What is the best day to attend Hershey? Oct. 10 - 13

[Guest ChaplainLar]

I only have one day for this meet. This will be my first time there. I mostly want to browse the pre-war stuff.

Which day should I go?

[mrpushbutton]

Thursday or Friday--everyone who is going to will have shown up and have their goods out. You will see about 25% of the swap meet if you have one full day to walk, no rain.

[novaman]

If you are looking at cars only, the car show is Saturday only. They'll start arriving at the show field sometime between about 5:30-6 AM until 10 when they should all be on the field.

If you are looking for parts in the flea market, Saturday may or may not be your worst day. A lot of vendors pack up friday evening as they are either judging or viewing the show themselves, but those that are open you might do better dealing with. I'd hit the flea market wed-fri. You won't be able to cover it all in a day so get a program and you can find the vendors with the pre-war stuff. The Chocolate field is a good place to start for the older stuff from what I've seen. Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes!!!

[1937hd45]

Wednesday if you plan on buying anything. If you see something you want BUY IT, you won't find your way back to it later. Stop by C4J-41-42 and say hello, you can leave heavy stuff with me for the day and pick it up later and save walking time.

[DizzyDale]

Sittin on the curb watchin the ENTIRE show pass you by while the sun comes up,IT DONT GET ANY BETTER.....Well maybe standin on the starting line at the US Nationals...I'll have to get back to you on that one.diz

[RVAnderson]

It's really too bad that so many do pack up on Friday. Last year I was about the only one within eyeshot still set up Saturday morning. Very few came way over to see me and the entire morning was totally shot from a seller's standpoint. I heard many complaints from those who did show. One fellow related how he couldn't get off work during the week, so he drove 500 miles Friday night, slept in his car, and was greeted by "flea market" fields 80% empty. The comment I heard repeated the most was "if it's advertised as being in operation on Saturday, it really should be."

There ought to be some way to fix it.

[1937hd45]

Well, I haven't missed a Hershey since 1969. NOBODY arrives on Saturday with any serious intent to buy. All the good stuff is sold by Thursday, Friday is a social event, Saturday is reserved for the Car Show viewing and packing up the flea market leftovers. This is 2007, things were A LOT different in 1977, more parts and no internet.

[Guest ChaplainLar]

Thank you all.

I will be seeing you Thursday.

ChaplainLar

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">This is 2007, things were A LOT different in 1977, more parts and no internet. </div></div>

...and, as memory serves me, substantially more people still had jobs than were retired. Today the opposite is the case in the extreme, and Hershey is an AARP subculture. <span style="text-decoration: underline">That</span> change occurred long before the internet came along.

When Carlisle became the working man's Hershey, hot rods took over.

[RVAnderson]

I sure heard from some of the Saturday Nobodies!

[novaman]

One of the "problems" is of the hundreds of judges need for the show, a good number of them also have flea market spots. at the moment I can recall 11 vendors that I know and of those 5 don't judge and 6 do. An unless you have a spouse that's capable of handle the spaces, you have to close if you're going to judge. I'm quite sure you'd have a large group POed if you were to mandate that they be open on Sat. Not only would they be judges but I'm sure there are others that would like to see the cars too but don't have the capable assistance to keep a space open too. At my spces you'd probably be safer to buy from my girlfriend than my mom. My girlfriend might not know what it fits, but usually knows what it is. Mom doesn't know her parts as well.

[RVAnderson]

I really got the sense from those who were upset that it was the advertising of the flea market as being in full swing on Saturday that annoyed them.

I've been going to Hershey since 1986 so like nearly all of us I'm kind of an insider. I, personally, know "The Way Things Are" as it relates to the EFM. But if we are to attract "new blood" we need to see things as they do. If I drove 300 miles and slept in my car on the strength of an advertisement that turned out to be not accurate I'd be ticked too.

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear ChaplinLar:

So you get a quantifiable response to your question, one of the Hershey region guys figured out that it was over 30 miles up and down aisles about 4 years ago. About 20 years ago, a friend of mine figured out that if you start at sunup and go to sundown all 4 days and looked at each space for 15 seconds, you would still be 400 spaces short of seeing it all.

A program and a vendor list is your only hope.

Regards, Dave Corbin (27th year at Hershey)

[jimkf]

We arrive on Tuesday evening and usually set up a small space in Chocolate field. If the rain Gods look up us with favor, we're then blessed with several days of nice weather. If not, well, that's Hershey!

For us, we find our goodies on Wednesday and Thursday. Prices are firm during those days, for the most part, but if it's an odd or an end, chances are you'll find it.

By Friday afternoon, it's true the place begins to thin out. That's when I start to bargain shop. I'll ferret out the deals and keep going until it's time to pull up stakes on Saturday around noon.

So, if I had to pick a day, it would be either Wednesday or Thursday.

[Guest Leonard Shepherd]

I don't know how soon you need to decide, but if you can wait to see the weather report, it would be advantageous. Last year was dry as I recall, but several years I either got soaked or sat in my car the whole day.