Hershey observations

[John_Maine]

Maudsley, I go looking for antique toys, promos, die casts, etc., etc., but enjoy wandering all the fields looking for the different vendors. I would not want them all in one place. I've bought some things for my cars - wheel covers, a taillight, etc., just to have an extra in case. I don't restore cars and don't need parts but I still enjoy looking at everything Hershey has to offer.

[Jim Bollman]

I'm lucky in that my wife has come to Hershey every year since 1971 (vending since 1972) accept 2 (when she was very pregnant and the next year when our son wasn't yet a year old). She holds down the booth while I shop as long as everything is priced. I have a great wife.

[Highlander160]

I don't think gas pumps and old toys "violates" the Hershey experience. Look in your own garage to answer that one. Even old tools, advertising, old light fixtures, I say why not? I'd love to see a 1/2 dozen restored old shop lights over my cars some day. true enough, old dishes and glasses, housewares and such, maybe aren't perfectly acceptable. Then again, how many of our wives have put up with our affliction? At least they get a spot here n there to pick through if only for fun.

Yes alsancle, you nailed it. I think let it ride, let it eat. Why whine about the greatest antique and collector car venue on the planet? It works. Nobody wants some exacting and rigid experience there. It's not a public service. It's people like us on this board who are as much the same as we are different. Sunglasses? Seriously? How many forgot theirs this year? I recall 4 days of beautiful blazing sun and I'd bet several were as happy to see him as woulda been happy to see a rain poncho vendor in years past. You want the AACA to do something about it? I don't. Just walk on by. I didn't look for Pontiac parts either...

[Restorer32]

Vendors are allowed into the flea market fields at 7.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I also think it is unrealistic to expect the hobbyist vendor to man their booth bell to bell each day. I know if I were to set up there it would be a 50-50 deal at best in terms of hours walking and visiting vs. selling. How many people with a car in the car corral stand next to it for 8 hours? Again, just part of the deal...

[Restorer32]

People tend to forget that most parts sellers are hobbyists also and want to do the same as everyone else...see what's new and interesting in the flea market, compare prices, maybe shop for a few items.

[JB-ed]

I understand jdome's dilemma. I have for years thought of getting a vendor's space to sell off some of my spare parts--but then I would have no time to wander the fields to buy more! If a vendor wants to leave his space to shop, he ought to be required to leave a prominent cell-phone number for potential buyers to contact him while he is away.

I think I noticed far fewer "non-auto-related" sellers this year. I recall back in the 1970s when Hershey officials made Nat Adelstein remove some antique phonographs from his space, even though he mostly offered old car parts. I think it's time for that again. It's an antique car swap meet--not a yard sale!

There is no excuse for vendors packing up at 1:30 or even 3:30 in the afternoons.
There is no excuse for allowing people to buy vendor's spaces just to use for parking. I bet Hershey would be reduced to 1/3 its size if the rules would be enforced (if there are rules).

Asking prices were up this year, in my opinion. Especially in the car corral. One guy was offering an all original, in need of complete restoration, 1922 Dodge for $11,500. He finally sold it something for under $2900, still high. Sold cars were leaving the area, so maybe the prices are coming back up. (Unfortunately in my opinion.)

I hope Hershey directors find ways to correct these issues, otherwise I see Hershey yielding more and more to internet auction sites. All-in-all, it's a lot cheaper to buy a part on eBay at 50% higher price than to invest in a trip to Hershey, considering fuel, tolls, mileage, time off work, hotel, and premium-priced hotdogs from Hershey food vendors. This year all I bought were two North East rotors, cost $10 each + tolls, hotel, gas, etc. = $400 each!

[Stonefish]

I think more vendors camped "on site" back in the day....there was very little of this in and out traffic in the mornings/evenings.

[joe_padavano]

People tend to forget that most parts sellers are hobbyists also and want to do the same as everyone else...see what's new and interesting in the flea market, compare prices, maybe shop for a few items.

I am also a hobbyist-vendor and I completely understand the desire to shop as well as sell. I do exactly that at Carlisle. This is not my point. My point was about vendors who open late and close VERY early. Since I'm limited to a single day at Hershey, it makes it both difficult to buy items and forces MUCH walking between the few remaining open vendors. That's not the same as walking away from your swap space and leaving a cell phone number if a buyer is interested in something.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

A cell phone is still a foreign device to some of the old timers...

A sign with a phone or ETA on your return is a great idea, but requiring it seems a bit over the top to me.

[stock_steve]

...There is no excuse for vendors packing up at 1:30 or even 3:30 in the afternoons...

...There is no excuse for allowing people to buy vendor's spaces just to use for parking. I bet Hershey would be reduced to 1/3 its size if the rules would be enforced (if there are rules)...

..I hope Hershey directors find ways to correct these issues...

In my opinion, any such "crackdown" tactics would have the exact opposite effect as intended.

If vendors are going to have to deal with more and more rules and restrictions, do you think it's going to make them MORE or LESS eager to come to Hershey?

Again, just my opinion...

[JB-ed]

Hershey is supposed to be an antique car and parts swap meet. Period. Not a parking lot. Not a place to display tarps over unseen parts in an abandoned vendor's space. Not a place to sell yard-sale items.

The only ones the "crackdown" will discourage are those not actively selling antique car parts.

Chickasha swapmeet has exactly these rules and is thriving. It's a pre-war (WW-2) only swap meet. I saw the directors make a guy remove his 1950s cars from his space and out into the parking lot a few years ago.

[Restorer32]

Actually, Hershey is meant to be an antique car show. The flea market came about without any planning whatsoever in the 1950's when a few guys spread out some parts on the bleachers at the stadium. It grew from there. It is much easier to police a flea market like Chickasha which is what, maybe as large as one row at Hershey? Much more difficult with something the size of Hershey. Again, please don't mess too much with success. Years ago oil cans, gas pumps and the like would not have been considered "automotive". Would you ban those also? Peoples' interests change over time. I would venture to guess that most vendors at Hershey don't even come with hopes of making money selling parts. I would rather someone bring his small cache of rare parts and be at his stand 10 minutes a day than not bring them out at all. I'd bet most non commercial vendors actually lose money bringing parts to Hershey considering travel expenses etc. You also need to bear in mind that a non profit operation like the AACA has to be careful telling someone they can't use spaces they paid for. I know if Hershey wasn't FUN we wouldn't be there.

[trimacar]

Well, I agree you don't want to mess with things too much, but I'd still rather see one area devoted to those folks who KNOW that they just buy a space to park.

Guess I'm naive, would think that would be a fairly easy thing to do....but then again, I don't participate in the planning and set up of the meet, which is a huge undertaking....hat's off to those people who do so....

[Shop Rat]

Okay, I admit it , there is one lady that brings adorable stuffed toys every year and sells them alongside the antique vehicle parts her husband sells (and there aren't that many toys so it is more than in line with the rules) and I always get one from her. CHEAP prices for new toys. This year I got a stuffed version of the snake from the cartoon "Animal Crackers". It was then coiled around the stick part of the bike flag on my Hershey Hauler Radio Flyer Wagon. Some vendors do push the limits with the percentage of what is antique vehicle related.

[trimacar]

Well, since it's confession time, I bought a stuffed penguin at Hershey, a Steiff no less, and for no money to speak of.....my wife collects penguins and I just couldn't pass it up.

It WAS next to some rusty car pieces on a table, though.....had fun with the seller, as he was sitting with a group of guys, and here I was bargaining on a stuffed animal, which I hid in my jacket of course, there IS a limit to embarassment potential....