Junk

The entrance to a small antique store part of the market. The real thing was MUCH LARGER but I can't get those photos out of my phone to establish scale. Boo. Real Camera coming next time...

I love taking US Highway 301 on rare drives from North to South Florida. Highway 301 is a snapshot of small town Florida, where decaying Mid Century Modern souvenir shops and fruit stands were erected during the glory days of 1950s road tripping, like a Tacky Tourist Florida post card. There are also rustic trailer yard sales and thrift shop stops along the way. I am definitely going to make a project out of beautifully documenting every single one of these fascinating stands and junk stops. The past Sunday my mom and I made a random journey to the most epic one, the famous Waldo Flea  Market.

Mixed in with straight-up Sanford and Son style junk displays (which I also LOVE, don't get me wrong) where some vendors with all the beautiful Mid Century Modern I seek I wanted that amazing lamp shade/lamp but it was $60ish. He had great stuff.

I also throughly enjoyed exotic animal galore. If you're wondering why this Husky is so large and brown-eyed, it's because it's not a Husky but a WOLF. She was a gentle and playful.

Edit: I don't advise having a wolf for a pet at all what-so-ever. Just letting it be known. Nor do I celebrate the treatment of this wolf as a chained pet. Simply reporting on what I saw while flea market shopping.

Beside wolfie where some Hispanic-style paintings that resonated with mom and I but they were too damaged. My mom's got a nice collection of Mexican/Puerto Rican art in her kitchen.

Tins are another fetish of mine, my inner graphic designer loves that typography! Very nice collection of vintage in this part of the market

Had a nice chat with this guy about profitable estates he's bought-out in New York and pristine vintage he's' sold off for the big bucks. He had a lot of pop culture toys I wanted but didn't take a risk on with little knowledge on what the pieces sold for. Inspires me to take more risks and hunt at more estate sales.

I love Avon Decanters but I leave them behind now, slow sellers.

This guy had the biggest collection I'd ever seen in one place. In retrospect should have looked more at the gun one. I do always sell those.

This guy had two very beautifully staged stalls. We chatted about art/design aesthetic, most vendors at Waldo were so friendly. I wanted to buy several unique mod items from but didn't risk it. Maybe next time. The ones I really wanted were all in the $20-$40 range but were the type of conversation pieces that sell for much more.

These rocks are likely vintage, no? The child-me would have died for this set-up. I loved collecting rocks.

This antique Microscope set's interior was messy but wow, glorious thing to behold. More stuff more my past amateur scientist to drool over. Gorgeous design on the label and interesting color choice, too.

More beguiling 50s-60s breakables to behold. Great collection, all expensive.

A close-up of estate-sale-guy's wares, he had so much to behold! Lots of random bits from his buying adventures.

I enjoyed these deliciously gaudy handmade/painted cement pieces, she had great prices on them too and I came home with one you'll see next week.

I wish I had photos to show of the outside right now, still trying to retrieve shots of this adventure from my phone. (Expect a follow-up!) but here's an example of the junky areas. Many piles of junk, many goats, chickens, and bunnies to pet.

But my favorite was this ring tailed lemur, bred in South Florida as a pet. Very well behaved, the body fur was soft like a chinchilla. Such an beautiful creature! I've seen a bush baby and huge exotic birds while yard saling and flea marketing but the lemur was the most enchanting exotic creature sighting for me yet.

Edit: While it's legal to have a ring-tailed lemur and other exotics as a pet in Florida if you go through the expense/time to earn a wildlife license it's difficult on both the owner and animal to have an exotic pet. Not advised.

Except maybe this bobcat! Just kidding, he's shed his mortal coil. How dare you tell me not to touch, sign, that's all I want to do looking at this regal hyde.

The dream! Seems like everyone wants a retro trailer for a pop-up shop these days.

You can sense the history of this place, the outdoor vendor's stalls had a look of being there (and decaying) for a LONG TIME. A nice example of Southern junking culture.

In the end I came home with a lot of glorious retro goodies and have made a tidy profit selling some of the pieces from my trip already. Will definitely make my way back and try to fit in more travel trips. And more hunting in general. My inventory needs fresh blood.

What would you have bought? What have you been leaving behind lately? More to come, there's a LOT you haven't seen yet...

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.