Luray - pre-war swap meet report

[Terry Bond]

I decided to post here so it doesn't get missed.  Thought it was important to let everyone know - the good old days are back again!   Despite all the media craziness about fuel crisis, I was not deterred from making the drive from SE Virginia up to Luray for their pre-war swap meet.  It's not gigantic-but most certainly is a pre-war event, with lots of focus on Model Ts.  Well-it is run by a Model T Club, so...   This isn't my first trip there.  The first few years I was an eager buyer, then last year when it was temporarily moved to Oct because of the virus, I decided to be a vendor.  Hey-without Hershey, I needed a good flea market fix. 

If you've not been before, it's held on the outskirts of Luray, Va along Rt 211, kinda in a little grassy valley adjacent to the VFW club.  There are a few spaces available under a covered pavillion, but most are outside, on soft grass.  It's been growing (the grass, sure, but the swap meet itself - YES).

In my estimation, everything about it was perfect!  

The weather was again fabulous.  The number of vendors - I heard 67 this year.  That's individual vendors-not the number of spaces covered.  For the most part, these vendors were non-professional flea marketers.  There were a couple of Model A and T parts vendors there, and a couple of booths advertising services, like Bill Calimer with his new wood spoked wheels, and Mel Draper with an assortment of items, and RV Anderson with new and rebuilt early coils, and Dave Nolting with new transmission parts for model Ts.  The rest- vendors coming with trailer-loads of parts, much of it good old barn-fresh unrestored, not monkeyed with parts. There were parts there for Curved Dash Olds, early Ford and once-cyl Cadillac, some early flat-head parts, a lot more 32 Ford parts than I'd seen in a long time, and of course some complete cars for sale too.  You could have bought a 1912 Model T Torpedo, or a wonderfully restored 1930 Model a Town Sedan ready to show or go.  I was tempted!  One vendor arrived with a trailer full of T and misc early stuff and he had no idea what it all was. He had made a deal and picked it up on the way, so nothing had been sorted.  There were boxes full of goodies - timers, assorted early carbs, magnetos, fenders, running boards, accessory items, disassembled engines, rear ends, etc. etc.  He was up all night going through boxes trying to inventory it all and figure out some pricing.  His trailer was nearly empty going home!

Friday was an early start - when I came down the hill towards the field at 7:30Am the public parking area was already more than half full, and a line of vendors arriving was long.  It was a lot of fun trying to run around as they opened up, joining crowds digging through all the stuff.  I saw everything from porcelain license plates to brass radiators being carried around.  There were even several young members driving their cars around through the swap meet.  It was absolutely fantastic to see younger people so enthusiastic about their car projects and having fun with the hobby. 

Vendors came from New Jersey, Florida, Tennessee, and all over the place.  Buyers - probably from just as far.  Crowds were thick most all day Friday.  There was a lunch-time lull in the action while the VFW fed everyone.  

Tablels full of brass, boxes full of "stuff" and anxious sellers meeting eager buyers.  

Friday evening, the VFW fed vendors with a wonderful fried-chicken dinner. 

Saturday, usually had really thinned out in prior years, but there are always some who just can't get there on Friday, so vendors were encouraged to stick around for Saturday, and this year, most of them did.  Once again, a good crowd of people descended.  It was a slower start, any by the advertised closing time things were really winding down, but we all hated to see it come to an end.  

Stuff sold.  Treasure was discovered, much of it fresh from barns and hoards brought in from the mountains.  Buyers spent well and enjoyed their time digging through it all.  It was wonderful to just breath the fresh country air, the smell of rusty old iron and grease, the frying chicken, and once again, to visit with old friends-some of them not seen for more than a year.

Oh -the gas?  The town of Luray itself had plenty with no lines, no fuss, no price gouging.  Even the trip up and back had plenty of gas-up opportunity.  I like to take back roads, and in many of the smaller towns along my route, there was no problem. Sure, I saw some pumps and stations closed, but quite often, there was another one just down the road with no issues.

Put this one of your calendar if you hunger for a good old fashioned swap meet run by the friendliest bunch of folks you'll ever meet.   Like Arnold said - "well be baaaaaaaack."

Terry

Edited May 16, 2021 by Terry Bond (see edit history)

[trimacar]

Terry summed it up nicely, it was great seeing friends that we haven't seen for a while.  Lots of stuff there, and while it was Model T heaven, there were some other goodies if you looked hard enough. I think this meet will grow for sure.

 

For example, Terry himself had a Starrett box sitting on his table, and I was just sort of nosy and opening things.  Lo and behold, not Starrett, but full of some upholstery items I could use!  They did go home with me.

 

It's always funny how being at a live show or swap meet, one learns things that one would never learn using the Internet.  I had been involved in the chase for a certain car, a very rare early one, at one time even had tens of thousands in my pocket getting ready to go buy it (full disclosure, for someone else).  The car was in sad shape compared to when I first saw it over 25 years ago, had been in awful storage and metal and wood had disappeared over that time period.

 

A conversation at the meet informed me that the car had been sold to a well known name in the hobby, and was scheduled to be picked up soon.  Just happened to be in the right place at the right time for the conversation.

 

I know a lot of people are saying live swap meets are dying, but you can't beat them for seeing new and old friends and getting the scuttlebutt on things that are happening...

[Terry Bond]

It was great to see you there David. The fellowship there really helped make it a great event.  People actually had time to stop and visit. It wasn't so big you had to jam to see everything, there was time to go through things at a more leisurely pace and look into those little boxes of goodies as you mentioned.  I think everyone brought extra chairs and snacks just for that reason.   It was the kind of event that takes you back a few years.   I think the demand for a pre-war focus is there, and in general, people are getting tired of getting ripped off on the internet, or being bombarded with internet scammers.  I heard several people saying they sense a return to the good old days when you could hold things in your hands, look them over carefully and actually talk with the vendor without having to pay ridiculous commissions or outrageous buyers premiums.  

Terry

[dibarlaw]

Sorry to say we missed both you Terry and Dave. I asked several vendors and they said you were around some where?? I just saw him at the end of the row.... Maybe at Hershey again.

Met up with forum and Buick Buddies Mark Kikta and Dave Blaufarb.

 

Dave B checking out a "Mission Impossible" part I repaired for him Mark K looking on.

Who belonged to this lovely Packard Phaeton?

 Mark K checking it out.

 After lunch at the Brookside  several miles east on 211.

Myself. Dave's 1941 Buick Model 47 that he drove from Silver Spring. Dave and Mark.

 

[ojh]

Dang, I missed it!  That would've been fun too.

[8E45E]

17 hours ago, trimacar said:

It's always funny how being at a live show or swap meet, one learns things that one would never learn using the Internet.  I had been involved in the chase for a certain car, a very rare early one, at one time even had tens of thousands in my pocket getting ready to go buy it (full disclosure, for someone else).  The car was in sad shape compared to when I first saw it over 25 years ago, had been in awful storage and metal and wood had disappeared over that time period.

 

I know a lot of people are saying live swap meets are dying, but you can't beat them for seeing new and old friends and getting the scuttlebutt on things that are happening...

I can hardly until things finally get back to normal here!  The 'big' one for us is the CAVAC Swap Meet in early May, which is considered to be many our 'spring opener'.  Indeed, it does feel like a part of our live went missing when it was cancelled again this year.  

[motoringicons]

I really wanted to go to Luray this year but was not able to make it. My loss.

 

It is great to see a REAL old car swap meet with REAL old cars and parts. For events like these, the  size of the meet does not matter-quality and age trump quantity.

 

From the photos, it looks like it was just like how swap meets used to be when I was a kid and just getting into old cars. 

 

Trimacar is right. There is nothing like a real swap meet. There is nothing like wandering around looking at brass and iron treasures, having a conversation with an old or new friend and clutching a cup of coffee while the morning dew evaporates from the grass and rusted iron. The best part is the added mystery of not knowing what rare finds your trained eye  will uncover or what junk (I mean treasures!) you are going to sell. You just never know what a day at a swap meet will bring. The online marketplace will never compare to this live experience.

 

Those who haven't been to a good swap meet really need to experience this part of the hobby.

[wayne sheldon]

I agree with quality over quantity. Most of the big swap meets these days (at least in Califunny) just do not interest me. Walking through many isles to see a few bad model T parts I wouldn't give fifty cents for, and people that do not know the difference between a model T and a Duesenberg? Where is the fun in that? Most people today do not remember what it was like a half century ago in this hobby.

The first swap meet I went to? It was 1967, I was fifteen. There was a little mention in the local paper's classified ads about a swap meet at a local shopping mall's parking lot. My dad and I went. There were thirteen sellers, and it took about fifteen minutes to see most of what was there, but we stayed an hour, talked with people, and made a contact with a local club I joined about a month later.

I wasn't into model A Fords, (thought they were too modern), but a few friends I soon made were. So I would go with them to club meetings, and although I never joined that club, I volunteered to help with their annual swap meet. Did that for several years. The club made some money from the swap meet to help with club expenses. In those days, if they cleared more than $150 profit it was considered a big success! When I began helping them, they usually had about 35 sellers show up. A few years later, they went over 50 sellers for the first time!  A big celebration at the next club meeting! Interestingly enough, the celebration was coupled with fears that it would become too big for the club to handle?

As I found clubs more suitable for my interests, and coincidentally my best friends were also finding earlier cars more interesting, I drifted away from that model A club. In a few more years, the seller count was hitting 300! And the club did eventually stop having that meet because it was too much to handle. The swap meet had also become about ninety percent postwar stuff, and not very interesting.

Other Califunny swap meets followed similar patterns. The first big Turlock meet I went to had about a hundred sellers, the entire meet in one corner of the Turlock Fairgrounds, including all the buyer's parking. Fifteen years later, they had to rent farmer's fields across the road to supplement the buyers parking as the sellers took most of the entire Fairgrounds.

From the San Francisco Bay Area, I made it to several major West coast meets, including Long Beach in Southern Califunny and Portland Oregon, as well as Harrah's Reno meets. A lot of distance, but such wonderful stuff to see! Twenty years later? Most of those meets had so much postwar stuff? They were no longer worth the trip. Bakersfield was difficult, best day being Friday, when work didn't allow. But I went to Bakersfield a few times before I was forced to retire, and a few more times after. Limited to prewar stuff it was great to go to!

 

It might be interesting to see what happens in the next few years. Bakersfield is done, to be replaced hopefully by Tulare. And a new Arizona meet promising good prewar things!

I have seen numerous photos of the recent Luray meet on another forum. It really looked wonderful!

[Paul Dobbin]

dI always liked the big swap meets, especilly when I was restoring a car.   The thrill of the hunt for something I need makesit better.

Nowdays, with no projects going except a couple of gas pumps, I buy junk and barn decor.  Still fun but not the same.   In 1999 we went

to Luray Caverns on the Glidden Tour.  We parked our 34 Ford Phaeton in the sunny parking lot and went underground to see the

caverns.  When we came back to the surface it was raining buckets.   There sat the Phaeton, soaked to the bone.  We waited out the

rain while in the Car Museum, then put in the rear side curtains ad drove back to Staunton VA in the dark.   No damage to the car or 

us but happy hour was better when we got back to the campground.

[wayne sheldon]

I should (at the risk of letting a certain cat out of a certain bag?) also mention the Gold Country Auburn Califunny swap meet coming up in a couple weeks. Although it is not a 'prewar' meet per se, nearly half of everything there usually is prewar! It also is mostly local people, and a lot of stuff there won't be seen at any other swap meet. Not real big, not really small. Maybe a couple hundred sellers. Every time I go, I spend at least my allowance (and sometimes a few dollars more!), and always leave a bunch of stuff I would have liked to have gotten.

Auburn Fairgrounds, usually first Sunday in June. June 6 this year.

 

SSHHHH!

Edited May 18, 2021 by wayne sheldon (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

It must be a well kept secret, because I never heard of it.  Sounds good.  Although i don't think I have two trips to Auburn in me this summer.

[jdome]

17 hours ago, wayne sheldon said:

I should (at the risk of letting a certain cat out of a certain bag?) also mention the Gold Country Auburn swap meet coming up in a couple weeks. Although it is not a 'prewar' meet per se, nearly half of everything there usually is prewar! It also is mostly local people, and a lot of stuff there won't be seen at any other swap meet. Not real big, not really small. Maybe a couple hundred sellers. Every time I go, I spend at least my allowance (and sometimes a few dollars more!), and always leave a bunch of stuff I would have liked to have gotten.

Auburn Fairgrounds, usually first Sunday in June. June 6 this year.

 

SSHHHH!

 

You had me excited for a minute so I googled it. Auburn, CA. not Auburn, IN. 

[jdome]

I went to the Luray meet. 6 hr drive to get there and 6 hrs back and didn't buy anything. But that's OK. I just needed to be there amongst the rust & dust & brass and it was well worth it. I intend to go again next year and maybe get a spot to sell some stuff. 

[pkhammer]

Luray is only an hour from me so I went Friday morning and found so many great items I went back again and bought more Saturday. Nice little local swap meet run by genuinely nice people! I decided I should've purchased the pedal car in photo #16 in the OP but alas it was gone. ☹️

[wayne sheldon]

1 hour ago, jdome said:

 

You had me excited for a minute so I googled it. Auburn, CA. not Auburn, IN. 

 

Sorry about that. Those of us in the hinterlands of Califunny sometimes forget there is another (probably a few?) Auburn. There are so many fantastic events in the East and Midwest that I wish I could go to. I read tour reports often, know people through the internet that attend the OCF many other events in the Great Lakes area every year.

I'll go edit my post to avoid additional confusion.

[Terry Bond]

1 hour ago, pkhammer said:

Luray is only an hour from me so I went Friday morning and found so many great items I went back again and bought more Saturday. Nice little local swap meet run by genuinely nice people! I decided I should've purchased the pedal car in photo #16 in the OP but alas it was gone. ☹️

Same here on the Pedal car!  I usually also see things on the tables in my photos when I get home I should have bought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1912Staver]

You guy's are making me jealous ! No swap meet's for well over a year. The way things are going  { covid , border } , even the fall is optimistic.

 

 

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, 1912Staver said:

You guy's are making me jealous ! No swap meet's for well over a year. The way things are going  { covid , border } , even the fall is optimistic.

 

 

There is a swap meet coming up here on June 12th, which will now be an outdoor one.  The good is that it can be held as our restrictions for outdoor events should be mostly lifted by then, and the 'bad' is it's the 'Quick Times' swap meet which is mainly a 'hot rod' type swap meet as the CAVAC antique one was cancelled earlier this month.  I still have some hope for this one next month.  Because the CAVAC swap meet was cancelled last year and this year, some of those vendors will have a table or two at this one.  The Quick Times Swap Meet is normally held twice a year in March and October, and I did attend the one last October and did find a few non-hot rod items.

 

Craig

[Dave Henderson]

Because of the distance and size of the meet I'd never gone before thought I believe this was its 8th year.  By chance I had a part a friend was looking for, that he was to deliver to a buyer at the Luray meet if he was able to find one.   Bingo, I just happened to have that part, and happily it followed that I bummed a ride to the meet to "help" deliver it.  What I found was a very enjoyable, old timey, friendly and laid back event of a type I hadn't frequented for a long time.  No tube socks,  mouse milk vendors or crafts to be seen, just delightful honest old car stuff.
As further bonuses, I had the pleasure of meeting and briefly chatting with a very prominent member of this forum in person for the first time.  Then, my very oldest friend who I started in the first grade together with in 1937 and I had a very overdue reunion!    Whatta day!