By Joyce LeeContributing Writer
Locals and visitors descended upon the Robert Crown Community Center gymnasium Saturday for its 27th annual flea market.
More than 70 vendors put childhood treasures and unique products on display at Robert Crown, 1701 Main St., for the event.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., sellers displayed knick-knacks they had collected over their lifetimes or rescued from the cobwebs of their basements.
Among the dog-eared comic books and dusty cashmere coats was Evanston resident Ashley Keney’s table of antique tools and mechanical parts. These included a packaged electric pencil engraver and two hand-cranks over 150 years old.
“I sure don’t get rich doing this,” said Keney, who has belonged to a local tool collector’s club for almost 30 years. “But I can turn it into a little bit of cash, then go out and buy some more.”
Kenneth Cherry, who moved from Chicago to Evanston to lead a church, has helped organize the flea market for the past 11 years. Instead of promotional advertisements, Cherry relies on “word of mouth and a regular crowd” to attract customers.
Another vendor said she sold European housewares and costume jewelry in garage sales, retail stores, antique malls and flea markets. Her favorite pieces on sale Saturday included a $25 Bavarian white porcelain container with gilded handles and lid from the 1920s, and a $15 Sheffield Victorian silver plate dating back to the 1880s.
Nearby, another local resident who has had a table at the flea market for the past 15 years said she enjoys the friendly interaction with her neighbors and customers more than the process of peddling her old clocks and beauty mirrors.
Vendors Maggie Roach and Karen Brennan accumulated their merchandise from a much wider variety of sources.
Their products included rugs woven from plastic shopping bags, photo frames constructed of sardine can labels, bowls made of braided telephone wire and handbags comprised of old juice boxes.
“It’s a direct purchase that supports local artists, some handicapped,” Roach said. “We also have products from South Africa, Haiti and the Philippines.”
Reach Joyce Lee at [email protected].
