Hershey Swap meet Observations

[Shop Rat]

.....I still think the oddest thing was the wicker funeral home basket- with a skeleton!- a few years back!! Sat up on a roll off watching the crowd go by all week!

It is my understanding from a guy here in W. Va. that has a stunningly beautiful horse-drawn hearse that the wicker baskets were the "body bag" of the time. There was a crank on the hearse that when it was turned moved large spikes upward from the floor of the hearse to keep the wicker basket from moving inside. There was a false bottom in the wicker basket to keep the spikes away from the body. He had one of the baskets in the hearse and showed Bill and I how it worked. Pretty cool. :cool:

[bruffsup]

I like this. anyone know if it is a Stanley 10hp which is what my guess was as the owner was not around.

[Guest Paul Christ]

I saw the "Loco" steam motorcycle as it was being ridden around the orange

and green fields. Couldn't catch up to it to speak with the rider, but he was

wearing a shirt with "wanted - steam car parts" printed across the back. It

was very cool to see the bike in operation.

[oldcarfudd]

He apparently rode the steam motorcycle over to the Stanley museum reception, but I had left by then. I'm sure the Stanley museum folks can tell you who he is.

Gil Fitzhugh, Morristown, NJ

[Seldenguy]

Could the "LOCO" logo infer that it was a Locomobile steam car based vehicle?? Even not being a Stanley their devoted followers would be interested, as I am.--Bob

[Dave Mellor NJ]

The owner's name is Bill Barnes. The bike is extremely interesting but I think it was made up to show it could be done. I hope I don't get any flak for saying this.

[stock_steve]

Saw the steam bike driving around the flea market (Orange field?) either Thursday or Friday--definitely an attention-getter. Looked like it lacked some throttle response. As a proof-of-concept, quite impressive!

[ex98thdrill]

I have been to Hershey for many years and have seen many odd thigs for sale. My unusual fid this wa sin the Chocolate annex near the Hershey Drive entrance where we used to cross to the White field. A guy had an under the counter dishwasher, a refrigerator and a front door with sidelights for sale!! Maybe looking for an RV restorer in the crowd.......

I still think the oddest thing was the wicker funeral home basket- with a skeleton!- a few years back!! Sat up on a roll off watching the crowd go by all week!

Bill,

The three guys who set up across from our spots have a contest to see who can sell the wierdest thing. Last year one of sold an airplane (real plane, not engine, no wings), while one of them was selling molds for making false teeth.

Stuff we could give a way last year, sold this year, and stuff that everyone was buying last year, didn't sell this year...

Go figure.:confused::confused::confused:

One of those guys sold my dad a 50' roll of plastic tubing for $25. To this day neither one of us know what it would be used for, but we sold it for $40. When my dad asked the guy what he was going to use it for, he didn't know what it was for either.

The guy who sold us the roll of plastic thought he burned us, yet when he saw us sell it for a profit, his reaction was priceless.

It's worth setting up in the flea market just for the entertainment.

[KdFwagen]

Very little Buick, Olds, Cadillac etc parts. Multiple people offering 41 Cadillac grilles for $400 or such.

I saw no Buick hubcaps, few Buick parts, few orphan parts except Packard and high prices on those. I even walked around Friday afternoon until 5pm and saw little evidence of bargaining.

At Hershey this year I found almost every part (except 2 pieces) for a 1950 Buick front and rear bumper and Grill. All NOS! Hood emblem, Bombsite hood logo all NOS. Even found an NOS 1950 front Roadmaster Fender for $125.

I saw lots of stuff there. I was all over that place many times searching and talking to folks.

[John_Maine]

To be fair, it takes all three days to cover Hershey and even at that, you can't really cover all of the fields in that time. Yes, things are generally more expensive than elsewhere, but with time to search, there are bargains to be found.