What swap meets are still good for 50's and older parts?

[Hybrid]

I have just returned from The Seattle Swap Meet in Monroe Washigton, and found very little. As is increasingly the case the booths were filled with, collectibles, new Hi-Po parts, Mag wheels, and the usual car wax vendors. They have instituted two changes that I think will kill the meet for the public. Firstly they don't sell booths at the gate, so the guy that has the excess parts and just wants to clean out the garage won't come because he didn't book a booth ahead. Hence you get a meet with the same repro parts vendors and little else. Secondly, they now keep the public out till 8:00 on Saturday morning, so that anything that is decent is sold between vendors before you can get in. This in spite of the fact that the vendors have Friday set up to themselves already.

What meets are there left that have 50's and older parts and cater to the small guy?

I am travelling to the Midwest and North Central US in the next couple of months, how is the Iola Meet? Are there others I should take in?

[Guest Skyking]

Hybrid, Saturday I went to Great Woods swap meet in Mass. The same thing there. It seems the same junk year after year. This is a large swap meet for this area. Any collectable you wanted, but car parts forget. I do my best hunting on e-bay.......

[Jan Arnett]

Any meet sponsored by the HCCA. Chickashee is the best.

[Guest tin_knocker]

I have been attending the Iola meet for several years and enjoy it very much. There are 4000+ spaces and it attracts vendors from all over the midwest. I have found items there for my 37 on several occasions and vendors who don't have what you ask usually will point you to another who might. It certainly isn't like the ones you describe. Bring plenty of sunblock and a wide brimmed hat because you will likely see more sun in one day than you see in Seattle all summer. I don't know if you will see many replies to this post that originate in Wisconsin since there appears to only be a handful of collectors smart enough to use a PC. I have been trying to garner support for a Y.O.M. law with virtually no interest from WI clubs so I guess they are not using this site. The meet is well attended and I found that Friday is a good day to be there. Iola is a small, friendly town and they put on a great show. I am sure you will enjoy it.

[Dave@Moon]

I think all swap meets are gradually going the way of aftermarket conventions and showplaces. It seems to be the same at nearly all the meets. Even Hershey isn't exactly free of NASCAR diecasts and decals you could just as well get from a catalog.

That said, of the swap meets in the PA area that I've attended the most true to the name seems to be the Dunkirk, NY meet (which was just held last week). I haven't been there in 3 years, but it was more like a 1980-era Carlisle meet than any other that I've been to in years.

The <span style="font-style: italic">Cars & Parts</span> meet being held this weekend in Springfield is a pretty good one. There are still a lot of NOS vendors who come among the now standard tool/toy/performance vendor assortment.

[palbuick]

Well as for the Iola swap meet, it was great years ago. There was brass era parts all over, 30's 60's pars everywhere, and Lots of NOS. I gave up on selling there several years ago, when the beanie babies and the nascar toys, repro bicycles, wagons etc. I havent attended Iola for 6 years, and dont't miss it.

In my area , the Chicagoland area there is only on swap meet that is good, The BOP swap meet in March every year. No junk toys, T shirts, beanies NO Cheeby,

No Ford.

I am getting tired of Traveling, paying for expensive motels, or high admission prices.

So I sit here and buy and sell. The wife calls me for dinner, don't have to go out in the cold or the heat. Meet a lot of nice people and make a few $$$.

The only Swap meets that are excellent are those in conjunction with a National show.

Jim Schilf / palbuick@aol.com

[yirgaman]

We went to the Iola meet for the first time in 2001. Found a few parts for my "30's" cars. Seemed to be a broad mix of things. We stayed on the grounds in or motor home - security was AWFUL! There were fireworks going off all night long, people running around yelling in the night. Big (too big) campfires during a very dry season in a grassy field filled with campers. People sitting in big easy chairs on top of their vans made it look pretty trashy. We'll not go back....unless they've improved control.

[1937hd45]

The swap meets are dying. eBay is far cheaper, you don't loose a days pay, gas & food expences. I collected all the parts to build/restore a 1937 Harley in four years and never got my feet muddy.

[poci1957]

I have gone to Iola for years and always enjoy it (although I too am beginning to appreciate Ebay). Like anywhere, the vendor mix is changing for the worse, BUT they have rules that vendors must have 90% auto related items, so Beanie Babies and toys are relegated to one section and don't overrun everything. The small town hospitality is evident, there are decent concessions and permanent restrooms that even have sinks for washing your hands. I don't camp so no comment on that, and do be advised that motels are not close to the site. Best wishes, Todd C, POCI 1957

[Guest]

I'd NEVER bothered going to a swap meet before....always been of the opinion if there IS anything there besides waxes, cheap tools, and over-priced hot dogs...it would be for some OTHER guy's old car.

Finally, a couple of years ago, I gave in to a buddy who INSISTED I go to the big POMONA SWAP MEET in So. Calif. I griped and groaned all the way out the traffic infested drive, moaned and complained about the delay in line trying to get a parking space, and whined about still another long line to get in.

As the line got closer to where you could see inside a bit, I was really a pain (in the part that goes over the fence last) noting all the "modern" and or "un-related to auto" crap that we could see.

Well..you guessed it..we walked inside the gate, and at the VERY first stand, saw a bunch of headlight lenses. Most were for non-descript cars, many with reasonably stickers.... about five bucks a set.

In one box, I found a pair that had no price tag. I picked up up...hands started to tremble. They were a matching, new looking set of "Flex Beams", complete with the "bulge" in the center of hte lense (fellow Packard owners will know why this got me so excited...!).

I asked the guy..."how much for these...I dont see a price tag". The guy "lit" into me like I am the world's biggest "hind-quarters" ( how did he know..!). Told me what a damn nuisance I was, and if they werent werent worth five bucks for the two, I could just go.....etc....etc...". I tried several times to ask him "do you know what these are for"...He kept getting more and more angry...wouldnt listen. Finally...my buddy...who was trying to control himself (also a Packard owner...who knew EXACTLY what they were..and what they are worth...) gave the guy five bucks and litterly DRAGGED me away !

Yeah...I do feel bad about taking advantage of the vendor..even tho he was certainly not the friendliest guy I met......moral of the story... good thing to remember in all phases of life...not just in the old car hobby...... "you can't learn much when your mouth is in gear".....

[DoubleSnorkel]

3rd Sunday in September at the Nicollet Co. fairgrounds in St. Peter Minnesota is also an excellent swap for those hard to find pre 50's parts.

[Dan Marx]

As a vendor of older parts, auto electrical stuff, it is getting increasingly difficult to sell at a swap meet. The supply of vendors for older parts is drying up, and those needing a set of points or coil or cap for the Marmon, etc, aren't looking for them at the swap meets. The last swap meet I was at, a buyer didn't want the points for $5.00 because he could buy them for $3.00 at the parts store!!! I think he needs to buy all his stuff at the parts store, if they are that cheap!!!!! At the then, ebay/Kruse Aburn show last fall, they even let in a vendor that was selling excavators. Perhaps now that Dean Kruse has it back, it might change (??!!!), but then again that excavator vendor was money coming in the gate!!!! Ebay is convenient for selling parts.

Dan